Doug & Jodie

Two weeks ago, Alicia, Dana and I met at Fortnum and Mason for High Tea at 3pm. Since I have been living in London I have wanted to experience High Tea at one of the top Hotels in London. However, I had been told that the luxurious department store, F&M, was one of the best places to experience this. We weren’t disappointed. Dressed in our finery (the website stipulated for us to ‘lean towards elegance, not beach’!) we were shown to our arm chairs by a small window looking down upon Piccadilly on the top floor of F&M, St. James’ restaurant. Opting for the champagne tea we enjoyed glasses of pink bubbly whilst nibbling on cucumber sandwiches and mini cheese tarts. Then we moved on to our fine teas and started on the scones with clotted cream and jam. Finally finishing with the delicious pastries: chocolate fondants, berry tarts, sponge cake… we chatted away the afternoon sipping from the F&M china then left to have a look around the store which was already dressed for Christmas! It was a lovely afternoon with good friends and as our life in London draws to a close I am truly beginning to appreciate our experiences here and will really miss the old world elegance of this place…

This weekend Doug headed off on Friday for a 3 day wedding photography course where he was shooting a real life wedding as the second photographer! So, I made plans with the girls… Firstly, Friday night I stopped at Selfridges for a quick shop! Then Saturday met Yumi and Laura for lunch at La Bouchee, a lovely, cosy French restaurant in Sth Ken. Then we had coffee in a little side street off Brompton Rd where we came across Juliette Binoche (Chocolat) doing a book signing for her new collection of portraits. Then Yumi and I had manicures and pedicures which was very girly but very fun. Then we walked to Kings Road for some shopping and gossiping. Later I caught a train from Sloane Sq to Putney East and headed to Dana’s place for some pre-drinks with her, Ian, Alicia, Graham and Tam before heading off in the wind and rain to a local pub for Tam’s 30^th B’day party. We had a lovely evening with good food and wine and great friends. Later when we left, Alicia, Graham and I were talking too much we didn’t notice we were on the wrong bus and ended up in Balham – luckily I was able to grab the Nth Line from here to London Bridge (11 stops and zone 3! I fell asleep at one stage). Sunday has been spent cleaning , baking and waiting expectantly for my husband to return – just like a good wife … it was our first time apart since we married, I really have missed him.

Last weekend Doug and I took advantage of what was certainly the last warm sunny weekend this year. We caught a train Sunday morning to Guildford in Surrey, approx. 40 minutes from Waterloo Station. Here we put to use our Time Out ‘Country Walks near London’ guide and set off on a 10km walk to Gomshall via Shere. We first walked through the centre of Guildford, a lovely surrey village then climbed a steep street, stopping off at the pretty gardens and ruins of Guildford Caste. Further up the hill past some huge bungalow homes we entered an open field (Pewley downs) with stunning views across the countryside. From here we walked through paddocks, lanes and bridle trails, all open to the public but part of privately owned land so we were literally walking through people’s farms. Out first stop was the Church of St. Martha-on-the-Hill at the summit of a ridge, this church was formerly a stop on the Pilgrim’s Way to Canterbury and was restored in the 19^th Century. Here we ate our M&S picnic lunch sitting on a bench overlooking the valley and watching the many families with young kids and dogs hike by. We marched on past fields of rabbits, deer, horses and sheep, a farm with a ginormous pig as big as a small car and passed through more farms along hedge-rowed paths full of blackberries – it was an idyllic English Spring day. Finally we came to Shere, known as the prettiest village in Surrey.

Here we fed the ducks on the stream and strolled through town past the church of St James – dated from 1190 and a rare example of a church constructed entirely in the Early English Transitional Style. Finally we ended in Gomshall and had to wait an hour for a train back to Guildford then home to London. This one day was definitely worth the price of this Time Out guide – highly recommended, the directions were incredibly precise down to the tiniest detail and we had another magical day away from hectic London life.