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Published: June 15th 2007
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Windsor
Changing guard at State Apartments Hi all,
I think I must have died and gone to heaven! I would like to take this opportunity to let my work colleagues know that I may not be back for some time ......
As our plane flew into Heathrow we were surrounded by fog. Quite a let-down. I remembered this fog well from 19 years ago - but that was Winter! The girls were quite disappointed. "I thought this was Summer" "You said it would be warm" they complained. To be fair, it was only 8 in the morning, but it hardly looked like a Summer's day!!
We picked up our hire car. Not the car we'd booked, though, but an Alfa Romeo! It took some time to figure out the ignition system - no turning of a key required to start this vehicle! The day continued to perplex us as we tried to navigate our way to Windsor Castle from Heathrow. We could see the castle, but we ended up in Eton driving in circles. We gained some advice from some learned looking gentlemen, and they explained that it was all very difficult, and we should just park by the meadow and walk across the
Windsor
Zoe, Amy and Allan bridge. That worked out quite well. We had a very pleasant tour around the castle with another family from Colac! We walked back through the meadow to the car, but then our troubles returned compounded. Not only did we resume driving in circles in Eton, but Allan had a reaction to the thigh high grass in the meadow, and his eyes became so bloodshot and inflamed he could barely see where he was going. Add this to annoyance of a car that was unfamiliar and kept stalling in first gear....
We stopped for lunch at a pub near Taplow (the town was one of the "Midsommer Murders" filming locations). I'd been looking forward to taking the girls to a typical English pub for a meal. We had steak and kidney pie with chips, and it was great. All the more tasty after two weeks eating Thai food!
As we drove west the countryside became more and more picturesque. We arrived at our accommodation (Schoolhouse Hotel west of Swindon) and went for a walk in a "park" recommended by our host. Lydiard Park was much more than that! It was an old stately home with extensive lawns, lake, new
Windsor
Girls eating icecream innovative children's playground, forest, etc. We were blown away. The lawn was lush and green. Everywhere were wildflowers, the twittering of birds, and did I mention green? There were many families about enjoying a picnic dinner or a walk. We even met Peter Rabbit, Jemima Puddle Duck and Squirrel Nutkin. I swear we did! I felt as if I'd fallen into a Beatrix Potter book! It was such a contrast to was everything from Bangkok and from back home.
The magic has continued as we've travelled through the Cotswolds. Village after village of the most charming cottages - I want to photograph every one of them! Beautiful rolling hills, wildflowers along the sides of the roads, trees so lush and green that overhand the roads and meet in the middle so it is as if you are driving through a tunnel of green (did I mention green already?!).
We stayed the following 5 nights in Weston Sub-Edge which is in the northern Cotswolds. It is just as charming as any Cotswold town. From here we've visited lots of great places; Avebury's ancient stones, Lacock Abbey which was the location for many films including Harry Potter, Cirencester which is
Swindon
Lydiard Park lawns a fascinating Roman city, Stratford-upon-Avon (of course), Bourton-on-the-Water and Upper and Lower Slaughters (featured on Getaway - but not as exciting as I'd hoped), Stow-on-the-Wold, and Hailes Abbey (an abbey destroyed by Henry viii with a fascinating history). We spent a fun day at Warwick Castle (this was also featured on Getaway, and is the only Getaway destination that has been as interesting as it seemed on the show!). Allan volunteered to take part in the trebuchet demonstration. They take 6 volunteers for each demo. That was lots of fun, and as part of his family we got to be on the island with the machine as it was wound up, and we could hear the whoosh of the cannonball (?) as it was flung at 160mph. Most evenings we've eaten at Chipping Campden; an absolutely charming Cotswold town, with many fine restaurants.
On our last full day we discovered Burford and took another swag of photos. We had lunch in the beautiful garden of a charming old pub 'The Lamb'. On the way we passed fields of poppies and lavender. It was just a pity that the sky never cleared enough for some landscape photos. All the time
we were there the distance was blurred by mist/fog/smog.
It started to drizzle that evening and all the next morning as we made our way back to Heathrow on our way to Paris. We left the B&B at 9am, and finally arrived in our Parisian Hotel at 7:30pm! - But you will have to wait 'til the next entry to find out what we did next!
Bye until then,
Esther.
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doris
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hi just a short note to say hello still wish I was there too - dont hurry back doris