Loved it! All my favourites came out including ‘Chocolate’ off the Final Straw album. Thanks to Katherine’s unknown work colleague who pretty much gifted the pair of tickets for a total of £30! Bargain in my book. The poor sod missed out on a cracker of a concert.
The Alps
Brilliant – the best snow season in a generation I’m told. We’ve just been on a week long ski holiday in a part of the French Alps called Le Grand Massif.
Awesome trip where I met up with some new-found and old friends. Great times.
I can say with a sense of accomplishment that I attempted my first ‘red’ on the trip and by the end was skiing with confidence on these difficult pistes. Next time the ‘black’! I’ve got a few bruises and I had a few massive stacks that were humorous to watch I’m told.
Great fun. I should have some photos up soon.
The Cow
It’s snowing – again! Nice and cosy with a glass of red and a half dozen oysters with bangers and mash on the way!
Nottinghill
A lazy Friday night. What better than a meal on Westbourne Grove.
Vodka Martini is going down a treat. It would be a crime not to have another.
Bordeaux
I’m just relaxing at home reflecting on the past few days. What a fantastic trip. After work on Tuesday I headed down to my mate Graham’s neck of the woods; the lovely Chichester. From there we grabbed a nice dinner and a couple of pints and met up with another mate Jon and headed down to Portsmouth.
We boarded the ferry bound for Ouistream on the Brittany (French) coast located near the city of Caen. After little sleep we arrived after a smooth overnight sail and commenced the road trip to Bordeaux via Le Mans. Our dutch mate Roy, the Chelsea FC fanatic, joined us in the space-age Honda Civic led by ‘Sarah’ the Sat Nav who had a nasty habit of going quiet when she got lost on the fantastic French motorways.
After heading down the A28/A10 after few stops at ’services’ along the route we arrived mid-to-late afternoon in Bordeaux and found our functional hotel for the night.
Grabbing a soothing Leffe in the Rock Cafe we were given some tips for an early dinner from the very ‘helpful’ girl. Unfortunately she had received the tips from the barman who must have been a Bordeaux FC supporter, hellbent on ruining our trip. Using the iPhone’s Google Maps we found the street apparently where the recommended restaurant was located, we found NOTHING but apartments. GREAT START – not!
So with nothing but the dirty McDonalds serving dinner – for that don’t know the French eat dinner late – we headed to the dirty burger and tucked into our Big Mac Meals for the night’s sustenance. We didn’t realise at the time but Bordeaux’s stadium is a ‘fair’ walk away from the centre of town. We stopped past the Chelsea official supporter’s pub for the away fixture to join the 2,500 supporters making the journey with us. It was just like i had walked into a Fulham Road pub – unbelievable – right down to the dodgy pub toilets. Making a quick exit we headed off on our way to the stadium.
After what seemed like an eternity walking, where we started even thinking there wasn’t even a stadium, we arrived to find a stadium that would make the AFL’s Kangaroos Arden Street stadium seem like a well-built and well maintained stadium. What a piece of crap! Not to mention the lack of Stewards – what an indictment on UEFA.
The standard of the game was pretty much like the standard of the stadium – pretty crap – but the support of the Chelsea away supporters will be something that will stay in my memory forever. IT WAS FANTASTIC. So much fun – so many new songs to sing! Graham, Jon, Roy, and myself had a lot of fun with the rest of the support team. A draw was the final result. It was really disappointing.
After the match – we (the Chelsea supporters) were treated like cattle and kept waiting in the stadium for half-an-hour after the final whistle. Damn it was cold – the cold was coming in through the soles of my trainers freezing! With no taxi’s in sight and public transport absolutely chocker-block full, we trudged back to the centre of town for what seemed like an hour’s walk.
After the draw, the wait, and then the walk I was in no mood to party. Our boy Roy however was up for a bit of Karoke so I grabbed the key off him and let him go!
A late wake-up on Thursday morning really did me the world of good. Graham knocked on my door absolutely wired. I find out he’s found a Tabac and has polished off 4 espresso so far. Heading over we chat to the Tabac owner who gloats over the Bordeaux match result. I forgive him after eating a few of the home made croissants and pain au chocolat’s – wow I love French food.
Making a break out of Bordeaux we headed to St. Emillion, a wine growing region/town close to Bordeaux. All I can see is vines on the way in. We had a fantastic lunch in town. Graham was impressed with my command of the French language! Our waiter really outdid himself trying it on as a stuck-up Frenchman who doesn’t like the English, or anyone who speaks English over French. He proceeded to tell me that nothing was on the menu that I chose, so I told him that he should pick for me. Thankfully the back-of-house was in better form, and produced the nicest Coq-au-Vin I have tasted.
The race was now on to Le Mans to get Roy back to his car for his lone journey back to the Netherlands at a reasonable hour. Jon was a legendary driver – the legal 130kph motorway is a blessing.
Caen was in sight. Jon imposed a do-able 9:30pm arrival. Graham Project Managed perfectly despite Sarah the Sat Nav cracking it. I was a bundle of nerves. The French may do really good roads but all the money goes into the road – there’s no lights on it!
Arrived Friday morning in Portsmouth rounded out by some light questioning from the UK Border. Graham and Jon really thought one wasn’t coming home. I pulled through and managed to get another stamp in the passport. GREAT few days!
Fabric – what a night (club)
A great club with great friends! Huge club in central London. Really really good Drum n Bass. First time I’ve actually been able to dance to what a friend of mine refers to as trying to dance to opera. I’d really encourage those that live in London to make the effort. Remember to book tickets in advance – trust me…you don’t want to queue!
Don’t Worry – I’m Still Here
Just thought I might give you an update where I’m at before I head off to work.
Katherine and I got back from Prague on Monday after having a fantastic long weekend. I’m loving the 4-day week now. Prague was a mish-mash of architecture but nonetheless beautiful.
We stayed close to Charles Bridge for those who have been there. We truly did walk through the post card on the first night with the Prague Castle in the background. It was just stunning.
I will endeavour to have the photos up soon so you can see what I’m talking about.
All in all a great trip and I’m looking forward to the next one soon. I must say that I’m now refreshed and have lost the cynicism I had picked up from ’somewhere’. I caught myself saying some peculiar things to a good friend of mine which she thought was a bit out of character. Good news is that I’ve ’snapped out of it’ and got back to being my old self again.
Take care everyone.
Golds
Chelsea v Roma
A hard fought win by the Blues tonight. I thought Deco had a good game but no one really stood out.
My two mates Graham and John were in good spirits. After a couple of Guiness not to mention the over supply of Bovril and pastys it was all fun and games.
The plan is to get to Bordeaux in late November for the away game and maybe a few bottles of red for good measure.
Sun is shining
Just spent the afternoon in the park up the road from our flat – Hyde park that is. What a glorious day it was reading the paper in the sun. A great way to start the week.
Katherine invited me to St Martins theatre last night for a performance of The Mousetrap by Agatha Christie, which was lovely. It is the longest running production on the West End apparently and made even more special by the fact it is a murder mystery where the actors receive applause and request you keep the tradition of the production by keeping ‘who-dunnit’ close to your hearts. I felt that was a nice touch of what was a marvellously acted play.
Moving Day is Approaching
I’m so excited! I can’t wait to move into our new flat in Bayswater. We’ve made a start on our room over the weekend. It’s a good thing that we only bought a few suitcases of clothes to the UK in the first place. I must admit that one does accumulate ’stuff’ quite easily.