Once in a while we go out for lunch on Saturday. Not a pub lunch followed by a brisk walk but a leisurely lunch in a smart hotel. It is the sort of thing that you do on holiday but MrM has decreed that it is a shame to restrict such things and so we treat ourselves. This weekend we went to Hotel Endsleigh, a romantic hunting lodge which was built for the the Duke of Bedford between 1810 and 1816, now run as a country house hotel by Olga Polizzi. The dimly lit dining rooms look out over a deep valley which was wreathed in mist and it seemed quite possible that the Valkyries would arise at any moment singing grim Wagnerian choruses. We did justice to the menu and then retired to the sitting room to drink peppermint tea in front of the fire. An elderly man snoozed under his Saturday paper. It was all very civilized.
Mr M is very wise. (but don't tell him I said that, it might go to his head)
ReplyDeleteI shall not tell him. In fact I might even try and claim it was my idea in the first place.
DeleteWhat a good idea. We used to have a season ticket to the garden and would stop en route to the West Country. Made a change from courtesy/picnic stops at Stourhead, Killerton, Knightshayes. The Landmark Trust have a couple of properties in the grounds too.
ReplyDeleteWhat a wonderful idea. The gardens did look fabulous from the windows but I promise that it was definitely an inside, next to the fire, kind of day.
DeleteVery Civilised. But I am wondering what was eaten?
ReplyDeleteI had a delicious wild mushroom veloute with truffle oil and sunflower seeds followed by pan fried pollock on rather a lot of sweetcorn and then (and here my memory gets a bit hazy due to the delicious champagne etc) I had a vanilla pannacotta with some crumbled meringues.
DeleteOooh lovely...you were on my doorstep, we'd have happily supplied the tea and the snoozing person under the newspaper !
ReplyDeleteBe careful what you offer - we will be sitting on your doorstep looking pitiful like a pair of feral cats.
DeleteThat sounds heavenly, I must suggest it to my dear partner.
ReplyDeleteGosh, how grown-up and lovely.
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