St.Pauls Cathedral

Before we left London a few years ago, we intended to go up to the top of St.Pauls. I have never been above the whispering gallery, and Doug has not been to St.Pauls since he was a child. We didn't make it then, but we have now. It was windy and rainy, but good nevertheless.

We took one of the new(ish) routemaster busses there. I think they are great. So good to be able to hop off and in where you want.

The Royal Opera - Il Barbiere di Siviglia

We went to see Il Barbiere di Siviglia (The Barber of Seville) by Rossini. This was kind of the purpose of Doug's visit to London, or certainly why he came this weekend. 

It is a very silly story and had been styled to highlight that! The set was very clever though. Lovely lovely music and overall a very enjoyable experience.

The lady beside Doug kept texting on her phone until he sorted her out with an evil glare. The people behind kept trying to chat. They obviously hadn't had the intensive training I received from my dad as a child in appropriate behaviour during concerts that has left me unable to move a muscle!

I tragically had to buy a new pair of shoes as I forgot to bring from work a suitable pair and Doug refused to be seen with someone in a red dress and green shoes. Hurrah!

Probably most people don't associate curry and opera, but we almost always go to the Masala Zone before or after. We didn't want to break with tradition. Curry is one of the things we really miss in France, the French don't bother with it. I make it at home sometimes but, although nice, it is just not the same. The decor isn't traditional flock wallpaper, but the food is pretty nice.

Doug is in London!

Doug hasn't left France since we went there over two and a half years ago except for one weekend a few months in to go to a wedding. 

Friends are very kindly looking after the dog and the other animals and have delivered Doug to the airport so he can have a long weekend in London with me.

We are meeting up with a variety of people

We are staying at the Strand Palace Hotel - which suprisingly is on the Strand. 

We have wandered around the area a bit.

Difficult cows!

Bluebell came in to heat today. Like her mum last week, she annoyingly chose a Sunday for it! As she was standing for other cow to mount her in the afternoon this indicates that we need the AI guy to come first thing tomorrow. This is deeply unlikely as we won't manage to speak to him today - with it being a Sunday and all - and I don't suppose he will be able to rush out first thing tomorrow with now warning. Hopefully they will chose a more convenient day next time!

Le camping sauvage

We did an overnight camping trip at the plaines de esquiou which is a flat area at the top of a pass where there is a hunting lodge. It is not too far from home which meant we had time to wizz up there after I finished work, and it is remote enough that the dog could run around reasonably safely - although ther is a surprising amount of traffic passing by for how remote it is. We had thought about walking up somwhere and camping beyond car access, but in the end we were both quite tired and it was much easier to lob a load of stuff in the car than it was to pack carefully enough to be able to carry it all.

First get the bbq going (we have failed to find good charcoal here and it always takes a lot of fire lighter to get it alight. The French seem to think that everything should be doused in petrol (or for bigger fires an old tire is a good starter), but I think British men think firelighters and the like are not manly and it should be possible with a bunch of twigs and some cardboard.

Nice view huh?

Next is beer (which would have been first if Doug had his way)

Then tent - this one you just throw up in the air and it lands pitched! Amazing. Bit trickyer to fold back up.

Sunset was pretty

Sunrise - the horses came and investigated us in the dark, before we went to bed, then we heard them galloping around in the night and they came for a more thorough investigation in the morning. They seemed to like eating the coal and had a bit of a nibble on the tent too.

Dinner at The Gun

Aidan and I had dinner at The Gun, which is a gastro pub by the river near Carnary Wharf. Was very nice, good beer.

Walking across the water to get there

Aidan's desert matched his jumper!

View out of the window

View of the city while walking back to the DLR

The Artificial Insemination guy has been

When I have read about AI for cows, there is a lot of feeling and assessing if the time is right and coming back a few hours later (or saying it is too late and you need to wait for another cycle)

Our guy came and rammed the straw up there (the semen is contained in a straw) and that was that, wait for a month and see what happens. Exciting! But we have no idea whether he arrived at the right time or not! Maybe French cows are different :)