Old People Eating

On a trip to St Alban's between an appointment with an osteopath and a visit to an elderly parent, we strolled around the city centre looking, in her case, for something to wear at a forthcoming wedding and, in his case, for something eat ideally in an establishment that also offered 'rest room' opportunities. He surprised her by suggesting a salad bar named 'Leafy'. This appears to be one half of a duo of salad bars, the other being located in Hitchen, that offers a build-your-own salad bowl, starting with leaves (of course) then adding carbs, protein, toppings and dressings in turn. The leaves were a typical mixed salad type with the option of Kale, which I am told is good for you even if it tastes like it couldn't possibly be. The carbs included orzo pasta, noodles and, er, something else. Protein was represented by chicken, beef, falafel, etc, and then there all sorts of bits and pieces. It was beautifully fresh, tasty and served in ample proport...

With our good friends and regular travelling companions we chose to visit Le Manoir aux Quat'Saisons partly because it has been on the wish list for some time and partly because our friends had on the weekend preceding our visit opened their beautiful Sussex garden, through the National Gardens Scheme, to raise some money for good causes and they deserved a celebration for that. Our visit started well as, on arrival, both of our rooms had been upgraded to very comfortable and well appointed suites. This was followed by a stroll around the gardens, an exhibition match on the croquet lawn (insofar as we made an exhibition of ourselves) and a change into party frocks before aperitifs were taken al fresco. We took it in turns to: drop olives, spill drinks on the beautifully prepared menus and scatter almonds here and there. The waitress joined in by spilling some Champagne, for which she apologised profously and made amends with a generous, and arguably unnecessary, top-up....