We got there quite early, around 7:30 AM, and much of the market had not started or was just setting up. We wandered through to the street across from it. There was a famous cheese shop and Julie went in. I stayed out and she implored me to come in. I recognised I was in a grumpy mood which I had sworn to myself that I would not do on this trip. So I quickly wiped that off and entered.

The girls let us try a number of samples. I asked for a bitey cheddar and got quite a good one, an Isle of Mull cheddar. We went out for a coffee and I decided to go back into the shop and buy 5 pounds of the bitey. Fortunately, the staff recognised that it was not by weight but by cost. I thought I had photos but I guess not.

We then went back into the market and stopped by at the fruit juice shop where we had been to before.

We wandered around the market for quite a while but nothing grabbed JV for breakfast. So we eventually decided to go into a famous restaurant – Roast – right in the market.

We were among the first patrons at Roast and got a nice table with a view and sunlight.

We have a very special wine dinner to go to in the country that night, our last in London. So I go back for my usual rest and JV for her usual prance. We are to board a bus across town at the Bluebird restaurant. We leave way too early but it turned out to be a good thing. The tube station that are to go to to get to the Bluebird is closed and all lines to it. We got to South Kensington Station and they have printed sheets to tell us what to do. So we board a bus to Sloane Square. Well, the traffic in London is horrendous, for a change – actually as usual, and we are beginning to believe that we won’t get to Sloane Square in time, let alone the Bluebird. It took well over an hour but we got there with a few minutes to spare and hopped on the bus after a foray to some shops by JV.

We eventually take off, into London traffic of course. Each couple is given an afternoon tea – a hint on how long the journey will be.

The presence of afternoon tea must be an indication of how long a trip it is going to be and yes, it is nearly two hours especially ugly in the London part. The sandwiches were quite good with the bread very fresh. We finally arrive at our first destination.

Waddesdon Manor was built by Baron Rothschild a long time ago and is representative of the Rothschild empire. Our host is Stephen Lane, the marketing manager. He explains a lot of the history including the rivalry between Mouton Rothschild and Lafitte. We try some interesting wines show their expansion into the new wine areas of the world such as Chile.

We then head to another building for the dinner – The Dairy.

They have a ceremony where three of the guests open a bottle of champagne each with a large knife. Naturally we push JV to be one of them.

We then proceed to the dinner table.

The wines were quite special too. At the end, we hopped on the bus for the long ride back to London. I suppose we got back home, after a taxi ride from the Bluebird, around 2:00 AM. A great time all-up.

There were professional photographers there who took a large range of photos. I have copied below a few of these.

http://hollyclarkphotography.pixieset.com/clubdanddwinedinneratwaddesdonmanor/