I debated long and hard what to title this trip and eventually settled on ‘Romance Holiday’. Really for 2 reasons – one we are going to France and any trip to France has to be romantic (especially since it includes Paris) and then secondly because Stephen’s girlfriend is coming along making it 6 and not 5 for the first time.

This first blog is actually going to be separated by a few days to number 2. That is because Michael and I flew last night to London and the rest of the family + 1 are flying on Friday night and arrive Saturday morning. Michael and I left last night from Cape Town. It was raining incredibly hard but we still managed to take off on time. Due to all my flying I had a special ticket for 2 on First Class on BA and so Michael and I were treated last night. BA have introduced a new first class and the plane had it. It was very nice (but not quite as nice as Cathay Pacific). What is a bit freaky is that they don’t have the standard airline windows and shutters but rather have electronic blinds over the windows. When we got on they were all closed and it was very strange not being able to see us taxi or takeoff.

The service was good and we both watched a movie and then went to sleep and we both slept well. The pilot was getting the score updates of Italy v England and so the cabin crew kept informing us what was happening. The disappointment was palpable when they told us they had lost again. We arrived slightly early into London and it was a beautiful day. No clouds around and already 15 degrees at 7am. We were off the plane and at immigration at 7:20 and there we stood for another 65 minutes until 8:25am. The queue was ridiculous. The only interesting thing was that Gary Player was about 4 people ahead of us. I would have asked for his signature if I had something good I could have gotten him to sign!

We got to the flat at just before 10am (eventually) and I went straight to work. Michael spent the day touring around London with his cousin (Daniel) and they seemed to have criss-crossed London. They even went to Wimbledon (just to see the stadium) and managed to shop down Oxford and Regent street, visit Hamley’s and Harrods and Picadilly Circus too. They met me at 5:30pm at my office and then we went to Covent Garden for dinner. They definitely had more adventure today than I did at work! They also made maximum use of the tube it seems.

Michael & Daniel are catching the train tomorrow from Waterloo to my parents in the New Forest. Hopefully they will manage to do that successfully. I remain here to earn some money to pay for the holiday! I will write again on Saturday so watch out for the post.