We went
out to buy croissants for our breakfast and chose a bakery not far from the
apartment. We decided to buy 6 croissants so we could eat 3 and take the
rest to Mutiara with us. We went back to the apartment to have the
croissants but they turned out to be underwhelming, sort of dough-y. So
we decided to leave them for the cleaner and perhaps pick some up when we went
out for our walk. Bernard came by at about 10:30 am but we said we were
not leaving until closer to 12:30 pm and that Aidan had arranged to come over
to pick up the keys at 12:20 pm. Bernard was okay with that. The
cleaner, Josephina came in before we left for a last walk around the
neighbourhood before departing for the train station. We walked around
the area but many of the stores had yet to open. Florine tried on some
shoes but did not find them comfortable enough to buy. We went into a
little store where we saw, and bought, some very colourful scarves. Irene
also bought a hairclip. We did find another bakery where we bought some
croissants and sandwiches for our lunch. After that, it was time to go
back to the apartment to meet Aidan. Florine had ordered a taxi to take
us to Gare du Nord yesterday and both Aidan and the taxi were on time. We
left E15 for the cleaner and gave a E20 tip to Aidan. We got to the train
station before 1 pm and walked for a bit to get to the Eurostar terminal.
The terminal was quite busy but we found a place to sit and wait. I went
to the duty free store and bought a bottle of Issey Sport cologne for Chris.
Then it was back to the lounge to wait for our boarding call. Once the platform was posted on the board, a
line started to form at the gate. We
joined the line-up and watched as a tour group was allowed to enter the
platform to board the train. When we
were finally allowed to go on the platform, we had to make our way down some
stairs and on to the end of the train as we were in carriage 18. It turned out that Irene and I had seats
facing the back of the train so once the train got going, Irene changed seats
with Florine. A nice Englishman had the
seat beside Irene. We had our lunch on
the train and I kind of nodded off for a while.
This time, the pressure on my ears did not feel as bad compared to our
outward bound trip to Paris. I watched
first the city go by and then the countryside.
I updated my journal for a while and nodded off for a bit. The man across from me took a nap too. After sitting in silence in a while, we
started chatting with the man across from us.
It turned out that he lived in Oxfordshire, near Woodstock. He told us that the locals could get into the
grounds of Blenheim Palace for free as they know the various footpaths and it
was not an issue as long as they did not go around to the palace lawn. He was returning from a week’s vacation in
the Burgundy region and had been on trains since the early morning. He liked to hike up to mountains and admire
the view from the top. We talked about
Snowdon, which he had climbed a few times and really enjoyed. The train pulled
into the station before long, and we went our separate ways.
We
figured out how to get from King’s Cross to Waterloo (I think we changed at
Green Park and then took the Jubilee line to Waterloo) so that we could catch
our Southwest train to West Byfleet.
Fortunately, we did not have to wait long for an express train to West
Byfleet. Fui Ling had texted to say that
she was going to pick us up from the back of the station, the side where all
the stores were. Once on the train, I
texted her to let her know that we were on our way. When we got off at West Byfleet, a little old
lady came to our aid when we were trying to figure out where the shops
were. She took us down an elevator,
under the platform and then back up in another elevator before pointing to the
shops. Fui Ling was there waiting for us
in her little black car. We went back to
Mutiara and went to our respective rooms to get our luggage sorted out. Stephen
and Tristram were out in the Aston Martin.
I saw them come home from the front window of our room and decided to go
down and take some photos of the car, a DBS convertible in black. Florine and Irene also came out to admire the
car and Stephen offered to take us for a ride, one at a time. I got to go first and it is a fabulous
car. Stephen had fun with it, taking it
through its paces through country roads and then the highway. He got up to 130 mph for a short stretch and
then slowed down as he did not want to attract the attention of the police. We
chatted about him taking the car to Europe with Fui Loong in his McLaren or one
of the Ferraris. Fui Ling would not
drive the AM, but she had said she would drive the Range Rover as the backup
car for luggage and in case of any problems. The hard braking that he does with
the car must be really tough on the brakes. I think we were out for about 20
minutes before he headed back to the house.
Florine went out next, and after that, Irene. They had to go and get gas when it was
Irene’s turn. We all enjoyed the rides,
but I think Stephen had more fun driving the car around.
After
that, Stephen parked the car back in the garage and we got ready for our dinner
of fish and chips. Fui Ling had sent him out to get the fish and chips earlier
in the day and she had it warming in the oven.
Petros had the fish and chips at the restaurant before he left for
Athens and thought it was really great so when Fui Ling suggested that we had
it for dinner, we were quite happy to agree.
The fish and chips were still good, even though it sat in the oven for a
couple of hours. It must have been
awesome at the restaurant. Fui Ling made
the same fruit and mascarpone cheese pie for dessert.
After dinner, we went
back upstairs to finish our packing.
Then I went downstairs to chat to Fui Ling for a bit. Tristram said his goodbyes before he went up to
bed. Where we stayed: Mutiara
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