lundi 28 avril
La bienheureuse has a meeting at work but takes the afternoon off and we're away from Lyon by 2pm. Five hours of near incessant rain later we arrive in the hilltop town of Laon. We manage to find our hotel (a sort of French version of a slightly more upmarket Fawlty Towers) in time for an hour's stroll in the drizzle round the mediaeval centre, complete with 12/13th century gothic cathedral. Overeat during dinner in the hotel restaurant empty but for one other couple.
mardi 29
Weather steadily improves during two hour drive to Calais. Sunshine greets us in Dover! Two hour drive to Cambridge becomes nearly three when one of the Dartford tunnels is closed due to an accident. The weather in Blighty might have improved but the traffic's as bad as ever. Arrive chez Mr G, takeaway curry is ordered and the big M and lady K arrive for a pleasant evening, spoiled only by events in Barcelona.
mercredi 30
Weather reverts to true English form and it's raining as we set off for what is nonetheless a leisurely drive up to Cheshire. Arrive chez la belle-mère mid-afternoon and spend a leisurely evening hearing about the adventures of la grande-mère and the conmen. Dinner at the local curry-house.
jeudi 1 mai
The sun reappears. Spend an idle labour day with a pleasant wander around Chirk castle,
then meander through Flintshire to visit la belle-famille et les chiennes. Pleasant evening as ever, bar a minor case of canine incontinence. Fortunately a suitable change of clothing is available.vendredi 2
Return to Cambridge for la grande soirée chez J&C, with bonus appearance by mademoiselle H. As is usual in such convivial company much good food and too much good alcohol is consumed.
samedi 3
Catch early(ish) train into London for rendezvous with la belle-mère in Kings Cross. Deposit bags at hotel round the corner from the station(no, not that kind of hotel), and spend the afternoon wandering the streets of the West End. Settle eventually on Pizza Hut for an early dinner before crossing the road to the theatre for a bit of high culture. Spamalot. Okay, maybe not high culture, but a very enjoyable musical spoof of usual Monty Python high standards.
dimanche 4
Breakfast in the new St Pancras concourse,
then escape the nightmare of a West End shopping trip with épouse & belle-mère for the infinitely better dream of a trip to the home of football. Meet up with J&C for a quick couple of pre-match pints, necessary in the light of the tedious game that followed. Still, any football is better than none, and Wenger's young heroes complete an unbeaten home season. Post-match, eventually successfully meet up with la bienheureuse, la belle-mère, and the betrothed couple, N&M. They take us, via a bottle of wine in a bar in Upper St, to a delicious curry in the East End and dessert in Spitalfield Market. The 3rd curry of the week, making up for the lack of good English grub in France, is the best.
lundi 5
Spend the morning wandering around Regents Park in unseasonably warm sunshine before seeing la belle-mère onto the Heathrow express at Paddington. Make our way back across town and catch a train back to Cambridge in time for a spot of sun-bathing and aperitifs in the back garden chez J&C. More good food & more good wine follow.
mardi 6
The sun continues to shine during the morning drive back to Dover, and continues shining for the 2 and a half hour drive to la côte des blancs in the Champagne region. Check-in at the pleasant little chambres d'hôtes, enjoy a champagne aperitif on the terrace in the sunshine before sharing a delicious dinner for two. With champagne.
mercredi 7
Spend the morning exploring Epernay, visit the caves of the maison Mercier on a little laser-guided train, then set off on an afternoon driving tour of the côte des blancs vineyard country.
Restrict ourselves to one degustation, with charming young female host, and 2 cases of champagne. After the bacchanalian excesses of the previous week decide on a picnic dinner on the terrace at the chambres d'hôtes. With bottle of locally-produced champagne, of course.jeudi 8
Short, leisurely drive across to Chalons-en-Champagne.
Arrive just about in time to witness VE day commemoration, wander amongst yet more handsome mediaeval buildings and picnic in yet another pretty park. Continue via the scenic route and a short stop at Lac Der-Chantecoq, on to our next overnight stop in Langres. 
Another leisurely wander around another fortified, hilltop mediaeval town. Dinner at the hotel is simple but tasty, and this time we share the restaurant with at least 4 other couples.vendredi 9
Alas, the last full day of the trip. Buffet breakfast is enlivened by eavesdropping on English father & son on bonding road-trip. Bonding still on-going, by the sound of discussions over the wheres and hows of their next destination. Still, they had a nice old MG to do it in. We spend another couple of hours exploring Langres before setting off on our own road trip towards the Bourgogne.
Arrive in Beaune mid-afternoon, check in to the hotel, then spend spend a couple of hours wandering around yet another old town full of handsome old buildings, most of it spent looking for the star of old Beaune buildings, the Hôtel Dieu.
Worth the effort though, despite the front part of the building being currently covered in scaffolding. The main attraction, the colourfully patterned roof of glazed tiles, still visible in all its glory.samedi 10
Final must-do item on the agenda: a degustion at a Bourgogne vineyard. On the recommendation of the hotel manager find a small proprietaire-recoltant in Pommard, where we partake of a highly informative degustation in the cave, given by a most charming young lady. Persuade la bienheureuse that we really ought to take advantage of the opportunity to buy a few bottles of decent Burgundy which need several years of cellaring to mature. End up buying and spending twice as much as intended, and la bienheureuse threatens to ban me from any future degustations with delectable young females.
Afterwards, via a short scenic tour through the hills above Pommard, we reluctantly set course for Lyon and arrive home in the early evening. I decide that my back is sufficiently recovered to take over the onerous driving duties for the final 90 minute stretch. A man has to do his share, after all...
