Surrey, Great Britain. September 10, 2016

An hour drive due South from London is the village of  Chiddingfold in the Waverley district of  Surrey. This is where - the picture perfect English Countryside setting - Alexandra and Cyril have set camp. This is a gorgeous area and we were again fortunate to enjoy a sunny and warm weather. (We relaxed for a while by the pool and even went swimming. In England mid-September, really?)

A nice reunion for the gang: Jacques, Cyril and Pierre were in business school together almost 35 years ago. Dominique, Alexandra and Isabelle were there too, forming the true back-bone of the team.

We visited several villages around including Hascombe where Charles and Susie lived (see London post). On their recommendation, we visited the St Peter's Church where we were warmly welcomed - and had a guided tour - by Denis. 

Followed by the visit of Petworth House and Park, home of the same family for 900 years, where the Earls of Northumberland, Dukes of Somerset and Earls of Egremont have built an extraordinary art collection. The Petworth art collection is nowadays the most important collection in the care of the National Trust. The beautiful park surrounding the castle was designed by Lancelot "Capability" Brown, a famous landscape architect from the 18th century. He was nicknamed "Capability" because he would tell his clients that their property had "capability for improvement. Among the many paintings, including Turner's - of course - we admired "Jessica", a portrait of the daughter of "The Merchant of Venice". The unusual background color led to the repeated comment "A lady getting out of a large mustard pot" . 

We toured the kitchen and felt like being at Downton Abbey.

Back at Alexandra and Cyril's, we enjoyed a nice lunch outside and relaxing afternoon with the kids.