London in winter

Well the weather took a turn for the worst but we did make it from Leysdown to London, a distance of only 40 miles, not far in comparison to the 600 or so miles across France but a challenge nonetheless. John drove us brilliantly along the snowy, icy roads of the island and then up the uncleared M2 and the snowbound environs of Ebbsfleet station. We abandoned the car in a white out car park in the hope it wouldn’t be completely buried when we got back and struggled across to the station. Miraculously the high speed trains to St Pancras were not only running but on time and we were in central London in less than 20 minutes. Quite amazing when you consider that none of the other trains into and out of Kent were running.
The Centre for Process Systems Engineering had put us up in a small and delightful hotel, The Pelham, in the heart of South Ken and it was very luxurious. After fun and quirky French hotels it was rather a treat to stay in a grand London one where everything worked and there was a bath AND a shower! Though I’d left the travel kettle in Kent to save on luggage and forgot that swanky London hotels expect you to ring for tea at huge expense!
We wandered into Knightsbridge to have a light lunch and stock up on some toiletries not readily available in Moncrabeau and buy a gift for Ollie, Katie and Scott’s new baby in Abu Dhabi, at Harrods. It felt very Christmassy with a sprinkling of snow and all the shops so beautifully decorated. John’s son Matthew came by for a cup of tea and a catch up. He seems to be enjoying his final year though he still has to find a house close to the university rather than in the wilds of south west London. We’d booked dinner at Launceston Place which I’d always wanted to try and it certainly lived up to its reputation. We had a lovely dinner and walked back through the snow.
Next day I went with John to say hello to everyone at the centre before leaving them to their special conference in honour of John’s 60th birthday. I could have stayed but since I didn’t even understand the titles of the seminars I thought it might be a little bit over my head! I went over to Clerkenwell to meet Matt from Wordsearch and deliver Ollie’s present for him to take to Abu Dhabi next time he goes out there. I went back in time for the Roger Sargent lecture which was given by Professor Mike Docherty, who was John’s very first PhD supervision so an appropriate speaker for his birthday event. Process Systems Engineering is totally out of my league but Mike is such a brilliant speaker that I was fascinated throughout. The opening pictures of John and his mum at Cambridge were especially interesting. Sir Roger Sargent (now in his late 80’s and John’s PhD supervisor) was actually able to come along with is wife Shirley which was amazing, especially considering the weather. We had a reception and dinner in the Rector’s house where I was amazed to see actual Sisley’s and Cezanne’s on the walls. It was a really lovely event with so many of John’s former colleagues; it must have felt like coming home for John. Nilay had organized it all beautifully, Stratos and his wife Maria were as dazzling as ever and it was lovely to see David Bogle and his wife Jenny. We thoroughly enjoyed it all, despite John’s embarrassment at being lauded and praised by everyone all the time.
On Friday John went back to do clever things with the centre and I had an enjoyable time wandering about London. I spent an hour at the IOD doing email and web work and then walked up to Piccadilly Circus, Regent St and Oxford St. I love walking around London, even in the extreme cold and at this time of year it is so enjoyable with all the Christmas decorations. After a relaxing day for me and a working one for John we met up with Chantal for a drink and then on to the Oxford and Cambridge Club where we had an extremely enjoyable and convivial evening with Mike Docherty and his super wife Peggy. They showed us round the club, which is their preferred London stopover. Although Mike comes from Manchester they have made their home in Santa Barbara so they had flown in for the event and had fewer travel problems than many others. They were heading off for a conference in Hawaii the next day so they had an interesting combination of luggage! We had a wonderful dinner in the club dining room which was delightfully unstuffy with some excellent wines – a Chateauneuf reminding us of a sunny lunch and a sauternes and some great conversation. John was on top form remembering Cambridge and Imperial with old friends. After such a quiet time just the two of us it was a very sociable three days and we enjoyed the change.