19th of August 2016
We were staying in Sara's place (an Airbnb) whose house was a bit out of the city... well we didn't care so much about the location as we were having a car. Her daughter with her baby was waiting for us. Well, here i think it was my biggest disappointment of Airbnb house... it was dirty... everywhere... the room looked like ravaged by a war... we had hopefully only a night stay over...
We decided to go for the Arundel castle and then to come back to Brighton and visit it. During this trip I drove for the first time in England... on the left ... well, if you follow the cars in front there is no problem... if you are alone then you are stressed. After turning around for a bit, we reached the castle around 17h... It is actually a middle aged castle surrounded by a lake and in which there is still Lord family living inside... unfortunately it was closed for visits.
We walked then in the village of Arundel which was surrounding the castle. Really beautiful one. After visiting the church we stopped for a carrot cake in a pastry... I haven't been eating a corriger cake since Claudia had prepared one for my birthday in 2014... it was delicious but not as good as as Claudia's one.
We returned to Brighton and left the car in downtown. We first visited the park in which there was a the Royal Pavilion which was Indian looking. A beautiful piece of art ! A random guy stopped us and explained us a bit of its story: it was built by George IV who fell in love with the Indian architecture so he wanted to have a Indian looking castle in Brighton... things seem quite easy when you are a prince... since then it used to be a royal residence when the the King was coming to Brighton and during the first world war the pavilion has been transformed into a hospital for Hindu and Sikhs and today it is open for visits... again we were late for visiting it. But really impressed by it.
We then walked down to the Pier from which a beautiful view on the city and the sea is offered. Indeed, it seems like English like to play coin games. We finally went to the bar street and I saw a lot of gay flags. After checking Brighton seems to be the gay capital of England... which now makes sens :) We stopped for a drink down there. The people were really friendly.
We finished the night by stopping to buy food in a supermarket and went eating and chilling home.
We decided to go for the Arundel castle and then to come back to Brighton and visit it. During this trip I drove for the first time in England... on the left ... well, if you follow the cars in front there is no problem... if you are alone then you are stressed. After turning around for a bit, we reached the castle around 17h... It is actually a middle aged castle surrounded by a lake and in which there is still Lord family living inside... unfortunately it was closed for visits.
We walked then in the village of Arundel which was surrounding the castle. Really beautiful one. After visiting the church we stopped for a carrot cake in a pastry... I haven't been eating a corriger cake since Claudia had prepared one for my birthday in 2014... it was delicious but not as good as as Claudia's one.
We returned to Brighton and left the car in downtown. We first visited the park in which there was a the Royal Pavilion which was Indian looking. A beautiful piece of art ! A random guy stopped us and explained us a bit of its story: it was built by George IV who fell in love with the Indian architecture so he wanted to have a Indian looking castle in Brighton... things seem quite easy when you are a prince... since then it used to be a royal residence when the the King was coming to Brighton and during the first world war the pavilion has been transformed into a hospital for Hindu and Sikhs and today it is open for visits... again we were late for visiting it. But really impressed by it.
We then walked down to the Pier from which a beautiful view on the city and the sea is offered. Indeed, it seems like English like to play coin games. We finally went to the bar street and I saw a lot of gay flags. After checking Brighton seems to be the gay capital of England... which now makes sens :) We stopped for a drink down there. The people were really friendly.
We finished the night by stopping to buy food in a supermarket and went eating and chilling home.
20th of August 2017 - the wedding day
I woke up early as I needed to prepare myself for the wedding: iron my shirt especially. I went down and met Sara's daughter and her baby. We talked a lot and at some moment we were talking about age... My first moment of shock... She told me she just turned 16 and her baby was already 6 months old... i.e. she was 15 when got pregnant... WOW ! Because of this she had to stop her studies until the baby can go to kindergarten. I met also her boyfriend who was 18... I only hope that the baby wasn't an accident and that he will have a good future, but I found sometimes a pity that so young guys won't have the opportunity to enjoy their teenage and are already in the adult world.
We got ready and then left for Dorking ... the wedding was happening in Wotton House which was actually a castle surrounded by a forest. Amazing place for such an event and the weeding was just wonderful ! So happy that those two guys met and got married! Indeed, it doesn't happen often to me to attend a French-English wedding. However, I am not sure that the ceremony changes a lot except the accents of the people... Even if you might be able to speak English, sometimes this is not enough to understand everything which makes it even funnier. Well, on my side I managed to say "à poil" before Jeremy starts his speech (and hopefully only French people managed to understand me): quite proud of it ! :)
I woke up early as I needed to prepare myself for the wedding: iron my shirt especially. I went down and met Sara's daughter and her baby. We talked a lot and at some moment we were talking about age... My first moment of shock... She told me she just turned 16 and her baby was already 6 months old... i.e. she was 15 when got pregnant... WOW ! Because of this she had to stop her studies until the baby can go to kindergarten. I met also her boyfriend who was 18... I only hope that the baby wasn't an accident and that he will have a good future, but I found sometimes a pity that so young guys won't have the opportunity to enjoy their teenage and are already in the adult world.
We got ready and then left for Dorking ... the wedding was happening in Wotton House which was actually a castle surrounded by a forest. Amazing place for such an event and the weeding was just wonderful ! So happy that those two guys met and got married! Indeed, it doesn't happen often to me to attend a French-English wedding. However, I am not sure that the ceremony changes a lot except the accents of the people... Even if you might be able to speak English, sometimes this is not enough to understand everything which makes it even funnier. Well, on my side I managed to say "à poil" before Jeremy starts his speech (and hopefully only French people managed to understand me): quite proud of it ! :)
In conclusion, really nice idea spending some time in the south of England with Doria and Claire... and such a beautiful wedding Laura and Jeremy had !!!