the weekend just past, we spontaneously decided to visit the english lavender fields! now i'm all for a good secret, and it seems like it's one of the best kept ones. mention lavender fields and it conjures up images of provence. had the privilege of spending some time in aix with J and her warm family last summer and would linger in their garden at dusk inhaling the wafts of lavender from their hedge. much as i'd love to return to aix, J's based in KL now and the fam's coming to singers next month so it's my turn to show them around. early start to brixton then it was eastwards to kent! there were a couple of hairy moments when someone who remains unnamed insisted on stopping at brixton village for federation coffee and croque monsieurs, which added precious minutes to the journey. there may or may not have been a few frantic phone calls trying to book in onto the noon tour (it's really only an hour drive away, and we did only set off at 11, so much for an early start!) we were told we'd need to be physically present to get onto the tour and had our hopes dashed by horrid traffic and road closure without any work being carried out. i mean, sure, close the lanes but at least work!!! so we were resigned to being sad little tourists mooching around the gift shop with our tails between our legs. but god was (is?) good and the noon tour was over subscribed and the farm created a 1230 tour (the next scheduled tour was for 3pm!) and we were arrived at the farm with time to spare, and promptly scoffed numerous tubs of lavender ice cream while waiting.
the tour was informative and just the right duration for me and my ADHD. also didn't feel like we were being hard sold any of the products but promptly went a little crazy at the shop after. example of effective marketing! the rows and rows of lavender stretched as far as the eye could see and it all smelt amazing.
spot F!
the reason why we wanted to do the lavender farm early was so as not to come across too degenerate and drunk by lunch time. because, you see, there was a vineyard to visit too and i had visions of us getting too inebriated to continue to the lavender had we done the vineyard first. also, some self-control needed to be exerted because liberal as i like to think i am, getting wasted in the early afternoon is a bit much. later in the afternoon, however... we got distracted by the plentiful signs and cherry stalls in the lay bys but eventually made it over. thoroughly enjoyed the wine tastings (they were generous and let us taste up to three each! and proper sized tasting not something out of a pipette!) before choosing a couple of bottles. found a delectable white that was reminiscent of montrachet but lacking the same body (darn, can't have it all!) for a fraction of the price and now regret only buying two (we drank one there, so i only have one in the chiller. boo.) and a very drinkable rose. we had to have rose. also had a field day picking the cheeses. F likes her cheeses 'interesting and with character' which was a wonderful brief to start with. had the yummiest stilton ever (and mind you, i've had a few) and the stinking bishop was good fun. of course, couldn't resist bags of scratching and cheese palmiers (as if there wasn't enough cheese already).
it was all downhill from there... might've scared some children
and on the way home we'd a total brainwave and thought to finally visit our friend's family restaurant in catersham! we'd been hearing about it for months and drooling over all the insta posts and it was too good a chance to pass up. verdict? best lobster noodles ever. that shallow fry (perfect cross between san mee and braised noodles) was life-changing. don't know how to go back to having to decide between the two :( it was such a dream. we sat down, had a look at the menu then asked john what was off the menu and he took us off piste and got his folks to serve up their specials. o.m.g. felt like royalty. drank more of the freshly procured vineyard wine to round up an already exceptional day.
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