[Caroline]

Feb 2008

Hubby turned fifty last week so I took the opportunity to indulge a little. My planning started eight months ago with ideas of a romantic weekend in Paris but ended with dinner and breakfast at the Whitley Ridge Hotel in Brockenhurst. Have you got any idea how difficult it is to be romantic and spontaneous with three kids!

I decided to find the best restaurant in the area (had to stay within a 5 mile radius of the babysitter) so I investigated all the restaurants with good ‘write ups’. There was one restaurant in particular which kept coming up and that was ‘Le Poussin’ at Whitley Ridge Hotel so I decided to give it a try. I booked dinner for two and one night’s accommodation in the piggery cottage.

We had the most amazing evening and the piggery cottage was just way beyond what I expected. Dinner was an explosion of tastes and we both agreed that it was one of the best meals we had had in our lives! I promise that’s not the wine talking as we couldn’t afford more than two glasses of it – the wine that is (for the more serious readers amongst us - that's a joke!).

We were surprised to see that the Hotel was three stars as the service was excellent and the rooms were nicer than expected, we felt it deserved at least four stars. However, we realized later in the evening that one of the reasons could have been the noisy train which kept passing every twenty minutes just outside the bedroom window. It was more a ‘swishing’ sound than a old fashioned train sound and it didn’t bother us much but I can imagine that some people would get upset about the noise.

I found the romantic atmosphere I was looking for and it was a wonderful surprise for hubby. Who needs Paris when we have Brockenhurst!

[Dedré]

Oh nice! Can almost taste the wine and food and hear the train...