It's always a whirlwind getting out of work on time, especially on a Friday when you have a train waiting to whisk you off for a much needed country weekend away with your favourite girls! A handful of stops and a couple of changes on the tube, one train journey and a taxi ride down some seriously winding lanes and we finally arrived at Elm cottage in the beautiful countryside of Flaunden, Hertfordshire. Picture Kate Winslet's cottage in the Christmas film 'The Holiday' and you'll be marginally close to how perfect this little weekend getaway is!
Cue lots of girly squeals, running about the character cottage exploring every nook and cranny and cracking open the first of many bottles of Pinot to celebrate the weekend finally arriving! There we were met by our good school friend Kimberly Rose who invited us to her mum's beautiful Grade II listed cottage for the weekend. Hours and hours of time must have been put into doing the country pad up ... from gorgeous floral bedding, wooden vintage trunks, wellies lined up by the door, Le Creusot kitchen pots and pans to a charming rocking chair nestled beside the fireplace. Literally every little need that you may have during your stay has been thought through and catered for. A love for cockerels is evident throughout the cottage too!
The story is about to get even better! The cottage is a mere 5 minutes walk from the most amazing multi-award winning gastro pub, The Bricklayers Arms, family run and owned by Alvin, Sally and Adam Michaels.
We decided to start our weekend with a hearty 3-course feast and were warmly welcomed with open arms and roaring log fires! The pub is set in a beautiful grade II listed, 18th century building and boasts Michelin trained Chef, Claude Paillet. Once settled in with the Pinot flowing, we set about deciding on what to eat, a tough call believe me, with a menu fit for a king! I opted for the Cornish king scallops pan fried with parsnip puree, smoked bacon and hazelnut oil drizzle to start. WOWee...
I followed that up with a duo of venison haunch steak and slowly cooked shoulder with a cranberry jus. If that wasn't enough we then selected three puddings to get stuck into ... bourbon vanilla Crème brûlée, hot sticky toffee pudding and a chocolate pud to die for. After demolishing the lot, we then polished off a few more bottles of Pinot for good measure before stumbling back to our darling little cottage.
If an escape to the country is sounding pretty appealing, then I can't recommend anywhere more lovely and a mere 15 minute journey from London, means that you won't spend all weekend travelling either. Prices start from £450-600 per week and the cottage sleeps four. For further enquiries or to make a booking contact Jacqui.sander@ntlworld.com
Well what are you waiting for?!
Ohh, this just sounds perfect and if I had the money, I would definitely be booking right now!
ReplyDeleteLovely pictures too. It's so beautifully decorated.
Xx. Emma @ ever--so.blogspot.co.uk