Rugby the winner, and me

I thoroughly enjoyed sitting at home in the inglenook in early evening with the log fire blazing and cigar in hand, on three levels. Firstly due to knowing that England had beaten the Irish in the 6 Nations tournament yesterday, secondly that I had won (but will probably never see) 10 euros from Irishman John “800 years of repression” O Sullivan and thirdly because he was not with me and so could not grab another good cigar from my humidor. Regular readers will know that the last time he bought cigars for me, the Irish Punt was the currency, and they should all know could be exchanged for real money and at a good rate with no bank charges, if he were ever to use his Currencies Direct account.

Awaking late, we were in a quandary, which is not a four-sided valley. A little late for breakfast but a little early for lunch, a decision had to be made. Several people recently have been waxing lyrical about a pub at Easebourne near Midhurst called The Duke Of Cumberland. Nearly Hairless Nick was amongst the most strident supporters of this UK pub of the year 2012, so we rang up to book a table and were told that the only option was for the first sitting, and that was in the bar as otherwise it was fully booked. Be there at 12. And you can have the table until 1.30 we were told. We booked, and decided to trek north in search of this eaterie, which was damnably difficult to find, but well worth the search. A splendid 16th century building with great views greeted us when we finally arrived via some decidedly dodgy roads, which were not fully appreciated by the Merc, which, although pretty in the manner of a hairdressers car, does not like to get its haunches dirty and would rather be powdering its nose than taking on steep, narrow and precipitous pot hole strewn lanes.

Once there, I explained that I was a successful author and a blogger of no small repute (in my own mind) and that I wanted to enjoy lunch in their wonderful dining room, and, lo and behold, they decided that there had been a cancellation and that we could dine in their in their splendid restaurant looking out across the hills of Sussex. Scallops on a bed of greenery and pieces of bacon (which was not how they described it) was magnificent and That Nice Lady Decorator expressed contentment with her mussels, not muscles). it was a very fine pre cursor to heading to the Kings Arms in Arundel in order to witness the glorious English rugby team stamping its authority on the Irish, a theme with which I would be content to continue, probably until the end of time.

The excellent smoking cabin outside at the Duke Of Cumberland

On the way out of the Duke I spotted two log cabins, one of which I show today as my photo. A big log fire with seating and warm coats supplied to enable someone with more time on his hands, a good cigar and a chauffeur to shoulder the driving duties, to have enjoyed a decent smoke over a glass of port from their excellent and varied wine list. Sadly there was no chauffeur yesterday, but the seed has been planted. They had another similar log cabin situated in a multi level pretty garden with a large flat screen TV, ready for that rugby match, again adorned with coats for potential customers. How very civilised!

Today we are staging a small lunch, mainly it has to be said, for landlords and their partners. Charlie “Pistorius” Malcolmson and his beautiful and exquisitely formed mentor to the stars (Amanda Holden, Russ Abbott and Ben Fogle) Ali will be there, James “Desperate Dan” the Landlord of The White Hart and the wonderful Mighty Omega will attend. Both landlords will eschew their own establishments for a few hours in the late afternoon. Also expected are one-eyed Colin The Pirate (there is only one I in Colin) together with Sandra The Sultry Goddess, making a rather good team to help me drink a Methuselah of Medoc, which has been patiently waiting to be owned since 2007. I expect it is a given that we will need to go to both pubs before the off to collect up the various landlords and camp followers. Read all about it tomorrow.

Chris France
@Valbonne_News