Christmas Tour Blog – Day 3

Day the third comes from Alex Chance, who’s always trying his luck.
 
Day 3 was moving day for us: one which began bright and early in the balmy climes of the Cote D’Azur and ended in wintry Hampshire frost. We all came down for breakfast in our Monaco hotel remarkably punctually given Owain’s and Josh’s heroic exploits on the felt of Monte Carlo’s casinos in the early hours of the morning: that they had emerged with all their clothing was commendable enough; but to return with their wallets bulging was positively impressive. The views along the coast from the rickety train to Nice airport gave us one final glimpse of the Mediterranean luxury to which we had managed to grow accustomed in the space of 36 hours.
 
Back to reality in England, we set off on our journey down to Hampshire via an assortment of the best that British public transport has to offer – a Rail Bus service to Woking and a South West train down to Farnham. They ran impossibly smoothly – proving that the infection from Southern Rail has not yet spread westwards – and Owain’s best-laid travel plans and timings were left untouched.
 
We were picked up from Farnham station by Sarah Hard, a devoted supporter of ours who had kindly agreed to host an intimate concert in the ballroom of her stunning Hampshire house, Willey Place. After a lavish champagne reception (the beef-and-stilton sausage canapés were feasted upon with relish), we sang a wide-ranging programme featuring some christmas music alongside others from our core repertoire, as well as a couple of Purcell solo numbers with the in-house harpsichord.
 
The evening was a big success and we’re enormously grateful to Sarah and her daughter Clarissa for organising everything and hosting us so generously.