And after you cross the Channel and head west you might want to stop at a terrific National Trust home near Maidenhead called Cliveden. It was the home of Waldorf and Nancy Astor. It is now a luxury hotel but the grounds and a few rooms in the house are open to the public. The house has an interesting history - Nancy Astor was the first woman to be elected to Parliament; she was a member of the Bloomsbury Set and often entertained writers and politicians like Virginia Wolff and Winston Churchill; John Profumo, the Defense Minister, was discovered there with a prostitute who was also seeing a member of the Russian Embassy in a scandal that brought down the government in the early 60s. Also, the grounds are very pleasant especially on a sunny afternoon. When I was there they included a rose garden, a sculpted garden, an oriental garden and a parterre perched on a hill overlooking the Thames. I have a very fond spot for Cliveden because I actually lived there as a student. The National Trust leased it to my university as an overseas campus before turning it into a hotel.

Best regards, Mark Los Angeles