mardi 16 juin 2009

Burn, baby, burn

Whilst in the UK, I met up with the Girls From Work for dinner and drinks - these are the girls that I worked with 20 years ago at the travel agency.

Both GFW1 and GFW2 are lovely. Both have families now and are working moms, but both manage to be very cool, very stylish and hilariously funny. We always have a great evening out, despite the fact that I generally lean back and listen as they talk at each other.

So, we went to a great place in Kenilworth for dinner. Kenilworth is a pretty little town in Warwickshire - complete with tumbly down castle. It is also home to GFW2's MacMansion. Truly, this house is e-nor-mous. But then, GFW2 has always been able to sniff out the money, ha ha.

Anyway, we're sat at dinner in this fancy restaurant and we're remembering the last time that we ate there as a threesome....

We arrived for dinner at the usual time. GFW1 had driven me - unusually, as I'm normally the driver - and she'd driven us in her fairly old 'mom-mobile', a Renault Mégane Scenic.

GFW2 arrived and we ordered and started to work our way through the fabulous food.

Sometime shortly after the starter plates had been cleared, the Maitre d' cleared his throat and asked, loudly, if anyone was driving a Renault Scenic. He had an edge of panic to his voice.

GFW1 put her hand in the air - yes, just like being at school - and said that it was her car.

"You may wish to follow me Madame", he said. "It seems that there is a problem with your car".

I went with GFW1, out to the car park at the back of the restaurant. We arrived just in time to see her car burst into flames. Literally. Bang. Flames. Lots of them.

Apparently, one of the kitchen staff had seen smoke coming from the engine and had alerted the Maitre d'. Alas, it was too late by the time we got out there.

Not only was the car on fire, but it was not doing the cars on either side of it any good. Alas, the flames were such that it was impossible to move those cars and all the other drivers could do was sit and watch as their cars went up in flames too. Oh, and they called their insurers.

The fire brigade took an age to arrive - as in many small towns in the UK, the brigade is a voluntary one and you need to wait for the firemen to finish their dinners, get out of the bath or get off the golf course before they tackle the blaze. In the meantime, the kitchen staff had tackled the blaze as best they could with the kitchen extinguishers.

As we sat back down for dinner, once the blaze had died down, GFW1 turned to me.

"Well, at least I'm no longer the designated driver" she said. And she promptly ordered a double gin and tonic.

I think she needed it. She definitely deserved it.

21 commentaires:

MyopicPsychotic a dit…

If you love us like you claim you do, you'll go home more often to generate this excellent material you've gotten your hands on. I genuinely LOL'd there. Nice x

travelling, but not in love a dit…

MP, it's true, I do love you all. From the bottom of my heart. But just not enough to put myself through this too often! he he

Anonyme a dit…

the poor thing - I think I would have ordered a bottle of gin and a thimble of tonic!

travelling, but not in love a dit…

Big C, the gin:tonic ratio was very similar to that, trust me...

Anonyme a dit…

Wow. I think I would have completely freaked out rather than just order a gin and tonic...

travelling, but not in love a dit…

Marjolein, I guess the time for freaking out passed us by as we stood there watching the car burn....

Daryl a dit…

Poor GFW1, she did what any sane woman would do .. she drank!

travelling, but not in love a dit…

D, she did what any of us should do, me thinks....he he

A Lewis a dit…

Oh my god, you just never know what the next moment of one's life will bring, do you? I'm so sorry for the troubles. But, say now, let's talk about the firemen in the bath........

aims a dit…

So what is she driving now?

travelling, but not in love a dit…

lewis, I knew you'd be interested in the firemen...

me - glad you liked it...even if I don't know who me is, he he

Aims, bless her, she has a shiny new car courtesy of her lovely hubbie....I want one just like hers - the hubbie, not the car that is....;-)

The Mutant a dit…

Personally I'd would find that a fitting end to a Mégane Scenic, and I say that with absolutely no bias... It's not like I work for Renault or anything... Oh wait, yeah I do.

I just hope she had the good sense to make that G&T a celebratory drink rather than anything else!

red a dit…

crikey. these things only happen to you (or to those in your company) you know. or perhaps it's just that you tell them so well.

travelling, but not in love a dit…

Mutant - she now has a C4 Picasso....so I'm not sure if she should be celebrating....

Red, I think it's just that I see these things as 'tales to tell' rather than just as random events that get forgotten. Maybe?

The Mutant a dit…

A C4 Picasso? I mean really. First of all as a good friend you should sit her down and tell her 'no more MPV's' then as a good friend you should probably pull her aside and tell her 'no more French cars' then finally you should probably slap the living hell out of her for buying both in the first place!

travelling, but not in love a dit…

mootant - je agree. But hey, what can I say? I live in a sea of french cars...

The Hangar Queen a dit…

Hmmm...I feel a joke about Pierre the famous French fighter pilot coming on.

He too went down in flames.

You should all have lit cigars from the flames and pillaged the bar.

travelling, but not in love a dit…

HQ - I can imagine the rest of the story, thank you. Cigars would have been good...

cb a dit…

How come not ONE mishap like this happened when I was over there visiting????

travelling, but not in love a dit…

CB, because you are like a lucky charm. Except when it comes to pulling. Lol.

Anonyme a dit…

I love a good open fire. But that's just taking the piss. :)