Post Christmas Treat at Waddesdon Manor

J has to go for a pre-op appointment so I am hauled in as first reserve.  I leave the car in Oxford having driven along the A34 in fog.   Not much traffic about, thank goodness.  I am then driven to Waddesdon by my chum.  We stop in the ancient town of Thame and have lunch in a traditional cafe.  I remember spending a wedding anniversary in this small market town.  

I have visited Waddesdon Manor a few times.  I remember especially a visit on a hot summer's day to celebrate the joint Birthday of myself and a friend.  On another occasion in the spring, I visited with the same friend as today, her husband and my lovely mum, who was a little challenged by steep hills and mud.  J was kind to her.  Today we are accompanied by the fiancé of my chum's son.  What a pleasure to meet this lovely lady from S Carolina.  

It is really foggy all day.  The mansion arises mystically out of the mist as we approach it. It is not ideal viewing for a first time visitor. 

Waddesdon Manor was built by Baron Ferdinand de Rothschild between 1874 and 1885 to display his outstanding collection of arts and to entertain the fashionable world. Built in the style of a French chalet,  Waddesdon’s collection of French 18th-century decorative arts and 17th- and 18th-century paintings is world famous. Its wine cellars and aviary of beautiful exotic birds pull the visitors in to this property.  Opened to the public in 1959, Waddesdon Manor is managed by the Rothschild Foundation, a family charitable trust, on behalf of the National Trust, who took over ownership in 1957.  

A two-metre long model of Waddesdon Manor made entirely of gingerbread is on display in the Coach House gallery. The celebrated hand-iced biscuit company Biscuiteers, have created detailed replicas of Waddesdon’s famous rooms including paintings, furniture, porcelain and textiles.  Using more than 30kg of butter and sugar, 240 eggs and 216 kg of icing, it took 500 hours to make!

Who is going to eat it?   Not sure I fancy it, with crowds having trailed past for days on end! 

A limited number of rooms in the house are decorated for Christmas, while others are closed for conservation and cleaning.  There are plenty of Christmas trees to delight our American visitor.  

Note the gingerbread theme on the trees

And there is a tree made of paper 

There is a magical Christmas grotto which brings back memories of my childhood and that of my daughter.  The daughter in law to be is very excited and wants to take a photo.  

I say this is OK if I can take one of her and the mother in law.  

Field of Light has returned in a new form and location, to celebrate 25 years since its conception. Bruce Munro and his team have ‘planted’ 9,000 slender stems crowned with radiant frosted-glass spheres to populate the Aviary Glade. The spheres, connected via illuminated optical fibre, ‘bloom’ as darkness falls taking visitors on a sensory journey through the gardens.

We drive home in the dark and fog and cold but it is well worth the effort.