by Real Traveler The Banhams
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Bubbles, Bubbles everywhere!

From The Banhams around the world in Hermonville, France on Jun 01 '07

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How cute are my babies?
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A shorter blog this time but we thought it's be rude to miss our (brief) European stop-over from our blog.

First up we need to address a particlar issue..... it appears that everyone is under some illusion that we have drunk our way around the world, this is not entirely true. As most of you know we do like a drink, however most of our evening have been spent playing a never ending amount of cards (scores are: 1,218 Jo: 1,194 Rupert) and drinking fizzy water. These nights don't really make a great read so we tend to keep them to ourselves! Even so (as you can tell from the comments after the last blog) we are still very capable of holding our own and have managed to leave a sizeable trail of destruction across the UK.

The ever extending family in the lakes
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Briefly our trip home comprised of:

- 2 days on the river in Richmond (one being Dan's birthday and the invention of 'paper, sissors, stone' drinking)

- Zoe's wedding and pre-wedding drinks (a fantastic day all round, made slightly surreal watching Rupert and Dan running around the grounds playing with laser guns, some of the dance floor action will be avaliable soon on youtube)

- 3 days walking in the lakes ('walking' could possible be replaced by 'gossipping' between the Clarkes, Hopkins, Banhams, Meliniotis and Swinneys!)

Soaking up the sun and drinking bubbles in France
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- a huge night out in Northampton (dinner at the incredible Sacre Blau restaurant followed by transforming their bar into a karoke lounge and their patio into a card sharks den. The 'evening' finished when we discovered that it was in fact light outside and at 5.30 we left the bar, apologies to all that were working the next day)

- 3 days in Champagne (Beautiful French scenery, 9 cases of bubbles bought (thanks Andy and Liv for storing them!), 50 bottles of bubbles drunk, large amounts of French cheese, bread and salads consumed and for the second year in a row managed to break our car on the way back. Enough said really! )

A natural!
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- 3 days clearning Ruperts old room at his mums (not the most fun of jobs, but we were spoilt by Anns cooking and plenty of time with our cats!!!!)

- 3 babies to coo over (Amys for the afternoon, playing with babies and reliving the old days drinking wine in the garden)

- the final send off (Claire acting as the perfect, pampering hotess while Rupert and Dan tried to out drink each other on bubbles, vodka and beer. Lovely)

Great fun seeing those we got to catch up with and sorry to have missed out on seeing so many of you, but we were really pushed for time!

Hopking Junior and Senior
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Love to all - photos to follow later,

Jo and Rupert xxxx

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jo s mum on Jun. 9, 2007 @ 07:20PM said

Can't believe that you omitted from your blog all the exciting things you did during your stay in the uk. What about the dentist, chiropodist, solicitor and trips to the garage? I'm sur its good for everyone to hear that you are both quite normal from time tp time. It was fantastic to have you back for a while and we can't wait now until the end of September to see you both again. Happy travelling! Love to you both.

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Crabbers on Jun. 9, 2007 @ 07:20PM said

It was so great seeing you both... although that night in Sacre Bleu completely killed me! Managed to blag the whole day without being sick or falling over... went to bed at 8pm... think I was suffering from sleep deprivation! Going to a wedding this weekend and hope they will have laser guns - will be disappointed if not! Finally, whether you like it or not, Ciara, Vic and I are going to petition the English Oxford Dictionary to add a new word: "Banhamed" - to be hit by a whirlwind of bubbles, shape-throwing and awesome karaoke! Can also be associated with memory loss and insomnia! Love you both loads! K xx

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The Banhams on Jun. 9, 2007 @ 07:20PM said

We were saving that 'for best' but you've now blown our punch line! Have already started collecting for LB Top Trumps, met a beaut today - he told Rups he loved big, strong English men amd insisted that Rups called him 'Miss Thailand'....

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Cers on Jun. 9, 2007 @ 07:20PM said

It was so great to see you both; I just wish that it could have been for longer. But I’m sure you will agree that we made the most of the one evening we had by ‘forgetting’ to leave Sacre Bleu after dinner and finally stumbling out at 5.30am to be meet by daylight and confused taxi drivers. I’m still amazed that you made it to Dover in one piece, let alone managed to drink 50 bottles of bubbles … I was still struggling to keep water down for the next 24 hours.  I’t was a fantastic night though, I am still amazed at how tuneful !?! you sounder while singing Black Velvet without the words into a Karaoke that was playing the Bee Gee’s on permanent loop. Its definitely a skill !! Anyhow I’m really looking forward to the next blog from Asia, complete with all the exciting details of your non-drinking and serial card playing Love you both loads xoxoxox

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The Best Man on Jun. 9, 2007 @ 07:20PM said

Hooray - I claim the first reply. Great to ee you but that will do for a few months. I'm slightly suspicious that there is no mention of me going to sleep in the car for 3 hours in the middle of Zoe and Justyn's wedding - are you saving that story up for when it's really needed? Don't forget your mission to design LB Top Trumps whilst in Thailand, I think we've spotted a real niche in the market. x

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The Glendos on Jun. 9, 2007 @ 07:20PM said

Thanks for the text message. I have heard about Ping-Pong balls, even aware of a famous scene in a film involving an egg, but darts!!!! What kind of place were you in?? Also going back to Dan, it's not the falling asleep in the car at Zoe & Justin's Wedding you should be worried about. More about what Rup's & Karl were doing whilst you were asleep (not the drinking). Love to you both xx P.S. Thought I would change my pictures, so everyone can see just how much you like your bubbles!!!

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Lady B on Jun. 9, 2007 @ 07:20PM said

Princess Jo and Prince Rupert - can't believe we missed each other (hopefully you got my message!) So glad that you had a fab time at home! Hopefully catch up soon! Look forward to next entry! Lots of Love xx

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Mrs Zoe on Jun. 9, 2007 @ 07:20PM said

Well, it seemed rude not to add a comment as I kinda feel the whole trip home was our fault. Thanks for coming back for the wedding, we had a smashing day and you have certainly made an impression on our other friends and family! We went to see Gill and Martin last night, Mart is looking forward to a trip to Champagne with you next year - Gill and I are volunteering J and Martin to attend, we don't think we'd make it back alive! We have seen some photos of the big day, but keep them coming!! We then might be able to get some photos ready for when you 2 get back and we organise your welcome home party! Honeymoon was amazing - we loved South Africa and especially safari - lots of stories to bore everyone with! We have now both returned to normality, thankfully on safari they still had us up at 6 so that was not too much of a shock! We'll look forward to seeing you in a few months and hope you're having a wonderful time in Asia. Also, Justyn's very glad you've adopted Martin - he is hoping that he'll either have someone to commiserate with when you next kill him or he'll be able to observe! I can't wait!! Love you both lots, Zoe xxx P.S - Jo, you're the first person I've ever met to beat Rupe at cards - nice one love!! I'd love more stories on how well he is accepting being beaten!!

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