Jim and I agree that our three-year drive around the world is the best honeymoon possible, but we – well, I – still wanted to spend a special night in some magical place in celebration of our marriage. Jim suggested we go to the English country inn of Le Manoir Aux Quat’ Saisons, also home to a world-renowned restaurant.

The spacious rooms in the inn were predictably English with more Chintz than Buckingham Palace, but the enormous bathtub, surrounded by several decanters of aromatic bath salts, was certainly more California than Britain. We relaxed before having drinks in the library, and then headed to dinner around 7:30 p.m. beginning with complimentary appetizers and pumpkin soup served in demitasse cups. Then I ate a small watercress salad with pan-fried duck foie gras, apple, black pudding and roasted hazelnut dressing (29 English pounds), and Jim began with risotto of wild mushrooms, cep, lemon verbena veloute and pan-fried frog legs (28 English pounds). For our main course, Jim ate braised shoulder of rabbit in a Pinot Noir red wine sauce in a tarragon and mustard jus (32 English pounds) and I devoured roasted wild English partridge, autumn vegetables, braised chestnuts with Sauternes and red currant jus (34 English pounds).

Service was not as outstanding as the prices might imply or as the restaurant’s two-star Michelin rating would suggest. We waited over an hour for our first course, another 45 minutes for our main course and decided to forgo dessert since we were exhausted from the wedding festivities. We finished the meal with a little cheese, but to our amazement, Le Manoir did not have Stilton!