Our last breakfast in the Grand, as was the first, was enjoyed in the quiet space of the Cyan restaurant rather than the main breakfast room.

It was then time for Mr C to pick up our car and bring it to the front of the hotel whilst I waited in the room for the concierge to assist with our luggage. When the concierge arrived, we had a chuckle about Mr C’s case that had too many wheels and stopped it from holding the door open. He soon fixed that by turning it on its side.

We chatted whilst he loaded the trolley with our luggage. He said that it was a lovely room which I agreed. I mentioned the conference that was taking place in the adjacent rooms during the first few days of our stay. The concierge said that the rooms on either side of the stairway known as Napoleon and Eugenie suites were part of the presidential suite and that the hotel might turn those rooms into bedrooms.

Bags loaded onto the trolley, I suggested I meet him downstairs and he said he would be with me in a couple of minutes. It was more than a couple of minutes before I saw both him and our luggage arrive from the lift area. He was preceded by one of his colleagues who came over to me to apologize for the delay. It was busy and there had been a queue for the lift. It wasn’t a problem for me and I said so.

Meanwhile, Mr C had retrieved our car and was parked outside the front of the hotel despite having experienced a problem with the car parking ticket.

Car loaded up and ready to go, we set off towards Petworth which potentially involved getting stuck in the Bury Triangle again. On this occasion the car park wasn’t full and we were able to park and visit the National Trust property which is essentially an art gallery. There was also a cute elephant artwork trail throughout the grounds. We saw a few on our walks to and from the house but it was too hot and we had limited time to venture further into the estate grounds.

We had hoped to have lunch in the nearby ‘Pop up Toast’ again but unfortunately it was ‘popped down’ and closed. We eventually found a suitable garden centre, part of the Quires chain. I ordered a coronation chicken sandwich and apple juice. The latter arrived in a half pint glass, only vaguely tasting of apple rather than the fresh carton/bottle of apple juice that I was expecting.

We continued on our journey homeward stopping to pick up ingredients for our evening meal; Lemony Pork Piccata. There were delays on the motorway near Birmingham due to a car fire which we observed to be well and truly burnt out when we arrived at the scene.

This delay along with encountering rain on entering the Midlands after days of glorious sunshine down south meant that our ‘Fine Dining’ was enjoyed inside rather than on the patio.

It was our Silver Wedding Anniversary so we opened our cards and prezzies then went downstairs for breakfast. Before heading out for the day we took photos of us posing on the balcony with the sea in the background. We had intended to get a professional photographer to take some photos of the occasion but none of photographers we approached replied to our messages.

I opened up my tripod to find that it was no longer fit for purpose. When I extended the legs, the clips broke off one by one. It was a good job I had my sturdy GorillaPod with me. It easily clung to one of the hotel chairs at just the right angle to get some nice photographs.

After the photo opportunity we walked to the Royal Pavilion where we were able to get discounted tickets due to our English Heritage membership. On the outside, the Pavilion is Indian in style whereas the inside has a Chinese influence. The inside is even more ostentatious and extravagant than the outside.

When we had finished our tour of the Pavilion it was time for lunch which we had in the Pavilion Gardens Café. I chose an egg and tomato sandwich which I prefer over the more usual egg mayonnaise. After I had finished a seagull attempted a duck and dive from behind me with his eye on a crust that remained on the plate. He was unsuccessful in his attempt.

Next, we visited the Brighton Museum and Art Gallery. It is currently housing an exhibition ‘Out of the Ordinary’ displaying the work of the photojournalist Roger Bamber who was from Brighton. The exhibition was well worth the entry fee alone, his photography is outstanding.

We returned to the hotel where Mr C ordered a bottle of Prosecco to enjoy in our room whilst we relaxed before dinner. We had eventually come up with a Plan B dining option; the nearby Coal Shed.

The food and service were excellent, although I felt a little overdressed for the surroundings. During our meal we had been trying to place the accent of the waiter who served us. I had him as being from Australia or perhaps New Zealand but it turned out that he is from South Africa.

Rather than seek out another potentially dodgy pub we returned to the hotel and enjoyed a post-dinner wine in the relative calm of the hotel bar.

We were greeted at the entrance to the breakfast room and taken to a breakfast table which was in the Cyan restaurant just outside the main breakfast room. It was a lovely quiet location with a sea view. The greeter showed us to our seat and explained how the fully self-service buffet worked. The hot and cold food choices were excellent.

After breakfast we set off on our chosen walking route from the Rough Guide to Brighton, Sussex and the West Downs. Our route took in the sea front, The Lanes, The Pavilion and the Railway Station and the Volks Railway Station. I was a bit surprised by Mr C’s reaction on seeing the Pavilion for the first time. He laughed!!! Not at all what I had expected.

During our walk we stopped for lunch at Brand 16 in the Lanes, Duke Street, a place that serves luxury toasties. We had enjoyed a refreshing drink there the previous afternoon on our initial walk around Brighton.

We returned to the hotel to chill out and recover from our 8-mile walk. Once again, we had hoped that we could dine in the hotel’s Restaurant Cyan but we were informed that it was closed on Mondays and Tuesdays. We elected to dine in the hotel’s grill bar which they kept pushing. The food was good quality but not exquisite. I chose the fish option but the sides and sauces didn’t quite work to perfection. The service was not as attentive as we would have expected from a hotel of the Grand’s calibre. Whilst we were dining, a fight broke out just outside the hotel entrance area which the duty concierge skilfully dealt with.

The fact that the hotel’s main restaurant, Cyan, was not open on Tuesdays meant that we wouldn’t be able to dine in the hotel for our anniversary meal the following day. This meant we needed a plan B.

I chose a more appropriate skirt for walking for walking along the windy lanes of Brighton in search of a pub that Mr C thought had potential for a good pint of beer. The previous evening my skirt was light and flyaway so I had to hold on to it to preserve my dignity. We arrived at the chosen pub to find that it was Karaoke night. Not at all what Mr C had in mind. He quickly located a potential alternative but soon after we arrived, he didn’t like the atmosphere and would happily have moved on again. I felt quite comfortable there and didn’t pick up on any negative vibes. We returned to the hotel where I took a nightcap up to the room to enjoy whilst writing the days adventures into my holiday notebook.

We enjoyed one last breakfast before checking out of the Norfolk Arms ready to travel to our next destination; Brighton.

I succumbed to the temptation and called in at the Wildlife and Wetlands Centre to purchase a pair of binoculars. I tested them out again eventually settling on a pair that I thought would be best for my needs. I had to wait a short while to purchase them due to a long queue of visitors booking in for a day in the wetlands.

Next, we visited the nearby Bignor Roman Villa; a large Roman courtyard villa discovered by George Tupper when he struck a large stone whilst ploughing his farm in 1811. The villa has some interesting and unique finds.

By now it was time for elevenses so we set off for a nearby village. We never arrived in the village due to being repeatedly drawn back into, what we started to call, the Bury triangle. Instead, we ended up at Petworth just in time for lunch. The eagle eyed will realise that Petworth is in completely the opposite direction to Brighton. The National Trust carpark for Petworth House was full so we left and parked next to the deer park hoping that there would be a lunch opportunity there.

We weren’t disappointed, we found the delightfully named ‘Toast Me Up’ tucked away in one corner of the car park. It was perfect and my toasted sandwich was delicious.

After lunch Mr C headed off towards the coast thinking of a coastal drive towards Brighton. Mr C chose to include Bognor Regis in his itinerary. When we arrived, it was every bit as bad as I thought it would be. Next town along the coast Littlehampton where once again we elected not to stop and continued inland straight to Brighton.

We drove straight to our hotel, the Grand, arriving at the drop off point in front of the hotel. We were greeted by 3 suited and bowler-hatted concierges. Mr C was directed to park his car and, before I could get out of the car, the boot was unpacked and they had whisked Mr C away along with our luggage. When he returned to the car, one of the concierges explained how to get to the car park and back to the hotel.

When I eventually got to the room it was WOW! All that I hoped it would be. We left the bags in the walk-in luggage area and went for a stroll around Brighton before returning to freshen up before dining in the French-styled Bistro du Vin. We had intended to dine in the Cyan restaurant at the Grand but we found that it closes early on a Sunday.

We had a brief visit to Weatherspoon’s before taking a leisurely stroll along the seafront back to the hotel for a nightcap in the bar.