Eternal Summer #2 - Paradise

Paradise House, Bath, 1995

The summer of 1995 brought the hottest summer on record to South-west England.

The Batty family thought it merely balmy at first, compared to Minnesota in August. We had been to rural Sussex and Saint Ives where the temps were in the mid 80's. By the time we reached Bath, it was well into the nineties, and the only thing air conditioned in town was a McDonald’s. We arrived in Bath in the late afternoon, our B&B was the aptly named Paradise House. Situated on a hill overlooking the city center, it was just high enough that one could catch a breeze while relaxing in a glorious garden. The boys got the room with the bay windows, the lights of the city at night were spectacular. We were in the back of the house, in what was the "cat's" room (or so she thought.) In the morning breakfast was served (with linens) by a uniformed staff.

B&B's are funny things. Many of the ones we've gone to in the U.S. have seemed to have been designed according to a "B&B master plan" - over decorated, with cheesy furnishings and more than a bit twee. Paradise House was perfect; classy and tasteful yet comfortable. Even the boys got a sense that a summer vacation could be something other than a cabin at the lake, or the Econo-lodge in the Black Hills.