"Life is what happens when you're busy doing other things." Words of wisdom I've often heard from a dear friend, for indeed sometimes life does throw you off course and you find yourself in unexpected circumstances. Such was our story when we returned from Lourmarin to California last December when unexpected knee surgery meant that the biggest decision of my day became whether I should attempt to stand. But nothing lasts forever, time heals and despite the uncertainty of whether I'd be able to travel, just a few weeks ago we were outside the door to our little house. It felt a million miles away from our 'other life' but we were back.

As we strolled down our street into the village the next morning everything was just as we'd left it. When we're not there, Lourmarin, and our life there, really does feel 'a million miles away'. It takes on a dream like quality and after a while I find myself questioning, is it really as special as my reminiscences? The fact that on our return it actually is, always brings me such joy, why do I persistently doubt myself?

Sipping coffee outside Café Gaby, watching the world stroll by, our morning baguette just purchased, it felt as if we'd never been away.

A few days before Easter, when visitors would be returning, the village was ready. Restaurant tables and chairs were neatly arranged and fresh flowers carefully placed. The shops were newly stocked with temptations, their enticing displays spilling out onto the streets.

On Friday market day the village began to bustle.

At this time of year local asparagus and strawberries dominate the grocery stalls, deliciously sweet with their promise of summer.

The band was back in their regular spot filling the air with a their melodious sound, contributing to the festive atmosphere.

And within days we were returning to the places we love.

L'Isle-sur-la-Sorgue ~Sunday market day

The Antique Fair at L'Isle-sur-la-Sorgue

L'Isle-sur-la-Sorgue is known as the Antique Capital of Provence with its plethora of antique shops and galleries. Each Sunday, alongside a traditional Provencal market, there is an antique market. In addition, twice a year, a spectacular Antiques Fair settles itself within this delightful little town. We wandered from stall to stall hoping to discover an irresistible temptation!

Tintin

This year, amongst all the antique treasures sat a Tintin display. Who doesn't remember this courageous Belgian reporter and his dog Snowy? Created by Georges Remi, a Belgian cartoonist, who wrote under the pen name Hergé, the adventures of Tintin first appeared in 1929 in Le Petit Vingtième. It became one of the most popular European comic stores of the 20th century, published in more than 70 languages with sales over over 70 million and adapted for radio, television and film. If anyone wanted a souvenir of their childhood hero, here it was!

Château la Coste

La Terrasse at Château la Coste

Sat at a brightly coloured bistro table, under the trellis at Château la Coste's La Terrasse restaurant, listening to the soft chuckle of the fountain and the charming lilting tones of excited French chatter, is one of favourite lunchtime spots.

Château La Coste is a stunning wine domain 14km from Aix-en-Provence. It showcases not only fine wine but food, (La Terrasse being just one of of its five restaurants) art, architecture and well-being.

THE ART AND ARCHITECTURE WALK

Art is a particular feature at Château La Coste. The Art and Architecture Walk is a two hour stroll between the olive groves and vines, where one meanders through the woods stopping to admire the incredible pieces of modern art which pepper the walk. I wasn't quite up for a walk that long but I'm hoping to do is soon.

Open March 1st – November 1st Everyday 10 am – 7 pm
November 2 – February 29 Monday to Friday 10 am to 5 pm Saturday and Sunday until 7 pm. There is an admission charge, click her for more details

Crouching Spider ~Louise Bourgeois 

Dominating the art collection is Louise Bourgeois’ bronze statue 'The Crouching Spider'. The spider hovers just above the glistening water by the Art Center, its' twisting, muscular legs reflecting the gnarled limbs of the surrounding vines

This year even the trees beside the restaurants reflect the artistic vibe, adorned with golden bauble necklaces

And let's not forget the wine!

Committed to using biodynamic principles, Château La Coste blends Cabernet Sauvignon, Syrah, Grenache, Vermentino, Sauvignon Blanc, Chardonnay and Cinsault grapes. Sample for yourself, the wine shop opens every day at 10.00. Learn more here.

At the end of the day, our terrace seems to be the perfect place to enjoy a local vintage, admiring our view as slowly the sky changes color and nightfall settles itself upon the village.

And so Lourmarin is no longer a million miles away. As we settle back into our life in Provence it's now our other life that begins to flicker, rippling like reflections on the water until we return.

This time we're here for a while, battling the detritus of Brexit we have long stay visas. We have so much to look forward to, most of all just 'being' in this special place, 'busy' with the 'business of living', living in Provence. September will come quickly, and Maison des Cerises will be then be available (as it is for a short while in July & August) should you want to sample this enchanting little corner of France.

A bientôt!

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I haven’t written a post for a while, feeling unsure during these difficult times about what people might want to read.

Springtime in Provence?

But then I’m not actually there, and like most people can’t even get there.....

Life on the ski slopes of Lake Tahoe?

Perhaps that would sound too idyllic? Living on the ski slopes at Lake Tahoe's ski resort, Northstar, especially now, has been very special. We've felt blessed to be surrounded by such breathtaking winter beauty, able to ski from our front door, but even here, life has been restricted and often lonely.....

Then I thought about comparing life under COVID in Britain, California and Provence? But despite the glimpses of light at the end of the tunnel, would people really want to read any more about COVID?

I started to question why I even write this blog, that perhaps my silence had driven my readers away?

And then I received two comments on posts I’d written several years ago. One about the WWII American Air base at Greenham Common in England (written in 2018) and the other about Changi Gaol in Singapore (written in (2015). Both very personal and both connected to World War II. A reminder that however challenging and for some tragic, this last year has been, we haven’t had to endure the horrific challenges of war ~ the tyranny of occupation, the terror of being bombed or despair of parting with our loved ones leaving to fighting a war no one ever wanted……

That these people had reached out to me also helped me realize why I write; connecting with others, that my ramblings get found and resonate. I often fret that my focus should be about sharing useful information, travel related or otherwise, when in fact the posts which receive the most love are often those about the journey of life, written from the heart. So forgive me, here are some seasonal, heart-felt perspectives about my three special places.

Provence in the spring

I've been in Provence in the spring many times and of course it’s beautiful!  Like many other places at this time of year the air smells fresh and crisp, the buds and leaves are bursting, Provence's abundant fruit trees kissed with blossom petals. These cherry blossoms bloom outside our front door, hence the name of our house ~ Maison des Cerises ~House of the Cherry Trees.

All across the region, throughout the sprawling vineyards, the vines' gnarly fists begin to show the promise of the coming season's abundance as the leaves of surrounding trees unfurl into a canopy of green.

Spring flowers splash cheer along the roadside heralding new life, brimming their radiance in the market stalls and shops. Lourmarin's delightful florist 'Une Fleur M'a Di' welcoming the season with a whimsical touch.

And in Provence's markets, bright yellow bouquets of Mimosa take center stage.

El-fresco diners flow onto the cobbled streets where below the clay tiled rooftops and shuttered windows the ambience of this ancient place is so beguiling.

The video art spectacle Carrières de Lumières resumes next month, April 3 2021, one of my favorite places to visit and take our visitors. This year it will be profiling the work of Cezanne and Kandinsky. Even though Carrières de Lumières' stunning Van Gogh production is  now being shown in other cities, including San Francisco, its' setting at Les Baux-de-Provence in an old bauxite quarry cave, nestled under the crumbling ramparts of a medieval Provencal village perché, is somehow more enticing!!

There’s been some changes in the 13 months since we've been in Lourmarin. An impressive new shop for our wonderful bakery ~ Boulangerie de Stéphane Riquier ~an even shorter stroll from our house! And next door Lourmarin has been blessed with the addition of a butcher, Boucherie de Lourmarin ~ Avenue du 8 mai 1945 Route d'Apt 84160 Lourmarin ~ thanks to the wonders of their social media posts I know I'm going to be a regular customer! I so hope later this year we can return to our enchanting Provencal village.

England in the spring

In early March the British Isles become resplendent with spring flowers and blossoms, stunning banks of primroses tumbling throughout the woodlands. My own Home thoughts from Abroad, so aptly written by Robert Browning, years ago, resonate deeply ~ “Oh to be in England now that Spring is here”

Fields of baby lambs.

Normally at this time of year pub gardens get busy, people happy to be able to enjoy a pint and lunch outside. Sadly, this year, during COVID, they'll have to wait, hopefully only until mid April.

And in spring, English gardens everywhere burst into life.

A tad cooler than Provence, but that same feeling of expectancy, with blossoms sprinkling a confetti of petals across the tree branches.

Lake Tahoe, California

When we first arrived in Lake Tahoe in mid-November, just the highest slopes of The Northstar Ski Resort, where we've been living, were dusted with snow.

And then the snow came and the resort sprung to life. Thanks to Northstar's efficiency and their COVID precautions, the resort has stayed open and we've felt safe enjoying skiing in this stunning place.

Those initial days of powder were soon followed by winter storms. The view from our window became a blanket of winter white.

Not without its challenges for those that needed to travel!

But making the magnificent views across the lake from the top of the mountain even more spectacular.

The nearby town of Truckee became carpeted with banks of thick cotton wool.

And we watched in delight and pride as our our 2 year-old granddaughter became competent with her tiny boots and skis for the first time ~ "More Grandpa! More!"

And then there's Lake Tahoe itself ..........

My three vey special places in the early spring. I hope you are reading this from somewhere you love as much, stay safe, things are getting better!

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December is here. Despite the unprecedented challenges of the year the seasons have changed regardless. The skies of California are still cornflower blue, especially in the Tahoe mountains where we’re living for a few months, but winter has arrived. There’s not been much snow but the frigid night time temperatures are permitting it to be made and we've already had four days on the slopes! Bare tree branches dusted with frost and snow glint in the bright morning sunlight and the air is fragrant with pine. Having shed her crimson autumn gown Mother Nature is readying herself for her mantle of white. Christmas is upon us and excited small children trudge through the snow to cut down their Christmas trees.

As the end of the year approaches, one that will not be remembered fondly, it’s easy to become nostalgic. In the spirit of Charles Dickens' beloved ‘Christmas Carol’, there’s comfort to be drawn reflecting on Christmas past, wondering how things will be this Christmas and perhaps pondering upon Christmas yet to come.

Christmas Past

When contemplating previous Christmases my thoughts invariably turn to England where I grew up and where, in my opinion there is no better place to be at Christmas. Last year we were there.

Our trip actually began in Germany, in a tiny picturesque village near Cologne where of course we visited its splendid Christmas markets. Glittering enticingly, Christmas markets have been held beneath the spires of the city’s magnificent cathedral for over one hundred and eighty years. I hope they are there this year too.

We then went to London. Bedecked with Christmas splendor London sparkles and glows at Christmas. The streets are festooned with lights, Regent Street being the most spectacular. The shops are at their most splendid and the West End theatres thrill audiences with their Christmas productions and pantomimes. The American classic 'White Christmas' in London was magical!

Another children's classic was featured across the city, Raymond Brigg's Snowman popped up everywhere! We even found Father Christmas, from his other beloved Christmas story!

After the theatre and shopping we were in need of refreshment and no where could have been more atmospheric and authentic than Gordons. Tucked away down a small alley way near Charing Cross Station it is believed to be London's oldest wine bar, still run by the Gordon family, who have been serving drinks since 1890. Sat beneath its vaulted ceiling in the cellar it felt like we'd stepped into a Dickens' novel!

We spent Christmas the best way there is to spend Christmas, with family in North Yorkshire, just north of possibly England’s most beautiful city, York. We browsed for our Christmas gifts along the cobbled streets, exploring the antique shops crammed with treasures below the spires of the cathedral which dominate the skyline.

All the traditional English fare; turkeys, mince pies, Christmas puddings, chutneys and preserves were readily available. We found pheasants hanging from a butcher’s window and even spotted Father Christmas attempting an early descent.

We were really spoiled, a Christmas party in our honor, carols by candlelight at the church and a brisk walk on Christmas morning along the beach before a sumptuous Christmas lunch, roast turkey and all the trimmings!

We indulged in fish and chips a couple of nights before. The most delicious in the world really are from Yorkshire!

Christmas present

Many of us will be preparing for the festivities differently this year. Shopping will be mostly online, perhaps we’ll miss the excited bustle of crowded shops or maybe we’ll be glad to avoid it. Pantomimes and theaters productions won’t be happening, church pews will be empty, carol singers might not be gathering and Christmas markets will be a rarity. Saddest of all, many people will not be able to freely gather with family and friends but Christmas will still be celebrated even if the sparkle is missing. For some, because of this tragic pandemic, it will be particularly difficult, the first Christmas without someone they love......

I will be thinking of my fairy tale village in Provence where despite everything I’m sure preparations for le Fête Noël are underway. Even if the festive wooden chalets of the Marchés de Noël don’t line the Cours Mirabeau in Aix-en-Provence I know the local people will do all they can to ensure their local traditions continue. Buying the delicious Calissons d’Aix and displaying the santons in their Nativity scenes. My family for one would like me to adopt the age old French custom of having thirteen deserts! You can remind yourself of Provence traditions here.

Christmas yet to be

Next year I’m sure things will have improved. The pandemic will be more under control and there will be things to look forward to again. Maybe we’ll even be in Provence for Christmas 2021. Sadly apart from a few days in January we haven’t been to Lourmarin all year. But as I’ve said before, ‘this too shall pass'.

We’re being optimistic and have reinstated our cancelled airline tickets to return to England and Lourmarin next May ~

However trying life has been, at this time of year there’s magic in the air. I hope it will be sprinkled upon you allowing you to enjoy the festive season. Happy Christmas my friends, and remember, good things happen to all those who truly believe.........

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The COVID pandemic has consumed us all. My heart goes out to those that have lost loved ones and the debt owed to our health care workers can never be repaid. Globally the world has been tipped on its axis. As it continues to spin it sometimes feels that it will never stop, will life ever return to normal?

For us, amongst other things, we have been disappointed not to be able to travel to Lourmarin. We’ve kept in touch with friends we’ve made there and just recently I heard from Susan and Towny in New Hampshire who like us have a long enduring love affair with Lourmarin. It was wonderful to hear from them but also very humbling as reading Susan’s email I realized that however frustrating and financially challenging the effects of COVID might be, compared to the life changing tragedy they’ve been forced to deal with our problems pale into insignificance.

Two years ago, unrelated to COVID, Susan and Towny lost their beautiful, vivacious, twenty-six-year old daughter Alex to a devastating little-known illness called PANDAS.

Susan and Towny lived with Alex in Lourmarin in 2002 and during that time made lifelong friends. It is actually because of Susan that we met our friend Walter, whose help with the purchase and renovation of our house was invaluable.

Three years ago our families spent a wonderful evening together in Lourmarin. Our lovely daughter Kate was with us. Two bright, bubbly young women of a similar age found they had much in common, a mutual love of Provence being one of them. We still have our Kate but Alex is gone......

It is impossible to recover from such terrible loss but Susan and Towny are an incredible inspiration. Determined that other people don’t have to endure their suffering and pain they have bravely committed themselves to educating people about PANDAS which if detected and diagnosed can be treated. By establishing The Alex Manfull Memorial Fund, and attending medical conventions they are committed to telling her story and with the help of dear friends in Lourmarin have begun a project, À Table! to help spread awareness.

There’s is a story of deep sorrow but it is also a thought provoking story of courage and a reminder of the goodness of people. It's one I asked Susan if I could share, to help raise awareness about this ugly disease which so cruelly stole their only child away from them.

Several of Susan and Towny's friends from Lourmarin have joined with them in the À Table! project to help. I know Gérard and Christine Isirdi, Gérard did a commission  for my friend which we are in!

Madeleine Premmereur of Château Barbebelle I’ve not met but I’m hoping to do so. And Hervé Giustiniani, the owner of De la cuisine Au 20 in Lourmarin, I don’t know personally, yet, but I know his smiling face and his delightful shop.

So how are they helping the À Table! project and what exactly is it?

Susan and Towny are dedicated wine connoisseurs, they author a wonderful blog Provencewinezine and decided to use their knowledge and passion for wine via the À Table! project as one of their ways to raise awareness about PANDAS.

As Susan wrote “….. we got the idea of using bottles of wine to spread the word about the deadly role of strep in causing neuropsychiatric symptoms. Many people know that strep infections can seriously affect the heart, kidneys, skin, and joints (e.g., rheumatic fever, scarlet fever, and even necrotizing fasciitis) but they don’t know how it can lead to very serious inflammatory conditions in the basal ganglia part of the brain. The label on the wine bottle and an attached booklet would contain information about strep and PANDAS (and a related condition called PANS)”.

Gérard is a renowned painter whose atelier is on the main street in Lourmarin.

His iconic scenes of village life and the Luberon are admired across the continents.

Gérard has designed the wine label

Madeleine Premmereur (née Herbeau), is the 4th generation of her family to manage the 16th century Château Barbebelle, one of the oldest estates in the Coteaux d’Aix-en-Provence, located in Rognes, near Aix-en Provence.

Madeleine, here with Susan, has supplied the vintages

Hervé, pictured here with Towny, is selling the wine in Lourmarin

Susan wondered if somehow I might have found my way to Lourmarin and be able to interview their dear friends to write this article. Sadly, like Susan and Towny we have not been able to get there. It will however be my first blog post when I return but for now I hope I can help in this tiny way to let you all know about the incredible work they are doing.

COVID has currently prevented them, for now, from moving their project forward in the way they’d hoped. Travel to Lourmarin from USA is almost impossible but Hervé has the wine for sale at De La Cuisine Au 20 Wine and Épicerie in Lourmarin.

From July 31st 2020 the wine has also been for sale in Susan’s local wine merchant in Portsmouth, New Hampshire at the South Street and Vine Wine and Cheese Shop.

As part of their awareness campaign Susan and Towny are asking everyone to raise their glasses (of Alex's wine or their favorite beverage, even tea or sparkling water) to Alex and every other person diagnosed with PANDAS with the promise that they will spread the word about this horrible disorder.  Please take a photo of the toast and send it to Susan at: susan@provencewinezine.com. She will post them all on Instagram (@TheAlexManfullMemorialFund) on Alex's birthday, September 7.

I wish Susan and Towny all the luck in the world. This is written with so much love and respect for them and the special people that are helping them from the beguiling little village in the Luberon that connects us all so profoundly, our enchanting village of Lourmarin.

To purchase the wine contact Susan: susan@provencewinezine.com

Contact Information:

Château Barbebelle
Route D 543, 13840 Rognes, France
Tel: (33) 4 42 50 22 12 Email: contact@barbebelle.com

Gérard Isirdi
Atelier Isirdi, 4 rue Henri de Savornin 84160 Lourmarin, France
Tel : (33) 4 90 08 50 96 Email: isirdi@wanadoo.fr

De La Cuisine Au 20
20 Rue du Temple, 84160 Lourmarin, France
Tel : (33) 9 53 96 96 61 Email: contact@delacuisineau20.com

South Street and Vine
359 Marcy St, Portsmouth, NH 03801            Tel: (603) 430-2984 Email: robin@southstreetandvine.com

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These are unprecedented times. As I type those words, I cannot help but think of another unprecedented time when the world faced a different peril. I’ve often wondered if I’d been alive then, would I have had what it takes to be extraordinary.... just as those working in health care services all over the world are doing right now.

I have no medical skills to offer but maybe I can send a little cheer through words and photos taken at this time of year from the special places that I’m so privileged to say are part of my life.

From California

to England

and a tiny village where church bells tell the time.

Families were torn apart eighty years ago, their loved ones fighting a battle few could understand. Today the world is confronting a different menace, one that's also difficult to understand. One that separates us, people feel isolated and scared, unable to leave their homes, bewildered by this unseen enemy.

But we can still connect with each other; social media and conference video tools allow us to see each other’s smiles across the continents and they're free. Last night all across France church bells rang in a sign of unity. I was sent this from my lovely village of Lourmarin, where the bells I hear across the roof tops I see from my terrace (above) sung too, it was snowing, frozen tears of unity....

This morning heart was warmed listening to Australia's Couch Choir created from over 1000 videos from across the world.

"There's so many people feeling isolated at the moment … we can't be near each other, and Couch Choir is a solution to that." Astrid Jorgensen creator of Couch choir.

Inspiring ideas spread fast, even before I published this I was sent this link to a similar choir singing in Boston at the Berklee College of Music.

Many of us can still take a walk and feel fresh air on our faces. I'm so blessed with views like this, to be in a beautiful open space minutes from my own front door.

Take joy from the natural beauty that maybe you've never really appreciated before.

Everyone everywhere is asking the same question, when will it be safe for life to return to normal? I wish I knew. I wish I could wake up in the morning to a new day when none of this was happening. Everything looks the same but everything's changed, for now....

It's essential we all do our part, that we stop the virus spreading, washing our hands correctly, adhering to social distancing and quarantining if we become sick. However frustrating this might be if we don’t follow this advice someone might die, lots of someone’s.

Difficult times often bring out the best in people. Today I learned about a volunteer group #STUDENTSAGAINSTCORONA started by college students in England but now spreading across the world. Thank you to them and others; those who are shopping for neighbors, delivering them medications and essential supplies. Thank you to those who are still working trying to preserve important services, to those who have come out of retirement to support health care systems, and to those who have turned their skills to make things at home like much needed face masks. Maybe some of these people feel they're only making a tiny difference but together they're making a big one.

We have no one who can mobilize the English language and send it in to battle. Few leaders who clearly communicate, reassure and inspire us with hope for a brighter future. If we did, I’m sure we’d be told as I am telling you now that if each and every one of us does our part all will be well….. eventually and it will.

Stay safe, stay well, fight coronavirus. Hope still waits at the end of the rainbow.

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I'm delighted to have been invited to speak at the Pilsudski Institute, London on May 14th 2019 about my novel  THE SUNFLOWER FIELD

Interwoven with a modern day, fictitious wartime mystery, THE SUNFLOWER FIELD  tells the true story of three Polish mathematicians who in 1932 first cracked the ENIGMA code. Considered completely unbreakable, the ENIGMA code was used by the Nazi's to encrypt their messages before transmission. Sharing this intelligence with the Allies on the eve of World War II, it was one of the most significant contributions to the Allied victory and the foundation for subsequent wartime code-breaking efforts.

Barely acknowledged and forgotten within the folds of history it's a story that's hardly been told, until now.

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Don't you ever wonder when you ask your friends how they are and they always say ‘wonderful’? Really, always wonderful, no-one's life is wonderful all of the time, is it? I know I’m a sharer, I write a blog after all and admittedly I mostly write about all that’s wonderful, who wants to read anything else? So you might want to stop reading now because sorry, I’m about to defer from that norm! I hinted in my last post that renovating our house has had its trials. We’ve had the usual issues of workmen not turning up, supplies not being ordered and ‘interesting’ situations when walls are found to not be straight; really ‘quelle surprise’, an 18th century house in Provence with wonky walls?

Of course the solution to most things is always a bigger bill, and as your Euros go flying out the window your enthusiasm begins to wither. You try not to count the delays and how much more it is costing and then finally pushing the workmen out the door you move in knowing there are a few things to resolve but really hardly anything ……

That was over two weeks ago, seventeen days of not that much being wonderful at all! It started with the new American fridge. Yes it’s big, but before we bought it we'd checked with the builder that it would go up the curving staircase to the kitchen (by the terrace) and ‘quelle surprise’ it didn’t!

A crane was ordered to haul it in from the street below and a further 350 euros flew from our wallet. Okay, we gritted our teeth, we’d have our ice for those G&T’s and a chiller for all that rosé, it was just one of those things but the fridge decided otherwise. You know when the smoke detector is low on batteries and beeps every three seconds, always in the middle of the night which somehow amplifies the sound 100th fold? Yes that’s the sound our Samsung decided to emulate, cheerily flashing a continuous blue light announcing the door was open and then promptly turning itself off. The appliance shop shrugged because we have ‘the petite probleme’ who is going to pay to crane it out and crane a new one back in?

Wonderful? Non! But what are you going to do? On that particular day, we did what most Brits do, we went to make a cuppa. Ok so we hadn’t yet bought a kettle but we’re resourceful, we can boil water in a saucepan, can’t we? I pressed all the buttons on my brand new ceramic cooking hob, I pressed them again a tad more firmly, I reached for the instructions, I wasn’t doing anything wrong but 'NON' nothing, rien, it was dead! Dead on arrival or never connected? And now with the oven below already in situ how would it be possible to reach the electrical supply? The tea was forgotten as we checked the oven, only it was locked and with the instructions inside there was no way of knowing how to unlock it!

Frustrated and irritable, we stopped our snarling, especially at each other and decided to order pizza and relax by the fireplace with a nice local vintage. We nearly found ourselves with unexpected guests, the local Pompiers, to be precise, for within minutes black smoke was billowing into the room swirling menacingly around the newly painted cream walls. In a flurry of opening windows (mostly stuck because they had just been painted) and grabbing of towels to screeches of ‘be careful with my new White Company towels’  the by now, red hot chain (we’d wondered what that was) hanging below the hearth was yanked and miraculously a flap on the chimney top was released. So the firemen didn’t come for pizza, which was just as well as by then it was cold, but what's wrong with cold pizza, we opened another bottle of wine (for medicinal purposes) and determined to enjoy our now happily roaring fire and watch TV.

Well not the TV exactly because that also didn’t actually work yet, 'un autre petit problème', but the remote had a Netflix button so we’d be able to watch something, wouldn't we? Retrieving the remote from its plastic wrapping we stared at it miserably. It was not the one we’d seen demonstrated, the one we'd specifically selected for its roller ball mouse so one doesn’t have to annoyingly type in every letter on a key board……….Okaaaaay perspective is everything, we could return the two day old remote, we had the receipt, didn't we? NON, vanished! Nowhere to be seen, not in the files with all the other carefully saved receipts or in the suitcases or in the brief cases or under the bed or in the drawers or in the bin no, nowhere, gone completely!!!!!!

So finally to bed, we did at least have a bed, just! Our brand new beds, paid for months ago, had also been a trial for when asking to have them delivered we were been told  ‘NON, ce n'est pas possible! The beds are in the quarantine, they have the flies as do all new beds in France, they have been returned to Holland from whence they’d come.’  Yes, something was lost in translation, we hope! Suffice to say the two beds had arrived but sadly without their legs 'un autre petit problème!' Clad with socks and scarves because its November and the Mistral was blowing and we had no heating because of the plumber, we pulled the duvet over our heads.....

Of course we got the cooking top working, unlocked the oven, the smoke damage was non existent, we have changed the remote and the fridge is no longer talking to us. The integral dishwasher has got over its non-opening issues, the drier finally seems to be actually drying things, and the bucket from underneath the sink has been removed from where it was dripping water. But the other plumbing issues  are unresolved, leaking radiators, missing parts and worse of all scratches on the new travertine floors where the plumber 'tried' and failed to correctly install the loos. Thank goodness for Walter and our builder who are helping us. Suffice to say, 'ce n'est pas une surprise', we will not be recommending the plumber.

I have to admit, when I opened the shutters yesterday morning, even though the biting wind had subsided and the sun was shining I did wonder, had we made a horrible mistake?

Despondently I walked to the bakery for croissants and a baguette, (another pleasure we’d mistakenly been denying ourselves, ‘cos you know you’re not meant to be eating carbs….) and in the three minutes or so that it took to get to the boulangerie, down the cobbled street, passing the golden, shuttered windowed buildings,

through the square, where even early on a Sunday, people were sipping their cafés, I remembered why we'd bought our house in Lourmarin.

By the time I had done the return walk back to my little house I felt as if my fairy tale village had pulled out all the stops to reassure me. Yes we'd had some hiccups, all eventually resolvable and in the whole scheme of life, very trivial, ‘first world’ problems....

‘Caroleeene..' my little village seemed to be whispering to me ‘ne t'inquiète pas, ce n'est pas un problème, tout ira bien’. It’s so true, 'don’t worry, it isn’t a problem, all will be well.'

So how’s your week going, you know it’s ok to say 'actually it’s been a total pain!

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Back in March I wrote about the excitement of returning somewhere special, to Lourmarin, quoting from Daphne du Maurier’s ‘Rebecca’“Last night I dreamt I went to Manderley again.” I also mentioned that I had an appointment with a real estate agent….

A great deal has happened since then, but it all began with an email from our charming, Swiss friend Walter who manages several Lourmarin rental properties, many of which we have rented. We met in 2013 through my blogging friend Susan, do read her recent post ‘Better call Walter’ it sums him up perfectly!

A while ago we had mentioned to Walter that we’d love to find a small pied-a-terre in this village which had so captivated our souls.

We thought our wish list, was fairly modest; just two bedrooms, a terrace and of course Chris said he’d love a garage!

Walter laughed, remarking "mais oui, this is the dream of hundreds and as for finding a village house with a garage, there are hardly any, c'est impossible!"

But even Walter surprised himself, for in early March he wrote to us; “It is a miracle, I find for you the house of your dreams but if you want it, you need to catch the plane and come, you have only a small time to say 'yes'.”

So that is how, despite the blustery March weather, we came to be sitting outside our favourite Lourmarin café, Café Gaby, sharing a bottle of rosé with Walter ( in the orange sweater), the owners of a two bedroomed house (with a terrace, a garage and bonus, a cellar) and their immobilier, the lovely Gilberte, (next to me) to celebrate our signing of the Compte de Vente. That’s the part of buying a house in France when you legally agree to start the transaction. Thirty minutes earlier we had sat together in the Notaire’s office and with much signing and stamping of papers had started the process.

We had ten days to change our mind and with a prospective renovation to complete we needed to understand exactly what we were committing ourselves to. With Walter’s assistance we met with plumbers, builders and electricians, the kitchen and bathrooms needing a 'little' updating!

Despite our inadequate French we managed to understand and agreed to proceed. We closed the blue door beside the cherry tree blossoms at the rear of the house and put the coordination of the project in Walter’s capable hands.

After we had left I wondered whether I had dreamt the entire thing. It felt like we had just been participants in someone else’s story, how could we have possibly agreed to buy a maison de village in Provence? Were we really buying a little house on this street in Lourmarin, had we taken leave of our senses?

Our little maison de village didn’t become ours until early June at which point, as Walter said, we ‘attacked’ and the work commenced.  As our shopping list grew so did our French vocabulary ~ sèche serviette électrique (electric towel rail) carrelage (tiles) comptoir de cuisine, (kitchen counter) naming but a few additions to our repertoire! Somehow during a further two trips all those endless decisions were made. Eventually the new bathroom began to take shape,

the new stair case immerged

and the demolition work for the new kitchen was completed.

Like any renovation it's had its trials, made more challenging by being so far away and of course we could never have done it without Walter.

We’ve now had just 6 nights in our little house, it’s not all perfect, it’s not all finished but it’s ours. We have our very own maison de village with a terrace, a clay tiled roof, pale blue shutters

and when the season allows I will fill it with vases of smiling sunflowers. Our fairy tale village is just a mere two minute stroll away, it's a dream come true, we have bought a house in my special place, in Lourmarin.

Next time we'll peek inside.

What do you dream of? I hope you can make it come true too?

The post Our house in Lourmarin, Provence appeared first on Shutters & Sunflowers.

'The Sunflower Field,' my debut novel, is written to honor the ‘few’, of which there were thousands, who during World War II, in words inspired by Winston Churchill, "gave so much, for so many." In particular for three of those ‘few’, the Polish mathematicians, Jerzy Rozycki, Marian Rejewski and Henryk Zygalski, with whom lies the origins of one of the most significant contributions to the allied victory of World War II, the deciphering of the Nazi encrypted communication system, the Enigma code.

Château des Fouzes ~ World War II intelligence center

I discovered their story having lived in Uzès in the south of France. It led me to the gates of Château des Fouzes, a few kilometers from the town center. It was here, from 1940 to 1942, that these three men worked in secret, at this intelligence centre, code named CADIX, as part of an allied decryption unit.

The Legacy of the Poles who cracked the Enigma Code

As I stood outside the château’s gates, over seventy years later, the persistent chirping of crickets, like the ceaseless ticking of a clock, reminded me of all the minutes which had passed since these men had been here.

Yet World War II was not so long ago, it was my grandparents war, they fought in it, my parents lived through its deprivation, I, like my children, learnt about it in school and I studied it in college.

Like millions of others, I have visited the war memorials, line after line of white crosses, the museums filled with history, the beaches filled with memories, the concentration camps filled with glass containers of tiny shoes and the decimated villages filled with ruins and I have felt very small and humble. But never more so than when I stood outside Château des Fouzes, reading this small plaque, thinking about the unsung heroes it commemorates.

The Enigma Code

Rozycki, Rejewski and Zygalski, first cracked the Enigma code in 1932. The Enigma machine was originally developed in Holland just after the First World War as a cipher apparatus.

This small, typewriter looking device became available commercially and was popular with the banking industry.

Once it came into the exclusive hands of the German Armed Forces, it was developed further so that its possible configurations of approximately 158 million, million, million, made the Enigma code one that was considered unbreakable.

Bletchley Park ~ World War II code breaking

The importance of the Poles’ intelligence about the Enigma code, which they shared with the Allies on the eve of World War II, cannot be over emphasized. It lay the foundation for the subsequent decryption efforts at Bletchley Park in England, led by Alan Turing. Even with Turing’s unquestioned genius, without the Poles' contribution the ultimate final cracking of the Enigma code would have been delayed, World War II would have continued for perhaps as much as two further years, at a cost of thousands more lives.

The role the Poles played did not end in 1939, after the war had started they continued their critically important work from Paris and then in October 1940, assisted by the Resistance, from within the shadows of Château des Fouzes, until they were forced to flee in November 1942. Their achievements were monumental, the recognition for what they did far less so.

"...we shall fight in the fields and streets..... we shall never surrender."

 (W.S. Churchill June 1940)

Standing by the château gates, contemplating all that had happened during those desperate times, I asked myself, if I had been alive then, what role would I have had? Would I have joined the Resistance, would I have had their courage, their resilience, their determination, prepared to risk my all in a world besieged by terror? Would I have been able to make the types of decisions that were forced upon them, to act without hesitation, to take another’s life, to stare death in the face and play my part in the fight for a cause so much bigger than myself?

People weren’t made differently seventy years ago, what was different were the unprecedented times they found themselves living in. It was perhaps the world’s darkest hour. It bought together many people from many nations, such as these Poles who, working alongside the French and the Spanish, sent their critically important decryptions back to the British.

I am not Polish, nor do I have any connections to Poland but staring across the château’s deserted courtyard I realised that the freedom and liberties I enjoy today was because of people like them.

Wandering away from this forgotten place, buried in the south of France, my path took me down the same rutted track where their feet had trodden, between fields of dancing sunflowers and I knew that theirs was a story I had to tell.

I believe in serendipity, that maybe we are all connected by a mere six degrees of separation. So if anyone reading this can help me, as I actively seek The Sunflower Field’s publication, I’d be forever grateful. I would so love to publish this book, yes of course for me but more importantly for Jerzy Rozycki, Marian Rejewski and Henryk Zygalski, some of “the few, who gave so much, for so many………..”

Read more about The Sunflower Field by clicking here

Contact me here

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My life, as an English girl living in California in love with Provence, spending time in these three special places is made easier by just how interconnected our world has become. Sometimes I feel it’s as if we live in a iridescent spiders web of connectivity, gossamer veins joining us to everyone, everywhere.

And a few days ago those fine shimmering threads, that so intertwine our lives came together in a way that can only be described as unbelievably serendipitous.

My daughter, Kate, as many of you know, is currently living in Michigan and the other day she was chatting with her work colleague and friend in New York. As friends do, they share their joys and sorrows which sadly for many months has included the worry of her friend’s sister’s ill health. During their last call Kate’s friend mentioned how supportive her sister’s in-laws have been, despite the fact that they live far away. When Kate inquired, that far away place turned out to be France, not just any town anywhere in France but Uzès…….

Kate was amazed, she explained that she knew Uzès that she knew it really well, that I had lived there and that she had been there several times.

Kate was also surprised to learn that her friend’s brother-in-law was French …… only to be told that he wasn’t French but British,

like his parents, who had retired to France from England several years ago, he a doctor, she a midwife.

Light bulbs began to illuminate the telephone strands from Michigan to New York and then became quite dazzling when Kate was further told that the father-in-law had been a radiologist. Hardly believing that what she was thinking could be true, she gingerly inquired their names, remembering some friends of mine she had met in Uzès, he a retired radiologist and she a midwife. ………

And yes, they were one and the same people, coincidence, serendipity or what?!

So a phone conversation between Michigan

and New York

became about my British friends who live in Uzès….

and their son is married to my daughter’s friend’s sister who lives in New York….  

And my daughter, who is connecting all these dots, lives in Michigan.

A phone call from Michigan to California explained this incredible serendipity to me

and then I cast those incandescent strands even further with a call from California to Uzès….

Once my astounded friend in Uzès has taken all this in, she remarked "how strange, just this morning I was sitting in the market place in Uzès at the coffee shop where we used to go together wondering, 'when might Caroline next be here?'"

Actually sooner than she thinks…….and very soon I, in California, hope to hear from my friend in Uzès of happier news; better health for her lovely daughter-in-law in New York whose sister works with my daughter in Michigan…..

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