Vaucluse Dreamer

It’s hard to believe that 3 weeks have passed since we had our wonderful little break for my birthday, dashing around some of the cities of France and Italy. It was such a perfect time away, simply Walking, Exploring and spending time together just doing what we enjoy doing most and watching the world pass by.

It was a really precious week, as the start of the year has been rather unsettled to say the least. Literally 48 hours after returning home, I was hugging Andy goodbye again as he returned to the UK to be with our youngest, who has been really under the weather since Christmas.

Over the last 3 weeks, The first signs of Spring have arrived and I have passed the days walking, cycling and just pottering around, counting the days until we are together again.

The evenings have passed slowly but surely, with me working on a rather brain-frying, but ridiculously calming 1500 piece jigsaw of a Canaletto painting, timing it perfectly and slotting the last few pieces into place last night, an hour before the house sitter arrived!

So Millie and Pusscat (having loved their time with the last house sitter) spent the evening wrapping the new one around their furry little paws and today I am on my way to Nice to meet Andy, hoping that everything goes as planned this time.

It’s fair to say that our last attempt at a romantic reunion at the Gare de Lyon didn’t really go as planned.

My ideas of walking elegantly through a cloud of steam straight into the warm embrace of Andy, failed miserably when we found ourselves in 2 different parts of the station, resulting in a scene more akin to a 1930s farce than a Hollywood love story. Andy trying to find his way to me, eventually going out of the station and coming back in through a different entrance and us hugging in fits of giggles rather than a fit of passion. It really was a case of Romance meets reality

Anyway, I have convinced myself that life would be pretty boring if it all went to plan. In fact, after the rollercoaster of the last few years, I think I would keel over with shock if it did!

It still feels rather decadent to be going away together again, so soon after our last trip. But we have a good excuse, as we’re off to celebrate our 35th wedding anniversary, with a few days at the Fête Du Citron in Menton and the Carnaval de Nice.

35 years doesn’t sound long if I say it quickly, but looking back at the photos of our wedding day, a wet, bitterly cold and ultimately snowy day in Wiltshire, I realise that life (unsurprisingly) has added a few lines to our faces.

February was never really the best of months to celebrate a wedding anniversary in the UK, with wet, cold and dank days far outweighing the bright, sunny and warm ones. But since relocating, the tables have been turned and over the last 8 years, we have made up for lost time, especially as our anniversary falls during these 2 big events on the Cote D’Azur.

Ridiculously, it’s 4 years since we last came, with COVID and life in general getting in the way, and I’ve missed the dose of sunshine, colour and vibrancy that they bring to these late winter days.

I started to get excited, when we headed back from our trip last month, spending a night in Menton and watching the first few fruits being added to the huge structures in the tow gardens, which form the centrepiece of the event.

Having seen photos posted this week of the finished designs, they are as incredible as always and tomorrow we will be able to go and visit them, before watching the evening Parade of Lights from the apartment balcony.

Then after, we will head to Nice, where we’ve rented a small place near the beach and Place Massena, again in a perfect location to watch the incredible parades of Nice Carnaval pass by.

As ever, it will be a simple time. We’re not great ones for posh dining, and I have everything I need packed into a small rucksack, so don’t have the clothes for elegant evenings out (not that I have any anyway). But why change the habit of the last 35 years together?

As I type this the TGV is going considerably slower than ‘Grand Vitesse’ as we potter through the beautiful countryside glowing with yellow Mimosa trees towards Cannes, before we will take a route along the coast, with the Mediterranean glittering blue under today’s cloudless skies.

Andy is already in Nice, (having flown down last night) and has just messaged to say he has his shorts on, which will have brought a huge smile to his face after spending a good part of the last few weeks wearing wellies and waterproof over trousers whenever he left the house.

So all being well, a little under an hour from now, we will finally manage a romantic reunion in the station at Nice. Surely, even we will be able to manage that …

Although based on our recent experiences, I won’t count my chickens!

Then we can finally relax for a week … Let’s hope I haven’t spoken too soon.