Paris, London, Bonnievale

We arrived in Cape Town from Paris via London on Saturday morning. Finding our Cape Town homes in good order, we decided to follow the lead of our friend Heinrich, who collected us at the airport, and head off for Bonnievale.

Vineyards in Provence

We loaded our luggage as is and headed for our home at Towerwater. The drive was familiar, but we viewed the landscape with new eyes. Where we came from a sun-soaked France with the green vineyards of Provence fresh in our memory, the cold-blackened and bare-pruned vineyards provided for a stark contrast with the French summer season.

Winter landscape in the Breede Valley

The wintery landscape was as beautiful as ever. We gazed at it with new appreciation for the magnificent mountains that tower above the towns and villages, cold as they appeared in the winter sun. The contrast of the monochrome winter landscape was worlds away from the lush and green summer landscapes we had enjoyed less than a day earlier.

Towerwater greeted us with an explosion of Narcissus under the oak tree. The rose-bushes and fruit trees were cold and in a deep sleep in a garden ready for pruning. The house was deliciously cold, shocking us out of the French summer into the reality of the Cape winter. We had no interlude into winter this year. We missed the days growing gradually colder, gently acclimatising one for the deep winter that lies ahead.

The days are cold and short and the blue skies above, deceptive. Saturday turned into a day of unpacking and laundry-washing while intermittently exploring the garden to determine what might be served for lunch and supper.

The observations confirmed that the onions are looking healthy and will be ready for transplanting in a month. The carrots and beetroot are ready for harvesting. They provided a rainbow of vegetables for the boys to harvest on Sunday. The peas looked cold and sorry for themselves. I now question the wisdom of my decision to delay their planting to just a few days before we left for Europe. The garlic, potato and sweet potatoes seem to be doing fine.

Rainbow carrots and beet harvest

The citrus row is looking very promising with lots of marmalade, cordial and liqueurs waiting in the wings.

Sunday started out misty and cold, but the day turned into a bright sunny one, luring us out onto the lawn for lunch.

Celebrating our visit to France, lunch was a Coq au Vin prepared in the antique bowls Keith bought at an antique market in Sault, Provence.

Lavender fields in Provence

Our extended visit to Europe will still unfold in our memory as we go through the thousands of photographs of Paris, Provence, St Mon Michel, Limoges and Bruges and so much more in between. The time spent with special friends in Europe, a treasured warmness in our hearts.

Lunch on the lawn

Observing our friends sharing our first home-cooked meal at Towerwater after our travels, we are reminded that we are truly blessed having so many amazing friends spread out over the continents.

The boys were tasked with removing the leaves from the carrots and beetroot and to separate them into heaps of vegetables for eating and leaves for composting. Clearly the harvesting had been far more exciting than the task at hand. The task proceeded with questions from the huddled group around the vegetables on the lawn as to why certain jobs get assigned to certain people.

Paris, London, Towerwater. We are truly blessed to have such diverse experiences in our lives. Celebrating each new experience and treasuring the old familiar ones.

A teapot in Paris

With our extended visit to Europe, we are spending the bulk of it in France. Our rented apartment in Paris serving as base.

A leg of the adventure was spent with friends and in Provence.  

The apartment is our home from home, with the essential teapot our link to Towerwater. 

After visiting museums, churches and gardens, it is good to come home and make a refreshing pot of Assam tea. Over tea we discuss the day's adventures. The scale of public architecture and landscapes in France is overwhelming, from the Louvre to Versailles. 

We visited the rosarium at the Bagatelle gardens, where 10 000 rosebushes have been planted representing 1 200 different species. It is like a pilgrimage for rose growers. Where the new roses that are going to be released in forthcoming  years are on display. 

New words become part of our daily vocabulary. Le boulangerie where we get the most amazing breads, le pâtisserie the delectable desserts, le charcuterie for smoked meats and patés, and le  marchand de légumes for fresh fruit and vegetables.

We had often heard how rude the French are if you do not speak French. We landed in Paris having mastered the basic French of oui, non, s'il vous plait, merci, bonjour and au re voir. But every French person we encounter is friendly, polite and helpful. Something I miss in South Africa sometimes. 

Exploring Paris is a pleasure. For somebody that thrives on new experiences, this trip is one heady ride. After a day filled with gardens, art, architecture and markets, it is comforting to come home to a familiar teapot in a strange city. An aromatic cup of Assam tea allows one to drink in all the new experiences of the day. 

SuddenlyTowerwater does not seem so far away, while we pour another cup of tea in Paris.

A teapot in Provence

Provence is a feast for the senses. With art, markets and architecture that flow harmoniously in the cultural landscape, I long for the same cultural pride to be  embraced back home. 

I admire the confidence that the French have in their culture and heritage. As much as I  enjoy the exposure to French art and culture, I am not tempted to take it home and introduce it to Towerwater.  Instead, I am that much more determined to embrace my own culture and make Towerwater an authentic  expression of it.

I love what we have created at Towerwater. This visit to Europe inspires a fresh look at it. It provides a basis for new and informed ideas that give expression to one's own culture. 

While traveling by train from Paris to Avignon, fields of sunflowers and lavender flash past. They lift the spirit. Fields of solar panels flash past like metal sunflowers. They remind one of the changing cultural landscape of our time. 

The one true constant is the Towerwater  teapot and it's cosy. A comforting connection to the place where my soul feels at home. Pouring a restorative cup of tea from the familiar brown pot, is like touching home for a brief moment in Provence.