I’m sitting quietly with my son by the river in Le Bugue just watching it flow. My husband and daughter are out on the water canoeing close by and the morning is gently grey.
All tagged summertime
Through The Sky
In the end everything came together and we did catch that plane. We’d had the tickets to France booked for a couple of months but given international travel’s current state of play that meant next to nothing.
Shapes Of Time
Heading out from Rouffignac before dawn on a darkly foggy road, we leave the lights of summer weeks spent with those dear to us behind.
A Camera Eye
Resting for a little longer in the land of in between, the time has found us thinking, talking and reading this week.
Moments
We walk together through the airport inside the silence. Disorientated after a long flight we move into the customs hall passing through space normally crowded. Suddenly we find ourselves outside, driving through a beloved city in the middle of a sunny day.
A French Holiday: Part II
We sat on the terrace yesterday evening by the swimming pool long after night had fallen and the silhouettes of the tall trees in the distance could be seen in inky black definition against the dark sky. There was a definite chill creeping in on the air; a reminder that the season of autumn with its cooler cast of characters waits in the wings and a signal that, all too soon, our summer idyll will draw to a close for this year.
A French Holiday: Part I
We were driving along a French country lane in the early evening yesterday. The dappled sunlight filtered through the canopy of greenery overhead forming magical flickering patterns in the air. I was put in mind of the fairy sprites in a Midsummer Night’s Dream and their mischievous activity which results in so much hilarious chaos.
Dreaming on the Rails
Sitting on a train heading away from London, my thoughts move with the rhythm of the rails and images from the past week flash before my eyes. I am never prepared for the experience of being back in this city; somehow it always takes hold of my heart and teaches me something new, even when I think that I have nothing left to learn.
Going Back
With the evening sun warm in the sky, the children and I drove northwards along my favorite stretch of freeway yesterday. We were in the shimmering company of the spirits of time past. Summoned by our choice of music, from a period when my husband and I were younger creatures, I could see their vague traces; two youthful figures seated together on a warm evening in an Oxford pub while the music flowed all around them.
Dancing Days
The sunny season is here and it’s gathering pace. We finalized the booking of our annual trip to Europe a few days ago; a little later than usual as we leave in just over a month. This year the travel arrangements seem to have taken on a life of their own and I’m a little concerned that I won’t remember to be in the right place at the correct time with the right child!
A French Ending
I write this on the first day of September which always signals the onset of Autumn to me even as I prepare to fly back into the land of endless summer. It has been a wonderful and restorative month. There will be much to digest and act upon over the coming months as we settle back into the routine of home which is already beckoning with the start of school business for the children this coming week.
Summer Retreat
Today was the first day of the Buddhist summer course which we attend every year. Held at Sakya Changlochen Ling, a retreat centre situated amidst the rural beauty of the Dordogne, it’s a two week period that is one of the highlights of my annual calendar.