Friday nights at McDonald's, St. Germain-en-Laye

Waking up on her 3rd birthday, so excited with her bike

We might have been living in one the most glamorous and romantic cities in the world, but Friday nights were reserved for a trip to McDonald's in St. Germain-en-Laye with Shawni and Barry.

The littley's loved the play zone, they could run wild and they certainly did so! The friday night of my letter, Fred was playing with them on the slide and I was catching up on my letter writing to my family.

"Hamburgers, chips and coke." 

No wonder Shawni nagged to go and got so excited about the outings. I remember the french flair made this particular McDonald's a real treat.

Fred will still sneak in a McDonald's if he is given half a chance.

McDonalds for the birthday party,
Barry with Tom and Topsy in the background

In fact it was such a hit that we had Shawni's 3rd birthday party at the same McDonalds, on the 12 November 1987, just before leaving France to head back to South Africa.

When they opened their first South African outlet in November 1995, we drove across to Northcliff and queued for more than an hour for take-aways!

I am not quite sure why, but we did, along with hundred's of other people. It holds none of the simple magic it did for me when my children were little, when they loved these outings and when they also loved their McDonald dolls.

My siblings in the September of 1987

 I went looking at Mom's letter this morning to see what my sisters, Inel and Doreen, were doing in the September of 1987.

Mom had organised Inel to come back to Howick from St Johns' in Pietermaritsburg and 'babysit' Doreen. Like all good mothers she prepared and froze dinners for the girls, like she wrote: "Spoilt eh!"

Further on in the letter she writes about getting back after a weekend in Harrismith with their special friends, Bill and Jill. Inel is packed and ready to leave: "I'm sick and tired of cooking, sick and tired of housework, sick and tired of playing chauffeur". 

Makes me laugh too.

This was a good dry run for Inel, a few years later I asked her to babysit Shawni and Barry while we did a return trip to Europe. She must have been frazzled after weeks with two small children and Barry still in nappies. Nothing like the shower hose in the bath to wash down offending 'bits' and smells. Thanks again Inel, not sure how you did it!

In the September of 1987, Inel had completed her Master's thesis and she was getting ready for her final exams. Mom writes that she thinks the thesis is very good, she must have loved the theme, an in-depth study of six houses in Pietermaritzburg, "all in one street and has lovely sketches, all with the view of restoring them to Victorian charm and becoming monuments." 

Historical houses and sketching, the thesis would definitely have ticked all Mom's interests.

Meanwhile, Doreen is 16, at school in Howick and very involved on the Standard 9 school dance Committee. The theme is Alice in Wonderland and Doreen is doing the decor, Mom sketches the side of the hall to show me how the theme is coming to life, 'large playing cards' on the walls and stage.

Once again she is very involved, as she did for all the 25 years that she had children at school, it was always a lot of work for her, but art, decor and crafts were Mom's passions. This time it will be help with the dinner too. As she wrote; 'here I go again.' But she also wrote; "should all be great fun."

The travel to the conference in Klerksdorp gave the folks an opportunity to stay with Clive and Sabine in Johannesburg.

I was curious to see what she wrote, and it seems Clive was making use of the lovely spring rains that year to lay instant lawn and he was busy as usual; "Clive has started on his carport". 

He loved pottering, working on his homes and making things, so I am not surprised to read about his busyness around the house!

How special this letter is, Mom is well, happy with her 11 pages of news, taking pleasure in her adventures, pleasure in her children's lives and achievements, all this before the return of her cancer.

She died 6 years later.

"Longing for the 15th Nov."

'...longing for the 15th Nov. love Mom'

The only letter I kept from my mother while we lived in France.

And the letters from Paris stop.

The final letter to Mom and Dad in Howick, from Marly-le-Roi, France, is dated 26 October 1987.

I give her the latest travel and family news as well as  the plans for our move back to South Africa which were being finalised.

When my mother gave me this set of letters that I wrote to her  from France between the July of 1986 and October 1987, I popped Mom's last letter from the 22nd September 1987 into the large plastic envelop.

I am so pleased that I did so as it is the only one I kept. It is a wonderfully long newsy letter with newspaper cuttings of her and Dad in their Mayoral role. She writes about having a busy time and how after the Mayoral induction, they attended a conference in Klerksdorp, she sent me news about my school friends; babies, affairs and divorces and about her friends too. And of course news about what Inel and Doreen had been doing.

The last letter from France giving Mom my flight times.

My letter talks about Fred being 'fed-up with the situation here'. He never really settled or enjoyed the work experience in Paris. I do not even recall that he was offered a role in Taiwan! But I do know that  he was desperate to get back to South Africa.

I flew back first with Shawni and Barry, arrived on the 15th November and stayed with the folks in Howick, while Fred finished up in Paris, arranged the last details of the move and our French sojourn was abruptly over.

Our letters talk about looking forward to seeing each other, Mom even had a cot and high chair ready for the grandchildren. Yet I remember this time as being so difficult for me. I felt uprooted and just a little marooned in Howick, without a routine the kids were out of sorts too and the house felt too small for all of us.

I was unsure of our next steps, our house in Johannesburg was still tenanted, so no home, no cars, no work....
South Africa, instead of feeling like home, felt foreign and I was the stranger.

A shopping spree in Paris

Making coffee for Doreen and her family last night, using my Villeroy & Boch cups, I told her about our final shopping spree in Paris in the October of 1987 before coming back to South Africa.

We had chosen the 'Design Naif' set of crockery from the wonderful Villeroy and Boch store in Paris, as it reminded us of our travels to the south of France with the charming villages and countryside that we experienced.

My end of stay shopping spree in Paris, Villeroy & Boch and Christofle

What a spree, as in my letter, 'we went the whole hog! it's really beautiful.'  I have platters, bowls, servers, napkin rings, a pie dish, a roasting dish, over and above a full set of crockery for 8 and I have lived happily with our choice for almost 30 years. And in all these years, I have lost just one of the little cups.

Martie and Fred both bought an expresso machine, 'with hot water spout', making steamed, frothy milk was special then, we used ours for 15 years before it was retired. We then bought her machine as it was unused, that too lasted 15 years and is now retired as well.  Such hardy, valued cappuccino makers!

We rounded off our shopping with a set of Christofle cutlery too.

I am so thankful for the foresight that we had, amid the stress of planning our return, to make these purchases, they have served us well.

A taste of classical music at Eglise Saint-Louis en-L'ile

Chamber music in Paris at the Eglise Saint Louis en-L'ile.

Classical music has not been a part of my life whereas for my friend Lee it is an enduring love of hers.

She must have dragged me along!

Knowing me I would have been happy to sit at a Bistro pavement table and chair, watching people, with a sundowner in hand, enjoying some free time while Fred had the littley's.

I am rather amused at how I mentioned it in my letter to my folks on the 26th October - 'really classical stuff'. I must admit to having no recall of the music but I do remember the acoustics of the church, its formal beauty and how lovely the experience was.

Lee is now in Australia and I look forward to seeing her in December and to explore Melbourne with her as we did in Paris so long ago.

Picnics and chateaux, with Lee in the Loire valley

Picnics and chateaux, visit to the Loire Valley with Lee

Chinon, Villandry, Azay-le-Rideau, Langeais, the romance of the Loire Valley seen through the architecture and gardens of these magnificent chateaux and quaint villages.

Lee was on business in Paris from South Africa during the autumn of 1987 and we had this special opportunity to spend time together. This Postcard reminds me of our weekend away with her, 'doing' some chateaux as my card says, antiques, tapestries, complex and convoluted history and without a doubt the highlight was the formal vegetable garden at Villandry.

My photo album is dotted with many picnic scenes, coffee and croissants, baguettes and cheese. How I would love to sit on a grassy patch again and take in the french countryside with a picnic basket of treats. Lee, you keen?

The photo on the landing

Each day as I run up and down the stairs here at Arthur Road I glance at the photo of Shawni and Barry that Fred took while we were living in France. Barry looks surprised to find himself sitting in the clear, fresh stream and Shawni looks just a little annoyed by it all.

This huge photo has hung here, in this same spot, since 1988.

The scene is the Toulourenc River, one of the many beautiful clear mountain streams in the Haute Provence and we had been swimming. We were on holiday in the August of 1987 and staying in the village of Brantes with its wonderful view of Mt Ventoux.

At that stage in our lives Fred and I knew nothing about professional cycling and had not yet fallen in love with watching the Tour de France each July. It is a TV calendar highlight for us both and watching the race up the lunar landscape of Mt Ventoux, the highest peak in the Haute Province, is a thrill as we had driven up those crazy steep switchbacks and could picture the scene.

Looking at my PostCard from Brantes, with the top Mt Ventoux cut off - 'au loin', then the photo in the stairwell and the realisation that the Toulourenc River is a stream from these mountains around Mt Ventoux, I have had one of my 'who would have thought' moments.

I will call Fred now and tell him of the discovery.