2 Avenue Corneille, Les Ombrages, Marly le Roi

I can hear me spelling my surname and giving my address in a clear faultless French, the two things that were effortless and I have never forgotten how to do both things.

The second letter to my mother is a week later, I can tell how excited and relieved I was to have a home.

What I love the most are the neat, precise pencil sketches I sent to Mom.

In fact it could be her work, I must have absorbed more from her than I realise.

2 Avenue Corneille was a fascinating place with its 300 year old gazebo in the garden that we converted into a guest room. The gazebo would have been in the garden of the chateau over the road from our house, it had belonged to Louis the Fourteenth's surgeon.


The corner stand was 1200 sq. meters with espaliered fruit trees, apples, mirabelle plums, greengages, walnuts, hazelnuts, cherries and berries. Fred spent many long hours in the garden and I attempted to make preserves, not very successfully as I recall.

My letter says that the owner, an elderly lady who moved to join her children in Brittany, made 50 bottles of preserves a year from her garden.

I know for sure I would be so much more domesticated now! This is my favourite quince paste recipe from Spain. I made a delicious pear and ginger chutney recently and I would love to walk out into a garden to harvest for the kitchen.

I remember telling my dear friend Michelle that one day I would write a book called 'Mirabelle Trees' about these years in France. I think this blog will serve me well.

Writing out my address for Mom to copy.

The rent was 7000 francs per month, apparently inexpensive and Sally Denison, who became a special friend during these years, was so thrilled that we found this gem. We arranged to move in late August and I was expecting our container to arrive at Le Havre on the 16th August.

Writing about our new home

I had a message from Shawni this morning that she has moved into their home in New Zealand, like me before, she is relieved and excited, loving her view across the Wellington harbour. And like me too so many years ago, they are camping out in their home waiting for their furniture to arrive.

A photo I sent to Mom showing the abundance of fruiting trees on our rented property in Marly le Roi. The photo of the side of the house with the lounge downstairs and the kids room upstairs.

This is one of Shawni's photo of her place in Wellington. Her recent message on What'sApp 'Guess what! We have a herb patch and a lemon tree. Will need to clean it up.' 

We are women at the same age, 30 years old, 28 years apart sending very similar messages to our mothers, excited with our homes and gardens as well as disorientated by our respective moves but always exploring and adventuring.

An extraordinary link over the decades and looking back at me at 30 who would have thought...