Jennifer Bohnet - You Had Me At Bonjour

8th April.

The last full day of Bella’s visit we spent up in St. Paul de Vence. Thank god I took my camera with me because I think it’s going to be one of the first things I write about. It’s one of those famous perched villages with views down to the Mediterranean, and its medieval streets are now full of art galleries and bijou boutiques. Oh, and it’s home to various celebs, both French and English. Didn’t see anyone famous but we did bump into Jamie Carson, an old work colleague of Bella’s.

‘Remember I told you about him a couple of years ago,’ Bella muttered quickly as she spotted him striding down the street towards us. ‘Wife died in a hit and run. He lost the plot. Resigned from work. Became a recluse. Rumour has it there was a big insurance payout. Wonder what he’s doing here? Jamie! How lovely to see you.’

‘Bella.’ After the obligatory cheek kissing that all Englishmen seem to adopt with alacrity the moment they land on French soil, Bella introduced me.

‘Jamie, this is Jessica, an old friend who’s living in Juan-les-Pins at the moment. Are you on holiday?’

‘Pleased to meet you Jessica. I divide my time between here and the UK these days,’ he explained to Bella. ‘I have a villa up the road from here. Come for coffee and we can catch up.’

Walking through the village we stopped at the patisserie, where Jamie insisted on buying one of those hard-to-resist light-as-a-feather sponge cakes the French are so good at, covered in fruits and cream.

Jamie’s villa, set on a small private estate with views out over the surrounding countryside, was a delight. The large conservatory at the back of the house where we drank strong coffee and devoured the cake was very English, with its cane furniture and floral cushions.

I tuned out most of the conversation while Jamie was bringing Bella up to date with his news, and looked at the garden. Palm trees, oleander shrubs and pots of margaritas tumbling down the side of a flight of granite steps towards the swimming pool, passion flowers covering an archway and roof of a poolside room. Beautiful.

Six teak sun loungers, each with their own cream parasol, were lined up along one side of the pool. Wonderful.

Jamie saw me looking and said, ‘Fancy a swim? Lots of spare costumes in the pool house.’

I shook my head. ‘No thanks. I’m more of a gardener than a swimmer. I was thinking how beautiful your garden is.’

‘Thank you. How long have you been living in Juan-les-Pins?’ Jamie asked. ‘Think you’ll make it permanent?’

‘This is the fourth month. And no,’ I shook my head. ‘It’s just a long delayed gap year for me. I’ll go back home to family after Christmas.’

‘Unless of course she meets some sexy Frenchman who persuades her otherwise,’ Bella said.

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