Newsletter June 26

Hello, dear friends. Greetings from France!

I am writing this from our northern abode situated in between Paris and the Champagne region. A home I long ago christened The Mad Old Chateau not because it is a chateau – it is not – but because it is a very old stone property or rather two properties, one is thirteenth century and the second, right alongside the older, was constructed in the sixteenth century. Both have lots of winding stairways, cobwebbed corners and hidden spaces for reading and reflection. Can you see the younger of the two houses in the video with blue shutters?

This last weekend a cousin of mine from Ireland, Sean, who is working as a vet and a conservationist in London, came to stay with us. We spent almost the entire weekend outside amongst the trees and nature. Sean was introducing me to my own garden, showing it to me with unveiled eyes. One of his first discoveries was the call of a long-eared owl chick. It sounded like a rusty gate! I had some trouble hearing it or isolating the sound from all the other bird calls, but eventually I was able to identify it. We found the young chick with its astonishing orange eyes hidden in a hazelnut tree. Then Sean found its sibling. Both by then were in an oak tree with plenty of leaf cover to protect them. They were too young to fly – possibly about five weeks old – so were “branching” – a new expression to me. As you might expect it means that they are moving from one branch to another. Their rusty call was to let their mother or father know where they were and that they were hungry. We spotted one of the parents, but not sure which one, swooping and secreting itself in a very tall pine where there was a nest, possibly theirs. Next spring I will be on the lookout with binoculars!

So, a weekend of family laughter stoked with good food, fine wine and many stories and discoveries. Thanks to Sean and the Merlin App (Cornel University), I have now discovered we have marsh tits here. I also watched a pregnant lizard basking in the sun on an ivy leaf and got over-excited at the my daily encounters with a very large hare crouched by the pond every morning before breakfast. He disappears too fast for me to catch him on camera.

The week before we were in Paris for five days. Michel was unveiling his inaugural Irish Documentary Film Festival, DocÉIRE.

Five friends of mine flew in from Ireland and London. Loyal friends they watched every single film and LOVED them. The capital was blisteringly hot. It was 34C for the first three days and Roland Garros tennis had just opened too. This meant that it took a few screenings for the audiences to really build. Well, it was the first Irish documentary festival in Paris! All the films were shown at the same cinema, Les 3 Luxembourg, 67 rue Monsieur Le Prince, 75006. It’s a fabulous district of Paris, close to the Panthéon and busy with so many students studying at the various nearby Sorbonne faculties. We stayed at a lovely hotel, which I highly recommend and had never heard of before. The Hotel Madeleine de Senlis is located on a very quiet street in the heart of the Latin Quarter (9 rue Malebranche, 75005 Paris, +33 1 43 29 93 10).  It is a three-star establishment but to my utter delight, especially given the raging temperatures, it boasts a lovely basement swimming pool. Even more good fortune, I had my bathing togs in my case! The other joy was that the Luxembourg gardens were but a four-minute walk away. During the sweltering heat, Michel and I strolled to the gardens and sat beneath the trees to read, relax and await the daily screenings.

If you are interested in joining us next year for the Irish documentary film festival – and it really is worthwhile – here is the link to Michel’s company: info@ecransdesmondes.org. The Irish festival is called DocÉIRE. It might be held a little earlier next time. Please do check it out. We had, as the Irish say, the best craic all weekend with friends and spectators and several Irish film directors who flew in to introduce and discuss their films.

What else to share with you? THE GIRL FROM MARSEILLE, my next novel to be published, has been sent to the typesetters. Hooray! It is a thrilling moment. Nail-biting too because my work is almost done on this one. I am only allowed to make the most minimal of changes to what will soon be the printed text. (Too expensive for major rewrites!) So, now I must stand up for my story, as it is. Everyone, especially me, is very excited. If you want to preorder it – and publishers are always much more willing to fight for a novel that has a decent number of preorders, it is currently available on this link. Of course, as we get closer to the date and have a lovely jacket etc, there will be other outlets.

I am slowly settling into the next work-in-progress though I am being light on the work front at present. I have to have a small operation and, to be honest, I am a wuss, a complete coward, about all matters medical. Around the time we were commencing filming on Carol Drinkwater’s Secret Provence for Channel 5 four years ago, I fell backwards out of an olive tree down on our farm. I cut my head pretty badly and thumped my back. Of course filming meant that I just got on with it. Now I have developed a lower back or hip problem. It means I am limping a little bit, though not always, and am sometimes in pain. So, once we are back at the farm in a week or two, it’s off to the hospital for me. PLEASE wish me luck. As I said, I am pretty scared.

Summer will be by the pool, reading, writing, swimming and, fingers crossed, recuperating.

Two more bits of news: we have sold our little cottage at the foot of the Olive Farm. It was a bit of a wrench but we are both so busy with so many other projects that I needed to offload some responsibility. Thank you to all you lovely readers and friends who over the years have stayed with us.

If you haven’t yet read, ONE SUMMER IN PROVENCE, here is the link.

I might be travelling still for a festival or library or two in the autumn. Keep an eye on the events page for details. After, my little op, of course!

This pic was taken in Chipping Campden a couple of months back when I was the guest speaker at the festival’s literary lunch. Meeting readers and booksellers is one of the very best bits of the job.

I always look forward to meeting you and to hearing news when you have read mine here. Keep in touch.

Have a wonderful summer, or winter if you are in the southern hemisphere.

Sending love and peace. Peace on Earth. Thank you for being here.

Carol

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Copyright for the video is @thatvetsean

Special thanks as always to my webmaster and friend Bart Hulley