Kids And Teens In Lafitte

Like every summer, Lafitte is packed with children and teenagers between the ages of 6 and 17... They enjoy many activities, such as playing with toys (one of which seems to Benjy...), and are served such desserts as delicious, thin homemade crêpes with sugar or jam...

They are also busy rehearsing a play; it's now a Lafitte tradition to produce a play in the summer. Directed by a couple of experienced adults, who often have a professional background in the theater, the little ones and the big ones rehearse for a few weeks before presenting two performances for friends and relatives who come from all over the region or from Paris to applaud them.
Last year, it was Shakespeare's magical and exquisite Midsummernight's dream, while this year it's The Revizor, a hilarious work by Gogol set in provincial Russia.

Lafitte In Green

The trees in the park... Some fresh green beans for lunch... A few of the kids playing soccer.

Just a little green
Like the color when the spring is born
There'll be crocuses to bring to school tomorrow
Just a little green
Like the nights when the northern lights perform
There'll be icicles and birthday clothes
And sometimes there'll be sorrow
(Joni Mitchell, Little Green)

Benjy In The Park

Patterns At Lafitte

Last summer, I took you with me to Lafitte, a mansion/castle in the South West of France where I spend a few weeks every year. This year, we are going to step into the rooms again, as I wanted to share with you some of the beautiful patterns that brighten up many of the rooms... Come in!
From top:
1. the cotton sheets in my room
2. the wallpaper in the stairs
3. bedspread in the master bedroom
4. a comfy chair in the main living room

Purple crocuses

It's been such a long time since I last posted about flowers! So here are some crocuses that appeared one day in Lafitte - a delicate gift, courtesy of the garden.
They make me think of Joni Mitchell's song Little Green (hear it here), from her masterpiece, Blue: There'll be crocuses, to bring to school tomorrow... I adore every song on that album.

Let's Go Shopping Around Lafitte...

... at the supermarket... ... at the farm...... and at the brocante.

A Midsummer Night's Dream

At Lafitte this summer, the many children are rehearsing Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream (in French), which will be performed this weekend, in the castle's chai, a beautiful stone structure where the wine used to be stored... Meet our three elves!

Here's a passage from this magical play (Act V, Scene 2, Puck's speech):
Now the hungry lion roars,
And the wolf behowls the moon;
Whilst the heavy ploughman snores,
All with weary task fordone.
Now the wasted brands do glow,
Whilst the screech-owl, screeching loud,
Puts the wretch that lies in woe
In remembrance of a shroud.

More From Southwestern France

From top:
Benjy hides under a bench with his ball...
... the church in the beautiful village of Lauzun...
... the children caught a lizard in the garden...
... the retro and colorful wallpaper in the stairs.

Verde

Federico Garcia Lorca is my favorite poet (with Shakespeare and Emily Dickinson) and in the green environment of the South-West of France, I think of his beautiful poem:
Verde que te quiero verde.
Verde viento. Verdes ramas.
El barco sobre la mar
Y el caballo en la montaña.

While Mummy Cat Is Not Watching...

Le Château

Where am I off to tomorrow?
My friends' château is located near Marmande, a one-hour train ride away from Bordeaux. In the garden the gorgeous 17th century wood and stone Halle (top pic.), where markets used to be held, is still standing. Breakfast outdoors, with fresh bread and homemade jams, are a summer ritual everyone loves...
Every August, friends crowd the château, and the many, many rooms are all packed, as little kids run around and grownups chat or read under the ancient trees. Our hostess, who goes by the nickname Fafa unless we teasingly call her Baroness, is known to be a top-notch cook, who buys produce from a nearby farmer, so the kitchen and the entire house are deliciously fragrant...
I met the family in China, where we were all living in the late 1980's. Yves and Fafa, who are very close to my parents', have four boys, all of whom I consider my brothers: Raphaël (32), Etienne (27), Coco (22) and Leopold (15). More on the family and the château in posts to come...