We went for a walk in the gardens at the Domaine du Rayol. I packed two coconut macaroons for just-in-case.



Someone lived here, once upon a time, several someones, in the big house, where they had dinners, probably, silverware and candles, and white dresses. There’s a beach house, too, with steps down to the sand, and a gardener’s house with vines growing over the doors. They have a hunting house, where once upon a time there were rifles, probably, and leather stained a deep brown from use.



They’ve organised the grounds now for a walk-about among the gardens of the world. There are cacti now – I don’t know if there were cacti then – and banana trees and palms like home. Surprisingly, there were very few bugs that bit.



We strolled in the shade of the great, sweet-smelling eucalypti. We took the dirt and stone path all the way to the edge of the world, where the trees leaned over the shimmering sea. Water like this on a day like this, you want to float on your back all the way till the never-end.