I've been to Monaco since last week. My husband won an award with his work and so we were treated. I kept writing and re-writing in my head what I would tell you about my trip because it was just so lovely and special that I felt I must capture it moment by moment. Turns out it's harder than I thought. The reasons why it was so lovely are numerous and varied, but let's start with:
...it was away from here!
I never think I want to escape my life until I escape my life and then look in through a different lens. Going to Monte Carlo on a luxurious break was a tonic of the best kind. It is the most glamorous place, so chic and so very beautiful. We stayed in a hotel suite high up above the bay, and slept with the doors open, listening to the waves. One day we took bikes and cycled through villa-lined residential roads (who actually lives there?!!), the sun beating down, the air smelling of pine and jasmine. We attended a cocktail party at the Villa Rothschild which sits atop a hill overlooking the Riviera bay. It was like something out of 'Tender is the Night' by F Scott Fitzgerald. We swam in the crystal clear Mediterranean. I wore white and it was appropriate! We drank way too much rosé. We watched fireworks at a gala dinner where the roof of the building we were in opened up, swished aside (yes, really!) and the night sky lit up. We listened to Euro-pop in a nightclub, drinking pink champagne, with sore toes from dancing for hours. And each morning a new fleet of super-yachts belonging to the super-rich had moored overnight. It was surreally, wonderfully fabulous. I know I am gushing now...
We had the most fun.
I completely fell in love with the place.
And now I am home. Rather hungover, literally and figuratively.
And so to the rest of my life. Honestly the contrast couldn't be greater! They are planting courgettes in the fields around my house so there have been tractors all day. Tonight my son has cricket practice so we go and have a beer and chat to the locals. The house is....well, the house is still what it was yesterday and the day before: undone. I have an incongruous French June tan as the weather here has been chilly. I now want summer more than ever!
It was lovely to come home to the children though and having a few days apart reminded me of all the good and lucky I have in my life. Nothing like a bit of perspective.
Oh and I hate to say it, but Victoria is no longer with us :-( another life lesson in nature and survival of the fittest! Victoria II is arriving over the weekend...
