When winter arrives in the Cape – around May – we head off to the South of France to pretend we are French for a while. After some beach time on the Riviera, and some down time in a little villa in Menerbes, we always finish off with some special family time at Bastide les Amis!
Life comes to a standstill when we are in Menerbes – I’m talking real village life with no major outside news, except the FT Weekend on a Sunday. After all, village news and politics is more than enough entertainment! Then, when we move into Bastide les Amis, life comes to a further standstill, as things become quite magical! Tucked in at the edge of the village in and amongst dense trees, shrubs and roses, you can understand why you never have to leave the family villa’s grounds to find a good picnic spot and enjoy the view! The gloriette perched at the top part of the garden is one of my favourites – perfect for oysters or a croissant and coffee for breakfast.
The pool is where we spend the most time in summer. I can never get used to bathing under full sun at eight o’ clock in the evening – so different in the Cape. And did I mention the bugs? I am addicted to taking pics with my macro zoom lens of all the brightly coloured bugs that we save from the pool all day!
There are a few feral cats with names like ‘Worm’ that grand-maman and grand-papa have converted into not-so-feral-anymore cats! They casually come and go and when the whole place is rented during the high summer season, a little note is left with the renters to please put out some milk and tuna every so often for the family litter that have made the bastide their home for the summer.
And thats only a little summary of this special place called Bastide les Amis, if you are looking for a grand magical place to escape to then this is it! For bookings go here. Best you plan in advance – I think it’s pretty booked up.
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