(c) WordPress.com
For those of us of a certain generation Jeremy Irons is Charles Ryder, the narrator of the sublime Brideshead Revisited. However, the real star of the tv adaptation was the house which we know as Castle Howard which seemed to take on a life of it’s own, from the chapel to the drawing rooms to the naked sunbathing on its roof (couldn’t find any pictures of that unfortunately). The very young cast are pictured below. Before Sebastian became so drunk his looks were ruined and he ended up being cared for by nuns in Morocco. Either read the book or watch the adaptation as both are equally as good. The adaptation is faithful to the text which not many adaptations are so it wins bonus points!
However, the main reason for this trip down memory lane is that I can safely say that I won’t be going to visit Chateau Strange this year which is a huge pity. The Dordogne will just have to get along without me. I’m trying to contact the caretaker there but he’s obviously off enjoying the Easter break with his mistress, Madame Beautemps so isn’t answering my questions with a traditional Gallic grunt. The French have decided to restrict international travel until 30th October which of course means that the season will be over by the time we can get there. I am disappointed of course but we’ll have to make up for it next year. I just hope that we don’t get knocked down in the crush with all the other second home owners desperate to get across and load up the boot with wine before we leave the EU properly. Don’t forget folks they might not negotiate such a great personal allowance for everyone. They might not deem it very important in the scheme of things. As long as I can get my Cremant de Bourgogne* I’ll be happy.
A bientot jus’qu’a la prochaine. Grand bisoux a tous!
* lovely fizz