Chapter 31
31
Zazz was relieved to find her dad on his own in the kitchen when she returned from her run early the next morning.
‘Morning,’ she said, putting the bag of croissants on the table as usual. ‘Where’s Mum?’
‘Getting ready for our island trip. You’ll have to be quick. We’ve got to leave in about fifteen minutes if we want to catch the first boat.’
‘I’m not coming,’ Zazz said as she popped a capsule into the coffee machine and pressed the button.
Edwin looked at her. ‘Okay. That’s a shame. I’m disappointed. I shall miss your company.’
‘Sorry, Dad, but Mum and I are best staying away from each other at the moment.’ She sighed. ‘I seem to upset her every time I open my mouth or give her an honest answer to a question.’
‘You did provoke her a little last night though, whether it was deliberate or not,’ Edwin said.
‘It was and it wasn’t deliberate. I just thought mentioning the Cortez’s rather than shying away from talking about them would be a good thing. I should have known better. I’ll take my croissant and coffee upstairs out of the way. Have a lovely time – maybe we can go again together another day?’
‘Definitely. You have a good day.’
Zazz stayed up in her room until she heard the front door slam and her parents leaving. She’d half expected Francine to come up and argue with her about not going with them, but she didn’t and Zazz suspected her dad had told her not to. Shower time. Afterwards she would take a walk around the artisan market Mel had told her about.
Marché Forville was busy as she walked through, dodging around people, soaking up the atmosphere as she took photo after photo. Marcus might like a feature about the history of the market, particularly as it had recently been refurbished. One photo she took made her smile. An elderly man was carefully choosing salade items from one of the legumes stalls with a large ginger cat, complete with collar and lead, contentedly curled around his shoulders, the cat’s blue eyes watching every movement of the stall holder.
When she reached the brocante and artisan open air market held on Les Allées de la Liberté, Zazz stood on the edge of the open space and took several photos from a distance, trying to capture the size of the event. So many stalls – second-hand books, china, vinyl records, postcards, toys, furniture, pictures, jewellery. In amongst the second-hand stalls were stands selling new screen-printed scarves, paintings, old-fashioned wooden toys, an author selling his latest book, straw baskets, handmade jackets and hats. The market offered a real cornucopia of goods to buy, new and old – and lots of good content for her blog and photos for Instagram.
Zazz wandered around looking at everything, trying to resist the urge to buy a straw sun hat she fell in love with and failing. She was in the South of France, sun protection was a must. Thought about like that the hat was an investment and a must-have.
Desperate for a coffee, after paying for her hat she decided she was all marketed-out and made her way to Piers’s cafe. Unusually, there was a long queue outside and she could see a harassed Dominic and Piers busy inside.
‘ Excusez-moi ,’ she said pushing through the queue. ‘ Je travaille ici .’
Piers saw her coming and smiled. ‘You come to assist?’
Zazz nodded. ‘Looks like you need a hand.’ She looked across at the sink filled with coffee cups waiting to go in the dishwasher. ‘Shall I start there?’
Piers nodded. ‘Thanks.’ And he turned back to the queue. The next hour passed in a blur as Zazz caught up with the dirty crockery before clearing and wiping tables and generally keeping on top of things.
‘ Merci beaucoup ,’ Piers said as the queue finally dwindled away. ‘A Sunday morning exceptionel . Andre asked for the day off and I did not think we’d be so busy. The festival doesn’t begin until Wednesday, when it will be like this every day, but then I have extra staff and Mel helps.’
‘I’m happy to help too if you’re desperate again,’ Zazz said. ‘Reminds me of working in cafes when I was a student.’ She smiled as Dominic handed her a cup of coffee. ‘Thanks.’
‘Supper tonight as a thank you from me?’ Dominic said quietly as Piers moved away to serve a customer. Zazz hesitated.
‘I think you are going to say it’s not necessary but it’s just an excuse for me to ask you out again. So please, have supper with me tonight?’
Zazz smiled at him. ‘ Merci . That would be lovely.’
* * *
‘It was supposed to be a family outing,’ Francine said when Edwin told her Zazz wasn’t coming with them to Saint Honorat. ‘I suppose she blames me.’
‘Not directly, no,’ Edwin said diplomatically. ‘She just feels that every time she says something she upsets you. She didn’t want to spoil the day. There will be other family outings. Right. Are we ready for this boat trip?’
Francine nodded. ‘Yes. It’s a lovely day so hopefully the sea will be calm.’
As the four of them walked along the quay towards the tourist boats at the far end, Francine pointed out Piers’s boat to Edwin. ‘He was always sailing mad. I’m pleased he’s done well and has his dream yacht.’
The tourist boat was crowded but they managed to find seats on the outside deck and were soon travelling across the bay to the ?les de Lérins. Francine sniffed the sea breeze and enjoyed feeling the occasional spray as the boat cut through the water. Fifteen minutes later the boat was skilfully manoeuvred alongside the landing stage and people started to disembark.
‘If we walk along this path,’ Theo said, pointing. ‘We should be in time to catch Mass in the Abbey. Only if you want to, of course. The doors are closed while the Mass is happening and no-one can leave during the celebration. Afterwards you can wander in at will for a private moment. You can hear the chanting from outside a little.’
‘I’d like to be in the church for the chanting,’ Agnes said quietly. ‘It’s so long since I heard the monks chant.’
‘I’m happy to do that with you,’ Theo said.
‘I’d rather wander in later for a private moment,’ Francine said.
‘I’d prefer to do that too,’ Edwin agreed.
The four of them walked along the path Theo had indicated and were soon standing by the pathway leading into the Abbey. Clumps of lavender that would perfume the way later in the year were interspersed with shrubs and bougainvillaea that bordered the path. Signs with the single word ‘SILENCE’ written on them were dotted at intervals down the length of the long path.
‘We’re in time for Mass,’ Theo whispered. ‘Catch up with you two by the boutique in about an hour?’ And he and Agnes began to walk down the path towards the open door of the Abbey.
Feeling intimidated by the silence signs Francine looked at Edwin, caught hold of his hand and pulled him in the direction they should go. Once they were away from the demanded silence near the Abbey she relaxed. ‘Come on, let’s walk and soak up the atmosphere of the place. And I’ll try and remember what I know about the history of the island.’
‘I know there have been Cistercian monks living on the island since 410. I think they follow the rule of Saint Benedict. The vineyard is small, about eight hectares but the wines and the liqueurs they produce are world famous.’
By the time they’d explored several small coves, roamed down paths lined with olive trees and Aleppo pines, gazed at the hectares of vines being tended by monks in their white robes, Edwin too had fallen under the spell of the island.
Agnes and Theo were waiting for them when they reached the cluster of boutiques by the restaurant.
‘We were wondering about lunch in the restaurant,’ Agnes said. ‘It has a very good reputation.’
‘Why don’t we buy some food from the snack bar over there and have a picnic?’ Francine said. ‘I still feel full after last night’s lovely meal. There are some picnic tables not far away.’
‘Good idea,’ Theo said. ‘Pan Bagnats all round? A bottle of rosé between us?’
Francine pointed out the direction to Edwin where she remembered seeing picnic tables a few metres away hidden by the pine trees. ‘We’ll go and bag a table,’ and she and Agnes left the men to buy the food.
Sitting there, looking across the Bay of Cannes towards the mainland, Agnes sighed happily. ‘It feels so good to be back,’ she said, glancing at Francine. ‘Are you happy to be back down here?’
‘Yes. I’m starting to feel as though I’ve never been away. Edwin and I will certainly visit now whenever we can. You can come with us.’
‘I can, can’t I?’ Agnes said thoughtfully.
‘When the house is sold we could use our share to buy a lock-up-and-leave apartment? I’m sure Theo would keep an eye on it for us. We could all come down then whenever we wanted.’
‘Theo has already offered us his cottage to stay in as often as we want to,’ Agnes said.
Francine nodded. ‘I know but I wouldn’t want to take advantage. It’s good to be independent. Here’s lunch,’ she said as Theo and Edwin appeared.
The size of small plates, the Pan Bagnats were stuffed full of salad, egg and tuna and were, everybody agreed, quite delicious.
Edwin, gazing out over the Mediterranean towards the mainland coastline, shook his head in wonder. ‘This place is so beautiful, so tranquil, it’s hard to remember that over there, a short distance away, the twenty-first century is in full swing with all its attendant commercialism.’
Theo gave a sad smile. ‘I agree. Life today is fast and furious compared to life here on the island for the monks. But even here the monks have to run a commercial business in order to survive and maintain the ancient Abbey as well as their slower, chosen, way of life.’
Agnes brushed the crumbs off her lap and stood up. ‘And I, for one, am grateful to the monks for providing us with an idyllic escape from the real world – and making such delicious wine and liqueurs. Two bottles of which are waiting for Theo to collect from the boutique.’
* * *
Zazz wasn’t sure what to wear for her supper date with Dominic. She hadn’t brought many date-wearing clothes with her – mainly jeans and tops. In the end she decided on her favourite posh white jeans, a long-sleeved Breton-style top with red stripes, teamed with her denim waistcoat in case the evening turned chilly, and she slipped her feet into her wedge sandals. Dominic had invited her for supper not dinner so hopefully they would go to a bistro-type place rather than a posh restaurant.
Dominic had said he’d come up to Le Suquet for her and they could walk down together but Zazz had quickly suggested they met in town and had persuaded Dominic to meet her at the bottom of rue Saint Antoine. Introducing him to her parents, her mother in particular, wasn’t going to happen tonight. He was waiting for her and greeted her with a kiss on the cheek.
‘I hope you like pasta,’ he said, looking at her. ‘Because we’re going to the best pasta bistro in Cannes.’
‘Love pasta,’ Zazz said.
‘Good. Come on then, it’s five minutes down this way.’
Dominic pushed open a nondescript door and revealed a spacious courtyard with several huge terracotta pots containing olive trees or oleander plants dotted around, a rampant bougainvillaea covered its stone walls and at the far end a loggia was covered with the blue flowers of plumbago. Tables and chairs were placed under the loggia and also higgledy-piggledy around the courtyard amongst the plants. Fairy lights were entwined in amongst all the greenery and solar lights in the pots were starting to shine as dusk fell.
Zazz looked around her in amazement. ‘What a wonderful place. It’s magical.’ She kept the words ‘and romantic’ to herself.
‘One of Cannes’s best-kept secrets,’ Dominic said. ‘If you don’t know about it you’ll never find it. The food’s good too.’
A waiter came forward, obviously a friend as he laughed and greeted Dominic by name before showing them to a table for two under the loggia. There was a large window on the back wall and Zazz watched, fascinated, as the team of chefs and sous-chefs danced around each other in the kitchen as they all concentrated on stirring and shaking pans, intent on producing the best food for their customers. It was like watching a ballet without music. Zazz guessed there must be noise in the kitchen but none could be heard in the courtyard.
She took Dominic’s advice and chose the linguine with French green beans, parsley pesto and freshly grated pecorino Romano cheese, The fresh Sauvignon Blanc wine with its herb overtones he chose to accompany their meal was perfect too.
As they ate, Dominic talked a little about various films he’d seen and Zazz quickly realised he was a bit of a film buff. She hadn’t heard of half the films he mentioned – just the blockbuster ones. He laughed when she confessed to loving anything with George Clooney and Julia Roberts in.
When he asked if there was a boyfriend back in the UK, she shook her head and told him about Rufus. Dominic mentioned being hurt too by a previous relationship but didn’t go into details, simply saying it was a few years ago now.
‘Do you like working with your papa in the coffee shop?’ she asked. Dominic nodded.
‘I love it. Can’t wait to take it over when Papa retires like he keeps threatening to do.’ Andre, his younger brother, wasn’t interested in being involved in the business full time and had plans to go to America once he’d graduated. ‘His ambition is to work for a year or two in California and then he wants to return to Sophia Antipolis, the Riviera’s answer to Silicon Valley, and set up his own high-tech company here.’ Dominic shuddered. ‘I can’t think of anything worse than sitting behind a computer all day.’
Zazz talked about concentrating on her social media business and about wanting to write a novel one day. She’d never told anyone else that, and was surprised she felt so comfortable telling Dominic and was glad he didn’t rubbish her dream.
They shared a huge tiramisu for dessert and enjoyed small coffees afterwards, although Dominic pulled a face at the coffee. ‘Not as good as ours,’ he whispered.
After supper he took her hand as they walked along the Croisette looking at the lights, the big glitzy ‘Welcome to Cannes’ sign hanging over the Croisette ready for the festival, coloured lights wound around the palm tree trunks, more lights strung between the trees.
As they passed the Palais des Festivals Dominic said, ‘I have two tickets for the second Thursday evening film screening, not sure the film will be to your liking – George Clooney isn’t in it – but would you like to come and brave the red carpet with me?’
‘Seriously? I’d love to,’ Zazz said.
‘Great.’
Dominic insisted on walking her home. At the door she turned and said, ‘Thank you for a lovely evening.’
‘The first of many I hope,’ Dominic said before placing a fleeting kiss on her cheek and leaving. ‘See you soon.’
Once up in her room she sent Mel a text.
See you as usual in the morning? I need your help.