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Back Escape to the French Farmhouse Save as PDF
Chapters (79)
  1. COVER
  2. About the Author
  3. Also by Jo Thomas
  4. DEDICATION
  5. ONE
  6. TWO
  7. THREE
  8. FOUR
  9. FIVE
  10. SIX
  11. SEVEN
  12. EIGHT
  13. NINE
  14. TEN
  15. ELEVEN
  16. TWELVE
  17. THIRTEEN
  18. FOURTEEN
  19. FIFTEEN
  20. SIXTEEN
  21. SEVENTEEN
  22. EIGHTEEN
  23. NINETEEN
  24. TWENTY
  25. TWENTY-ONE
  26. TWENTY-TWO
  27. TWENTY-THREE
  28. TWENTY-FOUR
  29. TWENTY-FIVE
  30. TWENTY-SIX
  31. TWENTY-SEVEN
  32. TWENTY-EIGHT
  33. TWENTY-NINE
  34. THIRTY
  35. THIRTY-ONE
  36. THIRTY-TWO
  37. THIRTY-THREE
  38. THIRTY-FOUR
  39. THIRTY-FIVE
  40. THIRTY-SIX
  41. THIRTY-SEVEN
  42. THIRTY-EIGHT
  43. THIRTY-NINE
  44. FORTY
  45. FORTY-ONE
  46. FORTY-TWO
  47. FORTY-THREE
  48. FORTY-FOUR
  49. FORTY-FIVE
  50. FORTY-SIX
  51. FORTY-SEVEN
  52. FORTY-EIGHT
  53. FORTY-NINE
  54. FIFTY
  55. FIFTY-ONE
  56. FIFTY-TWO
  57. FIFTY-THREE
  58. FIFTY-FOUR
  59. FIFTY-FIVE
  60. FIFTY-SIX
  61. FIFTY-SEVEN
  62. FIFTY-EIGHT
  63. FIFTY-NINE
  64. SIXTY
  65. SIXTY-ONE
  66. SIXTY-TWO
  67. Epilogue
  68. Acknowledgements
  69. RECIPES
  70. Lavender shortbread
  71. Apricot jam sponge cake
  72. Lavender lamb
  73. READ MORE
  74. Prologue
  75. ONE
  76. TWO
  77. THREE
  78. FOUR
  79. THIS IS JUST THE BEGINNING

‘I think you can,’ says Fabien. I feel he’s challenging me, and I’m determined to show him I can do it. It will bring me in a bit of cash each week to live on and I can use the rest of the lawnmower money for the first mortgage repayment next month. In the meantime, I’ll work out how to turn my house into a chambre d’hôte.

‘The place by the river for the homeless people …’ I say.

‘The art installation?’ Carine laughs, then explains to Fabien that that was what I’d thought it was.

‘What about it?’ Fabien takes another tuile.

‘Is there ever any trouble there?’ I ask carefully.

Fabien shakes his head. ‘Only the trouble others make for those who live there.’

‘How do you mean?’

‘Some people don’t want them there. But they do no harm to anyone. They don’t have a place to call their own, and they need somewhere to rest and sit. It’s a human right.’

‘The blue settee had been pushed into the river this afternoon when I walked past. They were fishing it out.’

‘The settee? Tsk!’ He shakes his head. ‘I will find a replacement.’

‘You gave them the settee?’

He nods. ‘I find pieces and take them over. It’s a small help. But others don’t like it and try to put a stop to it.’

‘It is a small gesture to help keep everyone in our town happy. We all live together happily … well, most of us,’ says Carine.

‘I’ll find something and take it over to the river in a bit. The blue one will take ages to dry.’

‘Who would have done that?’ I ask.

Fabien shrugs. ‘People who don’t want homelessness on their doorstep. People who think life here in Provence is … photo-perfect.’

‘Picture-perfect?’

‘Yes!’ He smiles. ‘It may be beautiful here, but life is just like it is anywhere else. You can’t run from the problems. They are all around.’

‘Everywhere,’ I gently correct him.

‘Exactement!’ he says.

After I’ve said goodbye to Carine and Fabien, I stroll back towards the slowly setting orange sun and the riverbank. The blue settee is there, but no one is around. There on the verge is my plate, clean, washed in the river, and a note on a roughly torn piece of paper, held down by a stone: Merci.

I pick up the plate and head for my home, where I belong. Now all I have to do is bake the tuiles again for my stall next Monday. I’m in business! How hard can it be? I used to run a department in a big shop. Selling my own bakes is a long way from where I used to be. Is any French person going to buy lavender biscuits from an Englishwoman?

TEN