‘Larvely’ friends

Posted by Barbara on June 10, 2024 in Europe, Leisure activities, Nostalgia, Travel | 2 comments

Spoiler alert: this blog runs the risk of being unashamedly sentimental. The four founding dames have just returned from a 6-day jolly in France, something they last did more years ago than any of them can quite remember.  Now this particular group of women all went to the same school, although not all of them were there at exactly the same time.

I joined the school after ‘O’ levels (remember them?), and Dames L and V, who had known each other since they were 5, came bounding up to this highly trepidatious 15-year-old and introduced themselves. I was instantly put at ease, and was delighted to be included in the fun that followed, although it was clear that academic rigour was also required.

The bonds formed during those early years have proved unbreakable; higher education scattered us physically, and later we lost Dame V for several years to the wilds of Brisbane. But she returned.  We have all had children, who have brought the standard mixture of joy and heartache. We are all completely different temperamentally, but this has never been an issue.

The trips to various places in continental Europe have been the highlights, when we gaily abandon spouses, partners, work, children and homes and head off together.  The first trip was a tentative toe in the water: a day trip to Boulogne.  This was quickly followed by a weekend in Lille. Never good at holding my drink, I remember giggling hysterically as we each downed a couple of cocktails in the unlikely surroundings of our converted convent hotel before sallying forth to take the town by surprise.

Milan was magnificent – we went up on to the roof area of Milan Cathedral and scampered around like children, blown away by the views and the grandeur of the architecture.  At the tour of La Scala we were allowed to watch an opera in rehearsal from behind a screen. I still haven’t manage to get back there and sit and view an entire production from the comfort of the red velvet seats.

Next stop was Majorca – the northern part where most tourists don’t go.  We revisited haunts from Dame V’s childhood, and took the wonderful little train from Soller to Palma, having revelled in the Juan Miro paintings at Soller station.

Our latest trip has been to the Vendée, where the fairy Melusine originated.  She is a legendary figure from European folklore depicted as a mermaid, sometimes with two tails; as a serpent from the waist down; or as a dragon.  According to legend, Melusine was cursed by her mother to become half-serpent every Saturday until she married a man who would respect her privacy on Saturdays and not look upon her, or accept her as she was.

She married the nobleman Raymondin, promising to make him wealthy and famous, on the condition that he leave her alone every Saturday. Raymondin kept his promise, and Melusine did the same, until he was persuaded to spy on her one Saturday in her bath. When he broke his vow to her, she cursed him and left.  It was said that Mélusine would return periodically to keep watch over her ten sons, flying around the castle crying mournfully.

The dames didn’t spot Melusine, but that did not stop us enjoying ourselves – and I’m sure she was there in spirit. We are only half the number of women in comparison with those in The Group by Mary McCarthy, but our friendship surmounts theirs.