Candes Saint-Martin, my favourite spot in La Touraine.

Tuesday 2 August 2011

More house hunting and a pub lunch

After my brief stop at Kingsdown’s post office, we drove back in the direction of the beach to have a look at ‘Hazelmere’, the large beach villa where my guest family used to live from 1973 till 1976.

Mats and Teresa looking at 'Hazelmere',
the house on the beach where we spent our summers in the seventies.


The summers I spent in that house rank among the best vacantions in my life. It was a beautiful house with many large and beautifully furnished rooms. On the ground floor there was a formal drawing room with a large open fire place, a formal dining room where breakfast and dinner were served, a comfortable kitchen and pantry. When Wimbledon was on TV, we all used to hang out in the den, cheering for Bjorn Borg (that would be Mats) and Jimmy Conners (that would be me) - Who was your favourite player?… We were often joined by friends of Teresa’s and Jolyon’s who would pop in at all hours of the day.

The 'Rising Sun' in July 2011.

One of our favourite hang-out places and ‘watering hole’ was the Rising Sun, one of the three local pubs; the two others being the King’s Head and the Zetland Arms. We did a lot of silly, yet completely innocent things, liking walking up to the small cemetery at midnight and scaring each other’s wits out, by jumping up from behind a tombstone, going ‘booh’. Or taking a midnight dip in the sea. We also spent a lot of time in Jolyon’s bedroom on the top floor, where we listened to music, played cards and fooled around with an Ouija board – spooky!!!

On one occasion Rowena drove us up the coast, to visit the Romney, Hythe and Dymchurch railway, a 15-inch gauge working railway with a fine fleet of one-third scale steam and diesel locomotives. On the way back, we stopped in the picturesque village of Saint-Margret’s Bay where we had a beer at the local pub. And there are so many more fond memories of my years at Hazelmere, but one of the funniest is definitely the one of my friend Mati – who accompanied me in 1973 and 1974 – and me having our picture in the local paper. I’ve already written about this event last summer, but just for those of you who've missed it, here it is again.


After visiting ‘Hazelmere’, we went over to the ‘Rising Sun’. We had a typical pub lunch of cheese and tomato (me) and tuna sandwiches (Mats) and deep fried prawns (Teresa) and a couple of halves of lager. Sitting there, enjoying the lunch, I remembered one of the songs we used to sing in the seventies, on our way to the pub: “Everybody is missing the sun; everybody is sleeping through the afternoon … “ by Niels Lofgren, one of Jolyon’s favourite performers. Those were the days …

Half of my cheese and tomato sandwich. It was delicious ...

10 comments:

Bob said...

Interesting sandwich. Here in the southern part of the US, we eat tomato sandwiches, which are made with a good fresh tomato, mayonaise, and white sandwich bread. I know Europeans "cringe" when you speak of American white bread. I will definitely have to try one with the cheese next time. What's a good cheese to use? I love playing tennis and my favorite male player is Pete Sampras. Too many females to list!!!!!!!

Craig said...

It has to be Bjorn Martine! Clive and I actually saw him at Wimbledon in 1980 I think. But Jimmy was good too.
Cheese and tomato sandwich - yum. As long as it was a mature cheddar!

Anonymous said...

That is a lovely area. You and your friend are soooo cute in the picture.

GaynorB said...

What wonderful memories Martine, and great that you have been able to 'relive' them with Mats and Teresa.

I had a soft spot for Ilie Nastase!

Leon Sims said...

These stories bring a smile to my face.

BaliMoz said...

That vintage image look cool...

ladybird said...

Bob, I think Craig (see his comment) answered your question about what cheese to use. Here in Belgium I (would) use Gouda (which is a Dutch cheese) or Oud Brugge (which is a Belgian cheese).

Craig, I don't know whether the cheese in my sandwich was cheddar, but it was very good indeed. More please ...

Dedene, The South-East coast is lovely and Deal and Kingsdown are really very nice villages. Quiet and picturesque.

Gaynor: Ahhh Nastase, he was a wild one, wasn't he. But an excellent player too.

L & S, Why? Because they remind you of your teenage years and the silly things you did?

Balimoz, Welcome and thank you!

The Broad said...

I loved Jimmy Connor -- He was so flamboyant and so exciting to watch -- and he had a fantastic sense of humour. He changed everything!

Niall & Antoinette said...

No it had to be Borg. Have great memories of getting into Wimbledon in '77 with a school friend to watch the ladies final.

ladybird said...

The Broad, Jimmy was my favourite too. Beside being a great player, he was really fun and - let it be said - handsome (in an 1970-ties kind of way, of course) :)

N&A, Lucky you! I have never had the priviledge/chance seeing any of the star players.