ROSEMARY THYMES | 12
The Ancient Horticulturist: Parlez-vous Français? by Susan Broussard We miss traveling. We miss Rosemary Beach. It has always been our favorite laid back, toes-in-the sand, face-to-the sun place to be. However, two summers ago, we headed in a different direction and took a trip to France. There were multiple reasons for the visit, but who would really NEED a reason? For my husband, it was the 75th anniversary of D-Day; the storming of the Normandy beaches by Allied forces during WWII. As a big WWII couch historian, he has seen, from that comfy spot, every movie and documentary made on the subject. Each one viewed many, many, MANY times.
Claude Monet’s water lily pond, the inspiration for many of his paintings.
It was also the 50th anniversary of his summer spent in France during his sixteenth year. He had always promised to take our grandson, Toby, to France for his sixteenth summer. What did my grandson think of having his summer hijacked by his doting grandparents? Let’s just say that he had not yet learned to tell his grandfather “No.” That has since been rectified. The language could have been a barrier. While my husband had forgotten most of the French he knew, I had never learned. My grandmother tried her hardest to teach me, but I declined in a very American way: “Nope. Not interested.” It is one of my many, many, MANY regrets. At the time, Toby had been enrolled in the French immersion program from kindergarten through his sophomore year. His
fluency made him the perfect translator. Consequently, Toby did all of the communicating with hotel staff, waiters, shop keepers, odd people on the street when his odd grandparents asked odd questions. He also interpreted traffic signs and speed limits as we sped past. His grandfather explained since there were no police around, the speed limits were more like suggestions. Besides, we would be home soon enough and how would they catch us then? As much as I was looking forward to this adventure, I had only one request. I wanted to visit to Giverny. Claude Monet’s garden was my Mecca. It was not the only reason I wanted to visit France, but it was definitely in the top five. The garden did not disappoint. It was an absolutely beautiful display of color and composition.
