Page 31 of A French Adventure
After locking the apartment door, Vivienne followed Olivia downstairs and set off to meet Maxine at the cafe. After a quick coffee, they set off for Puget Theniers.
‘I look at the map and think we take the scenic route – Vence, Gilette, Roquesteron and then make our way across country to Sigale before heading up to La Penne and then Puget.D’accord? Coming back, we’ll come straight down the N202.’
‘The names mean nothing to me, I’m afraid,’ Vivienne said. ‘But the scenic route sounds great if you’re happy to drive.’
As they drove out through Antibes and made for Vence, Vivienne looked across at Maxine.
‘I can’t thank you enough for offering to take me today. I really appreciate it, especially as I think you don’t really approve of me doing this.’
Maxine sighed. ‘You need to do what you feel is the right thing for you. But sometimes a lost little pebble being kicked up can cause a huge landslide in other people’s lives. I worry about the consequences for you because knowing the truth about the past isn’t always a good thing.’ Maxine gave a small shrug. ‘We enjoy a day out in the countryside whatever happens when wereach Puget and I…’ She hesitated and didn’t finish the sentence. ‘A change of scenery is good,’ she added after several seconds.
Vivienne nodded in agreement, but wondering if Maxine had been about to say something else, she said, ‘Are you okay? You’ve seemed a bit tense the last few times I’ve seen you. I’m a good listener if you need to talk.’
‘Merci. You are right, I do have something on my mind, but I prefer not to talk about it today.Peut-êtreanother time.’
‘I’m going to have a complete change of scenery soon,’ Vivienne said, deciding to respond to Maxine’s earlier remark. ‘And I have no idea where to start looking.’ Vivienne explained about signing the authorisation forms for the house to be sold. ‘So when I get back to the UK, I have that to deal with. Deciding where and what – house or apartment? Countryside or the coast? Ironically, I did suggest to Jeremy that we could move house this year, but I didn’t think for a moment that I’d be doing it as a divorced woman.’
‘You stay in England?’
‘Yes, of course. I’ve lived there all my life. Where else would I go?’
‘You like it down here.Peut-êtreyou think about moving to the South of France?’
‘No, I don’t think so. My life is in England.’ Even as she spoke the words, though, Vivienne found another question forming in her own mind. What life would she have left in England after the divorce? And that question was closely followed by an unexpected one. What was there to stop her from making a completely new life for herself in France? As a writer she could live and work anywhere. Nice airport was one of the largest in France – she could be in London in a couple of hours if she needed to be. Natalie and Tim were her only family now and she was sure they’d love to visit frequently. She wascertainly enjoying the climate down here and the happy, relaxed Mediterranean lifestyle.
‘I help you house hunt while you’re here if you like?’ Maxine said as she stopped at a T-junction and took the road signposted Gilette. ‘I have a few villas on my books I can show you. Then, when you leave, you can have things to think about.’
Vivienne laughed. ‘I already feel I’m going round and round in circles. There is so much to think about.’
‘Peut-êtreyou discover a whole new family today and that help you decide.’
Vivienne lapsed into silence as Maxine’s words sank in. Did she want a whole new family? Was she being selfishly foolish like Maxine had insinuated earlier? In finding her own roots, did she have the right to invade someone else’s privacy, even tear their family apart by her unexpected presence in their lives? Jacqueline and Oscar had given her a secure life – they were her roots. Would it spoil the memory of the life they had so generously given her if she did meet her birth father and started indulging in a game of ‘what if’. Vivienne sighed and shifted in her seat, trying to settle her tense shoulders against the upholstery, uncertain now as to whether she was doing the right thing or not.
‘You are okay?’ Maxine’s voice broke into her thoughts. ‘The road it is very twisty and soon there will be tunnels and horseshoe bends.’
‘I’m fine. The countryside is very beautiful,’ Vivienne said, gazing out of the window.
‘I think it will be another hour or so before we reach Puget,’ Maxine remarked. ‘Maybe I stop when we reach Roquesteron. A stop there would break the journey.’
‘Sounds like a plan.’ Vivienne smiled, remembering the promise to herself to have ‘a cunning plan’ for her future.Between now and reaching Puget, she’d try to come up with a second plan regarding the French connection.
They reached Puget Théniers an hour and a half later, having had a quick break in Roquesteron to watch the Estéron river, a tributary of the Var, flowing through the village. A restaurant overlooking the river tempted them to stay for lunch, but they decided it was too early and they’d wait until they reached Puget Théniers.
Maxine parked in the car park and they wandered around the old town before finally settling on a restaurant in one of the main streets. Looking at the menu, Vivienne said, ‘Lots of lovely Italian pasta dishes.’
‘The border with Italy is only just over there somewhere,’ Maxine said, waving her hand in the air. ‘There has always been a strong Italian connection up here. In fact, during World War Two, there was a huge resistance movement based up here.’
Vivienne, now she was actually in the village, felt a shiver of excitement run through her body.
‘You okay?’ Maxine asked, raising her eyes from the menu and looking at her anxiously.
Vivienne nodded. ‘Just wondering where to begin asking questions after lunch. I think perhaps the Tourist Office? See if they know of a family called Rocher who lived in the village over fifty years ago, or possibly their descendants?’
When they left the restaurant an hour later, they discovered the Tourist Office was closed until three o’clock and Viviennesighed. ‘I think my search is doomed. Shall we just forget about it for today?’
‘Nonsense. We’re here now. The sky is blue, the sun is shining and Puget is a lovely old town. We explore a little more and three o’clock will soon arrive.’
Their steps took them around a different part of the old town this time and whilst she walked the narrow streets with their ancient arches, looking at medieval buildings that in some cases were truly showing their age, admiring an ancient fountain in a tiny square, Vivienne’s thoughts strayed. What had she hoped to gain by coming here today, dragging Maxine with her on what really amounted to nothing more than a wild goose chase? When they left here later, no doubt without having discovered anything, she’d forget about tracing her roots. Natalie and Tim were the only family she needed. Best to forget the whole family tree ancestry thing, but at least she could tell Natalie she’d tried.
