the pool’s open..

Even though we’re on our own, by which I mean just Tom, Ava and me, rattling around in our enormous lovely home and although it’s a bit sad, we decided we should definitely have a Lost Weekend to celebrate the opening of the pool.

For those of you who have not partaken, a Lost Weekend is a marathon of swimming, lounging, chatting, sipping, laughing and munching, with the odd popping out for the acquiring of market treasures, the ordering of oysters and the topping up of fresh supplies.

Of course, sadly there is no market. Apparently for the first time in over thirty years & the brocante is just a vast empty esplanade under the shade of the plane trees. We have been told we only have another couple of weeks to wait, before Sommières will try to open a limited version as a tester. We’re delighted; Saturday’s are not quite the same without a thundering market to get lost in.

Even more sadly however, there is no You. We haven’t seen hide nor hare of a guest for over six weeks. It is heartbreaking. We can only hope that you, all our lovely Orangista guest friends, are all safe & well, and lockdown has not been too harsh for you. We are still hanging on the thought that you may be able to get here later on this summer.. maybe.

All that aside, back to the point and to a more rosy outlook, the pool has hit a balmy 27° and is sparklingly clean, gorgeous and bright, bright blue. Tom has been working his magic; the quality of the water is as clear as day. Come Friday, we were raring to go.

As I’m sure you can conjure up without too much imagination, it went quite well - a smidgeon of Rosé was drunk, a couple of sunsets oggled at, and most importantly, extremely good brainstorming about how we’re going to manage to serve lunch at the pool this summer.

Yes, you read correctly, we are going to serve luncheon all summer long, up at the pool or down in the shade of the breakfast courtyard.

We are determined to make Hotel de l’Orange a haven of health so if you can get down here, you hardly need to leave the gates.

Our very best wishes to all the Orangistas, past & future.