Along for the ride:

Saturday, July 14, 2012

more about FanFan, and co.

FanFan's story piqued the interest of so many that it got me thinking, and remembering some more intriguing family characters. At the time, I just took this all in stride. What did I know? Maybe all horse people in Southern France lived these lives.
I knew that Danni's family had owned a Casino in Nice. Although a great equestrienne, she didn't know how to cook, which seemed logical when she explained growing up living in an Hotel. There was a rift in Danni's relationship with her older sister, as Danni's husband Pierre had divorced one to marry the other.
Danni's parents had been forced out of the Casino business by the Italian mob who, before my time there, had kidnapped one of her cousins to get their point across.
Pierre had another sister, who was a nun in an order that had taken a vow of silence. However, the order was so wealthy (would it be wrong to say well-endowed?) that, for tax reasons, she had to live in Switzerland.
Pierre was something of the Patriarch. He was quite a bit older than Danni, although their kids were six and eight, or thereabouts. He had been a successful horseman in his younger days and had a lot of knowledge and experience to share.
I remember early one morning, as I was mucking out the stalls, he came to talk to me about my decision to leave them and move in with my Artistic One. I was very touched by his advice that I should know someone through all four seasons before making a final decision about linking my future with his. In retrospect, it's a bit funny that he felt qualified to advise. Maybe he had learned his lesson the hard way.

11 comments:

  1. This reads like a movie. Very picturesque, with sinister overtones.

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  2. I agree with the movie idea... perhaps a musical starring Julie Andrews?

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  3. intriguing....characters from a novel everyone!!

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  4. Uhm, sounds like I'm glad I wasn't brought up in Southern France. Not too keen about the mobster connections and the kidnapping. Eeek. It does like of read like one of those novels you aren't quite sure you can believe. *lol*

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  5. I'll bet this would make a great book. Such colorful characters. It sounds like you had a very interesting time in France.

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  6. In these PC days, can you imagine we all went to the beach together during our 4 hour lunch breaks? Topless windsurfing with the boss and his family.

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  7. Mediterranean life was just like that then .... full of people with odd pasts ... and , usually a fairly odd Present ! I wouldn't have missed it for the world .
    In fact , both you and I seem to have enjoyed it so much we've taken a souvenir home in the form of a partner !

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  8. S&S, that was a heck of a "fork in the road" to look back on and wonder where other choices might have led. Wasn't it?

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  9. Wow, what cool, vivid memories. Pierre's advice was quite good! And Fan Fan's rum drink sounds fantastic. It's good that you write these down, and wonderful that you shared them with all of us.

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  10. Kerry, I always used to say that horses were my vocation but people were my hobby.

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  11. Do you know, I wish there were still something left of all these adventures, something more than just memories. Although mine happened in dull old England, rather than sunny and topless SoF, the times even here were very different then and I never knew anybody really respectable. We were all on the way through, having fun, and, like you, I picked up a souvenir. Mine turned out to be tawdry and disposable, but I came back in the end for one of pure gold.

    Actually, I probably wouldn't have the stamina nowadays.

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