Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
As he approached I could see that he was wearing tasselled Gucci moccasins, frayed
designer jeans and an off-white Lacoste linen shirt peppered with designer holes that must
have made it very expensive. The ensemble was appropriately finished off with the ob-
ligatory but wholly superfluous 'must-wear' cashmere V-neck, slung casually over the
shoulders.
Yes, ItsWill was the epitome of the designer-chic European male. All this, unsurpris-
ingly, made the carnation entirely unnecessary but somehow it completed the outfit nicely.
ItsWill spotted us and loped up from the far end of the lay-by, apparently unconcerned
about the various cars he had to dodge that were in the process of being parked. It was then
that his best features revealed themselves. His nut-brown face glowed with health and em-
phasised even further the most stunning azure-blue of his eyes. They fairly sparkled with
vitality and
bonhomie.
“Ahah!” he cried. “At last I've found you. You must be absolutely
exhausted
after all
your journeying. Never fear though, here I am, entirely at your service for the next few
days.
ItsWill!
”
I didn't dare look at Jack as I accepted his handshake and yet another revised issue
of property details that was thrust into my hand. We'd had to do this at the gallop, having
caused a modest tail-back from the autoroute to the lay-by but at least we'd made contact.
So with introductions complete we hopped back into our cars and followed ItsWill to our
first
domaine
.
Jack seemed emotionally unscathed so far and, apart from various wry observations
about the impracticalities of the European man's dress sense (“slaves to bloody fashion, I
just
can't
understand it”), conceded that ItsWill wasn't quite as bad as he'd anticipated. He
did add that it was still early days though.
We had about 30 minutes travel time so I decided to go through the new lot of blurb
and re-brief us. I did this with great relish because it genuinely seemed like it was going to
fit the bill.
“The first point to note,” I said, “is that the estate is situated in an idyllic rural setting,
great for countryside lovers and hunters alike. Barely ten minutes from Manosque, it lies
in an area of outstanding beauty that is abundant with deciduous trees and bordered by
majestic meadowlands which are enhanced by the charming interpolation of ancient olive
groves.”
“Are you reading from the blurb?” interrupted Jack, looking suspicious.
“Not fully darling. I added that last bit from the other information I found in our pocket
guide.”
“Right, well minimise the poetry please and concentrate on the facts. We'll be there in
a minute.”
