La Rochelle

If you whizz down the Penhalonga Road past Hillcrest School and turn right at the sign, you follow a deeply potholed road to the magnificent La Rochelle. One of my favourite places since moving to the Bvumba. For those of you who have not been there it was once the home of the Courtalds a fabulously wealthy couple who did lots of wonderful things for the community. In its heyday La Rochelle was visited by the rich and very famous, royalty included. Evidence of this appears on the glass window panes. The famous signed their names with a diamond tipped pen. You can spend hours staring in utter fascination at signatures belonging to the very highest of society in those days. I see a few other signatures have crept in over the years of the not so famous. I was tempted to add my own too but thought it would spoil the grandeur of days gone by and besides I didn't have a diamond tipped pen. 

If you ask politely you can be shown a grainy video of the Courtalds frolicking around La Rochelle, well Mrs.Courtald is frolicking but Mr.C seems confined to a wheelchair unfortunately. Their pet lemur makes an appearance in the video who was their lifelong friend and constant companion for 15 years and is now buried in the garden. He has a very smart tombstone made of marble erected in his honour. La Rochelle is well known for its beautiful gardens and maze which are now in the hands of the National Trust. Unfortunately they are not maintained as they used to be because of the expense but are still magnificent. The Courtalds must have been keen horticulturists as the gardens contains species of plants and trees from all over the world. The trees are absolutely amazing and the birdlife incredible. 

Their home is now a hotel and if you sit on the gracious verandah sipping your tea looking over the rose garden you can imagine how wonderful it must have been in those halcyon days. With all this in mind I decided that it would be the perfect place to spend Easter Sunday. We left Pat riding horses and the others playing golf and Carol Johnson, the Gorgeous Kate, Sue Elton and I wandered blissfully round La Rochelle trying to identify trees and plants. We were joined by a three legged black Labrador with a wonderful disposition who instead of cocking his leg like most male dogs managed a sort of handstand. I found this fascinating. We were absolutely hopeless at identifying the trees of course. Mr. Courtald would have been ashamed of our ignorance but as Sue pointed out they come from all over the world and are not indigenous to Zimbabwe. Carol kept on holding us up with her sciatica problem she had recently developed after we had spent a day with Pat, checking on his horses. We had ended up walking miles through head high grass trying to locate them, we had felt a bit like Red Indians squaws stalking bison. Carol now has to throw her leg out at an odd stiff legged angle to ease the pain. 

The highlight of the afternoon for me was the orchard house. It really is spectacular. I entered a little room and there all alone in a basket was the most gorgeous orchard with a purple and pink flower. I gazed at it in awe. As I gently reached out to touch the delicate petals there was a snapping sound. I stared in horror and open mouthed dismay as the flower hung brokenly. I felt the ghost of Mr.Courtald breathing furiously down my neck. I furtively tried to resurrect it but had to give up so I scuttled out hoping I hadn't been observed. I bumped into the Gorgeous Kate as I was making my hurried exit and had to confess. She put her hands over her eyes in embarrassment and wailed "Oh Mum!!! You are a shocker!! Its probably their rarest orchard". The gorgeous Kate is very unsympathetic to my short comings. I kept my hands clenched firmly behind my back after that. Fortunately only a few orchards were flowering so I managed not to damage anymore. I spent the next 15 minutes hunting down Carol, who had overcome her sciatica and was now buying up all the plants on sale as a bemused gardener stood by her side, writing her purchases laboriously in a book. Then Sue Elton appeared from round a corner carrying an orchard flower, I looked at it through narrowed eyes could it be the one that had broken off, but I didn't dare ask!! It was an enchanting day and for those of you who are still here and have not been to La Rochelle make it a priority and look out for a black three legged Labrador.

Mandy Retzlaff
Bvumba
Zimbabwe