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Home again…or is it?

16th June 2009 by Helena 7 Comments  

Sorry for the long silence. We are back after an amazing trip to England and France. I absolutely loved it. OK so it rained most of the time, but on Sunday we were in Herefordshire and it was the MOST glorious day. On a sunny day there is nowhere as beautiful as the English countryside. There is just nowhere you would rather be. The rolling green hills, the flowers, blue sky, white clouds. Add to that a long lunch in the garden with friends and you are in heaven. And actually London and Paris, even in the rain, are lovely cities.

We saw lots of friends which was really great, it is amazing how 20 years on my old university friends seem just the same and we are all just as close. Apart from seeing them I spent most of my time in M & S marvelling at the prices and the gorgeous clothes, underwear, creams and food there. I think I could live in M & S and only leave to buy books now and again.
Whatever else, the whole trip made me feel very strongly that I belong in Europe. Is this a good thing or a bad thing? I suppose bad in the sense that I am unlikely to live there for the next few years, but also good because at least I know where I belong. Although Rupert and I disagree over the Paris versus London location. I favour London, he wants to live in Paris. However, as long as I can take the Eurostar to my friends and M & S every month I may be persuaded.
small-shoes.jpg

Meanwhile back home (for the moment) it was Olivia’s 10th birthday yesterday. She and I went for a manicure together which was great fun. She kept asking the poor manicurist what she was doing every other minute. Leo was very impressed with his sister’s advanced age and assumed she would have changed overnight.
“So Barbie,” he asked (he has called her Barbie since he was a baby). “Don’t your shoes fit you now?”

Copyright: Helena Frith Powell 2009


Filed Under: Children, Travel, blog --> Tagged With: again

7 thoughts on Home again...or is it?

  • Natalie says:
    17th June 2009 at 4:39 am

    I know just how you feel about the Europe thing. I’ve lived in Canada for almost 5 years (my god, where did that time go!) and although I have enjoyed it, as soon as I step onto European soil I feel more confident in my step and somehow very at home. Being in North America has been great – don’t get me wrong – we have experianced things we never would have in England, know in the back of my mind where I belong. We plan to head back one day, but not before we’ve seen a bit more of life this side of the pond first! Wishing you all luck – and thanks for a great blog, I do love all your observations!
    Thanks Natalie.

  • Anna says:
    17th June 2009 at 10:23 am

    So agree with you (and Natalie). I never felt so European as when I lived in the States for a while and when visiting my brother in Canada. North America is a great experience and there are so many positives about life there, but I know that I belong in Europe.
    Isn’t it interesting that we have a need to identify where we belong – even if we aren’t there? It gives some comfort, I think, and the base from which we can explore the world.
    I agree with Rupert – Paris over London!

  • Cate Dubai says:
    19th June 2009 at 12:42 pm

    Oh dear, as lovely as it is – especially in the summer when Europe and the Gulf do not compare favourably – I know from bitter experience that it can be dangerous nipping home for even a few days. We moved here from Paris twenty years ago swapping our apartment in a block built by Haussman in the 8th arrondissement for a simple modern villa in a sandpit in Jumeirah. And although life in Dubai was a far, far nicer experience then than it is today, I wept every evening for weeks for everything we’d left behind.
    But then slowly the country grew on me, it was people that made it at first – friends are the first essential wherever you live in the world – people who encouraged us not to rush Home at every opportunity but to explore and enjoy all the extraordinary destinations on our doorstep. So for almost three years, we didn’t set foot in Europe once preferring instead to head for the myriad of marvelous places within a far shorter flight of here: Lebanon, Syria, Jordan (especially Jordan), Egypt, Oman (heaven!) and simply in-cred-ible India. Don’t be put off at the prospect of travelling to any of these countries (especially India) with small children in tow, Gulf expat kids are incredibly resilient and having them along opens more doors than you can possibly imagine. Alternatively, if you just want to hit the shops on a long weekend with girlfriends, Helena, head first for Mumbai (take at least 2 empty suitcases with you) or maybe Beirut, even. Apart from the weather in the winter, the desert and the Hajar mountains, the cosmopolitan atmosphere and the easy availability of help in the home, being able to take weekend breaks in destinations that for friends at home are seriously long-haul, is one of the best aspects of living in the Emirates. View your time here as being an invaluable opportunity to see so much more of the world for you’ll always have Paris & London & Milan or wherever…

  • Lloyd says:
    23rd June 2009 at 2:00 pm

    those four short years i spent in London/England, solidified two things in my mind. First that the friends i made are lifelong depend on for anything friends that are always the same and second that there is nowhere else in the world that i can think i would rather end up. A country house and a pub in walking distance. Sun or not nowhere else for me

  • helena says:
    23rd June 2009 at 3:16 pm

    How does Tony feel about that plan? I agree with you, heavenly England any time…
    Hx

  • Lloyd says:
    24th June 2009 at 1:48 pm

    Sorry , forgot to mention the best best part of my plan is living by the pub by MYSELF>>>>
    HA HA HA
    No will need someone to carry me home at night

  • Valerie says:
    5th July 2009 at 12:54 pm

    Hello Helena. I’ve followed your blog for a while and seeing that your daughter has just hit 10 made me think I would comment for the first time…..purely to say that as you (and therefore no doubt she too) enjoy books please recommend that Olivia reads the book “Marianne’s Dreams” about a little girl who is 10. I just found it again after losing it for decades and loved it all over again – it was certainly my favourite book as a little girl who had just gone into double figures! And I will finally put your book on my Amazon list too. Carry on the great writing and if you’re ever down this way I hope we may tempt you to visit our restaurant.

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Helena Frith Powell was born in Sweden to a Swedish mother and Italian father, but grew up mainly in England. She is the author of eleven books, translated into several languages including Chinese and Russian. She wrote the French Mistress column The Sunday Times about life in France for several years. She is a regular contributor to the Daily Mail, Mail on Sunday, The Times, Daily Telegraph, Tatler Magazine and Harper’s Bazaar.

Helena has been the editor of four magazines, including M Magazine, a supplement for the Abu Dhabi-based National Newspaper and FIVE, a high-end fashion glossy, also published in Abu Dhabi. Helena was also editor-in-chief of 360 Life, a quarterly glossy magazine published with the Sports 360 Newspaper in Dubai, part of the Chalhoub Group.

Helena contributes regularly to UK-based newspapers and magazines and holds a Masters in Creative Writing from the University of Cambridge. She is working on a thriller set in Sweden as well as a novel about the relationship between Virginia Woolf and Katherine Mansfield called Sense of an Echo.

In 2022 her short story The Japanese Gardener came second in the Fish Publishing Short Story Prize. One of her stories was also shortlisted for the Bridport Short Story Prize. When she’s not writing, she works as a headhunter for the media and entertainment industry for the Sucherman Group. 

Helena, who was educated at Durham University, lives in the Languedoc region of France with her husband Rupert and their three children.

Bibliography

More France Please, we’re British; Gibson Square 2004

Two Lipsticks and a Lover 2005; Gibson Square (hardback)

All You Need to be Impossibly French; (US version of above) Penguin 2006

Two Lipsticks and a Lover; Arrow Books (paperback) 2007

Ciao Bella Gibson Square; (hardback) 2006

Ciao Bella Gibson Square; (paperback) 2007

So Chic! (French version of Two Lipsticks) Leduc Editions 2008 (also translated into Chinese, Russian and Thai)

More, More France; Gibson Square 2009

To Hell in High Heels; Arrow Books 2009 (also translated into Polish)

The Viva Mayr Diet; Harper Collins 2009

Love in a Warm Climate; Gibson Square 2011

The Ex-Factor; Gibson Square 2013

Smart Women Don’t Get Wrinkles; Gibson Square 2016

The Arnolfini Marriage; Amazon Kindle December 2016

Smart Women Don’t Get Wrinkles (paperback); Gibson Square spring 2018

The Longest Night; Gibson Square spring 2019

 

 

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