“Eastern weekend is always dreadful in this country”, my English neighbour told me last Thursday. Well, yesterday must have been an enchanting exception. I was lucky to be driven from the shores of the river Thames in Henley to the charming villages of Hambleden and Turville in Buckinghamshire. What a time and fairytale day trip!

Henley

Churches and abandoned graves, cottages, hills, trees, fields and all those variations of greens contrasting with the blue of the sky. Enchanting for the eye, inspiring for the mind and finally the feel of Spring, the sun and its timid heat you are almost desperately chasing. These two little villages have something out of time, they are refuges from our modern societies, havens of harmony…

Turville

Well, for the accidental tourist, like me! I am pretty sure that behind the curtains of the lovely cottages, village life rules… Gossips etc. No surprise they are very much used as film and TV drama sets. Among the English weekend walkers (some really look like geography teachers), my only regret is not to have met Inspector Barnaby…