Constance's faultless guide to falling in love with Summer
Eating cheese made from the offerings of cows that graze on liquorice and strawberries; whipped donkey cream; and, olive oil pressed from the fruits of one thousand-year-old trees: my summer was full to the brim of luck, top shelf, Holy Water, and free accommodation in chateaus and convents. My phone was always charged. It did get stolen from my hand in London, but the rose-tinted glasses melded firmly to my face rendered the situation as lucky due to the miracle of iCloud and a magic word: Insurance. I arrived one week before summer started and left one week after summer ended. I, Constance Mary, have corralled together a smattering of tips, tricks, and things that made the cut.
REPETTO BALLET PUMPS
In 1956 Repetto made a special ballet pump called Bardot for our favourite girl, Brigitte, so she could wear them on the set of ‘Et Dieu... créa la Femme’. The shoes are still all handmade in France. Mya bought her flats in the south of France, and from that moment on they were fused to her feet.
DRESSES, TOPS, BODYSUITS, BOLEROS, AND TOWELS
In heavy rotation between us were: a nightdress worn as a daydress by Moonflowers, a Gil Rodrigeuz bodysuit with the best neckline, a Wixii cashmere/silk top, that plaid Penny Sage dress, and, of course, many Rachel Mills items, including her bolero. It was usually too hot to wear this, but it is an item you will gladly suffer for. The two Baina towels saw at least thirty different beaches.
EMMA LEWISHAM AND KEFIR
We kept Emma Lewisham’s Supernatural Face Crème Riche and Illuminating Exfoliant in the fridge for an extra bit of summer lux. Also in the fridge was kefir in varying forms. Kefir's origins can be traced back to the Caucasus Mountains, which are between the Black Sea and the Caspian Sea. The word "kefir" is believed to have Turkish or Russian origins, with "keif" meaning "good feeling" in Turkish and "kefir" meaning "pleasure" or "good feeling" in Russian. Its discovery is often attributed to shepherds who accidentally fermented milk in their bags.
THE RED BASKET
The red basket came from Sardinia, at the convent we stayed at for two and a half weeks. Since then, it made its way to Corsica, Spain and now is in Mya’s room in Portugal. This is the ideal place for the basket as this is where Jane Birkin bought her famed one. Go on, put "Je t'aime, moi non plus" on.
MY SUMMER OF LOVE (2004)
Emily Blunt’s debut film made a lasting impression on us. We watched it at the convent and consequently wore our hair in two plaits, and with scarves tied into it.
LEATHER WAIST BAG
I wore this bag every day. Knowing my passport was always there was invaluable! I want to share one of my travel tips. I use kiwi.com to find the best flight date and airline. If I flew the day before or after the flight would've been $300 more each way (i.e. $2200NZD return). After finding the best deal I went and booked through the airline’s website (I flew AirChina). This meant I was eligible to fly with two 30kg bags for the same cost (instead of 1 if I had booked through a third party like kiwi.com). My return flights were $1600 NZD, so $800 each way.
POWERBANK AND ESIM
Now I am in recommending mode, I cannot count the times I used my Anker PowerCore 20,000mAh to charge my phone (and Mya’s too!). I used a Holafly esim on my phone, for 90 days of unlimited data (in Europe and the U.K.). If you have never used an esim, they are easy as pie; if you have, you will already know this. You purchase the plan, and instantly get a QR code sent to your inbox, which you scan with your phone and voilà! You are connected. You even get to keep your normal phone number, so you can use WhatsApp as normal. This is also useful as sometimes your bank sends a text checking it is you spending that money booking a train ticket! Some esims have 100GB plans which may well be enough, but I find data anxiety rules me and I do not want to check how much I have been using or find myself in a situation where I need to transfer some money and cannot find free wifi anywhere, for example. For an extra $20 NZD I can be assured that I will never have to check or calculate how much data I have left. It worked out to be $1.75 NZD a day for 90 days for unlimited data.
Words - Constance Mary
