The Coumtess of Aiguières

I can still remember that afternoon. Nothing could have foreshadowed that a simple visit from my daughter Claire and my granddaughter Louise would bring back so many memories. 
For nothing could have suggested that I, Charlotte Crussol-Cranfield, heiress to the Earl of Middlesex, might leave my grey London life behind for the thriving sunshine of the South of France, and, more specifically, the hills of the Uzège. To embrace its gentle valleys dotted with vineyards and olive groves, where every bend offers a view of the winding Gardon gorges, where every summer is lulled by the song of cicadas, where every breath is an ode to love and life, so imbued is the air with vitality and freedom.
This natural world, so far removed from the social life of my beloved London, taught me to come to terms with the natural cycle of time, freeing me from aristocratic constraints and allowing me to attain a freedom of body and mind that I would have struggled to find in my beloved city, so enamoured of its conservative peers.
It was that summer that I began to define myself, to accept who I am whilst rejecting what others wanted me to be. 
But please, take the time to sit down, lean back, rest against the window, grab your favourite cushion or even lie down, and let me tell you how that day marked the beginning of my life, the starting point of the woman I am today.