Nigel's operation is scheduled for Tuesday 28th October and he will be taken to the clinic in Bayonne from Cambo. So on the Sunday I went down to spend the day with him. It was a beautiful day and looks as if it was the last day of our wonderful Indian summer as we had rain the next day. I got there about 11.30 and we went for a short walk before lunch. I was able to have lunch with him and the other residents in the dining room there. Although he usually sits at a table for four, the staff had kindly given us a table for two. The food was very good and all the other residents were very friendly. After lunch we walked again. First Nigel wanted to show me the centre that he goes to for his painting and pottery workshops. The centre is housed in a beautiful old Basque building. The architecture in Cambo is amazing, virtually all the buildings are of Basque architecture, it is a very beautiful town. We then walked down 2 flights of steps and a very steep, narrow lane down to the town gardens and spa. The gardens are amazing, very tropical. Cambo is renowned for its mild climate and the gardens are set in a sheltered area. There is a profusion of date palms and tree ferns and, to me, it looked almost like a New Zealand landscape. In front of the spa building is a large swimming pool set amongst the ferns and palms. We then walked back up the hill and steps to where we had parked the car in the town centre. It was amazing to see Nigel so fit and well. He walked up the hill and steps without stopping or coughing, something he wouldn't have been able to do for many years previously.
We then went to visit the villa Arnaga, the house built by Edmond Rostand, the author of Cyrano de Bergerac. The house was completed in 1906 in the Basque style. Today the villa and its park are the property of the commune of Cambo-les-Baths, and house the museum Edmond Rostand.Arnaga means “water on the stones” in Basque. Edmond Rostand was 32 years old when he contracted pneumonia and he first rented a house in Cambo because of the gentle climate. The 3 hectare gardens with orangery, pergola, ponds and fountains are stunning.One of the many famous visitors he received at Arnaga was Sarah Bernhardt.
After a fascinating couple of hours at Arnaga time was quickly running out, I wanted to get back home before it got too dark, so I took Nigel back to his temporary home. It was difficult to say goodbye to him, he is so well at the moment and it seems sad that once he has had the operation he will be quite ill for a time. Still the whole point of this is that he is fit for the operation, almost 4 weeks at Cambo has made such an improvement. We both agreed that it had been a perfect day and one that we shall remember for a long time.
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