CARRICK HILL'S FRENCH CONNECTION
A little bit of England on an antipodean hill is about to welcome a big slice of what lies across the English Channel. With the French Festival on its way to Carrick Hill, we are transporting ourselves to this year's star region - Normandy.
It is only a twenty minute drive from the city to Springfield and the Carrick Hill house in its own park-size garden. Inside, there is an amazing collection of antiques including a dining table that is probably nearing 500 years old, and that is within a century or so of Henry V ruling England and Normandy. In the oak-panelled and richly decorated dining room, I unrolled the posters that had just arrived for the coming Festival. A glorious image of Mont St Michel, the pinnacle of architecture and faith perched on an offshore rock on the Normandy coast appeared.
The region's northern coast is also famous, by contrast, for the surviving scars of war on the D Day beaches. The Landing of tons of thousands of American, British and Commonwealth troops - including our own men - on June 6, 1944, marked the beginning of the end of World War II.
Beautiful images emerge too, as the posters roll out. The famous house and garden of French impressionist painters Claude Monet at Giverny is colourful in every season, as are so many parts of Normandy.
The host for this year's Norman invasion is a grand Tudor style home of twenty seven rooms built specially for a newly wed couple from two of Adelaide's seriously rich families. It was the dream home of pastoral fortune heiress Ursula Barr-Smith and John Martin's department store owner Edward "Bill" Hayward.
The grand sloping garden was personally designed by Ursula, including its unusual pleached pear arbour, a long archway of planted fruit trees. She was also a lover of all things French, and so the annual French Festival each November sits will in the grounds.
Carrick Hill was regularly filled with the sounds of live music and parties. Lavish catering was based in the kitchen that is largely unchanged but for the addition of a commercial stove.
We asked Normandy born and trained chef Patrice Ricourt from the Summit Restaurant at Mt Lofty to prepare a typical Norman dish to herald the food and wine side of the coming festivities. He quickly panfried a veal sausage before adding a liberal dash of the famed apple brandy from the Calvados region and producing a September flambe' show for the Postcards camera. A poached apple and a rich reduced sauce added the finishing touches.
Calvados was Sir Edward's favourite after dinner drop, giving more sway to the ideas that a French Festival and Carrick Hill are a nice fit. A collection of Lalique crystal much admired by Ursula adds to the all-year-round Gallic feel inside.
Next weekend, November 2 - 4, the surrounds will host an entourage from Normandy, bringing pastries, bread and cheeses, cuisine, culture, musique fantastique! So too is Normandy itself, with charms like the Bayeux Tapestry detailing the Battle of Hastings in 1066 which saw William the Conqueror from Normandy crowned King of England.
With the delights of a family friendly fair to come at Carrick Hill, we previewed the musical side of the Festival (including an orchestra and folk band from France) with a tribute to the Little Sparrow, Edith Piaf, by Annie Santré. Her evocative song rang through the grand house to set a marvellous mood for the French Festival at Carrick Hill.
Details
French Festival Normandy 2001
Carrick Hill
Fullarton Road, SpringfieldFriday, 2nd November 7pm
Opening Concert L'Ensemble Orchestre de Bacsse-NormandicSaturday 10.00am - 10.00pm
Sunday 10.00am - 6.00pmAlliance Francaise
Phone: 8272 4281
Web: www.af.org.auNormandy Tourism Board
Web: www.normandy-tourism.org
