The FC’s parents like to breakfast in bed. Each day of my visit in Wambrechie, while the FC enjoys “overnight” bachelor party festivities with a friend, Frederich wakes me, inviting me to join he and his wife in their bedroom for coffee, jam and croissants. Of course I don’t actually lie in the bed with them, I sit at a little antique desk facing the bed and we chat. I also take time to admire their eccentric quarters; lovely colourful fabrics, exotic woody antiques. Their large bedroom is located on top of a renovated barn, in another building, with vaulted ceiling and rustic exposed beams. Frederich, a former antique dealer with a skill for renovating, did most of the work himself. And it’s not too precious either. You can knock stuff over and nobody goes into a panic. You feel like you’re in an artist’s studio not your boyfriends’ parents’ bedroom.

Eventually Priscilla, the FC’s mother, will rise from her reclined Matisse-like position on the bed to pull a photo album from the shelves. They have an amazing collection of family photos; trips to Greece, Turkey, Italy, ski holidays, gallery visits, photos of the FC and his sisters playing on the beach in Giens. Priscilla has everything carefully ordered and laid out on the page, and, in addition to making sculptures and designing clothes, she’s a talented photographer.

Flipping through the photos, it’s clear, she and Frederich have translated their artistic ways into family life. Bohemians with kids, they’re both original and traditional. It makes me understand why I like the FC so much. He has the same blend of values. How lucky am I?

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