L’Oasis
Everything is special here.
There’s no rush. The sky is big and life flows with the seasons.
I’m excited as the swallows should arrive any day now.
I first came to the region 24 years ago and stayed many times with friends at Les Moreous, where the Moors would stop on their journey on this ancient pathway to Montesgur. I always knew this area would be a large part of my story. As soon as I visited for the first time the rhythm and the beauty of the area flowed through my thoughts and dreams. I am here now, sitting at my little desk, listening to the wind blow through the trees outside and watching the blossom start to burst from the trees.
My best friend bought her palatial home here almost 20 years ago, started the huge renovation project and finally moved here full time. She founded one of the best known yoga retreats in France, Yobaba Lounge. I continued to visit with my son and often dreamed of having a home here far from the madding crowd. It was always the natural resources here that put me in a constant state of wonder – the mountains, the lakes, the wild food to forage, the waterfalls and the rivers.
We bought a village house almost four years ago and it became a haven, a retreat. It had no heating, needed a huge amount of work doing but provided an escape from London and a place to gather my thoughts.
And then came L’Oasis. L’Oasis feels like my destiny, my forever home. It still feels like a dream and I don’t want to wake up. It gives me everything I have ever dreamed of and more. I love its history, it’s happy feel and the abundance of the land. L’Oasis has an acre and a half-walled garden, lined with fig, cherry and apricot trees. We’ve just trimmed the vines ready for their first growth, planted a honeysuckle to cover the breeze block wall of the pump house and a river runs behind the wall joining a further two just beyond the boulodrome providing a perfect soundtrack with the huge variety of birds. We have inherited the Theron’s cat, Minette. She is quite feral which I can relate to and we have made the garage a dog free zone. I wake in the morning to watch the wind blowing through the palm trees and the birds busy with their spring activity. I go to bed after a walk in the garden to gaze at the sky with wonder after being in a cramped urban environment for so long. I feel like L’Oasis found me and I have formed a special, deep friendship with the Theron’s daughter, Dany who grew up here. As the next guardians, it feels incredibly important to me to protect and nurture L’Oasis as it protects and nurtures me.
The Theron’s lived a life devoted entirely to working the land, a nourishing land providing vegetables for the village. Around the 1960s and on a space adjoining their market gardening activities, the family home was built. Every Friday, Monsieur and Madame Theron sold their vegetables at Lavelanet market while they opened their home to budding gardeners, coming to seek plants and advice. Around 1990, Monsieur and Madame Theron, inseparable as always, stopped their activities to hand over to their son Robert.
L’Oasis is a story that continues to be told of connections, love, abundance and sky.
