soup plates

Tuesday 7 March Lovely day, much cooler. Maud & I were awake some hours in night. Morg. M. & self by train to Clarks about money & our return journey engaging salons lits & cabin etc. Maud bought boxes of flowers for Lennie, the darlings & Nana. Letter fr. Edgar. Late for luncheon, cab back. For run in Motor with Mr & Mrs M. who dropped us at Carlton where we had tea with Miss Brown & friend, delightful. Saw Edna May there, & Daisie & Mr Markham who asked us to dine with them at Casino. He had won £32 at Casino. Returned in cab 3 frs. V. good conjuror evg. Sat with Mr Denny, great talker. Delightful day.

Wednesday 8 March Letters fr. dear Roy, Mervyn, Flossie Blair etc enclosed. Cloudy morg, cooler. Slept better. Maudie late paid bill £77.60 & walked nearly into Cannes, too late. Met Mr Denny & returned. After lunch talked with Mr Denny & at 3 o’c Maud & self with Mr & Mrs M. in Car for lovely drive after getting our tickets for Battle of Flowers tomorrow. Mine 7 frcs. to Mr M. for it. Maud’s tea at Casino Miss Brown & Miss Russell. Saw Tables & Mr M. won 15 frcs rest lost. After dinner talked with Mr Game on S. Exchange. The Miss Storbridges sat with our party. Muriel had been with the Storbridges all day. Tea bad & service worse Casino. Uncomfortable in Car, wet blanket feeling, cannot understand it.

Thursday 9 March Battle of Flowers. Delightful day, fine sunny & cool wind. Read “Marie Claire” finished it & sat in garden. Dr M. arrived fr. England early, went for walk with Mr & Mrs M. & Maud. At 2.30 Mrs M, Mrs Game, Mr M. & self in Car v. prettily decorated with pink stocks & carnations & Boganvilia(sic) to our seat in stand. Maud, Dr. M, Mr Game & Muriel in Car in procession. Most amusing sight, the pelting of small bouquets, three carriages beautifully decorated. After to tea at Nègres. Col (blank) joined our party, & home in Car. Sat after dinner with Fairs & Mr Denny. 2 very good looking woman sang & (illeg) like birds pecking about whilst we were having tea at Nègres. We drove back to Hotel in Motor. Dr M. is a distinct acquisition to our table being a good talker, the awful silence is dreadful sometimes, but for darling Maud’s brightness it w’d be unbearable. Maud & I sat with the Fairs after dinner & Mr Denny who was most amusing. Two v. pretty women sang & recited extremely well, Mother & daughter, the latter very pretty with delightful voice. They made by a collection made after 500 frcs. nearly for the London Waifs & Strays. Mr, Mrs & Dr M. & Muriel joined us at the end. (Page pinned in) Thurs 9 March. Our seats were under an awning op. American Hotel or House, American flag flying, & we c’d see well being 3rd row & not too

close for rough pelting. Maud looked sweet in the M’s Motor passing & I caught 2 big bunches of violets fr her & many fr. others not intended for me. A red carnation & green decorated Victoria & a mauve & pink were the prettiest. A few were beautifully got up but were without any taste & the roads after were a sight with crushed flowers. The M’s motor looked vy nice & people deliberately stripped it of flowers.

Friday 10 March Delightful day. Maudie alas! slept badly & woke at 9 after many hours awake. At 12 o’c walked to cab, met Mrs M. & Muriel returnng fr. Cannes in fiàcre. We lunched at Continental Hotel with Jean Brown & Miss Russell in Restaurant there. Charmingly arranged roses in bud & green in X across our round table. Excellent lunch & good talk so bright & lively. After to see the garden, vy prettily laid out, strange humming bird moths flying over flowers. These & black velvet bees seen here seem strange to me. Then to see the 2 bedrooms very nice on 3rd floor overlooking Bay & Old Town, Esterel Mountains. Lovely view. (page pinned in) Friday 10th March. These rooms tout compris they pay 18 frcs a day for. Mr Secher who used to drive the coach between Ramsgate & Cantebury at the Hotel, did not see him. Maudie & self walked short cut to rue Antibes, bought many things. V. expensive gave 2.95 for what one w’d pay 9d for in England. Maud sent off flowers 3 baskets 3.50 each & 7.50 for 7 baskets of oranges, also 3.50 for some flowers we took to Hotel Alsace Loraine for Mrs Geilgud. We took her & Mr G. with us to Nègres where we found Mr & Mrs & Muriel M. v. annoyed about great damage done to Motor in turning the shaft of a cart went thro’ side of Motor, considerable damage done. V. vexing & most thankful neither Maud nor self in Car at time. We had tea at Nègres & Mr M. paid. Back in car. Chauffeur vy upset naturally. Fairly pleasant evg. Cinematograph rather vulgar. Chicken raising good. Maudie tired came to bed 9.30 & I trust my darling will sleep well.

Saturday 11 March Another delightful day. Sunny but colder, east wind. Muriel still seedy & only up after luncheon & for short walk with her father. Maud & self for walk & Maud sketched the Gate high up on Hill at back of Hotel. At 4 o’c with Mr & Mrs Messel to Jetty saw gun boat & walked back to tea at Nègres where Mr & Mrs Gielgud & Mr & Mrs Blandford were, Dr Messel with us. Darling remained with Muriel & had tea at Hotel in Mrs M’s sitting room. Wrote 4 letters. Back in train. Sat after dinner with Dr M, Mrs M. & Mrs Game. Darling went up to Muriel. Bed 10 o’c & great fly chase, killed 10 Maud’s room. Hope she will sleep well.

Sunday 12 March Glorious day. Maudie slept better. Muriel to church. V. silent at luncheon! & they all left early except Maud Dr M. & self. Good sermon (illeg). M. & self for short walk & talked to Lorings before going in. After lunch long talk with Mr Dewey & Dr M till 3 o’c. Head tired. Rested, wrote until 4.30. Mrs M, Maud & self in Motor to Carlton where Mr M, Muriel, Mrs Richards, Col. Curran, met us & had tea. Vy crowded & hot. Good coffee. Saw Mason writer. On return found Mrs & Lola Shannon here, they & Mrs Parrish at Continental. (page pinned in) Sunday 12th March. I talked with them & the Fairs some time. Mrs Game dined at our table, Mr G. very seedy. A great many laid up at Hotel, Mrs Denny, the handsome Baronne & pretty American all seedy. Trust my darling Maud will escape. Muriel in her room & Maud sat with her after dinner. Great draught in Hall. Sat with Mr M, read, & with Mrs Fair whose dau. is seedy. Bed 9.40.

Monday 13 March My dear Father died 1884. Another dull day & rain. In all morg. Maudie & self wrote, I in Hall. Sun later in day. Muriel still in her room & seeing doctor. Mr M. terribly depressed. After lunch sat in Hall, then rested & at 3.30 M. & self in tram to Market Place & walked leaving cards on Mrs Parrish & Mr Secher at Continental. Maudie v. tired going up hill, rested in garden as they were out, & to Nègres for tea. Vy happy together. Dr M. joined us & then Mr & Mrs M. Cold water. (page pinned in) Monday 13th March 1911. M. & self to flower shop where M. bought lovely flowers for Muriel & present for Lennie. Back in Hotel Motor. Maudie up to Muriel’s room to take flowers. Concert after dinner. I read. Maud to Muriel’s room & Mrs M. talked to Mrs Game. Wish my darling looked stronger & that we had moved on to San Remo, fear Mr M’s depression getting on my darling’s nerves, it makes me feel uncomfortable & sad also when we have so much to be thankful for.

Tuesday 14 March Lovely day but v. cold out of sun. Maud & I walked to Croissé where we sat in sun & were toasted & felt better for it, we were so cold. Mr Messel met us & walked back with us. Muriel still in her room, & M. not allowed to see her by doctor’s orders. At 2.45 in Motor with Dr & Mrs Messel to Grasse where we got out & walked thro’ the old streets & market place. V. narrow & most picturesque tho’ dirty & v. smelly, to Nègres crystalised fruit factory, where we saw the great tubs of boiling sugar. Vy dirty looking stuff. (page pinned in) Tues 14th March. Quantity of oranges, pines & all sorts of fruits, & orange blossom, rose leaves, violets & mimosa all in different stages of preparation for sweets & crystalised.

The violets are first sorted, then boiling syrup is poured over them & very dirty women fingered these to keep them separated & that the sugar permeated them, then they are sugared with mauve powdered sugar & sorted again on trays & then placed on shelves in a room closely together, one shelf on another where it is heated like a hothouse to dry them. Then they are again passed thro’ sugar highly coloured with some violet colouring & dried again. The liquid sugar looked v. nasty & the metal pans like great milk basins only in metal were not bright or clean looking, nor were the men & women employed clean, & the sort of Vaults where work is done were dark & uncleanly. An old woman roasting coffee was a picture. Maud bought a box of fruits for 3.50 frcs quite small, v. dear. We then motored back thro’ lovely country & sunset past Villeneuve & Moujines & up an awful zig zag road which frightened us greatly. We had coffee in our room & were glad of it. Darling M. very nervous & wanted to jump out. After dinner in billiard room for a while & then Mr & Mrs M. went up to their room

Wednesday 15 March Up at 7 to find my water bottle had been leaking all night & my nightdress & blanket were soaked! Trust no evil results, v. cold. Darling & I went to Monte Carlo by 10 train, fly to station, pd 16.50 for tickets. Saw Mr Fair, Mr Denny & Dr M. in Hall before starting. No trouble. Snow at Nice & ground covered with it in thin layer, everywhere after Nice to Monaco. Glorious scenery with all mountains covered with snow, lovely blue sky & sea & sun! Sat out in grounds of Casino in sun & then enjoyed our table at Ciro’s, & to Tables where Maud lost a little playing on Manque only. George Dietz spoke to us, he was losing! (page pinned in) 15th March Wed. Maud & I went to lunch & were greatly amused by two pretty smart women & 2 men at our next table, but foolish conversation. After we again went to tables where Maud won about £2 odd. We were only there ¾ of an hour. Back to Ciro’s for tea. Very cold wind & vy cold after sunset at Monte Carlo. Great crowd there but few smart people. Vy ordinary & quiet. A few pretty women & (illeg) men. Ld Bateman with party behind us. Returned by 5.9 train. Heard Muriel had chicken pox & had left Hotel for a Home (nursing). After dinner spoke to Gorings & sat with them, well bred people & seem very nice & devoted to each other. Mrs M. seemed happier & vy well. Mr M. terribly doleful, depressed both Maudie & myself, thankful to be away for a day together. Mr Denny told me a man had buried his wife & the funeral was to cost 8/- The man, a Scotsman, said he would only pay 5/- whereupon the Scotsman said “Another 3/- or up she comes again” when the husband pd. up immediately!