I've a lady friend, a woman most exotic and charming, that I was lucky enough to have accompany me on an outing to an elegant spa in the rugged wilds of Boyes Springs. The lady was enticed away from her usual round of lunches with clients of her haute couture salon by the promise held in a stunning spring day, a pristine day full of perfection as only gentle spring on the central coast of California can be. That sort of promise is a siren call so strong when it first arrives after winter that even the most devoted San Franciscan can surrender to the urge to cross the Tiber and rusticate amongst the tribes resident north of proudest Golden Gate.
The Fairmont-Mission Sonoma Inn Spa is an oasis of civility in a rather dusty work a day agricultural town. Tessie Fair's opulent countty outpost brings high society's polished manners and mores to a village dominated by colors brownish mixed with ruddy greens. Truly it is a mission of love to bring glamour and the dependable chic of Nob Hill to the villages north of the Gate and it takes all the skill of the Ladies and Gentleman employed by Tessie Fair's to succeed. Succeed at it they do as seemingly effortlessly in final presentation to the spa guest as high tea at the Copley in Boston or a party in the Penthouse at The Fairmont on Nob Hill. It is a burst of soothing pinkish tones and joyful manicured gardens bright with budding flowers. in stark contrast to the surrounding blackness of vines yet to be smothered in ripe fruit. The endless vistas of vineyards are particularly bleak this time of year and uninteresting to all but the vineyard owner. The deity Bacchus has yet to decide if this year's cycle of planting, growing, harvesting, crush, vinting will yield little more than toil, sweet, heartache, debt and artisian vinegar! The hordes of boozey wineo's and dope tourist's are still weeks away and the locals are well rested from the break that only a wet winter provides the year round residents of lovely country towns too near urban centers to escape day trippers! Service is therefore provided with genuine, "so glad to see you back", warmth!
My lady friend was a picture of seasonal finery but only if one considers all black seasonal. Still a Y.S.L.lace blouse a top a very short Valentino skirt, belted by a truly enormous and well mannered Dolce Gabbana belt set off her a beige shawl of silk and rabbit fur and Jimmy Choo boots, all contrasting well with the warm brown black tones and loving textures of a near steamer trunk sized Lew-E-Vou-E purse and fit the luxury of the place well. As this was a day to rusticate and contemplate rather than campaign towards our individual Rubicons jewelry was limited to signet rings and very very good stainless steel Tags-Hauers.
Never one to linger long amongst women with a good string of pearls, my fashion amazon departed the ladies changing room in quick order, joining me next to the largest of three outdoor mineral pools. This lady promptly left me to launch into a regimen of laps. Haute Couture is nothing if not a discipline and this disciple of the arts of clothing is a front line general against dowdy. An opportunity to burn calories arose and off my swan swam. The laps completed she rejoined me and we enjoyed an hour of conversation about nothing at all.. Polite chatter it may be but a complete delight in fact it is. This charming lady has no malice or venom in conversation and while her clothes cost the pool boy's annual salary her nature and girl guide to fashion personality shone through with the result being that Madame Chantele quickly gathered about her the other ladies present. The boy's, meaning me and the few husbands present,were pushed into the spa equivalent of the living room while the ladies conspired about fashion.
I consoled myself with a plate of rasberry macaroons. and as the palm trees swayed in a very gentle breeze light conversations ebbed and flowed effortlessly. The air sparkeling with the genuine delight that several older ladies felt in enjoying the luxury of being in the moment, in an elegant place and engaging in light banter with a lady of charm, wit and fashion. Fashion and the fashionable are nothing if they do not charm and amuse. The lady,my dear friend does alway's charm and amuse. How lucky I am to know this gilded lotus.
