Valentin's Letter
High Summer 2024
Dear Friends,
I was ten when we moved into this house. The garden was huge for a small boy and a paradise for playing hide and seek. You could climb up some of the rhododendrons and almost never be found.
Sometimes us kids had to leave the garden to the adults. One time Iris organised an entire opera outdoors. A friend of hers was a drama professor in London and came with his entire company, including a small orchestra. The guests brought their own picnic, sat on blankets on the lawn and listened to the spectacle on stage under the old oak tree. At a midnight fashion show, with all the guests in the garden and the whole house illuminated, actors and models presented the collection on balconies and terraces across all four floors. Us children even joined in.
Today, we usually organise smaller garden parties, mostly with the company. At our annual garden party, Iris brings out all her colourful blankets and cushions. Candles are lit everywhere, transforming the garden into a bohemian fairytale landscape. A long table is set up with Iris own giant candlesticks. We invite our partners and alumni and, if it's warm enough, we dance outside until the early hours of the morning.
In summer, if the weather holds out, we all have lunch together and enjoy the green jungle in the middle of the city. That is our garden.
Now it was the backdrop for our High Summer campaign. Let's see how long it takes for my daughter Daisy to play hide and seek here...
