José Ignacio, March 14 to March 21

Our trip from Bariloche to Punte del Este was not without incident.  An initial 40 minute delay into Buenos Aires was then followed by another 40 minute delay into Punte, where we then sat on the runway for the best part of an hour, waiting for a damn bus to take us the 100 yards to the terminal – it is not as if this is the busiest airport in the world!  Meanwhile, its tipping it down outside.  When we finally get to baggage reclaim, we discover that the suitcases had been offloaded promptly, left uncovered on the tarmac and were now soaked.

We finally arrived at our destination (a lovely 3 bedroomed house 45 minutes from the airport), at 10:30pm, in the pouring rain, tired and fed up.  We opened our cases and, as we suspected, much of the contents were soaking wet.  After a piece of toast (as we had had no supper), we were just about to get ready for bed when the power went.  In pitch black we groped around a house we didn’t know trying to find candles.  In the end Philippa’s contact lenses came out by the light of James iPhone and we called it a day! It was not a good moment!

THe house was well equipped

The following day we awoke, drew the curtains and found that we had the most wonderful, unobstructed view of the Atlantic, not more than 75 metres from our terrace.

View from our bed

Breakfast and lunch area

José Ignacio is a strange little town, mounted on a promontory which extends into the sea.  Once a small fishing village, it has now become (from mid December till mid January) the Saint Tropez of this part of the world, with movie stars, singers and anyone with a Porsche desperate to be seen in its restaurants or on its beaches.  

Map of Jose Ignacio

In high season (which extends till mid February), the place is humming, and with the amount of money coming here, you would imagine that everything would be immaculate – the buildings, roads, services etc.  You would be wrong; the community has been very keen to retain its rustic feel, so no one is allowed to build above a certain height and there are no swanky apartment blocks, the streets are decrepit, and in fact, the place looks a bit of a dump. However land and properties change hands at extortionate prices!!

Does this look like St Tropez?

View from our room

Almacen El Palmar

Unfortunately, by early March, 90% of the restaurants are closed for their winter and we were limited to a couple of restaurants, both of which (fortunately) we were happy to eat at at any time.  One (Almacén El Palmar) is run by a well-known and highly entertaining French chef, Jean Paul Bondoux, and it became our coffee shop of preference.  The other, La Huella, is the be-all and end-all of beach restaurants, where we had several superb lunches and dinners.

La Huella

Lunch at La Huella

The beaches and scenery generally are lovely, and the sunsets spectacular!

Despite the ghost-town feel to the place, there were a couple of wonderful surprises.  On our first day, we were in the local supermarket buying food for the house, when Philippa stopped a good-looking young guy to ask about where to buy meat...as one does.  A general conversation ensued with his girlfriend coming up and me then joining in.  It transpired that they were getting married later that afternoon and, in a bout of spontaneity, they invited us to come to the party.  We took this to mean the reception.  We hadn’t exactly packed for a wedding, but at 7:30pm we rocked up at the ‘Laguna Escondida’ (hidden lagoon) about 2 miles outside Jose Ignacio.  

Scrub-up well

What a fabulous place – purpose built to host society weddings, large corporate events etc.  It overlooks – surprise surprise – a lagoon and to cap it all, there was a full moon.

Philippa and Jemima with Horacio - the groom...

 The set up was nothing short of dreamy.  The atmosphere was all-the-better because it had been windy, pouring with rain all day until about 4:00pm, and now all was calm, clear and warm - a good omen.

and with Maria Eugenia - the bride....

Around 200 very glamorous people from Brazil and Argentina were there, but much to our surprise, they were only serving soft drinks.  Very un-Brazilian.  When we saw the alter set up on a suspended platform over the water, it suddenly dawned on us that we were not there for the reception, but for the wedding itself!

..and with Mario and Vera, Dad and Step Mother

It was a beautiful (and thankfully short) service and we recognised many of the same readings and ritual as we have in UK.  Muddling through with a combination of Italian, Spanish and French, Philippa became good friends in an amazingly short time with the grooms Father and Stepmother, whilst Jemima played hide-and-seek with a nephew and niece of the groom and the rest of us danced to a live band.  

Finally, at about 10:30, everyone went to sit down for a formal dinner!  At this point, having drunk a fair amount of champagne and at risk of overstaying our welcome, we decided to go.  The groom’s sister then implored us to stay, telling us that there were places on the Family table and that we would be most welcome.  How kind was that? People here generally seem to be so much more receptive to an unsolicited approach, the likes of which would rarely happen in the UK!  We are due to have dinner with the bride and groom on our one remaining Saturday night Buenos Aires in a few days time.

The second event was catalysed by an email Philippa received, telling her that an old school alumna, who has spent months cooking on a luxury motor yacht, was due to be putting into Montevideo (160 KM away) having just completed 5 crossings of the Drake Channel (stretch of water between Cape Horn and Antarctica – very rough).  Contact was made.  Due however to a lack of space in Montevideo, the boat diverted to Punta del Este (25 km away) and a plan was hatched to meet up. 

Reunion after 35 years

The following day we drove to the harbour, found the yacht and a reunion, after 35 years, took place between Philippa and Belinda Brewin – the ‘little miss naughty’ of the class of ’80.  God she was funny!

We had a hysterical 24 hours with Belinda, who only seems to drink champagne and neat Tequila. We were blessed with glorious weather – so lunch on the beach at La Huella was followed by mucking about in the waves, and then dinner back at the house.  

Sorry Belinda,  I did say this was one for the blog!

 

Belinda never drew breath, regaling us with story after story about her crazy life since leaving New Hall (‘prematurely’!) in 1977.

From dating rock-stars (“everyone is entitled to one piece of rough in their lives, and this is definitely yours” - her father’s words when introduced to one of them), marriage, children, divorce, money, murder (principal witness in a


horrific quadruple murder which had her in court for over a year giving evidence, and in the process screwing up her life), big house, no house, destitution, getting a grip, some good luck and so on…. she even wrote a book to pay the bills  ‘Trouble Brewin’.  It was a really fun and interesting 24 hours, for much of which Jemima’s eyes were out on stalks, and we will be seeing her soon in London before she re-joins her yacht in Majorca.

We have fond memories of Jose Ignacio, its wonderful views...

 ....Sandy beaches, rustic nature......and would definitely return.  

Beach at Jose Ignacio

Next stop – El Charabon, an estancia about 45 minutes away….