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Sunday 17 June 2012

Jane.

So I'm going to ask you to cast your minds back into the mists of time. Way back to the mid 1990's. Do you remember when Pride and Prejudice was on the tele and Colin Firth was Mr Darcy? I will admit that I was besotted. It coincided with when I met my (now) husband - we went on a date the night the first episode screened and during our courtship he gave me this:


I knew it was serious. Even more so when we went on a five week motoring holiday in the UK - fourteen years ago. As a sign of his devotion he drove the car to these destinations on a Jane Austen/Pride and Prejudice pilgrimage.

The Jane Austen House Museum at Chawton:



Jane Austen actually lived here. Admittedly, it was only for the last eight years of her life, yet this is the only residence that you can visit. The house that she grew up in and spent most of her life in, the Rectory at Steventon, was pulled down - supposedly a tree planted by one of her brothers marks the location.

From there we moved on to Bath:



And Lyme Regis:



Where walked along the Cobb - the site of Louisa Musgrove's fateful accident in Persuasion.

Then we moved on to the Piece de resistance - Lyme Park:



Aka Pemberley where the Pride and Prejudice TV series had been filmed. I stood by the actual lake where Mr Darcy (Colin Firth) stripped off and went for a dip:


In case you have forgotten, or never seen (quelle horreur) this piece of television mastery, you can watch it here.

Here's my own Mr Darcy - fourteen years ago:



Needless to say I married him and I can't say that I fancy Colin Firth anymore. Do you?

R

3 comments:

  1. Oh Funny! Love how your husband is wearing a white shirt too - channelling Darcey for your benefit?? I still think that is one of the best series the BBC have put out. My mother was literally obsessed with it. She watched it over and over......we staged an intervention and removed the DVD (or was it a video?) from her. I think the movie version of Persuasion that came out a few years later was brilliant.

    I thought it very sad that the actress that played Lizzie ended up playing the dowdy aged wife to Geoffery Rush in The Kings Speech and Colin got to play the King.

    Glad you survived your family holiday!

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  2. Sorry, never seen, quelle horreur ! Vous ne pouvez pas me voir, mais je suis rouge de honte !xx

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  3. Oh, yes! I DID see it! The gorgeous Colin Firth, as Mr. Darcy was just a dream! Dark eyes and hair... that white shirt... the underwater scene (in the lake!) WOW! SO SEXY! I loved it! Best production ever! Thank you BBC! Thank you handsome Colin! What can he not do? I love all his films (LOVE BRIDGET JONES!) and I even watched Nanny McFee, again, at the weekend, because he's in it and he's so cute!

    I love Jane Austen and I have read everything she wrote (and I mean everything!)

    I enjoyed this post and the lovely photos. I would love to visit the house... it would be fantastic!

    CIAO!

    ANNA

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