This is the sound of happiness. A baptism highlighted by little spontaneous laughs, celebrating the arrival of a baby. Smiles of complicity revealing a year together. Today, life is celebrated. Among friends and family, the hubbub of the city at a distance, in a magic space brimming with blue.
The antique jardinière, replete of white hydrangeas, sets the tone. But it is the glazed tiles panels, with their rich blue enveloped by the green of the garden, that set the rhythm. In a 17th century garden inspired in the Italian gardens of the Seicento, bordered on the south by a monumental tank of almost 50 meters, we are in Marquis of Fronteira Palace.
In the terrace, panels representing countryside customs, an eulogy to the four seasons. And today the party dresses up as spring. A symbol of rebirth, the beginning of a new cycle.
To the soundtrack of The Sound of Music, the beauty of love, the importance of the family, union, sharing, the hope, the dream and the certainty of happy endings is conveyed. The music heard among the archways – Do, a deer, a female deer; Re, a drop of golden sun –, the welcome made by people with Austrian costumes of the time and the children dressed in fabric stolen from the curtains like the characters in the film, take us to a timeless ambiance.
From the chapel of the palace, the way is done by carriage. The ancient carriages from Sintra, with their coachmen dressed to the hilt, lead the party in a trot and at good pace. The welcome is done under straw hats with delicate flowers, defying the wind, undulating carefree. The dresses an ode to nature.
And, as one looks for the cool inside, the lined up lengthy tables that invite for a tête à tête cause amazement. Their table linen in toile de jouy, the fabric Marie Antoinette chose to line the walls of her palace, blend with the gingham pattern so familiar in country life. The narrative continues on the centerpieces, fairy tales in miniature. The characters, the tiny flowers and the setting are chosen with utmost care, in reduced dimensions, creating an enchanted garden where little birds land on the eggs made of papier maché, representing the birth. Small tales with great significance.
The lounges succeed one another full of history. But on the main dining hall, the chandeliers standout lined in papier maché, in generous proportions, appearing to be dancing with the lampshades painted by hand with floral motifs. And, when night falls, the trees full of petite lampshades tease the darkness. The party evolves and the music carries on. But the air is still light.
