The same night my `German' children came from Hamburg and the three legs of Fairhurst in Europe got down to some serious family business. The arts abound in my grandchildren: the 11 year-old is a competent pianist, medal-winning ballet dancer and budding choreographer; the 10 year-old is much praised for her modernistic painting; the 16 year-old was champion ballroom dancer of Northern Germany for her age group this year and also does excellent portraits while the nine-year-old is going to be the first Fairhurst actor-manager. He has a gift for making costumes out of anything, mounting plays and then acting in them. On the third day we went to Lausanne at the other end of Lake Geneva for a sobering experience: the ruins of Porta Luzon. A thriving lake harbour town in the first century A.D. Yes, those Romans could build!

So much was still standing, especially the foundations and floors, for bakeries, baths, villas with all the modern (?) amenities for the good life. It was a chilling reminder of the vanity of human wishes: sic transit gloria.

The following Saturday we took a tour round our end of Lake Geneva. Among the residences on the shoreline was the Rothschild family chateau, that of Empress Josephine, the United Nations Building, buildings of even older international organisations, Woodrow Wilson's Palace, Byron's residence, Belle Mire's castle; even the homes of Presidents Eisenhower and Reagan. No South Africans among the company!

In summer sunlight the lake cruiser kept docking at little harbours all along the way, rather alarmingly banging and grating against the jetties and piers in danger of damaging the hull. My German son-in-law described it as `parking by ear'!

CONCERT

Next evening we went to a concert by Johnny Holiday in a Swiss park which made me a little homesick for Durban Arts' own concerts in the park.

Next day we motored down to Lyon, France's second city and, I believe, a city before Paris. I think Balzac said `Lyon is France, Paris is not'.

Best of all, for all its size and still dynamic growth, there was no central city decay. All the cobblestones and stone masoned buildings are maintained and fully functional with boutiques, dwelling places and offices. We were continually offered evidence that the French have truly modernised their NEWS13



society yet with a firm hand still on their past. Culturally, I wish I were French.

I have a special love for ecclesiastical architecture and Lyon's tremendous St

Peters Cathedral started in the 1200s and completed in the 1400s, was built to last. Close to a hundred metres high, it seems good for another 600 years but however did they lift those huge stones so high in the air with such rudimentary equipment? We celebrated Switzerland's National Day with a procession of lanterns carried by children. There were fireworks and tuckshops all around the park and the Mayor told us in French that the good life in Switzerland was all thanks to security, stability and good economics! Following day we motored down in my son's big-model jeep to the Mediter-ranean, leaving his house unlocked for five days with complete impunity!

Probably the highlight of our tour was our five day visit to the Cote d'Azure. We slept in Antibes but visited Nice, Biot, Cannes and Monte Carlo. Again we found undecayed city centres full of little boutiques, holiday pensions and often occupied by Cockney voices. In Cannes we entered the legendary Carlton Hotel but I thought the Martinez next door had better architecture.

MUSEUMS

The next week we spent our time in museums, Geneva's excellent Natural History Museum on four floors you need nothing less than a day to see it all. The art gallery was patriotic and a little disappointing - filled with paintings by Swiss artists I have never heard of, except Halder. Though there were some Cezannes, Renoirs, a Braque and even Picassos. The display surprised me with its English aspect: Turner, Hogarth, Constable and a magnificent portrait of one of those frighteningly formidable Scotsmen of the 18th century by Raeburn all of six feet high. The largely over-looked Hoppner, most obvious protegŠ of Reynolds was there in some strength, but no Reynolds. I think I did see at least one Gainsborough. The Museum of Antiquities was awesome in its breadth and the rareness of the exhibits.

On the Saturday night the four-day Geneva Festival ended in a magnificent fireworks display with the pyrotechnics projected from the shore, lighters and other boats in the lake. We watched for more than an hour from a big cruiser.

Early in the evening we had parked our car near John Calvin's Church for a splendid organ recital and walked down the cobblestones literally kilometres to the lake.

As the display ended, down came the

rain so my son decided to leave his motorbike behind and travel home dry in the car. We all secretly wrote off his Harley Davidson. But next morning, there it was. That is the law-abiding level one finds in Switzerland.

We travelled on the ICE 70 Helvetia train which at top speed does 277 kms an hour, breaking trains at Basel. Without any German except that of my 13 year-old granddaughter, we nearly took the wrong train!

This historian in me found a lump in my throat as we sped through historic German cities like Freiburg, Karisuhe, Mannheim, Kessel, Gottingen and Hanover, where the Fairhurst family once had blood ties, before arriving in Hamburg Hoof Baanhof.

My German son-in-law whisked us off to his home in Norstedt to show this off as a delectable experiment in housing for mainly younger people who can afford to build a house but not a mansion. About three decades ago an outstanding civic leader called Schumacher decided to design a substantial, aesthetically-satisfying suburb that was still practical. In Europe where land is scarce, people build upwards or down into basements.

Land blindfold anywhere in Norstadt and you would know where you were. The houses are certainly not uniform, though obviously designed by the same enligh-tened architect, looking forwards rather than backwards, yet not freakishly modern for its own sake.

I detected a strong tug of the world-renowned Bauhaus concept.

On the Saturday we took a voyage around Hamburg Harbour - one of the world's greatest sea ports in a large sea-going cruiser driven single handed by a chap who also gave us an ongoing commentary full of racy (rarely complimentary!) references to his hometown. That's Hamburg.



1996 A-4 EXHIBITION



Ningizimu School for SMH (Severely Mentally Handicapped) will host an A-4 Exhibition at the Elizabeth Sneddon Theatre from October 10 to 11. The motive is to bring together mainstream and mentally handicapped school students as well as other artists in the community. "This kind of contact has proved to be a great resource in stimulating the creati-vity of our students and developing their artistic skills. In addition, mutual understanding is also enhanced," says Robin Opperman who teaches art at Ningizimu School.

The exhibition opens on World Mental Health Day and the announcement of award winners will take place at the opening function, with presentation of awards taking place at the various schools concerned.

WILD LIFE WINNERS



Last month's Wildlife Expo saw a high level of art and craft exhibited. Of particular note was a stall from the Venda Women's Club which offered an excellent range of beautifully-crafted baskets made from polypropylene cloth.

Deserving winner of the Nedbank Guinea Fowl Trophy for the Best Artist on Show went to Beth Freeman-Kane for her exquisite miniature bird sculptures. Highly commended was Andrew Berthelson. This artist, who specialises in wild life art on handmade paper made out of rhino and elephant dung, shows tremendous potential.

CRAFTER

The Nedbank Guinea Fowl Trophy for the Best Crafter on Show was awarded to Paper Magic who specialise in the art of quilling. If you've never seen it before, it's fascinating!

Highly Commended was Gwizzy Rugs for their innovative rug/ground sheets.