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November 25, 2024
Stephanie Neumann-Johnston
Southern France has far more to offer than dream beaches and super yachts: women who, with taste and good humor, defy all the laws of aging.
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A few years ago, my husband and I fulfilled our great dream: a second home on the southern French coast. Where, when the frost flowers bloom at home, the air is filled with the sweet scent of jasmine. Where oleanders grow into house-high trees, the market tempts with the tastiest tomatoes and sweetest peaches in the world, and one picturesque bay follows another.
However, something I never expected in my life: That in this small fishing village with its couple of thousand inhabitants, I would encounter a category of women who would overshadow all of that: the Supergranny.
Yes, Supergranny. By this, I mean women of a certain age who present and portray themselves as so naturally youthful that it is impossible to determine their true age. You would never come up with the idea of calling them retirees – although, of course, they are.
You see them with wheel-size hats and Sophia Loren sunglasses busily typing on their phones in cafés.
And for some inexplicable reason, we have hundreds of these grandmothers of superlatives in our town. You see them with wagon-wheel-sized hats and Sophia Loren sunglasses, busily typing on their phones in cafés, strolling light-footedly in colorful sandals and fluttering dresses through the narrow streets. And above all, you see them on the beach in the mornings. Because between eight and nine in the morning is the hour of the Supergrannies here.
From afar, you can already recognize them by their excitingly patterned swimsuits and bikinis, often combined with a matching headscarf or oversized straw hat – or both at once. Whether it's a little belly, gray hair, or a new knee: nothing keeps these ladies from presenting themselves in a way that they enjoy. And it's unmistakable that they take joy in themselves and in life.
Of course, the climate plays a role. Here the sun seems to shine for what feels like 365 days a year.
What could their secret be? Why do they all look as if they've stopped time at the age of sixty and yet cheerfully point out their artificial hip joint and a birth year well before the time when Charles de Gaulle was president? Of course, the climate plays a role. Here, the sun seems to shine 365 days a year.
Delicately tanned skin and a warm smile suit everyone well. In addition, there's the sun-ripened fruit and vegetables that greet you daily at the market, the freshly caught fish, the delicious olive oil. Yes, it's easy to live healthily – especially in the constant company of miles of beaches and turquoise blue sea.
© Lens & Light
In the south of France, it's easy to live healthily.
But there's more. The Supergrannies of the Côte d'Azur also have a certain attitude that is worth taking a closer look at. No gray thoughts and frustrated looks, because things aren't as smooth as they were in their early twenties. With straight backs, alert eyes, and open hearts, they approach everything they don't know with curiosity – including me.
"It's good, the water," a lady with a long silver-gray braid calls out to me from the dock as I hesitantly climb down the ladder into the water. Is the sea still warm enough, now in October? It's good, as she says. Fantastic, wonderful! With a smile, I'm - whoosh - in and after a few strokes find myself in the company of her radiant colleagues, who have gathered here for their daily routine of aqua sports and chatting.
They are not the first in the supermarket in the morning, but the first on the beach.
Life is beautiful - especially when you have a lot of time. No one knows this better than the Supergrannies. That's why they don't spend it sneaking invisibly through the streets with practical retiree hairstyles, beige-gray functional clothing, and Velcro shoes.
They prefer to make the world the way they like it. They are not the first in the supermarket in the morning, but the first on the beach. Quite right! What is there to lose? Why join the ranks of the invisible when there are the most amazing clothes at every corner? The naturalness with which the Supergrannies reach for oversize overalls or leotrench coats with matching handbags is good and inspiring.
Too old? Tant pis - we don't care! Let the kids look enviously! And if knee-friendly footwear, then please sneakers with extra-thick stylish soles and spectacular patterns in grass green and gold metallic.
For me it's clear: When I grow up, I will become Supergranny.
And so it happens that in my new sneakers - of course bought here in town - I stroll good-humoredly through the alleys, when the sun rises in front of me: A lady in a lemon-yellow shirt, royal blue pants and matching captain's cap adorned with a thick gold chain comes towards me. I'm so dazzled that I only notice she's accompanied by a walker after she's already passed me. What a sight! What a woman! For me, it's clear: When I grow up, I want to be a Supergranny.
P.S. I've also spotted one or two Supergrandads, especially a gentleman in a white suit with bell-bottoms, a Panama hat, and platform sandals remains in my eternal memory. But that can certainly be expanded. So allez, les Garçons, what are you waiting for?
