I've been meaning to start this blog since the beginning of time or rather since I moved here so two years in reality. My how time flies! Yesterday I finally got a little camera, I've been trying to get round to that for two years as well. So now the plan is to document my life and adventures in this house and also what shall be known as 'the mythical chambre d'hotes' or the bonkers idea of a B&B and I really do question sometimes whether it will ever happen.
I suppose some history of how we came to be here is in order. A little over two years looking for a new home and a new direction we walked through the doors of this house. I was only viewing it to discard it as an option. It had no garden and that I thought was that but it was big and it was cheap and it had been winking at me for the last ten years and every time it winked I said 'no I'm not interested you have no garden' As we walked in through the front door something happened. I've heard it said that decisions about houses are made in the first 60 or so seconds...and it was. 'Oh Oh' I say 'oh dear I think I'm going to like this'
I suppose some history of how we came to be here is in order. A little over two years looking for a new home and a new direction we walked through the doors of this house. I was only viewing it to discard it as an option. It had no garden and that I thought was that but it was big and it was cheap and it had been winking at me for the last ten years and every time it winked I said 'no I'm not interested you have no garden' As we walked in through the front door something happened. I've heard it said that decisions about houses are made in the first 60 or so seconds...and it was. 'Oh Oh' I say 'oh dear I think I'm going to like this'
The house has two front doors or perhaps two back doors or even a front door and a back door I really can't figure out what is back or front. The door you see above I call the back front door although I think it is may be properly the front front door although the other front door is not the back door and is also most definitely a front door. It is confusing living here sometimes. With two front doors comes two addresses. I'll introduce you to the other front door later.
We had tried peeking through the windows but I was hampered by a) shortness of stature b) ten years of grime on the windows and c)the fact that every shutter that could be shut was indeed shut. I'll show you some pictures of some of what we found however we didn't see what you see due to the fact that those pesky shutters were closed and as became very evident they were mostly closed because they were screwed shut to prevent them falling off so we pretty much viewed in the gloom and didn't see the house in daylight until the day we moved in. Then it was a slow process, removing the shutters one by one and hoping not to drop them on an innocent passer by
We had tried peeking through the windows but I was hampered by a) shortness of stature b) ten years of grime on the windows and c)the fact that every shutter that could be shut was indeed shut. I'll show you some pictures of some of what we found however we didn't see what you see due to the fact that those pesky shutters were closed and as became very evident they were mostly closed because they were screwed shut to prevent them falling off so we pretty much viewed in the gloom and didn't see the house in daylight until the day we moved in. Then it was a slow process, removing the shutters one by one and hoping not to drop them on an innocent passer by
This is the dining room and this is the oldest fireplace in the house
The salon
The kitchen
The terrace
The stairs
The entrance to the kitchen from the terrace
So that's a taste of what we found and that was that we bought. Sometimes things are meant to be and then quite often it seems to me they run quite smoothly. From the day we moved in the house has felt like my home and loving it and caring for it seems to make it shine.
It's not a massive house but with 300sqm of living space on three floors plus large attics and cellars it adds up and our taxes are very high, hence the idea to open the mythical chambre d'hotes a chance to share this lovely place with others who would enjoy it also and a chance for the house to earn it's keep.
So that's a taste of what we found and that was that we bought. Sometimes things are meant to be and then quite often it seems to me they run quite smoothly. From the day we moved in the house has felt like my home and loving it and caring for it seems to make it shine.
It's not a massive house but with 300sqm of living space on three floors plus large attics and cellars it adds up and our taxes are very high, hence the idea to open the mythical chambre d'hotes a chance to share this lovely place with others who would enjoy it also and a chance for the house to earn it's keep.