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Saturday, January 31, 2015

La Pelviniere - Our "Home" in Normandy


La Pelviniere- Our Home in Normandy


 
After deciding to take our family to France during the summer of 2014, I immediately began searching for a "home away from home" that would suit our needs and wants. It also had to be located in a place that was within driving range of several locations that would make great day trips. 
 
The best website I found in which to book overseas rental homes was Homeaway.   
 
I spent a few weeks narrowing my search down to Normandy and soon found a home that was spacious enough, cost-effective and absolutely GORGEOUS!!
 


We chose Normandy because it was near enough to Paris to make the arrival and departure from Charles de Gaulle easy. We were within an hour's drive from the coast for beach time and the weather seemed moderate enough to be comfortable during what could be a hot July!
 
Our cottage was called La Pelviniere and is owned by a British couple who frequent France, but make their home available to renters whenever they don't need it. 
 
I picked this house because it had been recently renovated, had enough bedrooms (4) for the people who would stay with us and had the historic flavour we were hoping for in our home in France.
 


 
I instantly fell in love with the blue shutters and the thatched roof.
And the original 18th century stone walls weren't too shabby either!!
 


The thatched roof had been replaced just a week prior to our arrival. A Master Thatcher from England had lived there for 2 weeks while he worked on replacing the slightly leaky roof during the month of June.
 

 
 
The home sat on about 1/2 an acre of farmland, surrounded by other small family farms and had just the right amount of rusticity that we craved from our vacation in France. 
 
Behind the house there was plenty of space for our 3 children to play and lots of shade from the sun under the trees in the apple orchard right behind the house. 
 
 


The kids loved visiting the neighbours farm animals that  included ponies, horses, dogs, pheasants, ducks and chickens.  The rooster did crow, "Cockadoodledoo!" every morning, but it never bothered anyone. It only added to the charm of the place!
 

 
The inside of the house was just as lovely as the outside.
 
The kids spent tons of time in this room - watching TV (luckily lots of it was in English!), playing cards and chess and just hanging out after  a busy day of sightseeing. 
 
 

 
The kitchen was large and spacious and had dinner seating for 8. 
My mom spent the whole 3 weeks with us, my sister joined us for week 1 and my in-laws joined in for week 2 after my sister left.  Lots of family time, but we were never over-crowded in such a spacious house. 

 
 
 
The kitchen had everything we needed to prep all of our meals.  We grocery shopped every second day because the fridge was very small and we were feeding 8 people, but every pot and pan, plate and cup was used daily to create delicious meals in a rustic French style. 
 
This is the "basement" bedroom.  Really, it was halfway below ground and had 2 rather large, sunny windows.  Love that exposed stone wall!
 


Two of the kids slept her in bedroom 2. This bedroom is upstairs and featured a gorgeous beamed ceiling.
 
 
 
 
Bedroom number  3 also had to twin beds where my mother and one of our children slept each night. It had a gorgeous stone chimney climbing up its wall and beautiful antique furniture. 



 
 
The master bedroom had double-height ceilings and plenty of original beam details.  It also had a en-suite so, of course, Kevin and I slept here!
 
 
 

 
This was the view from our bedroom' window.  What a scene to wake up to for 2 lovely weeks!

 
 
 
La Pelviniere: 
 
Homeaway: 
 
 
Have a lovely weekend!
(I'm going to spend mine dreaming of the French sunshine!)
 
XOXOXO
 
Bronwyn
 


16 comments:

  1. This is gorgeous. I want to read more about your adventures & live through you. Just so lovely. (Found you through the Authentic Bloggers group, look forward to reading more!)

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    1. It WAS gorgeous! We are already planning a similar trip with our whole family again to Belgium and the Netherlands. I am searching for an equally as lovely place to "live" in while we are away. La Peliviniere will be hard to top!!

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  2. What a beautiful place that is, I can quite understand why you are dreaming to go back!

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    1. With the cold we have been dealing with here in Toronto, the beaches and sunshine of Normandy in July have definitely been calling my name!!

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  3. What a charming home! It looks like something out of a fairy tale. What a wonderful time you must have had there. Have a lovely week!

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    1. It was a fairy tale! The kids are constantly asking to go back! Maybe someday we will but we have several other trips planned for the future - the UK and Italy this year, Germany next and Belgium and the Netherlands the year after! No time for a return to France anytime soon!

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  4. What a stunning property, in a beautiful location too. It sounds like you made the most of every moment of your holiday and really embraced the French lifestyle. xx

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    1. We sure did! We wanted the kids to see how others lived in other pats of the world and this was definitely good exposure for them. I think they have already been bitten by the travel bug!!

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  5. Sigh! I so miss my old thatched cottage and looking out of the windows, catching the thatch in the corner of our eyes. What a beautiful place and so much space. Gorgeous! xx

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    1. It really was gorgeous! We're looking for a place in Belgium now that live up to its standards. Hard to do I must say! I have a year though. Hopefully something will fall into our laps!!

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  6. Beautiful photos, what a beautiful house too. I've finally had chance to look properly at your blog, so sorry it's taken me so long. X

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    1. Thanks for popping by, Sarah. I'm trying to blog about a variety of things - keeping every post dear to my heart. Please come back soon and read about more of my adventures!!

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  7. Replies
    1. It was gorgeous inside and out! The kids are already asking when we can go back!!

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  8. What a gorgeous place for a holiday. The house is divine and the gardens with all the animals perfect for a family. We might need to check it out when we head to France next year. #teamwanderlust

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    1. I searched for nearly 6 months for the perfect place for us to "live" and this place lived up to all of our expectations! We booked far in advance, too, nearly 18 months, to ensure we had the ideal home. Let me know if you would like any more info....

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