A Weekend in the Country

We recently spent a great weekend at Caroline and Alexis' manor house in the middle of Normandy. Their two boys, Elias and Arris, were there along with Caroline's parents, our friends, Jacques and Claire.
A few years ago, Caroline and Alexis bought a former mayor's home which was in a state of moderate disrepair. It was livable but need many upgrades. They spent a lot of time researching and designing what was needed and have done an excellent job mixing modern conveniences without losing the charm of the original home.

Rear of the Manor

This is a fabulous property. There is an apple orchard in the back yard and a number of very old "out buildings" along the side of the property. Here's Judy standing next to a Sequoia in their side yard. It has to be hundreds of years old.

This being Normandy, there were many cider bottles stored in these barns, along with equipment and tons of cut up pieces of wood.

This little cistern was catching water from the roof. It was probably used for providing water for some livestock in the past.

Something''s caught our attention here. What could it be?

Just one lonely goldfish that has survived the winter.

The interior was a bit run down and needed to be modernized. Also, as they want to enjoy time here with many friends and family, the number of bedrooms and bathrooms was expanded. (At least the number of bathrooms increased). 

The areas that impressed me the most were the bathrooms and the lighting. Alexis is very talented when it comes to interior design. Some of my favorites...

A stand alone sink and mirror.

A tub floating in the middle of the room.

Caroline and Alexis' bath (sorry, Caro, I hope you don't mind that I took this picture.)

Here is the pool room. During the German occupation of France during WWII, this house was used as a German headquarters for the area, The pool room was used to house their horses.

Alexis' bar which turned into a disco at 11pm. There is a terrific sound system that booms the music from their cell phone throughout the first floor,

The kitchen is very open and bright with everything one needs.

The attic has been redone and makes a great place for the kids to hide away and watch movies.

And there has to be a room with a flat screen tv. This room along with the poolroom have a number of light switches that can give totally different ambiances in the two rooms. Nice touch by Alexis

The town is a charming little Norman town,. We went out to one of the two restaurants in town for lunch. It was an easy walk from the house.

We spent a couple of hours in this tiny restaurant hidden in the back room of the local hotel.

Then a walk back toward the house with  a tour around the neighborhood.

Talking to a few new friends.

Through an alley for a short cut through the streets of the town.

 There is still a working phone booth in the town square. Cell service may not always be great, so some people still have to use the phone booth.

This was just a snapshot of the house and a little bit of the life style of a weekend in the country. We were very warmly welcomed and had a terrific time. We look forward to our next visit to see what other enhancements they will make to this delightful "manoir".

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