It’s 2 years today that we moved to the beautiful Chateau de la Boutiniere. It’s been 2 years of hard work and challenges as we have transitioned to living in France, but we love our new life here and have made so many new French and English friends.
We’ve just finished our biggest project yet – our bridal suite, which is stunning and will be revealed on Chateau DIY (Channel 4) in the new year of 2024. It is truly a ‘work of art’, created by Zion over 12 months. We can’t wait to share it with you all!
This summer was the culmination of my ‘French dream’, as my Mum Rosemary came to live with us for 3 months and in August, 20 members of my family visited! We transformed our painted salon into a playroom for our little nephews and nieces (8 children under 6 years old!) and for our beautiful little granddaughters Josephine (3) and Vivienne (9 months).
It was such fun as the little cousins all cycled around the chateau and played in the paddling pool. 🥰 The older cousins formed a ‘working party’ using our digger, tractor and their bare hands to clear our rear garden, which is ironically called an ‘English Park’. It was a huge job, but it has been transformed from a wilderness of bamboo, fences and self seeded trees, to a beautiful open parkland setting.
Next spring we will seed it to create a wild flower meadow. Once we are open for weddings, this will be the view enjoyed by brides and their grooms as they take their vowes on the chateau steps!
Today we will be harvesting apples, kiwi fruit and figs from our garden, as we enjoy the tranquility of this beautiful place. Then later we will be celebrating with a bbq and a few drinks with our friend Avi who is visiting from the UK, and some local friends and neighbours. We feel very happy and grateful to be custodians of this amazing place!