French Impressions VII

Here are a 'couple' of photos from my trip to Les Cevennes near Montpellier this summer. The area is known for rosé wine, sweet onions (made into a sort of chutney), its natural beauty, caves and hiking with donkeys.

I took a photo of one of the many hiking groups we saw. They all seemed to have, ahem, difficulty getting the donkey to walk.

Les grottes des demoiselles, which we visited, was the largest cave I have ever been to. Amazing!

There are supposed to be a lot of sheep - I just saw absolutely zero sheep except the bronze shepard statue.

 Our house was on top of a hill overlooking the mountains and it was so remote that there was not even mobile phone access. The grey cat came to our house twice a day and demanded to be fed. I bet it did rounds at all the houses in the neighbourhood! We met the dog while hiking in a national park and he really enjoyed bathing in the tiny waterhole.
The danger sign below is self-explanatory, right?

All photos: European Chic

Converted mirror factory

There is an Alice in Wonderland quality to it when you can say that you live in a former mirror factory, isn't there? Today this charming house is a Bed & Breakfast in Brussels, Belgium.

I am smitten by the large collection of earthware and glasses. It is never too late to get started I suppose. What do you like about this house?

The address:

Chambre en ville, 19, rue de Londres, 1050 Bruxelles, Belgium

All photos: Marie Claire Maison

The remains of the day

Photo: House to Home

I can see Emma Thompson or Anthony Hopkins opening the door any time! The Merchant Ivory film 'The Remains of the Day' (1993) is great. If you haven't watched it yet rent it as soon as you can.

For me this beautiful front garden with trellis is sooo quintessential English countryside.

A château in Provence

I have not been this excited about a European Chic blog post in a long while! Seriously, labelling this château a 'house tour' is the understatement of the year. May I present Château de Moissac in Moissac - Bellevue (Provence): It was built at the beginning of the XVIIème century and renovated in 2008. The staircases and fireplaces alone already make me weak in the knees. I quite fancy celebrating here with you, dear readers.

All photos: Château de Moissac/ photographs by Henri Del Olmo; Bernard Touillon and Patrick Van Robaeys

La rentrée

Photo: VTWonen Netherlands

I saw very similar baskets in the South of France this summer. I like how they were dipped in colour.

Paris is filling up again. It is so nice to be back and seeing everybody after the holidays again. It is called La rentrée!

The cat kindergarten

I think I found the coolest kindergarten ever! The cat-shaped kindergarten is located in Baden-Wuerttemberg and designed by Tomi Ungerer.

The cat reminds me of the egyptian sphinx. I give extra points for the fact that the cat's tail is a slide (3rd image). How can I get myself into this kindergarten? Wouldn't it be cool to play in the paws or peek out the eye?

All photos: Milk France