minimalist colour palette

minimalist colour palette

We’ve been working on the process of stripping back the colours in our home, for the last year. Our initial colour choices were quite bold – deep navy, copper, shades of grey. These worked well for us, and created a real warmth in our stone house. However, what you once really loved, can now seem not quite right. Since we designed and had built a very spacious, tiered, walled Mediterranean style garden to the rear of the house, where a little tumble down house once stood, the interior of the house needed to change. As well as the garden, we had a window knocked out in the living room and French doors installed, leading out onto a box balcony and down into the garden. More light now floods into the living room and we felt that we should embrace the natural colours we now have. Darker tones were perfect in our house in West Didsbury, where it was often cloudy and dull, but we were beginning to realise that we were actually working against the natural colours we now have.

So, Farrow & Ball Hague Blue is no more. Dark grey rugs have been moved from the living room and well room, replaced by much more natural, jute rugs, of different shapes and sizes. The resin treated concrete table, which was quite dark and speckled, has been transformed with a light sanding and a few coats of white paint. Dark shelving has gone and in its place, we’ve introduced white cupboards and chalk painted new versions. And, well, the whole house feels like a new house. We’ve increased the sense of space and with a little bit of de-cluttering too, let the house breathe.

Natural colours and textures are now threaded through all of the rooms, so even where there is a darker element – like a big, grey rug or our squishy charcoal grey modular sofa – it now longer dominates. The light coming into the house feels “lighter” – probably because it now has a more natural palette to bounce off. Blue perspex “ghost” chairs, which sat around the resin concrete table, have been replaced with two solid wooden benches, now covered with white faux sheepskin covers. Natural hessian runners give coverage on the table – easier to clean up a wine spill from a runner than it staining a white table!

Gradually, we’ve replaced accessories around the house, mostly without really realising we were doing it. The colours of candles have changed – more natural pillar candles, and paler colours instead of strong, bold gold and navy. Wooden bowls, softer cushion covers, oatmeal coloured linen curtains and white woodwork throughout, are changing the feel of our home. When we renovated, I think we were still attached to what we had done in West Didsbury and so replicated quite a lot. But now, we’ve finally realised that we live in a very different place and climate, where things are much more Mediterranean and we can actually authentically embrace this style. Perhaps we’re just now preparing ourselves for a new way of living…

salon de provence : bouches-du-rhône : france

salon de provence : bouches-du-rhône : france

Our road trip to France, was semi-planned. We had an idea of certain areas we wanted to visit to see if they could be added to our list of possible places for relocation. So, as we set off for the south-eastern region, we knew we wanted to tick off Beziers, Carcassonne and Nîmes, but apart from that we were pretty easy about where we headed to and stopped off. We think this is the best way to get to know places, and we were proven right on this trip. We don’t think we’d heard of – or, at least they hadn’t really registered – Arles, Saintes-Maries-de-la-Mer, Caunes Minervois or Salon de Provence, but these places all resonated for very different reasons.

Our stop over in Salon de Provence, nearly didn’t happen. We had thought to book somewhere in Aix-en-Provence, but on googling hotels etc, Salon caught our eyes and we decided it might be worth investigating. And, we were in luck as I found a beautiful hotel – La Maison d’été – which had availability. As we were in the locality, rather than book online from the car, we decided to go in person and book in for the evening. Only on arrival, I was informed by a quite a dismissive gentleman, who I assumed to be the owner as he had the air of someone with a degree of responsibility, that even though I might have found something online, he could assure me that this hotel was fully booked. As they are most nights, he added. And no, when I asked, did he know of any other hotels in the area. And back he went, to quaffing a glass of wine with guests who were clearly checking in, leaving me feeling like a little bit of a spare part, in the beautiful entrance way.

So, in my head I stuck two fingers up at him, and returned to the car, where we did find another hotel very close by – Hotel d’Angleterre – which had excellent reviews, looked quirky and also apparently had availability. We booked the room immediately and headed to check in. A slight Fawlty Towers moment happened when we arrived at reception, as I tried to explain we had just made a booking, but the receptionist, who could speak no English, so I was reliant on my limited French, would not accept we had made a booking, as we weren’t in her system. However, she did manage to convey that we could park outside the hotel – free after 6pm until 9am, so *result* – and by the time we’d done this, we had appeared on the system, and all was OK with the world. Check in successful. I intend to do a separate blog about the hotel as I think it deserves it, so I’m skipping to what we thought about the small part of Salon de Provence that we discovered, the next morning, when it was bathed in beautiful September sunshine.

Photo credit : https://rampal-latour.fr/collections/savon-de-marseille

Not having heard of Salon de Provence before we visited, there were some things we discovered, which we found to be very interesting. Firstly, that this is town where the production of my favourite soaps – Savon de Marseille – is carried out, in the historic soap factory of Rampal Latour, soap maker since 1828 and installed in Salon since 1907. For an entry of between €3 – €5, if you are a real soap fiend, you can visit the Marseille Soap Museum, too.

If soap’s not thing, maybe predictions and prophecies are, and of so, Salon is your town. The place where Nostradamus settled in 1547 to make a family home for himself, his wife Anne and their 6 children, and where he wrote all his books and where he died twenty years later in 1566. His house is now a museum, which is open all year, Monday to Friday from 09:00 – 12:00 and 14:00 to 18:00, and at weekends from 14:00 – 18:00. Entry to the museum costs around 5 euros for adults and is free on the 1st Sunday of each month.

If soaps and prophecies don’t do it for you, maybe the fact that since 1946, Salon de Provence has been home to the École de l’Air at Salon de Provence Air Base. The quarters of the Patrouille de France have been there since 1964. It is the only flying school in France and trains 400 Air Force officers a year in military, scientific, social and intense physical training for positions “on the ground” or as crew, with some fighter pilots graduating from the school and making their name in the famous Patrouille de France. Often, you can have the opportunity to catch a glimpse of the Patrouille de France’s planes in the sky, training. Salon is also home to the Château de l’Empéri, the oldest fortress in Provence. Surrounded by the old houses nestled against its walls, it dominates the city, and houses the Military Museum with a collection of Napoleon’s uniforms, weapons and objects unique in the world, a pair of gloves that belonged to General Bonaparte, a cartridge box that belonged to Louis XV and the uniform of a French soldier who took part in the victory parade in Paris at the end of the Great War.

But for us, with only an hour or so before we had to hit the road again, we decided on this occasion, to soak up the morning atmosphere, as the town was just stirring. The historic centre is absolutely beautiful, and as French as French could be. If you had clipboard with a list every quintessential French cliche, you’d definitely get a full house here – wrought iron balconies, honey coloured stone buildings, pastel coloured wooden shutters, plane tree lined boulevards, independent shops and boutiques, effortlessly super stylish people, boulangeries, patisseries, street planters tumbling with flowers, no litter. And the list goes on. It is a beautiful, beautiful town and if we had already sold our house and were in a position to move there and then, I’d have spent the day house hunting. Thankfully, we weren’t in a position to buy there and then, so common sense prevailed, but, Salon de Provence is definitely a town on our radar. And, amongst other things – location, distance to other important places, amenities etc – this is why…

Visiting this area of France has certainly given us a lot to think about, as we consider where we might want to relocate to, when our renovated stone house in Istria is sold. We know that our itchy feet are leading us in the direction of Spain or France, but we still want close proximity to Italy, and the south east of France seems to give us the best location, in terms of being close to borders. But, we still need to investigate as this move has to be right – and if investigation means discovering beautiful towns like Salon de Provence, this makes us very happy in the meantime.

a little bit of art deco design

a little bit of art deco design

Our Istrian stone house has not an iota of art deco about it. With a very traditional Mediterranean stone house structure, a Scandi inspired interior and a contemporary exterior, there’s nothing at all that hints at this popular design style of the 1920s and 1930s. However, by accident, more than intention, we seem to have introduced a bit of the characteristics of this style, beginning the process of creating an external geometric privacy screen. We had toyed with the idea of just attaching a shop bought wooden trellis to the concrete walls at the rear of the house, but felt that after all of the work and time and expenditure which has gone in to the garden, this would be a cheap solution, in terms of design, and we wouldn’t be happy with it. So, we’ve gone completely DIY. Lots of wood is now ready to be cut down into various sizes, to create a frame, which will sit on top of the concrete wall, which overlooks the side access road. We’ve already started creating this frame, but it’s quite slow progress, as we are novices and although we have plenty of tools, we don’t have the top end professional tools which would complete this project quickly. But, we’re happy to just tootle along, preparing for spring in our time, knowing that we don’t have a deadline. Knowing that if it’s raining, it doesn’t matter. And knowing that when the sun shines, we can put a couple of hours aside to make progress…

Although we are not overlooked, our neighbour does have a garden and a carport just across the access road, opposite the wall in the photo above. His land, and what he has on it, doesn’t impinge on us in any way, but we just felt that the wall could be enhanced by trailing, rambling plants, not totally blocking the view but affording us a little more privacy, especially in the summer, when we sunbathe in this garden.

To make the construction, we bought traditional 4×4 timber and had it cut into lengths of 200cms and 100cms at the DIY store, mainly for transportation but because we knew that we wanted the individual frames to be of different sizes and different orientations, so having it cut smaller initially, meant it would then be easier to cut down at home. The first part of the jigsaw was the “frame” around the entrance. This will eventually – and hopefully – have tumbling greenery wrapped around it, so we needed to ensure it was high enough for tall people to walk under. Bracketed to the wall at the bottom and fixed with strong wire to the wall, this particular section will be strengthened as the additional frames are added.

For extra strength – we do get strong seasonal winds here (a bit like the Meltemi winds in Greece) – we’re adding blocks of wood, within the frames, and this is what’s going to give it its overall art deco style.

The next frame is being added today – slightly higher than the one to the right of the opening and not as wide, with possibly a vertical piece of timber, and maybe an offset horizontal one. We’ll continue this fairly random, but geometric structure, all the way along the wall, priming, undercoating and top coating as we go. The final piece of the jigsaw will be the potted Russian Vines, which we know are exceptionally fast and large-growing climbing plants very aptly, known as ‘mile-a-minute’. At the moment, the dark green heart-shaped leaves, haven’t budded, so the network of branches and stems are the only things on show and there is no great ornamental value, at the moment. However, we know that soon, masses of white or pinky-white flowers will appear and these are attractive to bees and other pollinators. Having had Russian Vine in our West Didsbury garden, we know how it grows, and so the shears and trimmers will always be on standby…

centro paolo vi : brescia

centro paolo vi : brescia

We’re not religious people by any stretch of the imagination, but I do like a bit of Italian theatrics when it comes to things of a holy nature. I also like a hotel which is a little bit different, and if it comes with free, secure parking – as we’re never without a bootful of goodies on our travels – then this is a winner. And Centro Paolo VI, in the heart of Brescia, delivers on all of these.

Located a short distance from the Roman Forum, the hotel is housed in a beautiful 17th-century building with original features including elaborate frescoes, grand sweeping staircases, parquet flooring, enormous chandeliers and baroque ceilings.

The hotel itself now houses a conference centre, so certain parts of it do have quite a “business” feel, but it was also a thriving convent. And, one of the more unusual elements of this hotel, is that an order of nuns do still live here. Not that you’d particularly notice, if you weren’t aware – they presumably live away from the public part of the hotel, but with a church on-site, you may well catch a glimpse of a nun, on her way to early morning mass. The cloisters now form part of the hotel corridors and run alongside the beautiful internal walled garden, and its not hard to imagine huddles of nuns, in their habits, scurrying out of the convent and into the gardens, on their way to pray in the church. It’s definitely a bit out of the ordinary to stay here, but the religious aspects are not in-your-face, so you can certainly avoid them if all you want is a place, at a very reasonable price, close to all of the amenities in Brescia centro.

The rooms aren’t boutique, by any stretch of the imagination. Because of its location, we’ve stayed here three or four times now, so have seen different rooms, and all have been clean and quite comfortable, but pretty functional. Dark wooden furniture – don’t be thinking old, vintage, mis-matched, more 1970s dark-stained beds, wardrobes and desks – and mulberry coloured curtains and bedding, can feel a little bit oppressive in the smaller rooms, but higher up, the rooms are larger and some have large terraces. These are the ones we tend to choose, even just for a stop over, because the feeling of space is much better and the terraces do overlook the beautiful gardens, and there are glimpses of Brescia. You also get to see cracking sunsets from these rooms. So, the upshot is, you wouldn’t necessarily stay here because of the rooms, more the experience. And the gardens are very lovely, with towering trees, which would probably be perfect to give shade in the summer.

The hotel also offers free parking – you can’t reserve a space, but because it also has conference facilities, there are a good few spaces available, and it is very safe and secure as it inside the walled courtyard. Located on a very quiet street, behind high walls, the hotel offers real peace and quiet, but in under five minutes, you can be in the centre of the historical part of Brescia, with its fabulous piazzas and Roman ruins and colonnaded walkways, as well as very brutalist architectural buildings and amazing Piazza del Vittoria. This square is linked inextricably with Mussolini who in 1932, during the ceremony of inauguration of the square, which coincided with the tenth anniversary of the birth of fascism, was present and gave a speech to a huge crowd. Today, it is a square where people go more to passagiata than fawn over a dictator, and there are some lovely bars and restaurants around the square.

So, would we recommend Centro Paolo VI as a place to stay in Brescia? Yes, we would – but with a word of caution. It is NOT a boutique hotel. It could be described in places as being a bit austere. Certainly in the rooms and breakfast area, there’s little panache or anything to elevate it beyond a functional place to stay. However, the overall experience is worth it, even if just to admire the beauty of the oldest parts of the building and grounds. But, with easy access into Brescia and secure parking, plus a very good price point, I think you’d struggle to find anywhere really comparable in a historic Italian city centre.

 

repurposing a chimney pot

repurposing a chimney pot

One of the stranger things we packed into the back of the removal lorry when we came out to Istria, was the large clay, chimney pot which had been removed from the roof of our West Didsbury house, when we were renovating it, because it was redundant. I’m not sure why we didn’t just leave it in the garden, but packing up your whole life probably makes you do things that don’t make total sense at the time. Anyway, the soot stained pot – which is large and resembles an oversized chess piece – has been in various locations, around our garden here. None of which have really been perfect and in all honesty, we have really questioned at times, why we were keeping it. It has been planted up with various plants, none of which were ever right, and in its last incarnation, it was a receptacle to house brooms, rakes and shovels. So, looked a bit of a mess. It’s also ingrained with black soot – even our high pressure water washer couldn’t shift it and so all in all, it just wasn’t the prettiest, But for some reason, we’ve persevered with it, thinking that one day, we’d do something with it. After all, it had come all the way from West Didsbury and survived a winter in the garden, when the big house renovations started, back in 2018, so we reasoned it deserved a chance.

Fast forward six years from the photo above, and we’ve moved on an awful lot. The exterior of the house (and the interior, thank goodness), is now largely finished, and we’re in that great place where we are tweaking and accessorising to our hearts’ content. And so, at the weekend, we made a decision about the chimney pot and gave it a whole new lease of life, by sanding it down and spray painting it white. The sooty residue can’t be budged, so this has started to show through, along with the greeny tinge around the base – bit this just adds to its rustic charm now.

A variety of plectranthus – with already a very strong aroma of incense – has been planted up, and its tendrils falling over the top of the pot. These will hopefully grow and we’ll finally have a splendid chimney pot. It’s also the first new addition to the rear garden – last year, this all felt so new and we were a bit unsure about how to style this garden, beside our white stones and olive trees and ornamental palms. But this year, we’ve got used to our new space, and we don’t feel as in awe of it, and so we have some big plans for what we call our Secret Garden. We’ve already started on our plans for the white concrete wall which runs alongside the access road, which we’ve covered in white stones, and which we share with one neighbour. It’s involving a lot of wood and cutting and painting, as well as pots of Fallopia Baldschuanica (Russian Vine) which have been planted up, ready to go into position. But for now, we’re pretty delighted with our upcycled West Didsbury chimney pot…

super speedy salmon supper

super speedy salmon supper

Saturday evenings often remind me of Azzurro Restaurant in West Didsbury, just around the corner from where we used to live. It was a real “local” restaurant for us – owned and staffed by people we knew and really liked, and often full of people who were either friends or acquaintances. The food also, was just unbelievably good. Real Italian fare, without a pizza or a garlic bread in sight. And, without a doubt, my go-to favourite, cooked to utter perfection, was the fresh seabass with linguine. I’ve missed it, so this weekend, we made our own take on this Azzurro classic…

We didn’t have fresh sea-bream, but did have some lovely salmon fillets, so used these an alternative. And, for a quick dinner, we’ll definitely be doing this again…

what you’ll need

  • salmon fillets, marinaded for about two hours in olive oil, chilli flakes, honey and paprika
  • cherry tomatoes, on the vine
  • linguine (or spaghetti)
  • fresh basil leaves for garnish
  • parmesan

what you’ll need to do

It couldn’t be simpler.

  • marinade the salmon fillets
  • roast the cherry tomatoes, on the vine
  • cook the linguine
  • griddle the salmon fillets, so that they char
  • strain the linguine, and then mix in the salmon fillets (which will flake) and top with the cherry tomatoes, still on the vine (they just look prettier, if served like this…)
  • sprinkle with parmesan flakes and fresh torn basil leaves

Very different to the restaurant standard Azzurro dish, but absolutely perfect for a DIY fish/pasta dish. Especially when paired with a lovely Italian white, and eaten on the sofa. Just what weekends are about…

 

three ingredient chocolate cake

three ingredient chocolate cake

I have never been much of a baker, but I do love the idea of baking. Unfortunately, I’m very impatient and I like quick and easy – preferably immediate – results, so the thought of standing in the kitchen, baking up a complicated recipe doesn’t really do it for me. I wish it did, as I think I’d take great pleasure in successful results, but that’s where we’re at. Then I stumbled across this recipe…

three ingredient chocolate cake

And, yes – it does actually require only three ingredients, so I figured I could give this one a go. I’m sure more creative bakers would enhance the recipe, but I decided to stick with the original, apart from a slight flourish with the topping…

what you’ll need

  • 350g choc chip cookies – I used two packets of quite deluxe cookies, with plenty of chocolate chips
  • 360ml milk
  • 10g baking powder

what you’ll need to do

Simply crush the cookies, using a bag and a rolling pan, leaving some larger chunks for texture. Tip into a mixing bowl, add the milk and baking powder and blend, either by hand or using a whisk. Pour into a parchment lined baking tin and bake for 25 minutes in an oven, preheated to 180°C. Use a wooden skewer to check that it is cooked and then allow to cool. Remove from the tin, place on a wire tray and unless you want a naked chocolate cake, you can begin decorating. Extra ingredients are obviously needed at this point, but these are up to you, as I’m sure you’ll be a whole lot imaginative than I was.

All I did was melt a large bar of Milka chocolate and smothered this over the cake, leaving it quite rough – this almost any errors were easily disguised. As an extra sparkle, I added tiny white chocolate curls and dried raspberries – all taken from a box of museli…

torvehallerne food hall : copenhagen

torvehallerne food hall : copenhagen

Copenhagen, for us, is just about the perfect city. As much as we love Italy beyond reason, the cool Danish capital, is the perfect place for a short break. It’s a city that can be easily broken down into areas, so makes exploring it really easy. On our last trip, we stayed in the Vesterbro neighbourhood, and from here, we did get to see a lot of the city. Transport around Copenhagen is excellent – obviously if you’re a local, bikes are king, but they can easily be hired if you’re just visiting. Public transport is reliable, and the Metro, s-trains and buses (including waterbuses) can all be accessed with the same ticket. But, mostly we used our feet and covered a great deal of ground.

As well as being super stylish and effortlessly cool, Copenhagen is a foodie paradise. And, with really affordable options – one being the amazing Torvehallerne Food Hall – you will be well fed and watered throughout your visit. Opened in its present form in 2011, and with over sixty stalls, it’s right in the centre of the city, very close to the busy Nørreport Street and the beautiful rectangular lakes (Peblinge, Sankt Jørgens and Sortedams), and is the perfect place to stroll, pick up some tasty treats and have a bite to eat. With local produce, farm-to-table dining, Danish specialities and global cuisine, this food market is more of an experience, and one that really should be on everyone’s “must visit” list. As well as being able to eat inside the hall – most of the food outlets have seating, although they can be at a premium – you can enjoy the outdoor seating where there are benches and tables around the flower and fruit market and in the square behind.

Like everything in Copenhagen, this food hall just screams style. All outlets are independent and all are presented beautifully – from the ways the goods are displayed, to the logos and branding, to the colour palette choices through to the presentation of either the food or the packaging. Attention to detail is in evidence everywhere. This place really delivers and is a fabulous day out. As well as plenty of foodie retail opportunities – fabulous if you are self-catering in Copenhagen – the options for grazing are just wonderful. We chose one of the outlets which prepared and cooked the most divine fresh pasta and sauces, accompanied of course, by delicious Italian white wine.

Whatever you desire, you will be able to source in this incredible food market – coffees to go, fresh coffee beans, pizzas, pasta, fresh spices, meats, cheeses, olives, pastries (Danish, of course, being the most popular), breads, fresh juices, tapas, oysters, open sandwiches, organic products, herbal products. The list is endless!

Outside the glass food hall, are many stalls selling fresh flowers and plants and fruit and vegetables. The floral choices are just staggering and I know if I lived in Copenhagen, I’d have fresh flowers every single day!

We totally love Copenhagen. Although it obviously can be very expensive, we found that you can do the city on your budget. We’re not Noma type people, so we didn’t have this kind of dilemma when it came to eating out and it’s another reason why places like Torvehallerne are such great choices, and why I could just not recommend this food hall enough.

trubar bar : grožnjan : istria

trubar bar : grožnjan : istria

The opening of a new bar is something quite exciting here, in northern Istria. Although we have lots of choice when it comes to excellent restaurants, cool bars seem to be more of a thing on the coast. In fact, bar culture doesn’t really seem to have taken hold here, in the way it has back in the UK, and so when we see, or hear of something which could slot right into Burton Road, in West Didsbury, we are all over it. Over on Instagram I spotted a fairly new account for a jazz wine bar in Grožnjan and was immediately drawn to the very stylish interior, so of course we had to seek it out at the weekend.

Jazz bars definitely aren’t my favourite kind of bars, as I’m not the biggest fan of this type of music. However, Grožnjan holds a really renowned Jazz Festival every summer, which attracts some top names that even I’ve heard of (Georgie Fame, anyone?), so a bar of this kind is probably right at home in this beautiful medieval hilltop town. It’s conveniently located right next to one of favourite restaurants in the area – aModoMio – down a short, but extremely pretty cobbled alley.

Housed inside one of Grožnjan’s typical old, stone buildings, Trubar Bar is a warren of higgeldy-piggedly rooms, on two levels, with a small terrace running along the rear of it, on the first floor, with incredible views across the Mirna Valley, to the other famous medieval hilltop town of Motovun. Bare stone walls are complemented and softened by chalk painted cabinets and shelving. The bespoke bar is the focal point of the entrance room, along with an area with reclaimed cupboards and worktops for the preparation of their charcuterie boards. Velvet drapes section off this area from the rear where the kitchen (I think) and the toilets are located.

Wooden stairs lead up to the first floor, and walls are decorated with vintage instruments, photographs of jazz players and tumbling greenery. The theme continues in the main upstairs room – it’s very cleverly fitted out, with plenty of seating and tables, and a couple of small chaise longues. It’s not a huge room, and could feel over crowded, but somehow this feeling is avoided, even when you also add in a piano, a drum kit and a dual turntable. The musical influences are evident everywhere, and it’s not all jazz, which I think is a good thing. Nice to see a vinyl copy of Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band, amongst the stack of albums.

The second room on this floor is smaller – a couple of sofas and an exquisite velvet Chesterfield style armchair, with doors leading out on the narrow balcony. It was easy to get a seat out here on a sunny, but very chilly, Saturday afternoon in January but I’m guessing this space is highly fought over in the height of summer.

With the delicious local beer from San Servolo on draught and an excellent selection of very good local wines, as well as a range of cocktails, this bar has really thought things through. The charcuterie boards looked delicious – although they are a bit more pricey than other boards we’ve sampled locally. But, hey – if you want one, that’s what you’ll pay.

With dark navy walls, gold walls, dark wood, vintage and antique furnishings, industrial wall lights and moody lighting, this bar has, as far as we are concerned, got it right in terms of decor and ambience. OK, you may pay a little more than you might get elsewhere in internal Istria, but when you’ve been missing a cool, local bar, this seems a small price to pay. And, when you leave and this is the view you have across to the Adriatic, well, that’s pretty priceless…

l’ancienne boulangerie : caunes-minervois : occitanie

l’ancienne boulangerie : caunes-minervois : occitanie

Sometimes you stumble across somewhere that is just too pretty to be real, even when the weather isn’t on your side, and instead of being bathed in sunlight, grey clouds and drizzle dominate. On the day we visited Caunes-Minervois, south east of Carcassone, it was one of those days. Summer had ended and autumn was starting to take a grip. Tourists had largely left and the steep, narrow, cobbled roads up from the medieval abbey were empty. Thankfully, we did come across a local who cautioned us about going any further up the road, in our wide Honda CRV – even though the road is accessible to vehicles, and we had been advised we could offload outside our Chambre d’Hote, the road was becoming more & more inaccessible, and so we had no alternative other than to turn around and head back down to the parking area outside the Benedictine Abbey. It’s worth knowing this if you stay at L’Ancienne Boulangerie, as you may find yourself dragging a lot of luggage up a steep cobbled hill.

However, all was forgotten when we arrived at the B&B, as it was so pretty and so quintessentially French. Wooden shutters, honey coloured stone, wrought ironwork and honeysuckle and ivy (I think) climbing around the front door,

The frontage doesn’t really hint at what lies behind the front door. It’s a warren of corridors and rooms and a winding, quite steep staircase – which again, if you have mobility issues, you might want to be aware of. It’s a beautiful old building, which apparently used to be the old bakery – l’ancienne boulangerie – which served both the village and the abbey. Now, it’s an absolutely delightful Chambre d’Hote with three, maybe four bedrooms, a beautiful communal lounge, a large breakfast/dining room and a terrace, accessible from an upstairs corridor, and the room we were allocated. The Australian owners have put a lot of love into this building, to create a very pretty B&B, full of antiques and curiosities and vintage finds. Nothing perfectly matches – and the deliberate mis-matching works well, as every room and nook and cranny has something of interest to absorb.

Our room was pretty, and again, very typically French, with chalk painted furniture and a big wooden framed bed. It did have an en-suite of sorts – a shower cubicle in the room, and a toilet behind a door (in what was probably once a cupboard) and a wash basin in the room. So, not the best arrangement, but OK for just one night. Perhaps the best thing about the room was its access to the first floor terrace, through French doors. Other guests can access it via a corridor, but it did feel as if it was ours, and therefore, very private.

We didn’t see the terrace at its best, as it was a grey. drizzly day at the end of September, but there were still enough clues to show that in the summer, this would be a lovely place to either soak up the sun on the loungers, or enjoy a pre-dinner drink, or two.

Breakfast was a leisurely affair, chatting to the owners and enjoy a typical French start to the day – excellent coffee, juices, hams, cheeses, fresh bread, croissants and jams, home made yoghurt and fruits. Again, had the weather been better, the breakfast room would have been even more pretty, with sunshine streaming in, but candlelight and soft lighting set the mood very well. It was clear that this B&B is at the very heart of this village – people stopped to chat by the open window and a couple of locals popped in for coffees.

And, as we found with a few of the French establishments we stayed in on our recent roadtrip, a dog was part of the deal. This one was very placid, and was no bother at all – but again, if you have an aversion to dogs being anywhere near your breakfast, it’s maybe worth knowing that this one is allowed to wander. But then, aren’t they all?

Because of the weather and the shortness of our stay, I don’t think we saw the best of L’Ancienne Boulanagier or Caunes Minervois, but we were still impressed. If somewhere could be this pretty and picture-book on a dull day, I can just imagine how stunning it all must be on a bright summer’s day, when everything is in bloom and the light reflects off the beautiful stone buildings. Given how big France is, and how much there is to explore, I can’t see us making a beeline back – we’d obviously revisit if in the area – so I’m glad we did get to see this quaint medieval town this time around.