Escape to Brittany

2009-03-02T15:20:00.000-08:00

Can you believe it! I have not posted an update from Berrien for a year!!!! Well the house is still standing, in fact it now has nice new curtains, the pointing is finished, the main bedroom i being painted with some nice Farrow & Ball blue paint......will post pics when finished.
I am also going to cultivate a little patch of unused land belonging to a friend down the road to make a log store, an orchard and somewhere to chill.........and keep a bike!

2008-01-07T06:31:00.000-08:00

Thought you might like to see a moving post of Berrien!! My first go at moving pictures!! My little house is just up the road where it starts from. As you can see and hear its very quiet.....My other half who took it was standing in the middle of the road at the time! The noise at the end is a car....but not him being run over!!

2007-11-10T10:53:00.001-08:00

New pointing well underway!

2007-06-28T10:23:00.000-07:00

We will be going over to Berrien in July for a week..............really looking forward to going! The highlight as far as I am concerned will be meeting up with some of the wonderful people I have met on 2 forums where people can chat and/or get help and advice about living in Brittany!
These forums are Anglo Info Bretagne and the amazing and very funny Brittany Friends
Some of the advice I have received and help offered has saved me a fortune in money and also made me laugh so much when a bit down. Check it out and smile!

2007-03-23T12:46:00.000-07:00

Cannot wait to get over to Berrien soon! I paid a flying visit with my daughter in January to take delivery of a cupboard. We had an exciting ferry crossing as it was a bit rough but the food in the restauraunt on board was fabulous!
Thought I'd post some more pictures of Berrien to give an idea of the village, which as you can see is very quiet and lacking in traffic!
I hope to take advantage of the fact that it is possible to cycle all the way to Berrien either on off road cycle tracks or very quiet lanes all the way from Roscoff!
There is a wonderful old railwayline that has been made into a cyclepath and it goes for miles from Morlaix, connecting with the canal towpath on the Brest-Nantes canal. It was once used to transport lime from the kilns at Scrignac, long defunct.
Scrignac, has an amazingly good restaurant La Senechelle.......I can reccommend it!
Don't forget to contact me if you want to rent the cottage too!

2007-01-06T00:46:00.000-08:00

Happy New Year everybody! We had a great time at Berrien, where the whole village was adorned with Christmas trees provided by the commune that people whose house they were near decorated.
We had lights across the road too and by our cottage a rather strange flashing ladder.......!
We entertained friends and had a jolly good time, swapping one of Stuart Andersons oven ready geese for a home produced lambskin, learning how to cook on a gas cooker..............I have to admit I had never used one before as we have an old rayburn at home! The house had its shutters fitted while we were there and more finishing touched added. The woodburner keeps the whole place toasty and warm and it is just about finished! The kitchen is looking good and so is the rest!
We also went on a long walk to the local standing stone that is a fertility symbol........I do not need to tell you why the picture tells all!
The walking in this area is amazing with miles of tracks to walk, ride and cycle on. In fact the keen cyclist could cycle from the house off road to Carhaix, Morlaix and beyond!
We also noticed that all the routes locally were very well signposted and easy to follow.............there are at least 10 circular walks locally too, and that is just the ones we have discovered, there are plenty more we haven't! I will be going back sheep permitting for a bit more painting at the end of Jan but then will not be back for a while as we start lambing in early March. Pete will be going for a week to do the pointing and make the house look even smarter.

2006-12-20T14:43:00.000-08:00

Here is one of the fantastic rock formations in Huelgoat
and a picture of the lake. This is 4km down the road from the house and the best place to park is the supermarket cap park or down by the lake as in the photo.

The house is now ready to book your holiday! £20 per day other than when its Easter or Summer when it will be £250 and £300 per week per party!
We are spending new year there putting on the finishing touches so do get in touch if you want a bargain. The only thing you have to bring is bedlinen (duvet covers, sheets & pillowcases), towels and teatowels.Everything else is peovided, you do have to leave it as you find it as there is no cleaner!!
Happy Christmas and Happy New Year to all my blog readers!!

2006-11-16T12:02:00.000-08:00

Here are some of the pictures we took whilst painting a few weeks ago. I am going back in two weeks to finish off as Arthur the amazing builder will have finished and the kitchen end will have its cupboards and worktops rather than temporary chip board. The dresser will be finished and waxed and it will be ready for us to celebrate New Year. Pride of place will go to the little enamel water fountain given to me by the grandaughter of the last owner.

2006-11-12T11:12:00.000-08:00

We had a fantastic time at the house and I will be posting pictures of the interior looking fantastic as soon as I can get them sorted. The fireplace has been restored with oak beams from the old joists, most of which were burnt due to being totally rotten. A lovely woodburning stove has been installed and it gives out a lot of heat. We took over a very comfortable sofa and rocking chair along with several lambskins from the sheep for rugs.
The bathroom is superb with a shower that has jets!! and a lovely blue and yellow colour scheme.
The neighbours are very friendly and the highlight of the stay was when two very nice ladies knocked on the door and when invited in told us that the grandmother of one used to live there and as a child more than forty years ago she used to visit her there. Well, these ladies were visiting the area to put flowers on the tombs of their forebears as is the custom on all saints day and thought they would pop in to give the new owner something special..........the original water fountain that went on the wall that belonged to her grandmother!! Wow! what a gift from a lovely lady!
We also ventured out and bought a new gas cooker, nice yellow fridge and all the other appliances you would wish to find in a cottage, except for TV as its going to be a TV free zone!
We visited a fantastic restaurant in the next village, Scrignac and found the amazing cycle path along the old railway line between Morlaix and Chateau neuf de Fou which crosses just between Scrignac and Berrien at Scrignac gare which is an old station now the 'maison de la chasse'

2006-10-21T13:27:00.000-07:00

Lots of things to take to Berrien to make life comfortable for us and any guests.We have already a big walnut French antique bed for the main bedroom and 2 antique single beds for the childrens/twin room. A lovely big sofa for downstairs and an old dresser that I have had for many years that originally came from a rectory in Wookey near Wells! This will be for the kitchen end of the big room that makes up down stairs.
Next week we will visit the house for 5 days to paint the walls, wax the floors and doors upstairs, buy all the electrical appliances and generally sort things out! I am so looking forward to seeing what Arthur, our amazing builder friend has done with the walls etc.
When I first met this house there was no floor, just mud, a few rotten joists upstairs but no floor or ceilings and damp plaster on the walls...............now it has some stairs, a new roof, new ceiling and floor joists upstairs, new rooms upstairs, plastered walls, pine floors up and tiled floors downstairs, a huge old rebuilt Breton fireplace with woodburner and a belfast sink!
Berrien itself is a very pretty village and I have added a few pictures (one showing the cute upstairs fireplace, one the downstairs one waiting to be restored) to whet your appetite!

2006-10-15T15:43:00.000-07:00

Hello and welcome to this site set up specially to follow the renovation, decoration and life of my cottage in Brittany. Where is it? Well its 40 mins leisurely drive south from the ferry port of Roscoff on the northern coast of Brittany in North West France. It is in the heart of the very sleepy national park village of Berrien 50m from the boulangerie and about 200m from a bar/restauraunt!
Just 5km down the road is the historic small town of Huelgoat with its giant odd shaped boulders and lovely lake.
Follow this blog to find out how the work is progressing and importantly when you can rent this wonderful little house! Hopefully from January this little treasure will be available for bookings at £20 per night and will sleep up to 4 persons in double and twin rooms.