Pick a region, any Region
Pick a region, any region
One of the things that I would like to elaborate on in the book about Series One Escape to the Chateau DIY that I'm finishing, (working title 'Beyond the Pool Pump' ) is the different regions featured, or rather not featured. The show was about the people and their castles, not their place in France. The clusters of castles selected were not situated in the ‘millionaire's playground’ the côte d'Azur nor the 'region Parisienne' but in less visited and less known areas tucked away in France's regions.
The region where a chateaunaut lands inevitably betrays an insight into their personality and dreams and as well as the fascinating histories and characteristics attached to the region that merit more than a fleeting glance.
The great majority of chateaunauts from Series One had had a dose of visiting France as children. Francophile parents, family homes, campsite holidays. Fond memories of orangina, kissing teenagers, croissants and hot chocolate, still served in a bowl when we were kids. France was so close to home and yet so exotic.
Even from the United States Ashley visited France frequently in her childhood. Ashley’s love of France was inspired by its film and literature. Johnny, as a young man, moved to Australia where his talent and success as an artist and stage designer took off. After a time he missed Europe. He craved the patina and decay of Europe’s architectural and artistic history and he wanted to be closer to his family in London. As anyone who has spent anytime in Australia will know the houses are bigger there, and the weather is better. Johnny asked himself “Can I really give up this space and this sunshine and return to English winters?” Southern France seemed an obvious compromise. Ashley was living in New York City. They dipped their toe into living in France in Pezenas.
The choice to move to Chateau Lomenie took them from a vibrant artistic town and brocante epicentre into the deep countryside. A voyage that you can watch in Series One of Escape to the Chateau DIY. For Johnny and Ashley the fruit trees, the gardens, the freedom to roam in the countryside was a bonus that quickly agreed with them. Marie Antoinette would not be out of place frolicking with their animals in the orchard of Chateau Lomenie.
Ashley had expected her leaving a metropolis to move to France to be a problem with her work in film production but it quite simply wasn't. They still wanted her and they still called.
Perky Brits fleeing England are not only escaping from the prohibitive cost of a big country home in the UK, but also the crowds. In rural France the French country dream includes sociable Saturday mornings under the medieval arcades of market squares chatting in the crowded cafes with friends and acquainances from France and from all over the world. All that and the gluts of extraordinarily good seasonal food and the empty roads came as a bonus to the convenience for Ashley and Johnny.
Even now, ensconced in the countryside one of the things that they most love about their village, Montpouillan (Department Lot et Garonne, Region Aquitaine) is the fact that it is only an hour from Bordeaux.
Every spring and autumn Ashley and Johnny make a pilgrimage when Bordeaux’s brocante and antique fair “Brocante des Quinconces” comes to town. They combine the treasure hunting with lunch at the Petit Bois
And aperitifs at La Comtesse.
And then home to their romantic chateau in the silent of a dark starry night.
Who says that you can’t have the best of both worlds.
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