 Our quest to find the perfect property for both our home and a gîte in France began in 2005. We had a specific idea in mind for the location at the outset: we did wish to go south, but not on the coast. Our search took us around the Tarn, to the whole of the Midi-Pyrénées and also Languedoc-Roussillon. On visiting the Aveyron we felt in love with the Region.
Soon after that, we started searching for the right property. After looking at many of the other properties that were offered that had ready-made gîtes, we decided to renovate an old barn on property in the hamlet of Recoules in the "commune" of Prévinquières, in Aveyron. Thus, our property became "The Old Barn of Recoules" or "La Vielle Grange de Recoules"
Hayley and I decided that we would move to Aveyron with our Cat "Indie" when the renovation work is done . !! (When)
Work eventually started on the renovation. Our first task was to turn a part of the old Barn into a brand new accommodation for us as the main house. After this, work began on the gîtes with ½ of the ground floor and the entire top floor being gutted, saving the beautiful beamed roof space. The barn was transformed into 2 gîtes with 4 beautiful new bedrooms and 3 bathrooms. The ground floor also has 1 gîte with 3 bedrooms and 3 bathrooms. The whole barn has 600m2 of living space on 5000m2 of land.
Claude will works from home, for his English company, but now will do it from France giving him the advantage to catch up with the builders working on site. Since then we have been busy entertaining numerous guests, finding new walks, trying out new restaurants, making all manor of preserves (on account of all the fruit trees!) and generally trying to find time for the odd bit of relaxation. Things have been a bit easier for Claude since he is a native Belgian and speaks French, while Hayley is from England and is working hard to master the language. Nonetheless, we have been exceedingly fortunate in that we have been warmly welcomed into the hamlet. Our adventure starts here, in the Aveyron Region.
We hope that you will be visiting us so we can share with you a piece of our new life in France and you can share with us your adventures! |
