reinventing the wheel

Plans are afoot to rejuvenate the apartment. We have finally decided it is time we renovated a little - after living in a 'temporary' state for way too long. Having completed the tea room, the restaurant, the bar and the kitchens, it is time to think about our living space a bit. At this point I wish I knew an interior designer with lots of free time, who is looking for a challenging project and who has loads of spare cash. The hunt is on. Suggestions on a postcard please......

welcome to Papillon

new to all this

This is my first blog so excuse any waffling. A little background maybe. Gregoire and I moved to France in 1998 to try out the challenges of rural France having got fed up with London life. Gregoire being French made this decision somewhat easier, and the fact he is a also a chef made it doubly easy as we knew that he would find a job wherever we went. Shortly after arriving in France we ran out of money, so he did indeed get the first (of many) cheffing jobs, and I found out I was pregnant. Oops. Having been married 10 years with no sign or interest in the whole baby thing before it was indeed an oops. But we went with the flow. As you do. I started working in Paris and Brussels (commuting to and from Normandy), Gregoire carried on working as a chef and we slowly renovated our rambling old farmhouse (aka le moneypit). As usual with pregnancies, some 8 or so months later I gave birth (in French - screaming and otherwise) to a bouncing girl - named Scarlet. She is now 7 and tres francais. Since this first year we have changed jobs, travelled a bit, been very poor, been not so poor, met friends, lost friends, and now, having sold our original house, are the proud and sometimes bemused owners of a lovely traditional restaurant called Papillon, in the pretty flower filled village of St Fraimbault (61) in the Orne. For more info on our restaurant see www.aupapillon.com

C'est tout pour l'instant. Will start trying to post regularly and create some sort of a diary. Who knows where it might end up?