Contributor blog post by Ashley Tinker: Robin wanted to stick to the traditional non-baked cement tile. They add a lot of local character. Check out my Instagram for a couple photos of local cement time floors. These tiles are well known in Portugal, but have been used all over Europe. In …

Contributor blog post by Vaucluse Dreamer: OK it’s not quite the title that usually draws readers, but I thought this afternoon’s trip was worth sharing. Since moving in I’ve been busy trying to find nice pieces of furniture for the house and needless to say I don’t want to spend …

Contributor blog post by Vaucluse Dreamer: Firstly apologies for any glitches in this blog – it’s been a bit chaotic trying to do it with intermittent internet and different wifi locations! I can’t believe where the last few days have gone. A week ago, I had just hosted the village book …

In three weeks today, we will be heading down to Provence, ready to sign the final documents needed to complete our house purchase, which, as you can imagine, is something we’re really looking forward to (to say the least!) To be honest, we’d originally thought that just one of us …

When I left home to go house hunting, my hubby’s final words were, ‘It’s not going to be a holiday, you know.’ After my experiences over the last couple of days, he was spot-on. It’s fair to say that this trip has been planned like a military operation and has …

Contributor blog post by Vaucluse Dreamer: When our first efforts at buying a house in France fell apart, just before signing the Compromis de Vente, we were absolutely gutted and it would have been very easy to just give up and walk away. We felt though, that we had no other option, …

Contributor blog post by Ashley Tinker: Our Renovation: More Ceiling Surprises So we’re still stripping back to try to get to the bare bones or our new tiny house. During the past few days we’ve gone back upstairs to take down the ceiling that consisted of fake wood made of styrofoam …

Contributor blog post by Ashley Tinker: Our Renovation in Provence: The Demolition Continues! You’re going to have to brace yourselves for a little hideousness- but we’ve started taring down the wood panels downstairs. This panelling so popular in the 70s is a form of cache misère which basically translates into hiding …

Contributor blog post by Ashley Tinker: Our New House (!!!) is just the end section of this Mas (Provencal farmhouse) that is actually well known in the area as the Mas Longue (Long Farmhouse). There are even postcards of this building from 100 years ago! We are in the centre of …

Contributor blog post by Jeany Cronk @MirabeauWine  As we know well from having read Peter Mayle’s tale of life and construction in Provence, nothing (apart from buying baguettes and Rosé) is ever easy in this neck of the woods. We do forget that construction is mostly a nightmare, wherever you are …