Photo: A toast from Pierre and Ron in the courtyard of the château
Now that you’ve visited the château and met Nicole and Pierre, here is the story of how we came to move to France from South Carolina.
“So what are we going to next, now that we’ve jumped off a mountain?” said Paul to the rest of the family, as we lazily sipped our post-lunch coffee on a shady restaurant terrace. I was on a family vacation with my husband Ron and my two beloved step- daughters and their husbands, and that morning the whole crowd had indeed jumped off the top of an extremely tall mountain, each held aloft by what looked like a completely inadequate slip of fabric cut from a parachute. Except for me, that is; I stayed firmly rooted on the ground, more interested in the local museums and boutiques than in terrifying forays into paragliding.
“So, let’s go around the table,” my son-in-law continued eagerly, “and everyone tell what sort of great adventure you most want to have before you die.”
I sighed heavily. I am the lone wimp in the family of die-hard adventurers and risk-takers that I married into many years ago. I harbored no secret extreme sports fantasies. I listened to the offerings: jumping from planes, sailing around the world, rafting the most dangerous rivers. When it was my turn, I closed my eyes briefly and waited hopefully for something bold to emerge. What bubbled up was a forgotten high school memory of gazing longingly at the photos in my French 101 textbook of the faraway and impossibly glamorous country called France. Suddenly I had my answer.
“I want to buy a house in the French countryside, and go there to live,” I said firmly. There were approving responses from my step-daughters: “Wow, great idea,” and “Wish I’d thought of that one”. And from my husband Ron, a thoughtful, “I didn’t know that.” That moment was the first step of a journey which brought us to a life we couldn’t have imagined, living la bonne vie in a setting rich in history, beauty, and friendship.
Several trips to France and not so many years later, the memory of that day brings a smile, as I open the window of our salon, from the peak of the highest tower in an ancient French château.
Ron and I, after all, had long been firmly rooted in our home in Charleston, South Carolina. We had not a grand but a comfortable and lovely house, we drove a modest car, we saved our money sensibly and splurged mainly on travel. Taking up residence in a château in France had never entered our minds, or even our dreams.
Travel has been an enduring love for us, however, and after our first trip to France we were smitten. We loved the beauty, the elegant lifestyle, the wine, the food, the quirky French character. We returned for brief trips we began to make a game of visiting the different regions, fantasizing about purchasing a home there. Time and again we kept returning to the lovely hills that unfolded like picture postcards in the southernmost part of Burgundy. We decided that an early retirement and a move to France was to be our adventure; we needed to grow, to push boundaries. Now we feel like eager children, discovering new things each day, and hopefully serving in some small way as good will ambassadors between the two countries.
Somewhere down a quiet road near the château, an abandoned stone house whispers our name, waiting to be renovated into our family home. Until then we are accidental châtelains. Come on in and share the dream!
Recipe: A Celebratory Cocktail from La Bourgogne
Making a life-changing decision calls for a toast. In Burgundy, we quickly discovered that any celebration (which can be as simple as a good lunch) calls for a festive aperitif. The aperitif of choice in southern Burgundy is a yummy creation which combines crémant, and crème de pêche. Champagne, as you may know, can only be called that if it is made in its namesake region in France. The similar sparkling wine made in Burgundy is called crément. Crème de pêche is luscious peach liqueur. Here’s how to make our favorite libation for a special occasion:
--Pour a generous splash of crème de pêche (or any peach or fruity liqueur) into a champagne flute
--Fill the glass with chilled sparkling wine
--To make it pretty, drop a couple of fresh raspberries into the glass
--Toast to your new life, or just to a good lunch.
A votre santé!
