Sunday, May 22, 2022 - Looking back on our Burgundy house

 We're settling in here in Brittany. New house, new set of adventures using appliances, and finding where everything is stored. This house is also great. More on that later. Today, Dave had to find a new boulangerie and in so doing, discovered a market in the town of Larmor-Baden, just 5 km from here. So after breakfast, we all went to the market. It took as long to find a parking place in that little town as it did to do the shopping. Our list needed fresh veggies. Janis also bought some tuna to grill for dinner tonight. We also managed to fit in grocery shopping in Baden where there is a large Carrefour grocery store. We were back in the car at 12:27 and the store closes at 12:30 on Sundays. Whew. Home. Lunch. Dave and Janis went exploring the neighborhood on foot while Clark and I opted to stay home doing our separate computer work. 

It occurred to me as we left Burgundy that I didn't do my usual tour of our vacation home. Dave took some photos for me last Wednesday and I haven't had time to put together a blog about the house. So here it is: Our house in Burgundy, "La Maison du Capitaine" in the Hameau de Solle, commune de Commarin. The name of the house is in honor of the owner, Alan, who seems to have worked all over France, who has a great deal of experience with boats and the Burgundy canal, and who seems to know everyone around. 

view from our backyard

view of "La Maison du Capitaine" from the road. Doesn't look like much, but it is similar to other farm buildings in the neighborhood. It was likely living space in the center and left and agricultural storage - either for animals or farm equipment - on the right

The house has 5 bedrooms, 4 of them upstairs along with 2 bathrooms. 

One of the upstairs bathrooms

One of the bedrooms - there is also a single bed in this room

Another bedroom - with big old beams - looks out to the road

Another bedroom. Some bedrooms had sinks in them

There was also a "game room" under the eves with a ping pong table and other games in it. We never used this room. 

This room had a door out to the side - but no balcony, just a railing to keep you from falling. This room was clearly part of the loft above the barn. It had huge beams and old insulation showing.

Downstairs had a large dining room and 2 living rooms (the quiet room and the noisy room which had the TV in it. Actually, in our time there, both rooms were quiet rooms.). Apparently at one time this house was lived in by two old sisters who didn't like each other very much so they had separate apartments on the main floor. There had once been a wall at the end of the dining room creating a hallway with doors on each end. 

dining room looking toward our bedroom; Clark doing his math thing

dining room looking toward the front door with Dan, Paulette, Janis, Clark, and Lynn

dining room looking toward fireplace and china hutch

The noisy room (large TV is on right of the chairs with blue cushions)

The quiet room looking out to back yard

The quiet room looking toward front of the house. Joann and Larry Dodge and aperos

Our bedroom and bath were also on this floor, our door opening off the dining room. 

We used the shower in this bathroom down the hall from our room. As far as I know, no one used the bidet, but we all used this toilet during the day.

Looking into our bedroom from the hall. There was a large clothes cupboard with mirrors on the left. Behind our bed was the half bathe you see below.

A spacious laundry room held an extra dorm sized refrigerator, especially useful when company came, or when we were overrun with white wines. 

The kitchen consisted of 2 rooms. One we called the scullery because the 2 separate sinks were in there, as well as storage for dishes, glassware, and pots and pans. The other had the stove and refrigerator, coffee pots, toaster, etc. Each had a small table for prep. 

The kitchen had a great 5 burner stove and oven. Prep area in the middle of the room and a sideboard for storage with the coffee pots and toaster on top and a microwave above the coffee pots. I am standing at the sink in the scullery which had this "window" into the kitchen.

The scullery with its pots and pans sink under the window, regular sinks and dishwasher along the left wall, a table for prep with cupboards in the corner behind the table on right for storage of dishes and pots and pans. Door goes to back yard.

The backyard was lovely and large, but the weather was pretty chilly at the beginning and somewhat rainy at the end. Add to that that the furniture was not comfortable on old backs due to the depth of the seat, so we didn't use the backyard much. Too bad, it has a lovely spot overlooking neighboring fields and pastures. 

Lynn, Dave, Clark and apéros

view of our backyard - a great play space for kids

Janis and Lynn

There were lots of idiosyncrasies to get used to - like the cut out on the wall between the kitchen sink and the stove. The owners worked hard to keep the original character and furnishings of the building which sometimes led to unusual features. Doors to bedrooms and baths were often glass paned with a somewhat sheer curtain on the inside. For bathrooms, the problem was solved with an extra shower curtain that could be pulled across the door. Not having water near the stove took some getting used to. But we figured it all out and had a great time. 

bye-bye Maison du Capitaine from Janis, Clark, Dave, Ron, Lynn, Chris