Les Essentiels: Octobre

“It’s the funniest thing that you don’t really understand before it happens, what it is. So you sort of go running right towards it like yeah, this is exactly what I was seeking and when you get there you realize that the things that you thought would be great about it are not. But there are much more interesting things that come from it that you really appreciate...” 
- George Clooney, DID BBC Radio 4, 2003

My top ten favorite things in October:

1. The smell of the fire in Noyers. And when I am in Paris, the smell of Feu de Bois.

2. A final warm weekend spent in my favorite Parisian park, Buttes des Chaumont.

3. The automne issue of The Gentlewoman. How am I going to wait six months for the next issue?

4. Long walks in the Bourgogne countryside. You just never know when you will round a corner and run into a pagan house or a chateau.

Abandoned pagan house, with a pristinely kept lawn.

Chateau de Jouancy

5. Homemade bread.

6. I have switched my girl power soundtrack from Neko Case to Lucinda Williams.      

7. Desert Island Discs (DID) podcasts. I still can’t believe that this exists. I always thought that if I had an interview show, it would be structured this exact same way... Name five albums that you would take with you on a deserted island. And then VIOLA! Here it is. It is true when they say everything has existed before, and apparently it's been going on since 1942! I’d provide a link to the free downloads on iTunes, if only I knew how. Instead, click here to see the entire archive. Or have a listen to Mr. Clooney's interview:

8. Catching up on my museum visits. From Saran Wrap overhead tunnels to incredible portraits by the master. 

Inside at Musee Palais de Tokyo

Musee Picasso Paris

9. Vendange (late wine harvest) at a friend’s vineyard, followed by a lovely lunch that overlooks Noyers.

10. Mushroom hunting in Foret Domaniale de Val de la Nef.

Guest post by Karen: Growth Opportunities

(Paris apartment balcony)

One of my oldest and dearest friends came to visit me this summer. She was in Paris for a conference so we enjoyed a little bit of Paris together, with the added bonus of a side trip to Brussels, and then some quality girl time at my house in Burgundy. Karen is a delight, she is beautiful, generous, kind, smart and an overall inspiration. When I grow up, I want to be just like her. Today's guest post is about her takeaways from her time with me in France.

(11th arrondissement in Paris)

Guest post by Karen:
This summer I was the guest of a beautiful friend-- living nine hours ahead with her, staying in gorgeous locations, and found myself surrounded by abundance-- the food and spirits of the gods and the company of vibrant and inspiring people.As Joseph Campbell said, "The privilege of a lifetime is being who you are" To expand on that, the privilege of my holiday was being with a friend who allows me to me myself and loves me for it, in France no-less.

 (walking thorugh the street in Noyers-sur-Serein, Bourgogne)

To add to my personal jackpot, I find myself blessed post journey with the “gift of giggles”.  You know that experience after an adventure, when you recall something that makes a shit-eating grin spread across your face? It is the travel gift that keeps on giving.

(La Serein in Noyers)

Growth Opportunities

As I re-enter my day-to-day life I am armed with a treasure box of what I would call “holiday nuggets” for future growth and enlightenment.  You know the feeling when you piece together a list of things to explore at a later time?  You may have heard about a new book, recipe, philosophy, or even find yourself inspired by a new outlook. Maybe you decide to embrace a new, (or an old), side of yourself.  Whatever it is, the feeling is often palpable after trip.  It is a fire within. You vibrate at a more intense level. I would further opine that this may be even MORE true when you journey to France.  To me, France itself is a magical and inspiring place where possibility seems to dance on the wind.  Below is a list of some of the take-away “nuggets” in my post travel treasure box.  

(upstairs attic at the house in Noyers, referred to as 

"Growth Opportunity")

1.    A call to meditate (download this app).  Slow down and shut out the noise. 

  

(My room in Noyers, referred to as "Little Cambodia")

2.    Learn French. Take a class. Host an exchange student. See what I can learn in my own backyard.

3.     The Wild Unknown Tarot  What are my questions? To frame the question is the first step to finding the answer. Look within.  Be mindful. Be brave. 

4.    Asian cooking. Yes, I come back from France inspired to improve my culinary skills.  My Asian skills in particular.  I learned how to make Sushi and a Korean dish called Vegetarian Bibimbap.  (Note: add fermented soy paste and Kimchi. Delicious and nutritious). My next goal is to self-learn spring rolls.  Yum.

5.    Tracy Anderson Arms. Seriously, there are these deceptively simple and short clips on You Tube. The trick is to carve out the time. Do it with a friend, do it on vacation, and then try to “high five”. I dare you.  

6.    Tuning Forks for the human condition. Who couldn’t use a tune up from Noreen?

(prototype for Noreen's large scale rock installation in Noyers)

7.    Be nice to your candles and they will last longer. Push the wax down when they are warm, use a snuffer, keep the wicks short.

(Cypres, Figuer, Baeis, and Feu de Bois. The gifts that keep on giving.)

8.    Be open. If the universe throws you a perfect pitch, you might as well swing at the ball. Don’t be afraid. What is the worst that can happen? You fail?  That is just an opportunity to grow stronger. It’s not that complicated.

(the beginning of the rock installation on the hill near the chateau in Noyers)

9.    Listen to your inner voice. Sometimes you have to find the melody alone.  It is OK. Reminds me a Avett Brother’s song...

10.  I am pretty sure I have a few unmentionable “nuggets” to unwrap as well. This was France, after all. Viva La France!

In humble gratitude to Jules.  Thanks for helping me light up. Thanks for the gift of giggles that keeps on giving.   Thanks for the treasure box of “nuggets”. Thanks for the simple abundance of your friendship. 

Guest post: Life in the village by J. Starr

A dear friend from Portland, came to visit me in Paris and Noyers. This was her first time in my village, which allowed me to see it anew through her eyes. Here is her take on the experience... 

Guest blog post by J. Starr:

"I had a sense of preparation for a love to come like the extension of canopies, the unrolling of ceremonial carpets, as if I must first create a marvelous world in which to house it, in which to receive adequately this guest of honor" ~Anais Nin. 

Life in The Village at Jules's
drinking pink bubbles on the stone patio
the sound of pigeons cooing on the roof
the church bell ringing
gazing at the bright stars from my bed while drifting to sleep
the morning light and birds singing as an alarm clock 
tulips on the cusp of blooming
playing slightly naughty card games with friends. 
the worlds best croissants from the bakery that only makes them to order on the weekends. 
singing to Neko Case and Wilco while making homemade ricotta cheese and butternut squash ravioli 
baguettes in a wicker basket
running past bee houses
friends that live a few steps away and walk over in their pajamas for morning coffee. 

Thank you Jules for reminding me of the possibilities of adventure, the beautiful mystery of life, creating the world you dream, nurturing your soul, making your own rules, and wishes fulfilled. 

Weekend Reverse Bucket List

The front door of La Bonne Etape, my house in Burgundy.

I just read an article that describes the process of writing one's bucket list-- in reverse. This is not intended to be a list of the audacious goals that one hopes to accomplish before dying. But rather it is a list of things that you have already accomplished. You can read some tips for writing your Reverse Bucket List here. 

One way to structure your reverse bucket list is to define a period of time that you want to capture. Be it one year, five years, ten years or a single day, it is meant to highlight amazing milestones that have already occurred.  It had me thinking about this weekend's Reverse Bucket List:

Septime Wine Cave

Friday night:

Apertif at Septime Wine Cav with the Englishman. Once again, I found myself drinking from the Kool Aid as he convinced me to write poetry about my country house. His theory is that if you talk about your house from the standpoint of the personalities that it has and the events that have/or will occur, you will start to see it' essence and therefore it's "poetic mood board". The good news is that I don't have to write my own house poetry because over a few glasses of wine,  he waxed poetic about my house right then and there. It resulted in some easily executable projects that I can knock out over the week ahead. And some new inspiration courtesy of Septime's restaurant which is across the street.

Rod iron, glass, white candles, off white walls, and exposed wood counter tops, courtesy of Septime's restaurant.

Then I went to meet friends at another nearby neighborhood favorite.

Bistrot Paul Bert (photo by The Paris Kitchen)

Dinner at Bistrot Paul Bert with some lovely friends who were visiting Paris from Brussels. They were enjoying a weekend away to celebrate their one year anniversary. One year ago, Patrick laid eyes on Anne at a boutique in Brussels, and within minutes he spontaneously gifted her a hat that he thought looked beautiful on her. During dinner we laughed, told stories, and drank amazing Bordeaux, all the while they infused me with much hope and an overall sense of possibilities. At one point, Patrick leaned over and told me that he waited 53-years to meet the love of his life, my lovely friend Anne, who coincidentally, seemed to be radiating more than usual.

Saturday:

Train ride from Paris to Burgundy with Carlina.

Upon arriving to La Bonne Etape, Carlina and I parked ourselves on my new couch (FINALLY!) and got fully caught up over a bottle of Olivier Morin.

We put my new Pasta making contraption to use and made raviolis with spinach/ricotta filling from scratch. (We called Carlina's mum in Argentina for stuffing tips)

Carlina is knee deep in Game of Thrones (about time!), so I happily helped her kill a couple of episodes with the help of a glass of Goisot. Reminding me how freaking excited I am for GoT Season 4 to begin.

At bedtime, I laid there staring out my bedroom window at the village rooftops and noticed that that the cloud cover had dissipated and made way to one of my favorite sites in the village-- a star filled sky. Just breathtaking. 

I slept like a baby.

Sunday:

It's really fun to wake up with one of your girlfriends sleeping in a nearby bedroom. So I made coffee and brought a cup up to her so she could linger in bed a while longer.

The sun shone all day and the temperatures continue to be relatively mild.

Goût du lait is sprouting up all over my garden.. in February.

We took a walk along the backside of the village and to visit our friend Diane's garden which  is nestled right up to the pine trees and the Serein river. So many plans for D's garden... kale crops, lettuce,  picnics on blankets, bbq's, etc. We need Rod to return from the states so he can captain this project.

After I dropped her at the train station, I returned to the house to knock off a "small" painting project. I painted one of the living room radiators.

Before; yellow

After: Blanc calcaire

Whoa. Although small in dimension, painting radiators is no quick task, lots of nooks and crannies. Only one way to turn that task into a mind blowing, spiritual awakening...

Nina Simone Live at Montreux, 1976. One word- damn.

And now I sit in front of my fire, in my house in the French wine country. (still pinching myself every time I mutter these words)

If you would have asked me on Thursday, what my weekend bucket list was, I doubt I would have predicted that it would have been filled with this many amazing checklists.

Transition ritual

I have been spending a lot of time in the country. There is so much to do to the house, yet I am still taking time to enjoy my friends and the village before the extremity of winter.

It seems that I have a transition ritual when I return to Paris after having been in Burgundy.

• Discard any plant casualties.

• Turn on KEXP to drown out the sounds of the neighbors.
• Order Thai food
• File my nails and oil my cuticles. Twice.
• Dust. The lack of movement in the apartment for periods of time can produce an obscene amount of dust.
• Bathe (vaporize) my scarves and coat in the Diptyque Vinaigre tonic to remove the smell of firewood. 

• Text my Paris friends to remind them that I am still alive and (somewhat) relevant.
• Lament the country house before and after photos that I forgot to take.
• Plan my return.

The upstairs WC before and after:

The mint green WC was unbearable.

Gris Gallet is much more tolerable. I only wish I hadn't run out of paint. It desperately needs another coat, and white baseboards.

The living room enduit before and after:

Living room enduit before (notice the discoloration which seemed like a dusty/cottony film)

I think it is important to put intentions into a new home. Here are some of the energy words that we painted into the walls of La Bonne Etape.

Living room enduit after. The Blanc Caisse color gives a modern feel and really brightens things up. The stone-coved ceiling now has a chance to be the star again. 

Sitz bath

Everyday I find some bizarre object in my barn. Today's find is apparently called a Sitz bath, hip bath, hipster or cowboy bathtub depending who you talk to and which country you find it in. I thought it was just an odd shaped galvanized bucket, but my knowledgeable friend William informed me that it was a very old hip bath, meant to wash the nether regions of a person.  Hmmm... how very Deadwood (in France), I thought.

After doing a little googling, I found that these suckers are pretty sought after by antiquers. And there is also a forum of antiquing enthusiasts who like to tout the joys of sitting in a warm one of these in front of the fire-- with a good book and a glass of wine. Um, okay. 

I figured that I could eventually clean it off and use it as a planter for the garden, or maybe a way to store my firewood next to one of the fireplaces. Then today, I found a use for it that was also very practical, yet terrifying for the boys' pugs. Let's just say that it washed more than their nether regions. I have a feeling they won't be coming withing 10 feet of one of these ever again.

la cuisine

The home improvement whirlwind continues. While most of us were focused on the upstairs, Marco had the courage to singlehandedly tackle the kitchen.

I don't know what was more frightening, the produce themed tiles, or the textured wall paper? Together they were a deadly combo. 

The good news, is that the produce was in fact decals that could be removed with some wallpaper removal solution and steel wool.

The even better news, is that Marco found a technique to remove large sections of wall paper in one fell swoop. After days spent peeling teeny tiny slivers of wall paper upstairs, a large section coming off in your hands is pure bliss.

 What was once a kitchen of despair, is now full of hope.

Day One: La Bonne Etape

It is official. I own a house (with two barns) in Burgundy.

We did the final signing last night, which took two hours. Part of the process for the final signing was initialing every single page of the 20 page document which outlines the rules for making ANY cosmetic changes to my house. The village of Noyers sur Serein is one of France's 100 most beautiful villages and must remain unchanged, especially as it is a medieval village that holds historical significance. And since my house is located smack dab in the village's center, I am told that I will be required to observe an additional set of rules governing the visible part of my house. I have not read through the whole document yet, but I already know that it includes things like repainting my house/gate/shutters (even if it is the exact same color), planting flowers around the exterior of the house, etc.

There are some things that do not require the Marie's (governing office for the village) approval, which my friends and I have already begun tackling with fervor.

• Wallpaper removal
• Carpet removal
• Sanding of the pine hardwood floors underneath the carpet
• Linoleum tile removal in the hallways, bathroom, and WC.
• exposing interior beams

When tackling such a big job, it is important to pick one room and focus. We started with one of the four smaller bedrooms upstairs:

I purchased the house with all of its contents, like furniture, family photos left hanging on the walls, dishes, old broken tv's, and even clothes in the closets (including a fur coat). Don;t get me started on the contents of the barns.

The window opens up to the garden and a view of the village rooftops. In the distance you can see the location of the village's chateau.

This wall paper was exceptionally thick, requiring a whole lot of elbow grease to remove it. So you can imagine our frustration to find an additional layer of wallpaper to be removed underneath it.

There is even wall paper in the closet, that once removed, revealed stone walls.

Hand protection from the wall paper removal chemicals. This was all we could find in the house. I have since bought a box of 100 latex gloves.

It is an overwhelming task to buy a house that is hundreds of years old and requires so much work to make it ready to move into.

But my friends have helped to make this process manageable and fun, and our discoveries such as the stone walls in the closet and the pine wood floors under the carpet bring about a sensation of satisfaction and possibilities that make it so worthwhile.

Buh-bye yellow carpet.

Hello hardwood floors!

Thank God for RDW's saint-like patience. He palm sanded every square inch of the floor to remove the white glue. Now we are ready to wash and stain.

We couldn't wait to see what was beneath the plywood, suspecting it was a hardwood beam.

Once the boys began demolishing, I got nervous. What if it is a nightmare beneath the plywood? Afraid that it might add one more item to my list of things to fix.

To our delight, it was just as the boys suspected-- a large wood beam. Whew! 

Now I need to enlist a professional to sandblast it, which means two things:

1. they should sandblast everything that needs it throughout the house. Sandblasting is a VERY dusty affair, you should only do it once.

2. We will wait to polish floors and paint until then. But this could mean a long wait as the contractor who does the sandblasting is very busy this season.

Until then, we will continue the removal process throughout the house. This journey has only just begun.