La Vie est Belle!

Waking up at The Moulin Bregeon is like waking up in my wildest dream about living on a farmhouse in rural France.

  This mill, built in the 19^th century in the Loire Valley, was tastefully and lovingly restored by owner and founder, Jonathan Robinson.  I met Jonathan when he called me out of the blue to introduce me to his project.   His sister is friends with the amazing money guru and master networker Chellie Campbell who told her to tell her brother to call me.   This man is an artist, lover of the aesthetic beauty in France and actively preserving the quality of life that makes France so unique and which modern urbanism is threatening to destroy.  His project, which he started 20 years ago, is the renovation of this 19^th century mill and nearby village in the Loire Valley to create a model of aesthetic beauty, joie de vivre and stimulate tourism to help save rural France.   

Needless to say we hit it off and it was my luck to be traveling to France on the same plane as Jon.  You see, my first stop was to the Jura, a region far in the East near Switzerland, to meet a lady who owned a chateau.   Mind you, I had these plans set for months, but last minute, there was a confusion and she didn’t have time to see me, so I was sort of stranded.  Jonathan took me under his wing and invited me to the Moulin Bregeon.  I was so grateful!

The pictures I saw online of Le Moulin Bregeon did not do enough to prepare me for the experience of this  charming place.   It’s like living out a magazine layout of the most beautiful French country house with all the details in place; the organic garden with a stick fence to keep the wandering chickens out, a brook that runs under the house to create auspicious Feng Shui energy, huge hazelnut trees that perfume the air.  

 Everyone at the Moulin is so welcoming and friendly, eager to show me around.   A happy chocolate lab   named Figaro, greeted me upon arrival, as did the chickens, geese, and kitties.   There are also 2 friendly goats who roam the property.    It’s all so natural and yet it looks so perfectly orchestrated.  That is Jon’s talent for creating a balance of details and elements for aesthetics but easy and comfortable living.  He lives his passion and it’s evident in every detail of the Moulin and village.   Each room is designed and decorated to blend in with the surroundings.  Every door handle, sink, floor tile is meticulously chosen for authenticity, function and style. 

It was finally a sunny day in France so we sat outside on the stone patio.  I was handed a glass of red wine from the local vineyards and proceeded to tell my woeful story to Pascal, Jon’s partner and chef of the Moulin, and Diane and Chelsea, summer collaborators from the USA.   “It’s all meant to be, you couldn’t have been stranded in a better place”.   We lingered there, petting the dog, talking about literature, Parisian salon life, and how we can forget the chaos of urban life in this idyllic setting.   Soon it was after 10pm, but still light outside, we ate a late delicious dinner of locally grown poulet, salad from the garden and the best whipped garlic potatoes and of course… more wine.    

This is how life is meant to be lived, we talked in French and English about how we are enjoying the simple things in life, good conversation, good food, good wine.  C’est belle la vie! It’s a beautiful life!

  

Father's Day / Moving Day 2013

My wonderful French neighbor Suzy surprised her husband Michel with a decadent 5 course classic French feast of delicacies for Father's Day.

Pere Michel

We started with Campari aperitifs and an amuse bouche of freshly roasted red peppers in garlic and olive oil on toasted baguette.

Tante Suzy

 The first course was a shrimp cocktail with her own midnight mayonnaise followed by a refreshing creamy vichyssoise.  

Laurent

Then came the main course, a rich blanquette de veau with pureed potatoes accompanied by a nice red Chateauneuf de Pape.   By this time I was in a partial food coma and my camera battery died, but then the real star was featured.  Jonathan joined when Suzy brought out the dessert, her very own chocolate and coffee eclairs.   Surely the best meal I will have until I go to France next week.
We spent the rest of the day packing Jonathan up for medical school.

He's really going and so far away..I'm proud of him but I'm also mourning the end of an era, my little boy isn't little anymore and is really growing up for real this time.  Even when he went to college, of course I cried but I could still jump in the car on a spur of the moment and have lunch or dinner with him.    For the last year, Jonathan lived with me and I got to play mama again to my overly large son who would look down at me with his big blues and say "Momma, will you make me some chocolate chip cookies?"  How could I resist!  I savored the time because I knew there would be an end to us hanging out together.   Now this day is within a few days.  He's off to a new chapter and he's excited and I'm excited for him.  I'm also off to a new chapter, I'll be in France, we leave the same day.  But I'll be back, because Sam is still around for hanging out.  I love my sons. I love being their mom. - Onward!

On My Way Again

Dear Frenchofiles,

I guess you can say I’m giving birth to lots of ideas and plans and I’ve really been in this process for the past….oh, all my life!  I’ve been wishing and hoping and praying and taken some major leaps and risks along the way.  Many of you know about moving my life from sunny Ventura where I raised my sons,  chickens and organic vegetables to endure the freezing winters in Boston because after all, it was closer to my beloved France.  Then I escaped the cold to live by a little lake in the hills above Malibu, my mini South of France like escape, well, a girl can pretend, can’t she?

Next I needed to rebuild my finances which took a bit of a beating so I went back to accounting.  Ugh!  I felt like I was slipping backward.  Of all the cherished things I gave up for a chance to live my dream life,  the one thing I actually tried to leave behind was accounting and it was the only thing that remained.  This sort of depressed me as I tried to be grateful for this profession that I’ve had a love hate relationship with.  It always bailed me out and fed me when I needed it.   But it wasn’t my passion, so I thought I’d try something new and I became a headhunter and put other CPAs to work.  I saw this as my escape from Accounting and while it helped to have the accounting background, I thought it would be good to learn Sales & Marketing  to market Find Your Self in France. 

Well 8 months later and top producer for first year rookies, I found the courage to leave and really focus on my dream.  I’ve encouraged women to live the life of their design ever since I was an instructor at Women’s Economic Ventures.  Helping to nourish their ideas and translate them into a practical business plan. To help women organize and realize their dreams.  All the while I was taking steps to nurture my own dreams and founded Find Your Self in France, a boutique custom tour design consultancy. 

My focus now is on taking women to Paris and rural France to help them reinvent their life and learn how the French take time for important things in life, enjoying the moment, joie de vivre, simple sweet pleasures such as deep roasted coffee, flaky, buttery croissants, walks in the villages and squares, mouth watering pastries, art, music, beauty all around.   And in Burgundy we meet my French girlfriends who have made their life making wine, raising goats, living in a medieval village on top of a mountain overlooking vineyards and fields of sunflowers.   Through my story of trials and tribulations, I will share what is working for me, what breakthroughs I achieve on this next step on my journey and look forward to helping you design your dream life and meeting you in France.

Saving Rural France

Wow! A writer is pitching a story about me to More magazine. TToday, she asked me what is the essence of the purpose of your trips that is different than other tours? What is your role in this purpose? Here is my response:

This is a very good question and one that I have been contemplating. This is not your typical tour to France. When I travel, I don't like the typical organized tours, but I love being escorted around the city with a friend who lives there so I can get an intimate feel for the place, as a local not a tourist and I want my guests to feel that way.

But these trips are about much more than just experiencing Paris. I have a passion for Rural France which is so inspiring by its natural and historical aesthetic beauty and it is being pressured to modernize. 

I created Find Your Self in France to inspire women to Find Themselves, rediscover their passions, awaken their senses and also to bring awareness to the treasures in France before they disappear. In the US, we don't have stone buildings dating back to the middle ages, we don't have a regional wine, cheese and gastronomic dishes from each town. 

I want to save rural France as much as I want to inspire women to follow their dreams. What better place to do this while dining in the salon of an 19th century chateau, picnicking in secret gardens or a vineyard on delicacies grown in the local village or taking cooking classes at a refurbished mill.....