The front of the house and our little French car (the same one we had in Paris). She's almost 20 years old but still going strong!
The yard. We actually have about 2000 square meters of garden, but you don't see it all in this photo because at the back it goes down a hill and there is a big section that we lovingly refer to as the "wilderness" because no one ever tried to "reclaim" it and it's overrun with bushes, tall grass, weeds and all of the tall trees in the photo. Lionel is currently working on digging our potager to the side of the house and there is a disused little pond/water feature in the middle of the yard that I hope to restore one day.
Lionel painting the ceiling in our future living room
My very exciting recent furniture purchase...an armoire I found on Le bon coin for only 90 euros! It's gigantic and leaves me room to grow and it's in great condition, made of wood (not particle board), and made in France! I love it and I was very excited to get it on Monday now that the bedroom is mostly finished.
The state of the living room upon our arrival in France in May
Looking from the living room into the dining room when we first arrived
The condition of the entryway and stairway upon arrival. So far nothing has changed and we still have wall paper to remove, walls to sand and holes to fill before painting.
The only decorative item in the house right now, flowers from our garden
And just because I think it's cool to have lizards in our garden, here's one that was climbing on the wall the other morning. I think he's the same one that lost part of his tail to Rasteau a couple of weeks ago.
Looks great! Love that big yard and the little critter too. What a change from Paris living, right?
ReplyDeleteOh yes, it's a VERY big change from Paris living. Almost too much of a change! As nice as the idea of that big yard is, actually having to take care of it and mow it is quite overwhelming (I'm not much of a yard/garden person)! I definitely would have been fine with a smaller yard.
DeleteI don't think we could ever handle a fixer-upper. We have a hard time as it is just re-painting one of the rooms in our apartment!
ReplyDeleteWhat a huge garden you have. My guess is that you are not living too close to the centre of Bordeaux. I don't live in Bordeaux either but in one of the suburbs. I don't mind at all because I enjoy the calmness and quietness of our neighbourhood while still being in close proximity to Bordeaux.
I can't wait to see the finished product!
I'm starting to think we aren't really made for a fixer-upper either, but at this point we don't have much of a choice! And trust me, I also can't wait to see the finished product!
DeleteAnd you are right, we are definitely not in Bordeaux with a yard like that! But we are in the suburbs and still inside the Rocade. Actually, the Rocade is right behind the tall trees at the very back of our yard. And we have a tram stop about a 10-15 minute walk from the house, so it's not too bad for going into the center of Bordeaux (at least I'm told it isn't...I actually haven't tried it yet). Overall, I can't complain too much!
I love those little lizards! They are literally EVERYWHERE around here in the hot weather.
ReplyDeleteAs the others have said, I can't wait to see how the renos progress and the finished result! I'm so jealous you've got a nice big yard!
And your car looks a lot like my old, bottle-green Clio that I've had since 2008 :) She's from 1991, but still going strong too!
Like I told Amber above, the big yard seems like a great idea and all, but actually having to tend to it and mow it is quite the chore! It takes 4-5 hours to mow the whole thing, and in our neighborhood we aren't allowed to mow on Sundays, so basically there goes your entire Saturday afternoon! Not at the moment of course, since Lionel isn't working yet, but once he finds a job we won't have much choice.
DeleteAnd 1991, wow, your car is even older than ours! And I have a feeeling that in the next year or so we are probably going to have to finally give in and buy a new car. She's fine for most of our driving, but when you try to get her up to 130 on the autoroute she starts to struggle a bit and shake a lot.