country lifestyle Archives - Curious Provence

Tellines à la Persillade, a simple market dish

October 27, 2016 by ashleyt 5 Comments

Tellines (pronounced tellEEne)

There was a little commotion yesterday morning at Saint Remy de Provence market. Gilles, the oyster and mussel vendor, placed a large tub of tellines at the front of his stall. First to notice, with coffees in hand at 8 am, were the other foraines (market workers). Some even stopped in the middle of the bise* greetings to make their way over to Gilles’ stall. Threats were made to keep some for them. The lip-smacking in anticipation for dinner started particularly early.

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Full Before and After Renovation Bedroom

October 13, 2016 by ashleyt 2 Comments

Here are some photos of the full before and after renovation bedroom and bathroom. The difference is just as radical as it is anywhere else in the house. This is officially my favorite room of the house; it’s beautiful and cozy. What do you think?!

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How to Renovate in France on a Budget

October 11, 2016 by ashleyt 11 Comments

How to Renovate in France on a Budget

So you’ve bought your fixer-upper in France. The romanticism of Peter Mayle has snared you into the dream (or perhaps my blog?). You’re not a millionaire but you’ve got essentially a ruin of stones to work with. At least that’s a start.

You most likely don’t know anyone. You’ve heard horror stories about local tradesmen. Everything in the DIY stores seems more expensive. You’ll have to be careful about your budget…

We had a budget of only 25,000 euros to completely renovate our tiny house. We were able to accomplish this because we did most of the work ourselves. I have to admit, that Robin is a certified tradesman so this helped enormously. His experience really helped us stay within budget.

If you’re planning on doing the same, here are some tips on how you can spend the least amount of money possible while not compromising on your materials or safety building codes.

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Before and After Renovation: Living Room

September 2, 2016 by ashleyt 9 Comments

Here are a few pictures of the before and after renovation of our living room. Can you believe the difference? The locals are, unfortunately for us, still so curious that I’m often confronted with a face pressed against our window… But thankfully, everyone seems impressed.

Next we’d love to renovate an enormous Provencal farmhouse with a pool, large rose garden and olive orchard…haha Maybe when we win the lottery. For now, if you need any help in the area- Robin is available starting in October.

The Before and After:

Unfortunately we couldn’t keep the wood fire stove as it was dangerously installed. I’m told they work really well. We still don’t have any heating installed; Robin seems to think he’d like to see how cold it gets first. Ha! Spoken like a true Brit. I told him to prepare himself for a grumpy partner if he doesn’t get on it!

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Renovation in Provence: Bedroom Reveal!!

August 8, 2016 by ashleyt 12 Comments

Well, it’s missing some art on the walls, and a few finishing touches. This is the result of the upstairs room from our renovation in Provence.

Behold the Bedroom Reveal! Voila!

I just love the stairs.

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Renovation in Provence: Living Room Reveal!!

August 3, 2016 by ashleyt 10 Comments

Renovation Reveal. We still haven’t hung any art yet! Soon. Notice we kept some of the blue on the ceiling.

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Renovation in Provence: Garden Transformation

August 1, 2016 by ashleyt 22 Comments

Our Tiny Village House in Provence

This tiny garden of ours has endured quite a lot since we started renovating last December. There’s been so much debris, stones, machinery, and all sorts to the point where we often could barely get in and out! It’s not much to work with, but I think it’s improved enormously. People unashamedly peer over our fence to tell us our little garden is charming all the time. There is still so much that we want to do to this garden, like build a pond. We’ve even started looking into Nymphaea Pygmaea water lilies and how much goldfishes would be ready for when the pond is ready. Still got a while to go before this can happen, but if it best to be prepared. Renovating this garden has been a challenge, but we are proud of how far we’ve come. Here are some images of the garden transformation of our renovation in Provence.

The original garden, photo taken from front door of house. There were various ‘sheds’, one with an enormous oil tank, taking up half of the already minuscule garden, which I eventually wanted to use the space for teak garden furniture UK products.

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Reno in Provence: Bedroom/Bathroom Transformation

August 1, 2016 by ashleyt 4 Comments

Our tiny house is an awkward triangular shape. This is most evident in the upstairs room and the kitchen. Basically, anywhere you would need to put a large rectangular object– like a bed! Everything has been a compromise to make the space appear bigger as well as functional. Here is some of the bedroom and bathroom transformation from the last 8 months of our renovation in Provence.

The original back wall complete with tiny bathroom and closet. We haven’t decided yet if we’re going to use the best electric shower we can get or go for a different option, but what we did know is that we wanted to install the bathroom where the closet was in order to make use of the small window, or ‘fenestron,’ there that looks out onto Les Alpilles.

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Transhumance St Remy de Provence

May 16, 2016 by ashleyt 4 Comments

**The next Transhumance in Saint Remy de Provence is Monday, May 21st

This morning Robin and I drove over the Alpilles to see the Transhumance pass through the town of Saint Remy de Provence. The Transhumance is when, in the Spring, the sheep from the southern plains are led back up to the cooler mountains to graze on the fresh grass there. There are 2000 sheep that pass through the small town of Saint Remy; it’s quite the site to see!

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The Curious Forager: Wild Leeks and Rocket/Arugula

June 29, 2015 by ashleyt 4 Comments

Foraging in Provence

One of the wonderful things about living in the countryside in Provence is taking advantage of the free food found all over the landscape. Any amateur forager can benefit without putting their lives at risk! (Although my other half gets quite anxious when I’ve come back with a pile of unidentifiable greens).

The flowers and bulbs of wild leeks during the month of June

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