19 January 2009

Castillonnes 750th Anniversaire


Re bonjour,

I have just realised that I have not yet told you about the events that are taking place this year as part of the celebrations for Castillonnes 750th! anniversary.

Key dates and events are as follows:

Sat 4 Apr Comice agricole
Sat 4 Apr Communal meal poule au pot
Sat 4 Apr Launch of commemorative envelopes/stamps
Sat 4 Apr - Mon 13 Apr (Easter Mon) Stamp/seashell exhibition
Sun 12 Apr Brocante

Fri 19 Jun - Sat 27 Jun Art exhibition (school/college art projects on 750th
Fri 19 Jun - Sat 27 Jun History exhibition (of the bastide)

Sun 2 Aug - Bodega (all night party)
Tues 18 Aug - Sun 30 Aug History exhibition and old photographic display of the bastide
Sat 29 Aug - Medieval day with open air meal in market square
Fri 28 Aug - Sun 30 Aug Twinning weekend
Sat 29 Aug Inauguration of new entrance to Mairie

21/22 Sep - History/photo exhibition again to allow children to visit from schools but open to public
We are especially looking forward to the medieval day as there is a reduced fee for the banquet if you wear a costume and I am sure that the locals are already planning their costume atire, so the pressure is on to find a good costume :-)
Amicalement,
Leeann

8 January 2009

Rejuvenated for 2009.....

Bonjour,

I have just returned from having the most wonderful facial at our local beauty salon in Castillonnes. Michelle is "tres gentil" and gives the most wonderfully relaxing facial, 2 hours for 39 euros is pretty good value in my book. She is going to provide me with a treatment listing so that I can include this in the Maison de Poitiers Chambre information pack.

Her salon is literally a 2 minute walk from Maison de Poitiers and she loves the opportunity to practise her English should you feel inclined to converse in English!

She only uses Mary Cohr products which are completely natural products are are derrived from plant extracts.

It is still cold here and we have more snow forecast for Saturday.........................

Amicalement,

Leeann

6 January 2009

Snow photos!

Here is a album containing the photos that I took this morning, note the temp on the pharmacy clock -3.5!

http://www.flickr.com/photos/28371250@N03/sets/72157612185668359/show/
L x

It is snowing here!


Hello,

We awoke to find eveything here blanketed in snow, the village looks amazing! I have posted a photo so that you can see for yourself! I will also create an album so that you can see some more snow!

A bientot

Leeann

3 January 2009

Bonjour

Today it is blue sky and a little chilly here. I love the blue sky but are willing it to be warmer as we watched a programme about an english couple relocating to Australia and it made me a little homesick.


Yes I am a kiwi but I have spent many years working in Sydney and as a result have an Australian passport which I adore as the photo in it is a lot nicer than my Kiwi one :-)


For those of you that do not know me I am a "40 something" kiwi who has spent the last 15 years of my life travelling and working around the world. I have lived in Dubai, London, Sydney, Mumbai and Istanbul and have travelled extensively as a result of working for large corporate companies.

Not quite 2 years ago I discovered France and spent the first year setting up a boutique style B&B "Maison de Poitiers" in a tranquil 13th century village called Castillonnes which is not far from Bergerac airport.

The next project has commenced which is luxury holiday apartments (maison no. 20) in a lively 13th century village called Eymet which is not far from here.

We have created a website for the apartments, http://www.maison20.com/

A couple of the rooms have already appeared on the top 100 rooms on mydeco.com which was a nice suprise.

I had better get back to work.

Bonne Annee

Leeann