To paraphrase Jane Austen: it is a truth universally acknowledged, that a homeowner in possession of a beloved pet, must be in want of a house sitter.
If our experience of being members of Trusted Housesitters is anything to go by, this is indeed true. Judging by the twice daily emails that we receive, over 50 homeowners across the globe are searching for suitable house sitters at any given time. We have already had experience house and pet-sitting for two characterful French bulldogs in a huge flat in Hong Kong’s Happy Valley and we are soon to take up another challenge near Carcassonne in southern France over the Christmas and New Year period.
Back to our current house sit, it may not come with pets but that doesn’t mean there aren’t animals, it’s just that bats and hedgehogs don’t count as pets! I’ve been busy putting together a website that showcases the château and gives some insight into the history and the work that has been done to get it to where it is now. Check it out and let me know what else I could do to improve it…bear in mind it is a work-in-progress.
So this week we hosted the friends we went to visit last week and I racked my brains for what to feed them (we’d had such a lovely meal with them, I had to provide more than toast, my signature dish). As you know, cooking is not my forté so I thought I’d better do a trial run if I was to actually try to cook anything for the guests. Luckily Rich is a very willing guinea pig and my bacon and mushroom puffs seemed to fit the bill. I’m adding them to the fig and apple crumble that I made earlier this month as part of my slowly growing repertoire of home-cooked dishes. I also made a cottage pie this month (I know, not exactly “gourmet food”) but I didn’t take a picture as it basically looked like mashed potato!
I’m sure I could conjure up veggie options for any of you thinking of visiting who don’t eat meat… so be prepared!
Rich has been busy taking photos for the château website so you’ll have to pop along to that one for gorgeous shots of the place this week!
À bientôt, bisous.
A French Adventure 
The website looks amazing, the photos are beautiful and really showcase the property and it’s great to read the history. Maybe in the ‘Contact’ section you can also add a ‘Getting there and away’ bit about local airports and who flies there (assuming the main audience is UK and/or Hong Kong?) and also ways to arrive by road or rail? You might already have this underway as I know it’s a work in progress. Looks great – well done! x
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Thanks sis! Great suggestions. I’ll get onto it. Lx
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No sooner said than done. Looks great – very informative! x
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You have been busy Lucy! Impressed with the cooking and the website is fab! Love the way you’ve shown the before and after photos of the rooms inside the house. T8 here at the moment which makes me chuckle as it was 5 times windier in Durham last week!
Waiting in anticipation to your next blog…
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Thanks for the positive feedback, June. Take care in the T8. Lx
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The website looks great and the photos are lovely. Your cooking looks great and, I’m sure, tastes lovely
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I’m loving the website development and can’t think of anything that needs adding at the moment. I think you’ll love Carcassonne, I went through it and had a brief stop a few years ago. A beautiful castle if I remember correctly.
Have you seen any cranes (the bird variety) yet? They’re ‘les grues’ around here. The migration south has begun and you’ll probably hear them before you see them.
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Thanks for the positive feedback. We’ll keep an eye out for les grues and Rich says he’s already seen a hen harrier and is busy trying to look up another hawk…
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