April at nº 42
It’s been a busy month. And dusty. Work has begun to move the west bathroom into a larger room. And what was the bathroom is going to become a dressing room.
My in-laws (Mike’s brother + wife) arrive in two weeks for their first visit and so we finally finished off the little details that were missing here and there in one of the guest rooms and its shower room.
I’ve spent a ton of time gardening recently and it was time well spent. It’s still not quite as polished as what he had in Spain, but we’re getting there.
In cultural news, there are a couple of interesting things that are worth a look. Leskov’s Lady Macbeth of the Mtsensk District has been made into film. apparently it’s wonderful. And Edouard Louis’ book, The End of Eddy, is available in English. I just ordered one for Mike as he’s resistant to reading in French. The book is outstanding.
In other news, a house from Mazamet was featured in Apartment Therapy. It’s owned by a lovely Finnish artist named Tiina. She has a blog and a very unique style. Also on the topic of local style, there’s a fellow wordpresser who’s done up a gorgeous vacation rental apartment in the nearby medieval town of Carcassonne. In the uber-charming old town! Tons of great pictures on her blog. If you’re visiting this part of the world, it looks like a great place to stay, you can see it here.
My Mazamet 
You didn’t time the relative’s visit well. You should have timed it so they could come and help with the work.
I have visited myriad gardens and have come to the conclusion I do not like the “polished” look as being “too fussy.” Your gardens look quite nice as they are; they blend into nature well. A little color and voila, you are done!
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I’m trying to achieve middle ground. Not as formal as a French layout, but not as informal as the English variety. Colour we’ve got quite a lot of. Three of the walls surrounding the garden are lined with camellias in every available shade 🙂
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Such a grand place! You’re doing fantastic work.
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Ditto, your apartments are simply gorgeous 🙂
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Mazamet?… we have some relatives there, just 45′-drive from here par la route de Castres… 🙂
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🙂
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The property is looking smashing. You guys have done a really great job.
We have hand basins that look similar to the one you have: made by TwyfordsSA.
I think ours must have come with the house … they’re old. I have never seen anything similar at any bathroom place we have visited.
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Do you mean the one in the bathroom with the bathtub or in the black and white shower room? The very big one is French and original to the house. The other one is English and made by Hudson Reed. They have a fantastic line of retro bathroom pieces, from loos to antique looking radiators 😀
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Sorry, Pink I should have been specific.
The one with your reflection in the mirror.
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That’s the English which we added 😀
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Will the original one move to the new bathroom?
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Yes! We’re keeping everything we can. In fact I spent much of the day looking for someone to re-chrome the fittings on that basin…
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Curtains in the bathroom!?!
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Yes, linen 😀
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When are you laying the carpet? 😉
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Gorgeous! Made me weep with longing for spring (snow in the forecast 😔). I love the geometric floor tile in the bath. A nice “pop”.
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That style of tile is incredibly popular in France. You find them in a large proportion of period properties. And they’re still made today: http://www.cimenterie-de-la-tour.com/?lang=en
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I love Apartment Therapy. It’s leading to look though the pictures.
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I love it too. It’s just amazing to see how creative people are.
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-sigh- Just spent 1/2 an hour looking at those apartments. Would love to go travelling again. Ah well.
No. 42 is looking lovely Pinky and the gardens are so lush. Very different to Villa L’Africaine but only because one is a sun garden and this one is a shade garden. 🙂
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I love *spying* too 😀
Both gardens are south facing, but you’re right, very different. In Spain we kept 2000m2 between us and the green zone as plain lawn. The trees on the edges (mostly Eucalyptus) were incredibly tall, and the rest of the planting was low (hibiscus, oleander, hydrangeas.) Here they’ve done much more complicated planting. The borders are extraordinary. The north wall alone has eight different types of climbers, jasmine, star jasmine, akebia, three types of roses, tangerine bignonia…
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Hah! It must be like a tapestry of green. I do like that garden. 🙂
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Looking great there Pink. I wonder though, how does the toilet flush? I don’t see a tank anywhere.
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the rest of it is hidden in the wall 🙂
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