Didier and his buddy Nico drove six hours from Paris to Bordeaux, with Clem and i in the backseat of the car. We only stopped once – to grab a quick sandwich and use the bathroom. We might have reached half an hour earlier if a white van hadn’t blown up on the highway and caused a jam, but it was quite a drama with two fire engines edging their way through towards it. By the fifth hour into the journey, i was playfully hitting Clem for fun cos i was SO fidgety and bored (had already napped and read all i could) and he was hitting me back. Soon we were in a wrestling match with each of us warning the other, “YOU stop!” “Don’t continue and cry!” “You hit too hard!” “You started it!” We both finally stopped and i observed, “Hmm. Now we know why kids always start fighting at the back after being in the car for so long…”
Before the dreary car journey, I had the most EXCITING time EXPLORING Jean Paul and Mimi’s house earlier that morning.ย When i first arrived in their house the night before, we sat ourselves down for food and wine in the living room next to the warm fireplace. During the course of our meal, i observed the most interesting bits and bobs of decorations, pictures, paintings, furnishings and what-have-you in every corner and angle. What a lamp! What a painting! Who’s in that picture? I couldn’t wait to explore!
After dinner, we slept in a bedroom on the third floor/in the attic, which used to be Germain’s room. JP and Mimi have three children – Germain, Roma and Chloe – all of whom i’ve met. Mimi is Dom’s (Clem’s mom) older sister, making her Clem’s aunt. Attics usually sound scary but this was an awesome attic! It held a spacious play room with pool table in the middle, and both sons’ rooms on either side (tho they’ve all grown up with children of their own and don’t live there anymore).
On the second floor is Chloe’s room, a children’s playroom, corridors and er lots of other rooms i didn’t get to go into. Everyone’s bedroom came with its own bathroom, there were long corridors, and a massive garden with a swimming pool and tennis court. What made the house so spectacularly interesting, were all the details and decorations everywhere! Clem told me JP used to have a company that managed other people’s waste that is thrown into those lorry-sized metal containers, so i bet they found some interesting AWESOME junk in there to restore!
Pictures!
Where we slept that night
I took so many pictures of Clem bathing in the tub, till he went, “Okay. I think you have enough pictures now.”
JP was staring at me strangely cos i tried eating my egg in the silliest way. I didn’t know you just had to cut it across with a knife (noob), i thought i had to break the top off -_-
Sitting room table
During our previous trip, Clem had showed me the land where his great-grandmother had grown up. She was a marquess (standing in pic) who fell in love with a cheese maker and married him, thus writing herself out of royalty by spending her life with a commoner. The three little girls in the picture are her daughters, one of whom is Clem’s grandmother. (People those days just didn’t smile in pictures, huh…)
Living room #2 looking out into the garden
Random fruits (?), angel, ducks, etc
I LOVE this crazy clock! When Clem told Mimi how much i liked it, she agreed that the eagle was indeed pretty. But that’s not why i like it… you can see the crazy laughing face right? Can you? Can you?!
A painting that Clem’s great-grannie did a long time ago
Table in dining area
Awesome taphead in bathroom downstairs!
Bathroom wall
Drawer details in hall downstairs
Hall on first floor
Book cover in children’s playroom
This suit of armor scared the bejesus outta me the first time i made my way up to the attic
Lots of attic shots…
Kitchen downstairs
Love all their tapheads. Want.
Homemade croutons.
The back of the house facing the garden
Beyond the end of this picture is the pool and tennis court
A garden shed that we went in to look at too!
It’s so messy it’s a photographer’s dream! It’d be so slick to do a fashion shoot in there!
Didier, Nico, Jean Paul, Mimi, Clem
I see the grinning face of Cheshire Cat from Alice In Wonderland when I look at the clock. I only noticed the eagle after reading what you wrote..
I love the tapheads!!!!!
Back in the days, it actually took about an hour to get the camera to take one single photo. So by the time it actually snaps…ppl got tired of smiling d.. that’s why most people don’t smile in photos in the olden days. ;D thank goodness we take photos in a split second nowadays, otherwise there wouldn’t be all the pretty pics in your posts! =)