C'est la rentrée!...we go back to school...while apples ripen and the days grow short at the Chateau....

❝ C’est la rentrée ! Autumn begins to slant the rays of morning sun, touching the stubble in the fields with gold, enriching the bright colors of garden flowers, and reddening the glossy coats of the cattle in the pastures. ❞

Traditions, History, Chateau LifeBonner PropertiesSeptember 4, 2020Comment

August at the Chateau...summer nights and shooting stars...hot days and French traditions...

❝ It was so hot last week, there were pictures of the thermometer in the local newspaper. Rouen, the capital of Normandy, measured the hottest day on record – more than 100 degrees!… ❞

Chateau Life, Farm Life, Traditions, HistoryBonner PropertiesAugust 21, 2020Comment

Precious legs…Katia comes on the scene…a life with horses…

❝ Her legs were long, spindly and knobbly. And like any newborn horse, she was already on them. Within a few hours, she was cantering to catch up to her mother…❞

Farm Life, TraditionsBonner PropertiesJune 20, 2020horses, traditionComment

Songbirds of spring on the estate…le pont de Pentecôte…and de-confinement comes at last

❝ “A Hoopoe couple have been nesting in the Orangerie wall for several years now,” continued Heather, having dealt firmly with Madame Francine’s cat, who has been creeping along the grass, eyeing a little bird. We are sitting outside the Farmhouse, enjoying the warm air and gentle sun of the late May morning… ❞

Chateau Life, TraditionsBonner PropertiesMay 30, 2020birdsComment

A daring proposition…new life for ancient skills…restoring the Farmhouse, part 3

❝ From the moment he accepted the challenge, our guardian and homme à tout faire (handyman) Monsieur Xavier was smitten. It was as if the restoration of the Farmhouse was the renovation of his own life. He was unabashed by the prospect of turning the moldering -- indeed perilous -- structure into a livable home... ❞

Traditions, Chateau Life, HistoryBonner PropertiesMay 8, 2020renovationComment