A lovely French Affair

I was relaxing with my Sunday morning coffee & catching up with favourite blogs from the past week. I love the shabby chic mania & her lovely images. This french scene reminded me of the gorgeous week we spent in France last summer & I realised I had taken lots of photos of the beautiful  château de la Bergelière without sharing them.

Our party of 16 had hired the chateau (from the left to the middle tower) for a week & what a fabulous space it was with massive grounds, a tennis court & a heated pool.

I shared more about the wedding  here & here - a fabulous french time ....

The gorgeous gardens at the Chateau

The generous kitchen proved to be a very sociable space for us all to get together, cook together & then pack everything in to the dishwasher while we relaxed.

However, I want to share some of the gorgeous French decor influences of the Chateau. These generous stairs lead from the ground floor to the upstairs bedrooms, then another flight of stairs to the second floor rooms where the younger ones all stayed.

This from the upper floor looking down ...

How gorgeous is this bedroom?

Several of the bedrooms had en suite bathrooms. Each bedroom was different & very unique

 The top floor - the tower room with its turreted roof became the honeymoon suite

The little shower ensuite were tucked behind the wall behind the bed ...

Unusual ensuite spaces tucked in to several of the rooms but they all worked well & it made it so much easier with so many bathrooms for a lot of us.

Another upper floor bedroom with lovely views over the little town 

 Some of the lovely French hunting scenes on the fabric in a bedroom

This pink toile covered a whole wall in one of the upstairs bedrooms used by my niece. The walls were lightly padded then covered in this instead of wallpaper ... 

This was the fabric on the headboard in our bedroom - gorgeous

The ensuite to our bedroom which complimented the colours well ... 

These light sconces had coloured droplets that I really like (I have coloured droplets on mine at home too)

Framed fabric against white walls - everything felt fresh & lovely!

One of the 2 additional bathrooms in the upstairs floor. Most bedrooms had little ensures but these covered the few that didn't.

Another of the bedrooms used by the parents / Godparents on the first floor

Balcony views across a lush, long garden. At night we could hear owls hooting, then an early morning dawn chorus ...

The lovely fabric covered red wall in the generous dining room. The vibrant colour was so lovely in the sun filled room. 

How could you not enjoy your meals in this gorgeous dining room? The doors led to a small library then the upper stairwells ...

The sunny sitting room with its lovely double drapes 

Some of the details in the siting room

I love how this very classic chateau has such stunning decor which mixes traditional elements with modern comforts white effortlessly. The attention to details was really good & it made the difference to the feeling of the place.

I hope you have enjoyed the look back with me , thank you for stopping by,
Dee ~♥~

Shrewsbury - a gem in our county

Hi everyone

Spring is struggling to arrive & stay & our weather has been unsettled to put it mildly.

This morning a friend & I decided to visit our nearby Shropshire county town of Shrewsbury which is always a welcome change of scenery.

The River Severn - the longest river in England, loops around the town with 2 main bridges spanning the Severn River. We parked & walked across the English Bridge. The Welsh bridge is higher up in town & looks the same. The two bridge names hints at the town's interesting past ...

What a gorgeous, but cool morning. The River is deceptively deep & is a hazard at places with late night revellers taking a dip & getting in to trouble in the river. However, today it was calm & smooth with beautiful reflections. The little island usually has nesting birds or swans on it ...

Coffee in a new place after our early start; it was an interesting cafe with lots of vegetarian food ... 

Then a browse in a lovely shop with goods from all over the world. Hibiscus was full of lovely items. The owner was very interesting & she chatted to us about where she sources stock from as well as showing us many of her lovely items ...

The square in Shrewsbury is always full of activities & events; it has this lovely Town Hall building with more references to the towns long history ...

We both opted for a healthy salad lunch - Chicken Caeser salad was my choice ( I am carb free so didn't eat the bread) & it was nutritious & delicious, a good choice while we people watched & caught up on each others news.

The best thing about towns with a long history is that the back streets are interesting so we took a walk .... 

A lovely old entrance with interesting paint colours peeking through , glimpses of lovely gardens  & life behind the gates - fascinating ...

St Chad's Church looms large with its brilliant cross on the top. Dickens 'A Christmas Carol' was filmed in Shrewsbury in 1984 & there is a tombstone to 'Ebenezer Scrooge' in the church yard -  I have yet to find it! You can view the movie here ...

A town of many spires - looking back down towards the town from The Quarry

The entrance to The Quarry, a large 29 acre public park, has these stunning gates ...

Green spaces are so important, with beautiful views & space for people to enjoy.  This is a very important part of our county, our green spaces.

I love how different the various streets are - the gentle curve of old buildings with the modern clock tower from the Market punctuating the scene ...

Solid red brick buildings look just right ...

The Crescent 1793 - it speaks of many stories & happenings over the centuries - who else would love to peek behind some of the doors ?

More church spires from another church yard in the centre of the town.

Many of the tombstones have gone or been repositioned against the wall, now it is a peaceful space in the centre of town which is used by family & office workers - that is how it should be.

 I love this beautiful front courtyard with its lovely topiary spires & the cheerful tulips in pots. 

A mixtures of small town houses & larger ones line this back street - hinting at the past with their old lights & tiny windows upstairs. It was also a time when people didn't have cars so parking was not an issue. This whole street is narrow, so is a one way with no parking which must be a bit of a nightmare on shopping days ...

What a fab day just browsing, lunching, taking photos & catching up - that is a good morning in my book!

Thank you for stopping by & taking the time to read, comment & hopefully follow my blog.
Dee ~♥~