Monday, October 29, 2018

Inside the house

Here are a couple of photos from inside our vacation rental house. I didn't take any pictures of the bedrooms or the bath, but Ken did, so maybe he'll post them later. First up is the living room. It was quite spacious, but simply decorated. The sofa and chair were both very comfortable. The television was connected to a basic satellite network that had, in addition to all the standard French channels, an unusually large selection of German-language channels.

Ken set up our laptop computer on the coffee table. We also had our tablets. And a glass of wine, of course!

The kitchen was a standard IKEA installation with all the basics, including a dishwasher and a washing machine. As with most gîte rentals in France, the kitchen was stocked with all manner of dishes, glassware, pots, pans, and utensils. We ate most of our meals there, with the exception of one lunch in a La Rochelle pizzeria and a couple of picnic lunches that we packed for day trips.

The owner left us a bottle of his home-pressed white grape juice (we think it was chardonnay) and a bowl of walnuts from the tree just outside the kitchen window.

There was a half-bath on the main floor. Upstairs were two bedrooms and a full bath. Everything was modern and clean. The shower was a little strange, however. We had to step down three steps into it and there was no light inside. Some light from the main bathroom fixture made it in, and we augmented that by hanging a flashlight from one of the towel hooks. Also, the bracket that was supposed to hold the shower head up didn't work, so we had to hold it by hand until we figured out that we could wedge it in between the ceiling and the bracket, so that worked out in the end. Bathrooms can be an adventure in France and we're accustomed to them.

11 comments:

  1. I love that--"bathrooms can be an adventure in France." I find most Euro bathrooms are fine, but the showers often make no sense at all. I don't want a big rain shower straight over the top of me while I also use a tiny little wand! What if I want to keep my hair dry? Or the one I had in a hotel in the Netherlands where the water didn't turn on until I stepped into the shower. How was I supposed to get it to a reasonable temp?

    America (where I live) is falling behind the world in everything else but not in showers! (all of this written, I hope obviously, tongue in cheek)

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  2. Bathrooms in foreign countries, ah ok, France is not foreign to you, are weird and wonderful, and at times, awful.

    CK, no need to apologise for your country. I can't remember the shower in our New York flat, so it must have been ok.

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  3. It was such a nice touch by the owner.

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  4. I love those kind of kitchen chairs and Ikea kitchens also. The stonework in the LR is wonderful. I'm loving this trip so far.

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  5. I would be happy to spend a few days in that gite! Except for the lighting in the shower. Ugh!
    Nice touch to provide the juice and the walnuts!

    Mary in Oregon

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  6. Sympa, le gîte, la déco est agréable ! Mais, en parlant de salles de bain aux US ou au Canada, la douche peut y être un cauchemar quand il n'y a pas de pomme de douche amovible... Je me demande comment les gens s'y rincent de façon satisfaisante...;-) I was saying that shower heads can be awful in the States and in Canada when the shower head is not removable... How can you rinse yourself thoroughly ("complètement") ;-) and avoid getting your hair dry when you don't feel like washing your hair ??? Bises à vous 2

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  7. Looks like a nice place! Very unlike a lot of French gites I've seen as far as the colours and the style of furnishing go, especially in the living room! What material is the backboard that the telly is mounted on? Glad you had such a good time!

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  8. ck, I agree that American showers are usually just fine. We grew up with them, after all!

    mitch, there were little things wrong or weird, but we coped just fine.

    andrew, we've pretty much seen it all, at least in France.

    chm, he was very nice and had a lot of advice on things to do in the area.

    judy, we were very comfortable. Except for bumping our heads!

    evelyn, the whole place was stone like that.

    mary, it was strange not to have much light in the shower, but what the heck.

    mary jacques, when you're used to a moveable shower head, it's hard to get used to one that isn't. But we grew up with them in the states, so we're used to them.

    elgee, it's painted OSB (oriented strand board) bolted to the wall with a space between for wires and things.

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  9. Thanks for the info, Walt. I quite like it. I think it's a nice way to add a splash of colour to the room as well as a practical way to hide cables/wires.

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