Wednesday, July 16, 2014

Sainte - Hélène in Olonzac

For our last full week in France, we rented an apartment in the village of Olonzac, Herault Dept. in the Languedouc Roussillon Region.

Sainte - Hélène is owned and operated by Kay and Mark Williams who moved to France in 2012 purchased an old wine merchants' house and started with the renovations and decorating of their "Bed and Breakfast" and the apartment.


             

Welcome to Sainte-Hélène ... Come in for a tour of this luxury apartment "Clermontaise".

                                      

Here you will find a well equipped kitchen ...



A chef's dream gas stove and oven ...



The bedroom linens are luxuriously soft yet crisp ...




The furnishings and decor are so "French" shabby chic ... very tasteful!

The bathroom is stocked with the most fragrant soaps, shower gels and body lotion and the bath towels are "soft and fluffy yet thick and thirsty" ... spa - like!

              

The courtyard ... 




             

Our hosts gave us a tour of the main house ... here there are four bedrooms that are available to rent.

All of the chambres and the apartment are named after varieties of olives.

The lounge with original fireplace and mirror ...



The kitchen / dining room ...




The furniture was chalk painted and waxed by the owners ...


Here are a few photos of the bedrooms ... 



                     


The ensuite bathrooms have modern showers ...


This one has both the modern shower and an old claw foot bathtub for a wonderful soak after a day of sight seeing!



We throughly enjoyed our stay at "Appartement Clermontaise" in the Center of Olonzac.

Our hosts Kay and Mark were very attentive and helpful.  

For more specific details and to inquire about booking a B & B room or the apartment visit Kay and Mark's website ... 

 www.sainte-Hélène.com 


Thank you Kay and Mark for sharing your wonderful "French" apartment with us!


Friday, July 11, 2014

If it's Friday night ... It's Pizza Night even in France!

It is our last day/ night in Olonzac ...


Some Rose and tapas at the local bar/ café   ... 


Today the sun played hide n seek all day ...   After a wonderful day of visiting Villeneuve Minervois ( subject of another post) we returned to our "Home away from Home" for this past week to start packing and organizing for our last couple of days in France.

We were privileged to have a tour of "Sainte-Hélène's Chambre d'hôte" .. B&B. ... Again subject of another post to follow ...

We shared a bottle of chilled rosé in the sunny courtyard ...

                       
  




Can you tell I'm tired ... More posts to follow soon!

'Villeneuve Minervois' ... A visit to the past!



                  


                



Friday we ventured out to a village that we had also visited during our 2005 travels to France where we had come close to buying a property ...

We wandered the plane tree lined streets while the sun played hide and seek ...



An old wine press ...
              
The mill ...

A view of the rooftops ...

We discovered an auberge / restaurant with great ambiance where we enjoyed another delicious lunch wonderfully presented ...



More recipe ideas...
               


                     


Ah there you are sunshine!