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~ A fairy-tale cottage by the Seine in Normandy

chaumierelesiris

Category Archives: Les Iris

Copper Pots

06 Monday May 2019

Posted by chaumierelesiris in Les Iris, Things to do

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brocante, cooking, shopping

I’ve written before about the thrill of hunting around at the brocante in Pont-Audemer. There’s an upstairs section for mismatched crockery, 70s cheese plates, ancient paperbacks and souvenir cups: everything chipped and dusty. You have to climb some crooked stairs to get there.  It’s not for the faint hearted.  


But here’s what I found recently. Stacked into each other and on the floor, I almost missed them. They were dirty and heavily used. But they were heavy, professional French-made cooper pots.  And just a couple of euros. Would they shine up? 

All it took was salt, white wine vinegar, and a soft sponge. Thank you Huffington Post. Just a few minutes of polishing and the result: 

They’re not  like new, you can tell they’re recycled, and that’s ok. There’s a scruffy beauty in the whirls and scratches that matches the cottage, and the suggestion of a thousand shared meals whose secrets  we’ll never know. 

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Drone’s Eye View

22 Wednesday Aug 2018

Posted by chaumierelesiris in Les Iris, Travel

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drone, guests, photography, reviews, Travel

We love it when our guests share pictures of their holidays with us. It goes without saying that we’re hopelessly biased – and firmly believe that Vieux-Port is one of the most photogenic villages in France.

This time we have something entirely new – pictures taken by drone! See if you can spot the house.

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Thatching the cottage this spring

18 Saturday Mar 2017

Posted by chaumierelesiris in Les Iris, Travel

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thatched cottage

chaume

 

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Giverny, On and Off Canvas

21 Sunday Feb 2016

Posted by chaumierelesiris in Culture, Les Iris, Normandy, Things to do

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Art, Gardens, Monet

If you’re heading to Normandy and interested in gardening, a visit to Monet’s garden at Giverny will be on your bucket list. It’s an easy hour’s drive from Les Iris and a wonderful day trip.

For those in London before April 20th 2016, a great warm-up is Painting the Modern Garden: Monet to Matisse at the Royal Academy. Bringing together an immense number of works by Monet and his contemporaries, the exhibition examines the role gardens played in the evolution of art from the early 1860s to the 1920s.

It’s a blockbuster exhibit that brings many works together for the first time in living memory. Book ahead and expect crowds. The exhibition is free for under 16s, and the free Art Detectives guide kept our children engaged.

And if you can’t make it to London, the Royal Academy have produced an informative series of videos introducing artists’ gardens in northern France –  Monet at Giverny, Pierre Bonnard’s garden at Vernonnet in Normandy, and Henri Le Sidaner’s garden in the medieval village of Gerberoy, Picardy.

Monet in garden    Monet 2.PNG

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Your Pictures

30 Wednesday Jul 2014

Posted by chaumierelesiris in Les Iris

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chaumiere, guests, Les Iris, photography, pictures

We love it when guests share pictures of their time in Normandy with us. These were taken by a family from Florida who visited in June. They told us they were surprised and enchanted by the location, and felt we should show it better on our website. Here are their pictures – aren’t they wonderful!

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Finding things

25 Friday Jul 2014

Posted by chaumierelesiris in Culture, France, Les Iris, Normandy

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brocante, Les Iris, mandolin, Pont-Audemer, shopping

What’s better than an attic full of the things someone once treasured, then grew up or turned in another direction, and now here’s the thing, dusty and worn yet special in some way just waiting to be discovered. Ebay thrives on this market of lost things but it isn’t the same, is it. There isn’t that physical thrill you get when you’ve sorted through the junk to find the very thing, shined it up with the palm of your hand, and imagined it into your life.

mandolin, brocante

 

Maybe that’s why the brocante still thrives in France, this most sensory of cultures being reluctant to part with the thrill that comes with the hunt. Here are our latest finds, from consignment brocante type shop La Grange de Janna, just relocated from Honfleur to Pont-Audemer and helpfully open every day. Furniture, books, electronics, audio, vintage and modern – it’s all here in a cavernous warehouse.

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At Les Iris the walls are fairly bare and we’re always looking for pictures that connect to our lives here in Normandy, while small enough to suit the cottage’s dimensions. The miniature oil of a vase of flowers will be perfect. The fashion plate will remind our daughters not to complain about the clothes they have to wear.

Mandolin Masspacher

And the mandolin – an impulse purchase, redolent of Picasso, southern summers, Shakespearean serenades. It needs re-stringing and a polish, but is in good shape, and made by Masspacher in Paris. A fine old thing will get new life.

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Irises at Les Iris

05 Monday May 2014

Posted by chaumierelesiris in Culture, Les Iris

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Flowers

Last month in Amsterdam we admired Van Gogh’s irises.

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This month, it’s the real thing. Irises at every turn. Yellow by the side of the road, indigo along the drive and deep purple and bee-attracting at the end of the garden. The photos don’t quite do them justice.

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A Few More Words (and Pictures) from our Guests

14 Monday Jan 2013

Posted by chaumierelesiris in Les Iris

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photography, pictures, reviews

I recently shared results from our guest survey. Shortly after, another report packed with data fell into my hands, this time in the form of the rather grandly named 2012 Annual Report. In reality this is a bunch of interesting stats about visits and visitors to the Les Iris website, compiled by the lovely people, and their data crunching machines, at WordPress.

I check site stats regularly so there were no great surprises. Still, it’s good to step back and reflect on a full year’s worth of trends.

The most popular post of the year? It took a bit of extra data crunching to figure out that this collection of pictures of Les Iris and Normandy by one of our guests took first place. The pictures are re-posted below. They are mysterious and beautiful to look at. A Winter Market in France, Dinner by Michelin and Surviving DisneyLand Paris also proved popular.








As was the case with these pictures, some of the most valued feedback isn’t easily measurable. As a blogger, it’s the content and tone of the comments I pay close attention to. They keep me connected closely to readers throughout the year.

We keep a guest book in the cottage, and ask visitors to write or send reviews of their stay. Here is a letter we received from one of our guests. It’s a favourite: as with the pictures, it gives a real sense of people responding to and enjoying a special place.

My wife and I enjoyed our stay so much at your charming thatched cottage that I wanted to thank you and let you know what we found so attractive about it.

Les Iris is ideally situated in the heart of an idyllic village on the south bank of the River Seine. We found the renovated and modernised cottage very comfortable and well-equipped in the kitchen and throughout. We were only two, so confined ourselves to the ground floor, but next time, perhaps, we would like to bring family or friends as the property is spacious enough to accommodate up to eight adults with ease. It was really a most enchanting and pretty place and suited us down to the ground.

We alternated between eating out at the many good restaurants in the vicinity and self-catering, which was very easy to do. A particular memory was eating our dinner, whilst watching ships of every size, some quite large, making their way up or down the river to Rouen or Le Havre, their navigation lights glowing like fairy lights in the night, little more than 200 metres away. During the day, we were also fascinated by watching the wonderful bird life on and around the river.

Furthermore, we also felt very secure, with the off-road parking in the drive, the safe surroundings of a quiet and old-fashioned village and the elevated position overlooking the river, beyond the fence at the foot of the garden. In addition, when we sat outside, we valued the privacy afforded by the location of the cottage and its secluded situation.

There was so much to see and visit that a week was nowhere near long enough to do it all, but we tried hard. Normandy is such a large and historic region that one could spend months travelling around and finding new delights to explore every day. Particular highlights were visiting Monet’s house and garden at Giverny, the many Abbeys and historic sites dating back to 1066 and beyond, the old town and port at Honfleur and the museums at Le Havre and elsewhere.

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A Few Words From Our Guests

03 Thursday Jan 2013

Posted by chaumierelesiris in Les Iris

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Les Iris

2012 was the first year guests stayed at Les Iris. We worried a bit as we prepared the cottage last spring. What would go wrong? What had we forgotten?

We had forgotten a few things (more on that later), yet every single group that chose Les Iris for a holiday was a delight to work with. The cottage was treated well – like the home that it is. Guests were generous with their reviews, photos, and suggestions.

We ask everyone who stays at Les Iris to fill out a survey. Today we want to share the topline results from the survey this year. Of those who filled in the online survey:

  • 100% rated their stay at Les Iris as “a great holiday” or “one of my best holidays ever“
  • 100% said the booking process, the cottage, sightseeing and departure were “good” or “excellent”
  • 90% rated the location “excellent”
  • 90% said the pricing, directions and guest information were “good” or “excellent”
  • 90% said they would recommend Les Iris to a friend, or stay again

We were delighted with these results. But we weren’t just after compliments (although please keep them coming!) We asked guests to tell us the bad stuff, so that we could make improvements. They did, and we’ve listened.

The cottage now has an iron and an ironing board. There is a new barbeque outside. We have added more, larger saucepans and more tablemats The TV has been put on a table with wheels so that it can be moved around for viewing.

A few guests asked for new garden furniture. We will look into this in the spring. Others asked for more TV stations and wifi. There is good French TV reception in the cottage. Wifi is expensive because the village is not cabled and it requires a special satellite dish. We are considering this. In the meantime, there is a mobile signal from across the river, and buying a travel bolt-on in advance from your mobile phone provider makes checking email and surfing the web while abroad more affordable.

Here are some of the lovely things guests said about the cottage.

“Les Iris”,  a beautiful name for a beautiful cottage. Thank you very much for allowing us to stay in this lovely, idyllic part of France and Normandy. We particularly enjoyed coming back in the evening and sitting outside to watch the HUGE ships slowly chug past.

We enjoyed the peace and quiet of your home and tiny village. It was an added treat to be here as the trees all bloomed.

We enjoyed the short walks from the cottage around the surrounding area, watching the light change on the river through the day. Honfleur is a great day out – we went twice.  Our favourite restaurant was the Risle-Seine in Bourneville. Fantastic traditional Normand cuisine at very reasonable prices considering the quality.

Your wonderful cottage very quickly grew on us and we are sad to leave. The garden is fabulous and such a treat for our  younger girls to be able to run about in such space. 

Thank you – and come again!

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Cider Days

14 Sunday Oct 2012

Posted by chaumierelesiris in Food, France, Les Iris, Normandy, Property in France

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apple trees, apples, autumn, Buying a house in France, calvados, cider, Food, France, Normandy

Autumn is all about apples in Normandy and, by association, cider. Normandy is the only region in France that doesn’t produce wine, but it makes up for it with an amazing array of cider and its more potent cousin, calvados.

We’ve tried much cider and calvados in Normandy. Everyone with a couple of apple trees seems to have a go at brewing. When we were house hunting in the region, no visit was complete without the owner offering a sample of their very own tipple, and we’ve seen more than a few dinner parties off with a bang by introducing their DIY calvados.

Orchard with sheep, Normandy

The nearest cider maker to Les Iris, signposted on the main road to Sainte-Opportune-La-Mare, is excellent. Like champagne, his cider comes in doux, brut and semi-brut.

Cider, Normandy

He also maintains a vigorous vegetable garden, and sometimes sells extra produce alongside the cider. He takes the children into the garden, lets them choose their vegetables, and pulls the selected plants out of the ground, shaking off the rich dark earth. It’s the freshest lettuce and rhubarb in the world.

Vegetable garden, Normandy

In our garden there’s only one very old and gnarled apple tree standing guard by the gate. One of these days it will go: until then, it insists on producing an abundance of large green-red apples that turn brown within seconds of being cut open. Still, we’re delighted to have a token apple tree, and one of these days we might plant another, of the cooking apple variety.

Apple tree, Normandy

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