Welcome back and bienvenue to new subscribers – it’s lovely to have you here!

Following an unavoidable pause – A&A is back! While I wasn’t able to write, ideas were still gently percolating and on happily returning to this newsletter it feels like a good moment to refresh the A&A format a little now we’re entering our second year, so…

A reminder: all editions live on the Adventures & Ateliers website - as an existing subscriber you simply create a one-time login to access the full archive.

Let’s begin : )

Alethea x

Well, tis the season, and my absolute favourite roses are in full explosion mode: Madame Alfred Carriere is gracefully decorating La Petite Maison, and the first Pierre de Ronsard have just flowered. Soon the wall will be covered in cascading pink blooms. So pretty. See Cartes Postales for pics.

Throughout April we’ve had steady 25+ degree temperatures – except, of course, for my old friend’s arrival 🤦‍♀ – and both the garden (particularly the wisteria) and countryside have popped into life seemingly overnight.

I’m a big fan of having F&F visit but do tend to try and make ‘everything perfect’ before their arrival. Recently, I’ve learnt that the world doesn’t stop if things are not at perfection levels and friends simply don’t care if their bedlinen is ironed or not! Two recent visits from great friends have been the best tonic and enormously appreciated 😄

The small jobs list

I’ve made no secret of my frustration at not being able to move at my usual warp-speed this past year. However, I may have found a substitute dopamine-kick… the small jobs list. An extensive list of tiny, and eminently liveable without, jobs that sit around waiting for time, energy or both! 

I’ve found these scratch the ‘progress itch’ without requiring huge effort, perfect for my reduced activity state. With the help of a friend, the old garden chandelier - picked up years ago in a Belgian warehouse for five euros and a permanent fixture in my Den Haag garden – which has been patiently waiting to be hung for there years… is drumroll, finally, up! Tick, pat-on-the-back, big small wins satisfaction : )

-              Et voila - see video here.

Need a peaceful rural retreat? There’s still some early Summer availability for La Petite Maison in May and June – some of the most beautiful months of the year here.

There are places you only find via friends, or by stumbling across them slightly lost, or occasionally, by being very lucky. Lou Toupi, a seasonal, safari-tented pop-up restaurant in a field overlooking La Roque Gageac, manages to feel like all three at once.

I was first introduced to it by friends, and it sits firmly within my top three local restaurants. It’s also one of those places you sort of don’t want to recommend too widely, in case you never manage to get a table again!

Set far enough out of the bustle of La Roque Gageac, an extraordinary village built into the limestone cliffs of the Dordogne, it is far from touristy and has a chilled social club vibe. There’s no big sign from the road, and by the time you walk through the field towards the open sided safari-tent it already feels like you’ve stepped into something a little secret.  

The team behind Lou Toupi, and its newer sister restaurant, Lou Poedel in Sarlat, are warm, friendly and passionate about both the food and the ambiance they create. The menu is small, seasonal and changes daily and I can honestly say I’ve never had a bad dish there, everything is simple, generous and delicious. And the view ⬇ well, it’s just gorgeous.  

I’m pro dog-friendly places, and Romy usually settles herself in the grass in the shade beside us, nose permanently alert for tempting aromas. There’s also a very welcome detail worth noting: a cool, proper loo in a small cabin at the edge of the field. For anyone who has ever questioned field-dining logistics, this is reassuringly not a long-drop situation! 

Although I will admit to one slightly awkward moment when I once suggested it for lunch with a new acquaintance, only to remember, as we were handed the menu, that she was vegetarian. Doh. The menu here is big on meat, and like many places in the area doesn’t really cater specifically for vegetarians or vegans. That said, and to her credit, my vegetarian friend loved her two starters, the ambiance and the lovely team.

A first entry in a new collection of A&A Local favourites – places or activities that either sit slightly under the radar or are so consistently good that they stand out from the tourist trail.

June 2023: Once I’d abandoned the half-and-half NL/FR life and was fully ensconced in France, I decided to mark the moment properly with a small celebratory terrace apero with my new neighbours. Nothing fancy, just ‘come over for drinks’ but with that very reassuring timeboxed French apero twist, knowing that everyone would have disappeared by around 8pm.

Years earlier, in the Netherlands, I’d done similar on arrival. It’s also where I first heard whispers of something called the Dutch circle party, spoken about with a sort of reverent disbelief by foreigners.

Dutch friends would eye-roll and patiently bat away repeated questions such as:

“No, really? Everyone sits in a circle, what, it’s like musical chairs? You can’t move for the whole party? But what if I want to speak with someone else?” 

Depending on your cultural party programming, circle events sounded either charmingly structured or a bit stilted. My lovely Dutch friends, to be fair, did not host these mythical circle-only affairs, their dinners and drinks were fluid and social, people moving around, chatting freely. So, after a few years in the Netherlands without encountering one, I concluded the circle party was clearly an urban legend or simply a ye-olde style event consigned to history.

Until I found myself sitting in a circle, speaking my early kinder-taal Nederlands with an octogenarian lady. Hosted as a birthday gathering in my (very much ex-) husband’s very Dutch family, nothing in the invitation had prepared me for the reality of it. It really was a thing, a room full of people… sitting resolutely in a circle.

Conversation did happen, of course, but primarily within the geometry - side to side and definitely not diagonally across. You were seated as you arrived, and remained where you landed, with no real option for escape or different conversations. It was, for me anyway, quite odd.   

In my mind, these few and far between (I think?) old-style circle parties fit within a very Dutch approach to social gathering in general. Want to meet for coffee? That will be scheduled in approximately six weeks’ time, subject to availability, weather conditions, and lunar alignment. Haha, a bit of a stereotype, but… cue, complaints incoming, just teasing!

While French aperos in some ways feel culturally much closer to home: there’s no seating plan, more milling about and randomness, there is also a very distinct, socially accepted structure. A typical French apero invitation contains an unspoken understanding that guests arrive around 6pm, chat, have a few drinks and canapes, then gradually empty out by 8-830pm.

What I’ve come to like about both these cultural social styles is that each has a clear frame. No ambiguity about who you’re supposed to chat with, no lingering ‘when does this end?’ anxiety. 

In my cultural background, social life is typically more chaotic, chairs optional, people moving between conversations, music taking over, new people arriving throughout the evening. There’s no unspoken code about when it starts or ends, so as a host – especially of new people you don’t know that well – it can feel more of a risk than a structured or timeboxed affair!

From my limited, foreigner-resident, understanding of both Dutch and French versions, there are elements and practicalities to both that I find comforting. Whether that’s committing to your chair in a circle or actively scheduling that coffee or conditioning yourself with an internal 8pm departure alarm!

One gives you structure, the other gives you escape velocity! Alongside my own more haphazard party-style, I’ve definitely incorporated elements from both lovely adopted countries 🇳🇱 🇫🇷 😄

More Snapshots of the Domaine Les Plonges ‘journey’ next edition.

Possibly you found your way here via Instagram? @domainelesplonges? If so, an extra Bienvenue! You’ll already know I love a good visual…

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While I’ve kept the option of a paid subscriber tier, the benefits this year have changed:

Whichever way you subscribe, your support and continued readership is thoroughly appreciated and I’m delighted to have you along for the adventure! 💛