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

I’m happy to have AG1 as sponsor this edition, if you’ve never tried their greens for smoothies, I highly recommend, one I really like and also Adriano (ADSVitality) endorsed - so take a look!

Oh, and if you need rationale to help explain why you like this newsletter to family and friends, I did a little thing, here 😄

Let’s begin : )

Alethea x

The best healthy habits aren't complicated. AG1 Next Gen helps support gut health and fill common nutrient gaps with one daily scoop. It's one easy routine that fits into real life and keeps your health on track all day long. Start your mornings with AG1 and keep momentum on your side.

Build The Habit

It’s almost Spring here. Well, the plants certainly think so 🥹 My favourite April scent, viburnum, has burst into bloom, along with daffodils and tulips appearing – all rather too early. While the daytime temperatures may be up, I remain unconvinced we’re safely past a late-March cold snap. More pertinently, according to my farmer neighbour, this early budding is not good news for fruit or walnut trees, on which so much local agriculture relies.

You may have noticed I’m experimenting a little with delivery days, whilst still aiming to stick to a two-week cadence. A&A takes second place to my actual ‘work work’ and the last couple of weeks have required a lot more client focus. With my TBI headaches gradually behaving more and screen time gradually increasing in tandem, I’m also opening up space for new communications projects - so if you (or someone you know) might need a steady pair of hands for strategy, messaging or narrative wrangling, do feel free to keep me in mind : )

A reminder that the 2026 calendar for La Petite Maison is now open!

⭐ Apparently, it’s one of the most-loved homes on Airbnb!

It’s not possible to encompass all the things I want to share about this renovation in one snapshot, hence this little series…!

August 2024: It’s very much all hands on deck to try and make the main house liveable again, not only so I can move back from La Petite Maison but also in anticipation of the imminent September visit of my Dad and sister, followed a few week’s later by my mother. All kind enough to not only make the trek but also brave what can only be described as a ‘limited edition special renovation stay.’ 

While everyone is fully aware that the house is still in renovation mode, in my mind there are some non-negotiable necessities to prepare. Beyond clearing building work debris, materials and general chaos (cue a very reluctant placardist team huffing and puffing as they’re asked to remove their lovingly curated piles of boards from the living room), there are a few essentials: beds and sofas retrieved from storage and at least one functioning loo in the main house. 

With the top floor still far from habitable, walls only partly boarded and predominantly just one open space, the plan is to focus efforts on finishing ‘my space’ on the first floor: bedroom, bathroom, study. The idea being that I’d crash on a mattress in the study, my Dad would have the main bedroom and my sister would have the bedroom in La Petite Maison.  

Any lingering hope of salvaging the original floorboards was later dashed by the discovery of beam stability issues and rotten wood. The menuisier deemed the boards sadly beyond repair. More pressingly, he pointed out there was little point installing a new floor on moving beams. Thus, what should have been a relatively simple (and cost-effective) sand, mend and seal job swiftly morphed into a full floor removal, additional sub-structure, insulation and an entirely new floor.  

Finally, in mid-June - almost six months after drunken dancing handyman incident - the menuisiers arrived and worked their magic. The nightmare was erased by a solid, level, sub-structure bolstering the old beams and topped with a beautiful, and traditionally crafted, oak floor. Wooden pegs, mismatched board widths and traditional finishes – it really suits ‘Madame’.  Aside from one minor incident involving a fall through the ceiling into the dining room (and kitten nursery) (more on that, here) it was smooth sailing.

With radiators and electrics then finished, the room was transformed. All that stood between my family visit and a habitable space was paint. My job.

Back to the end of August. With just a week to go before my family arrived, every spare hour was spent painting. Despite being a colour fiend, I’d long since decided that white walls were the best option here, with colour added through other means. Endless Farrow & Ball white tester swatches were discarded in favour of straightforward Dulux white. Easy to source, easy to touch-up, and critically, not costing several thousand euros. 

I was also quietly hopeful that my presence painting in the room next to the bathroom might somehow accelerate progress there. It had now been occupied by the world’s slowest (& thus, most expensive 🤦‍♀ ) tiler for nearly three weeks.

In order to achieve the all-important functioning loo requirement, at minimum the bathroom walls needed to be tiled so the loo could be installed.  Finding a tiler available at short notice, in August, in France is no easy task. It’s August! France is on congé. Most sites grind to a halt. So, the very fact we’d found someone willing and able to finish the boarding and start tiling during this sacred vacation month felt like a small miracle.

That said, one thing I have learned on this renovation is this: if an artisan is available at short-notice, and it’s not due to a project cancellation or for another very good reason, caution is advised. Good artisans are usually booked months, sometimes years, in advance. The new maitre d’oeuvre and I knew this was a gamble. However, it felt manageable, a relatively simple job, a week or so of sanding and finishing, followed by another week to tile half of three walls. More importantly, a few evenings spent studying Youtube tiling videos coupled with my previous (not-so-brilliant) tiling attempts on my first renovation project in London convinced me that this handyman (or anyone!) would manage a better job, and I didn’t want to ruin the tiles.

The work itself was good, but it was being done with sloth-like speed. One day resulted in a row of ten tiles. No amount of gentle encouragement ‘you’ll be finished that wall tomorrow’ or reminders that the plumber was scheduled elicited any increase in pace.  

Meanwhile, my own painting progress was equally sluggish. Old beams demand endless hand-painting, and after days spent meticulously painting around them I managed to injure my elbow. Naturally, progress slowed further. It was only with help from a friend that painting was finally completed two days before guest arrival. Just enough time to air the room and install essential furniture, aka a bed! Even if there was a hastily pinned curtain in place of a door.

The functioning loo? Just in time. The plumber worked around the unfinished tiling to install the loo and sink right up to the wire : ) I returned from the airport run, my Dad and sister in tow, to find it fully operational, albeit surrounded by piles of tiles, tools and OSB boards artfully concealed by pool rugs. Result!

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

Possibly you found your way here via Instagram? @domainelesplonges? If so, an extra Bienvenue! You’ll already know I love a good visual. So here I’ll share others and a little more context behind the images…

Whether it’s discovering unique work by artists and designers from near and far or rummaging through vide greniers, brocantes, and hidden treasure troves, I’m always on the lookout! I’ll be sharing my favourite artists, designers and sourcing spots here 😄

Where do you find yours? One of my favourite artists is S.J.Peploe, one of the Scottish Colourists. Combine those tones with my love of fauvism and more contemporary, colour-driven, work and you have the palette that informed my own early artistic attempts, culminating in a mishmash homage for A Level.

I realised fairly early on that I wasn’t destined to earn a living as an artist, nor, despite my love of art history (and degree to prove it) did I yearn to work in galleries. So I was drawn into adjacent creative work. Initially pure PR which over the years morphed into fully integrated communications and events. It scratches the creative itch as you get to brainstorm and be creative with strategy, narrative, campaigns and design. Yet, the joy of making something tangible, just for fun, has always remained and I find being in ‘the flow’ space relaxing.

This is why I’m so intent on creating the ateliers business at Les P. I’ve always found creative workshops, classes and hands-on events inspiring. There’s something about being around creative people, whatever their metier 😄

Racing around the French countryside on the back of the local lothario’s motorbike and oil painting by a deserted lily pond are two of the most vivid memories I have of my friend L and me during our gap year when we volunteered at Monet’s House in Giverny. We were 18, and lucky enough to find a spot volunteering there for a month. The position came with a fabulous apartment in the artist’s residency opposite the house, five days of 9-5 helping in the gift shop or gardens (along with free French tuition), full access to the property and plenty of free time to go a bit wild! We met so many amazing people and had an absolute ball. Both of us still have our versions of Monet’s famous view of the bridge over the lily-pond (L’s is way better than mine) and it’s the memory of those quiet Summer evenings, zero tourists, and the simple moment of standing in that same spot where Monet himself had once stood that was the real highlight. The motorbike lothario soon faded into another teenage story, but that great fortune of being able to do those paintings, there, in that spot, did not.  

A few weeks ago, I unpacked an errant box from The Hague. It had been hiding unnoticed for 2.5 years. Inside was a teapot I’d decorated in Oz. My step-mum used to arrange pottery painting sessions at a studio in Avalon whenever my sister and I visited. We didn’t throw the clay, but spent hours painting the blind items and it was extremely satisfying - we all loved it. I have a small legion of mugs, plates and a teapot (!) from those years that always bring a smile.

Recently, in a moment of frustration at being unable to stop my mind whirring, I picked up a paintbrush. Not such a big deal, right? Well, yes and no.

Since my TBI, for almost a year, it’s been impossible to do non-essential activities. Even then, especially in the first six months, simple prosaic household chores like unloading the dishwasher were a mission (gym-style squat and head-up method) and frankly, often insurmountable. More enjoyable tasks, like gardening, were firmly off the table after one premature ‘I’m fine” attempt led to dizziness then blackout fainting, and just missing a knockout on the terrace wall, outside La Petite Maison. So, painting – or doing any of the little things on the renovation snag-list - became another thing I’d had to necessarily shelve. The walls remained half done, initially taunting me, until the need for patience in head recovery won.

I used this paintbrush for an hour, well, possibly less, after all half the faff is getting the stuff out and ready. Part of a wall and shelf in the buanderie – and yes, a headache arrived afterwards, pff… but that hour felt like a huge victory. Another day, I also dusted off the sewing machine and made a door snake in 20 minutes. Simple, but incredibly satisfying. Both are tiny things, I know, but they are a huge deal to me right now: )

Not long before finding Les P, and with my atelier’s idea already firmly implanted, I had a long conversation with a world-renowned artist, and fabulous individual, at a friend’s wedding. We were seated next to each other, and before my best-woman’s speech we were talking about Barcelona (where she was from) then paradors, when she whipped out her phone and said, “But it’s these I love…”

Old French properties! We spent the rest of the evening, as our hosts likely expected (!), talking about renovation, France and creative spaces. I may have even asked her if she’d be up for leading an atelier. (Note to self: must follow that up!) That conversation reassured me I wasn’t mad in my ideas and that there were legs to this.

I find international, multi-disciplinary, creative gatherings, teams and events where people share ideas and create things together - inspiring. So I’d love the forthcoming ateliers at Les P to create a space where that happens for creative residencies, where people come and stay, learn, create; join food and wellness classes, do team events and of course, for collaborations with artists, local artisans, writers, musicians and more. I’ve been playing with ideas for this long before I even found Les P : ) and while the past year may have knocked things off schedule a bit, it’s beginning to feel like I’ll be able to start implementing these soon.

In the midst of what feels like a particularly discombobulating news cycle, I’ve found myself actively seeking out news sources that focus on progress, solutions and all the good things happening in the world. If you’re interested in a small palate cleanser shortlist, here’s one of my go-to’s:

Simply put, for two key reasons:

There are free and paid subscription options: With a free subscription, you’ll receive a bi-monthly newsletter- just like this one, but different (obvs!) - every other Thursday. With a paid subscription, it’s not just more of the same, you’ll also receive additional stuff. More details here.

Whichever way you subscribe, I’m delighted to have you along for the adventure - thank you 💛

If you’re interested in the tech I’m using for this, it’s Beehiiv. I did a LOT of research on platforms and I’m happy to explain why etc in more detail, just ask. They’ve also given me a partner link, and this gives anyone using the link a 30-day free trial and 20% off your first three months on any paid plan. Note, it’s an affiliate link and I may receive commission on any purchases made through it.