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Alethea x

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My dog, Romy, has been throwing some strong ‘disappointed in you’ looks my way the past two weeks, making it abundantly clear that my fun-o-meter rating (walks, playtime, general amusement) had plummeted. Minor foot surgery had me largely relegated to the sofa, however, over the weekend I managed to start rehabilitating my boring reputation. The arrival of a friend (new, interesting person) plus some gentle tourist-ing (new, interesting sniffs) soon restored Romy’s mood. Never mind that she’d had a brilliant time spending every day with her friends 🙏 while I was incapacitated!

As luck would have it our mini sorties coincided with the annual Journées Européennes du Patrimoine when all sorts of historic buildings and sites, usually closed to the public, open their doors.

With the weather turning distinctly Autumnal, we’d chosen to visit the small but fabulous Musée Zadkine in Les Arques to avoid the rain. En route home, we went via Monclera to show S one of the prettiest, and most chateau-y, local chateaux: Chateau de Monclera. A private home, with turrets tantalisingly hidden behind grand trees and enormous walls, I’d often wondered what it was like close-up.

We’d joined a French group of about 30 architecture and history lovers, all listening attentively as our host recounted the chateau and family history with wit and plenty of anecdote. We both felt fortunate to have stumbled upon this opportunity, and that our host spoke with such a clear, understandable accent.

Built in the 13^th century, the chateau is in remarkable condition and it was lovely to see it up close, being used as a home and to hear some of the history. Anecdotes now lodged in my head include: the mediaeval builders test for foundation stability involved sealing a live cat in the basement (if the cat didn’t escape, the foundations were deemed solid – horrible). Another: our host’s wry observations on centuries of marriages, where those with money had no taste, and those with taste had no money, until finally, a many times great, great grandmother arrived with both.

After about 45 minutes though, Romy’s patience had worn thin, my foot was throbbing with pain and we began to wonder how we could sneak off without being too rude. Problem being we were literally trapped in the chateau grounds. S eventually tracked down our chatelaine and after some pleasant small talk she obligingly escorted us to, and set about cranking open, the enormous creaking gates. An excellent, serendipitous visit, and one I’d highly recommend during next year’s Patrimoine weekend.

We also managed a visit to Chateau de Beynac, which was A.M.A.Z.I.N.G. It may now be be my new favourite local site and shockingly, I’d never been before. Somehow, we mostly had this enormous, fortified chateau to ourselves. It really is quite spectacular, (this video gives a mini taste of the visit) and the views are incroyable. Next time, once my foot is fully healed, I’m going back armed with a pair of children’s wheely-trainers to twirl across the State’s Room! 🛼

La Petite Maison is available for Autumn vacation rentals until the end of October 2025. Between November and March, it is available for longer term rentals by direct arrangement - so if you or someone you know is house-hunting, needs some peace to write or fancies a few week’s quiet - do get in touch via this email : ) 

Apparently, it’s one of the most loved homes available for rental on Airbnb 😄

Departure chats with guests at La Petite Maison are always enlightening. Primarily, I like to know if they had a good stay, were comfortable, and if they have any suggestions or think anything is missing. I’m happy to report that, so far, there have been no glaring comfort omissions!

This Summer, though, those chats revealed an added “amenity” I hadn’t quite appreciated.

Earlier in the year, my neighbours welcomed a new puppy into their family. A sweet little beagle christened Paillette (Glitter) by their young daughter. Though, Houdini would have been more fitting as from the start it was clear she had her own agenda, escaping regularly to explore the area.

My fully fenced property may now deter sanglier, deer and the chasse but it was no match for a wily, determined beagle. Paillette dug tunnels, squeezed under garden gates and was even seen exiting the garden through a drainage hole in the garden wall. “Mia casa, sua casa” she seemed to declare. Fortunately, she’s gentle, sweet-natured and gets on well with Romy.

However, being a puppy she is still very big on trophies! And our garden has become her favourite trophy-hunting ground with footwear top of the leaderboard. On more than one occasion I was convinced I’d lost my mind, searching for sandals I knew I had left by the door minutes earlier 🤦‍♀

One day, when not a single pair of matching sandals remained, I resigned myself to walking Romy in a mismatched (and distinctly non-fashion) ensemble, a look I excused to myself as avant-garde countryside chic.

The initial mystery was solved when I spotted one of my sandals lying abandoned by the side of the lane outside my neighbour’s house. Curious, but with my neighbours at work, I peered over their garden wall hopeful I may be able to find more missing footwear.

Scattered around Paillette’s garden den was a veritable magpie’s collection of trophies. In amongst the sticks, bones, children’s toys and other ephemera I spotted a good number of Romy’s ball and toy collection but, alas, no more of my missing shoes. Later, with my neighbour’s blessing, I returned to reclaim Romy’s toys. As I was leaving I spied another sandal peeking out from Paillette’s kennel. Lifting a blanket revealed the real treasure trove: a further four lonely sandals, one sodden and partially chewed sheepskin slipper, a hiking boot and one half of my favourite pair of wellies! Quite the collection! My neighbour was mortified.

Since then, I have become more careful about leaving any potential footwear trophies outside. Now and then my neighbour appears at the gate, holding up the latest orphaned shoe with an apologetic shake of the head.

I find animal magpie tendencies fascinating. My cat Archie used to collect his catnip toys from around the house during the night and curate a perfectly lined up collection for me to walk over at the top of the stairs in the morning. Once he excelled himself by neatly positioning one toy in each shoe, a clear hint that playtime was expected after morning tea and before leaving the house.

Like most of us, I also went through my own collecting phases: as a child in Cape Town, I collected desiccated garden creatures dried out by the sun. The best find being a perfectly persevered, beautifully coloured chameleon. I proudly took it to school for show and tell but was outdone by a boy who’d collected some giant garden snails. Some playground negotiations later, I had returned home with an identical but different toothpaste box and waking up the next day with giant snails all over my bed was enough to put me off collecting any more garden creatures, preserved or alive. Later in life, I’ve had mini, if unintentional, collections of parrots, shoes (so many shoes!) and even sofas. These days, it seems to be random bits of discarded renovation materials - ooh, I’ll keep that, it may come in handy!

So when I updated the guest book for La Petite Maison this year, alongside the note introducing Romy and Nala, I added a line warning about Paillette’s potential flip-flop thievery.

As it turns out, Paillette featured far more in guest’s experience than I ever knew. One couple told me that having opened the door to gather cool early morning air during the canicule, they awoke later to find a snoozing puppy had joined them upstairs on the bed. Others have sent videos of dinners on the terrace with Paillette basking in attention as the uninvited guest of honour. The piece de resistance came just recently, when departing guests mentioned, almost in passing:

 “Oh, and there’s a lovely little dog, I don’t think it’s yours…it stole my bikini top!”

A quick sortie to Paillette’s den found no trace of the bikini contraband, but I promised to mail it if ever found. Fortunately, our guests found the whole episode hilarious.

Just yesterday I watched Paillette trot off lopsidedly up the hazelnut tree lined path, a stolen dog-football nearly the size of her whole body clamped between her jaws. Occasional glances back confirmed she knew this was a brazen steal, watched as she was by both me and Romy. I laughed at her audacity, while Romy looked on bemused, unsure whether to go and rescue her ball or be the bigger dog.

It seems the old adage of ‘don’t leave your shoes unattended’ at Les Plonges remains!

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 😄

Whenever family or friends come to visit I’m almost always asked if there’s anything I “need” from their country of departure. I’ve noticed that if I do have a request, nine times out of ten it’s food-related.

While I absolutely love the local produce here, there’s something about the familiarity of certain foods now and then:

Meanwhile, I’ve started collecting my own list of favourite French foods to add to this little catalogue of edible comforts : )  

Whenever I have a friend visiting, it’s almost guaranteed that we will end up at ‘fabulous Marqueyssac’ (trademark!!) at some point. It’s easily my favourite, and most visited, local attraction. So, imagine my surprise when I discovered that my friend, S, who I thought I knew inside out for over 30 years, is a major dinosaur fan. She’s the first person I’ve ever taken there who practically lost her mind with excitement at the dinosaur skeleton on display, and she hasn’t stopped talking about it since : )

You think you know someone and then…dinosaurs!!

Simply put, for two key reasons:

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