Post by Cj on Jan 23, 2022 17:15:19 GMT
Moncontour is the medieval village we decided to make out home in after we left Menorca. It is one of 'Les plus beaux villages de France'.....ie one of the small very beautiful villages in France...this type of village tends to be away from the real touristy spots.
Moncontour is in Brittany, north western France, with just over 1,000 inhabitants (who are known as the Moncontourais). It overlooks two valleys, which is a key ingredient of its rich history, with many a battle being fought nearby. Lots of cobble streets and timbered buildings.
When we left Menorca, we took our time to do a road trip through the Pyrenees, planning our route and deciding each day where we were going to stop, I would book accommodation online as we journeyed. We went through some amazing places and met some wonderful people. We had wanted to do this journey for a while, we then travelled through France to the Loire, arriving in the village of Saint- Julien- de- Vouvantes mid October. Here we rented a gite for 6 months to enable us to sus out the Loire region, Normandy and Brittany.
Initially, we decided to purchase a property in a beautiful town near the coast in Brittany called Lamballe, however the agents were very, very naughty indeed and we nearly finished up purchasing a whole load of grief...fortunately we sussed it just in time, but not before we had handed over the full amount of the purchase price, which we then had to retrieve back from the notaire, very stressful...still, that is a story for another time
I did love Moncontour , it is a very arty place, it has a tea room at the back of the church where you can sit and enjoy a cup of earl grey and listen to madame belting out a 'chanson' , she was a jazz singer and would suddenly just sit at the piano and start belting one out...not sure what the french is for that !
The village has several restaurants and bars...had regular art festivals in the summer, where the artists would arrive on a beautiful summer's evening and just put their easels up in the streets and paint. When we took up residence, in order to welcome us, the arts group put up an art installation called the ' homme bleu' right next to our maison. I will add the photos in my next thread.
Most Sundays from April to end Sept a 'vide grenier' ( empty attic)... was held in the square , this was brocante stalls selling anything from bric a brac to massive armoires...brillaint, we never came away empty handed.
During the summer several open air rock festivals were held in the square too. Quite a lot going on for a small village.
The village was only a 20 minute car ride from the coast, Pleneuf-Val-Andre and Erquy...stunning beaches.
I will pop back later and add more photos below of the village and the house we had.
Moncontour is in Brittany, north western France, with just over 1,000 inhabitants (who are known as the Moncontourais). It overlooks two valleys, which is a key ingredient of its rich history, with many a battle being fought nearby. Lots of cobble streets and timbered buildings.
When we left Menorca, we took our time to do a road trip through the Pyrenees, planning our route and deciding each day where we were going to stop, I would book accommodation online as we journeyed. We went through some amazing places and met some wonderful people. We had wanted to do this journey for a while, we then travelled through France to the Loire, arriving in the village of Saint- Julien- de- Vouvantes mid October. Here we rented a gite for 6 months to enable us to sus out the Loire region, Normandy and Brittany.
Initially, we decided to purchase a property in a beautiful town near the coast in Brittany called Lamballe, however the agents were very, very naughty indeed and we nearly finished up purchasing a whole load of grief...fortunately we sussed it just in time, but not before we had handed over the full amount of the purchase price, which we then had to retrieve back from the notaire, very stressful...still, that is a story for another time
I did love Moncontour , it is a very arty place, it has a tea room at the back of the church where you can sit and enjoy a cup of earl grey and listen to madame belting out a 'chanson' , she was a jazz singer and would suddenly just sit at the piano and start belting one out...not sure what the french is for that !
The village has several restaurants and bars...had regular art festivals in the summer, where the artists would arrive on a beautiful summer's evening and just put their easels up in the streets and paint. When we took up residence, in order to welcome us, the arts group put up an art installation called the ' homme bleu' right next to our maison. I will add the photos in my next thread.
Most Sundays from April to end Sept a 'vide grenier' ( empty attic)... was held in the square , this was brocante stalls selling anything from bric a brac to massive armoires...brillaint, we never came away empty handed.
During the summer several open air rock festivals were held in the square too. Quite a lot going on for a small village.
The village was only a 20 minute car ride from the coast, Pleneuf-Val-Andre and Erquy...stunning beaches.
I will pop back later and add more photos below of the village and the house we had.