First Renters @ Supergites

Le début des locataires .. finally .. Judgement day was there. The first renters have finished the first holiday in the very first Supergites. Now we’re left with so many questions. What did they do? How do they think about the mill? Where did they go shopping? Did they sleep well?

I’ve send the registered renter a small questionnaire to gather some information. He replied the same day with some minor comments we agree upon immediately. They LOVED the mill and made some great work. OMG .. we cannot explain how relieved we are. To thank us they’ve send us some small sketches of the mill and Tourteron 🙂

No TV?

Image via Wikipedia

In the final week of working hard to get things right (or just done), at a certain point you just have to make decisions. Nasty ones. You have to choose between the must-have and nice-to-have. And that’s not an easy job. One says he really thinks curtains are essential, the other claims to die without TV. Do we really need that door between the two basements? or do we put our energy in finding the right furniture? It’s constantly putting pressure on the working relationship because you’re just so tired you really don’t care what the other says or even about the arguments. All space evaporated. But what to do … you have to go on.

A first Super night in our own Gîte

After 11 months of hard work, miles of traveling to and from France, laboring the garden and sanding the wood it was finally the moment that the beds arrived. We worked double shifts in the last weeks to get everything ready to install the beds immediately at their final place. The beds are huge and heavy, 100% natural material and fairtrade produced .. besides that they are gorgeous looking …

We had to wait all this time not because of the production but because of our own delay. The whole renovation took more time than estimated due to several reasons. You can read about them in the blog.

But this was THE day .. the day followed by the first night in our own Supergite, sleeping in our brand new beds. 

‘Zimmer Frei’

“Zimmer Frei?”…not anymore! We’ve just reached our first milestone with the Water Mill of Tourteron: Both summer months, July and August, are almost fully booked! There’s only one week left available in July. We’re super happy to see the first reservations coming in so quickly. All people who’ll fill the mill with joy and happiness. We so much looking forward to hear their stories and that they’ll really feel at home.

If you’re still doubting .. make a choice @supergites: it’s now or 2011 🙂

Time to Relax at a Supergite

Finally: the Official Launch of Supergites.nl

It’s finally live: the official Supergites website. Though it’s still in Dutch, it’s there and that’s the most important thing. The French, English, and German versions will follow in January, as will the calendar and the automated reservation module.

We also registered the gîte at the funniest website, Vakantie bij Nederlanders in Frankrijk . nl, which translates to ‘Vacation with the Dutch in France’. We’re eager to see how it works and whether it gives us any leads.

The gîte will be ready for rent April 1. Tomorrow we’re off to France for 7 days of hard labour. 🙂

Check our new design at Supergites.nl.

Looking for summer?

Mr. Winter is about to leave. The sun is getting warmer. The first flowers are popping up from the cold soil. In Tourteron we’re looking forward to Spring and Summer 2010. It’ll be the first time you can enjoy the peace of the valley, the shades of the fruit trees, the smell of the flower garden, and the quality of the house.

To be sure those weeks off are yours, you should go to supergites.nl and make your booking.

Merci!

Eating nearby: “French Family Food”

Only 8km away, we’ve found this sweet restaurant next to the canal and locks at Neuville-Day. It’s cozy, humble, and simple with not too complicated but well-presented food that is quite tasty. It’s the perfect place to walk to and back from if you enjoy hiking. Their homemade goose liver paté is really great–and they do serve a lot!

We haven’t tried it in winter yet, but in summer the setting–a terrace along the canal– is superb.

Restaurant ‘AU SANS SOUCI’
La Coquée
08130 NEUVILLE-DAY

Téléphone : 03 24 30 19 58
Fax : 03 24 71 72 42

norbert.uberschlag@wanadoo.fr

Menus ardennais. ‘Ravioles du sans-souci’, ‘Minerai ardennais’ foie gras maison, décors en sucre. Vente sur place de produits du terroir.

Au Sans Souci @ Neuville-Day

Eating nearby: “Great food, Fair price”

During the search for the Super Gite and the renovation of it we’ve spent many nights in a friendly chambre d’hôte 60 km from our mill. We drive up and down every day passing some cute villages on our way. One of them is Signy l’Abbaye, which is a bit more mundane  than most of the others (take note: the church is those villages is most significant building). The average town has five farms, two mansions, and one big church.

Signy l’Abbaye has a long history. It was founded around the 12 century,  and used to be famous for (what’s in a name?) its abbey. Nowadays it’s just a bit bigger and more appealing than the surrounding villages. It has some notable edifices, two nice bars, and at least one good restaurant mentioned in the Guide Rouge de Michelin.

A perfect entré for € 3,50

That restaurant is Auberge de l’Abbaye, the Abbey Inn. 🙂

We found it by accident. We drove by around lunch time and thought: why not? Let’s try this humble, little place. To our surprise–and our delight–the food there was so tasty and cheap.

I mean, being Dutch and all that, we were impressed to find a quick lunch consisting of an entree and a main course for only 10 euro 40! Impossible, you think, but the selection on the menu is rich and impressive. You can pick from five starters and five main dishes. I chose the Wrapped Brie and a Chicken Soufflé.

This starter was perfect: crispy on the outside, and the brie inside lightly melted and warm. Unbeatable!

I like to cook, and I know about prices of the ingredients. So this starter of only 3 euro 50 is really a miracle.

We’ll certainly go back often, even though it’s around 30 km away. But distance is relative in a large country like France, as opposed to what we’re used to in the Netherlands.

Restaurant Auberge de l’ Abbaye, 2 pl. A. Briand F – 08460 Signy L Abbaye! +33 3 24 52 81 27
Closed 12 January-8 March – closed Tuesday dinner and Wednesday. Price: (12€) 14€ – Menu: 20€/38€
Traditional

The same family has run this former post house since 1803. It upholds its traditions with a rustic decor and cuisine made with locally grown produce. Tasteful guestrooms.

Before the Nephews

Before the nephews

Originally uploaded by Supergites

One good thing about summer vacation is that it’s free and fun. And if you still have some unsolved mess around your house, just get your nephews over to help you out!

So I took my nephews to our mill in France, a four-hour drive away. These boys, the sons of my brother-in-law, are 15 and 17. They are still a bit on the playful side, so they at least need for the assignment to be simple: “Clean the barn, weed the garden, make a fire. S’il vous plait.”

Now, those are three easy jobs, the last one  of which is actually fun. To store our stuff during the renovation we needed the barn close to the house to be empty and spotless. When they arrived it was one outrageous mess. When they left, two days later, it was pristine and ready to fill. The garden as well was ready for some serious ground work, such as moving cubic meters of soil from one corner to the other.

The fire? What can I say? They loved it!

All it cost me was one BBQ and one dinner at an ‘all you can eat’ rib restaurant.

I loved it too.

Check out the pics on Flickr.

Getting somewhere

The town of Tourteron from the field

Stéphane worked tirelessly with the brush cutter for a whole week to get the field free of plants. We’re finally getting the full picture on the size of this area. Where there used to be just nettles we’ve discovered a small swampy pool and the shape of the winter stream.

After this we have a better idea on where to start digging for the swimming pool! 🙂