Living the dream requires money - lots
- rosemary
- 5 hours ago
- 4 min read
"For mum, who taught me how to dream, and Pete, who makes my dreams come true."
This is the Chateau de Bosguet in Normandy - otherwise known as The French Table - a gourmet getaway in a tiny village in Normandy where you can take cooking classes, or just simply relax. It is run by a Melburnian couple who, in 2003 began to dream of a life in France and a new business venture - a residential cooking and French village life focussed stay. And so in 2005 they bought this somewhat rundown, but basically sound chateau with 28 bedrooms, took their four children out of their schools and moved to France.
'Pete, who makes my dreams come true' must have an awful lot of money, although Jane Webster - the lady with the dream, herself had a chic café in Armadale - one of Melbourne's snobby and fashionable strips full of antique shops, expensive clothes and cafés.
Armadale wasn't always thus - when we first arrived in Melbourne in June 1969, David's company put us up in a flat in Armadale for a couple of weeks, whilst we found somewhere to live. Back then it was not fashionable - the expensive antique shops were second-hand almost junk shops, there was a pretty standard mini supermarket across the road, and no expensive clothes shops.
But back to Jane Webster and her dream. Why would I bother with her anyway? Well as part of her business plan she has now written four books about the experience and about food. This is the first one, about how it all began, which has been sitting on my desk for some time waiting for its moment in the tiny sunshine of this blog. If you are a Francophile, it's a beautiful book, full of just the right kind of photographs to evoke French country life for those who have experienced it, or for those who dream of doing so.
And if you can afford the fare to Frence, you too can enjoy the simple country life. Not at Château de Bosguet however. Well I suspect not, because I see no prices anywhere for the Château Life Residencies, that Jane and her husband run. And what does a Residency entail?
"For those who want to experience Château Life firsthand, Jane hosts two-week and one-month residencies that include a wide array of immersive activities from French lessons to flower arranging, wine tutorials and much more! Jane’s favori classes? Tablescaping and watercolour."
Not to mention the cooking classes from experienced chefs and Jane herself, excursions to here, there and everywhere, spa kind of stuff ...
And how much does all this cost? I have no idea. I tried to find out but there are no prices on their website - you have to contact them, and none of the other big hotel booking sites seem to have them listed. So I'm guessing it's like all of the super luxury - and priceless things, that the AFR's Life and Leisure Magazine presents every weekend. Truly dare to dream. How the very tiny set of people at the top of the tree live.
Last night at a family gathering, one of my sons, at some point in the conversation, remarked that it's only the rich who can get richer. You need money to invest in something and make more money. Unless you are a genius also blessed with business acumen with a brilliant idea that somebody else will invest in. You probably have to be a bit of a gambler too.
We once dreamt about buying a house in France that we could stay in and also rent out. We found one we liked, but did the sums and they didn't really add up. Besides, as we told ourselves, this would mean that our French holidays would always be in the same place and not a journey of discovery to some of the hidden gems of La France Profonde. As my younger son pointed out, on his first visit to rural France with us, there were two Frances - Paris and the rest. And it is worth noting that the French of non Paris France regard the Parisians as more or less foreigners. To give Jane Webster her due, in her rather effusive text she does make a pretty good attempt to explain the social mores and lives of the French. It might all seem very passé and unrealistic, but there are many elements of her rhapsodising about the French way of life, that are indeed true.
Each section of this book, which is the story of how the dream came to reality, is concluded with a set of recipes. They are mostly classics, like the three below - Stuffed tomatoes, Tarte au citron, Veal with vermouth and tarragon. They are beautifully photographed, but I'm guessing that if you are a keen French cook, you will have versions of these already. Well Elizabeth David certainly covered them all. You are unlikely to buy the book for the recipes I think.
I shall keep it however, because it was a thoughtful gift from a friend, and also for the photographs. I too can dream every now and then if I take it down and just leaf through all of the pictures, some of which take me back to happy times in France.
Lots of rather jealous envy involved however. Plus a bit of despair at the gulf between the haves and the have nots. It absolutely is a dream - an unobtainable dream for all but a small group of wealthy people. But it might have increased the prosperity of the village a little - and provided employment for the doutbless numerous staff maintaining the property and entertaining the guests. The rest of us will just have to dream.
YEARS GONE BY
December 7
2023 - Nothing
2022 - Nothing
2020 - Missing
2019 - Nothing
2018 - Keeping the pests away
Ah to dream........ that is what houses in France are all about. Still a long way to go! 🥰