To my dad
When I’m walking under the evening glitter, or at four in the morning when the starry vault crackles in the icy Breton air, when the madness of organising the work resurfaces in the middle of my night, I think of my dad, my little benevolent blond ghost who won’t have had time to see Kerbeleg […]
A tribute to funny DIYers
In the workshop, if we’ve all spent at least a little time there doing odd jobs, Daddy, Uncle Bruno and Emmanuel have been sweating it out for days on end, and the most tried and tested of its accessories is of course the workbench. This mass has become misshapen under the weight of blows, blades […]
Geology Museum
We’ve fallen in love with travertine flooring. We’re replacing the smoky tiles with this limestone inlaid with a multitude of shells, crustaceans and other crystals to give the living room and the new kitchen the light bounce that will brighten up the interior of the farmhouse. A whole crab several million years old rests in […]
Storm warning
The 160km/h gusts hit the islands of Groix and Belle Ile before rushing into the Gulf of Morbihan, and we couldn’t escape the tail of the dragon, which swept violently through the small woodland. A bit of wood to cut up for the coming winters.
Carpentry and masonry workshop
The floor in the living room has been lowered by 10 cm to increase the ceiling height, so it was necessary to remove the highest stone on the landing and redo a ‘stone-like’ slab, as was done at the time of the renovation in 1962 for the rest of the landing, which is not made […]
Gros bras, gros planning…
With Antoine and Armelle here for a long weekend, we’re moving Kerbeleg in its entirety, labelling, sorting and donating, all between two crêpes and a bowl of cider to perk us up. It’s heavy, it’s dusty, but we’re having a bit of fun all the same, because a lot of forgotten objects are coming out […]
Finishing the shell (video)
After three months of Asterix & Obelix-style work carrying granite menhirs, beams and digging up the floors, our mason has unveiled the new structure of the house, ready to house the new electrical network, plumbing and insulating partitions. The hard work can now begin.
Lime devaaaant!
A necessary stage in our renovations, a first level of renovation through the walls opens its creative doors to us. Renovating with lime will allow the stone to breathe again. Until recent decades, all restored houses were ‘insulated’ with cement, either partially by grouting the exposed stones, or completely by covering the walls. This absurd, […]
Mars Attacks !
The weather had a few surprises in store for us. From desert sandstorms to tornadoes to UFO landings, we were stunned by the sublime sight in front of our house.
It’s a…!
Literally! Now that the floor of the living room and the corridor leading to the old kitchen have been removed, the mason will pour the insulating concrete slab over the new electrical conduits. The cement mixer passes in front of the house and in a fraction of a second sinks 30cm into the ground. The […]
The time has come for cathedraaaaa…!
It’s a rather pretentious term, I admit, for a farmhouse, but it’s the one traditionally used to describe this new ‘cathedral’ living room, which involves reclaiming all or part of an upper floor to give a room more volume, air and light. So here we are, back in the days of the ‘pillars of the […]
First visit (video)
The structural work is progressing apace… Nostalgic for the Kerbeleg and its percheron cart, fans of posters of the Snow Queen, sensitive souls, refrain from entering for the moment because the walls have taken quite a beating… Literally! We’re pushing back the limits of the space available to us to offer our future visitors an […]
Under the ‘tent
We’ll be camping out in the oven while the work is being done. There will be musical instruments, a kitchen, a table for four, a pantry, linen and accessories. We’re ready to face these months in the middle of the building site, the oven has its charm as it is, even if we’re planning a […]
Welcome Committee
We landed at Roissy on 2 July and headed straight to Kerbeleg loaded down with our luggage for the next five months. The land of buckwheat pancakes and salted butter caramels was ours. The next day, as we were doing another tour of the site, a gentleman of respectable age appeared in front of the […]
The big hammers are coming off…
The fireplace in the ‘piano room’ has been completely freed of its cement so that, as we’d hoped, the stone can appear, but we’re in for a big surprise (and no, it’s not the treasure of Kerbeleg…) when we discover a tangle of beams eaten away by insects and a heap of crumbly cob that […]
Open sesame!
Moving freely around the house is one of the priorities of this renovation. Before the complete renovation of the insulation, heating, water and electrical systems, the mason began the extension phases.
Breton drizzle
Between two phases of structural work, a series of showers and the outside drains clogged with leaves from the previous autumn created a torrent in the driveway that extended into the house… As a result, with the gutters saturated, the water seeped under the door of the former small dining room and into the hallway […]
The 2020 Plan
Nothing is more complicated than drawing straight lines in curved spaces. We’re in for a treat, it’s a perilous exercise but the result will at least be interesting, if not creative, ideally a success, but that’s a tall order, we’ll see in a few months. So here’s a look at the main wall, which varies […]
Heritage & Ecology
Preserving the history of this house while transforming it to make it feel like home will be the most difficult of tasks. Endearing because its walls exude our carefree years, it will have allowed us to envisage numerous combinations of space and circulation rearrangement and colour schemes, while preserving its character. Deciding what to do […]
Winter 2020, 35° in Singapore…
Our lives are about to change radically, as this venture into life abroad comes to a sudden end after twenty years, and we prepare to leave behind us banana plantations, monkeys, lizards and slobbering monitor lizards from South-East Asia to rediscover apple trees, calves, cows, pigs from our own backyard and, at the end of […]
“The killing tide”: In the footsteps of Commissaire Dupin
In “The killing tide”, gripping maritime thriller, Commissaire Georges Dupin is called in to investigate a series of murders on the island of Sein, a small Breton commune surrounded by the Atlantic. While the sea itself seems to hold secrets, Dupin must navigate through a maze of lies and local rivalries. After discovering the bodies […]
“The missing corpse”: In the footsteps of Commissaire Dupin
In “The Missing Corpse: A Brittany Mystery”, plunge into the spellbinding mysteries of Brittany alongside Commissaire Georges Dupin. When a missing body turns up, everything points to a crime of the most sinister kind. As Dupin grapples with his own history, he uncovers a complex web of lies and secrets behind the tranquil façade of […]
“The Fleur de Sel Murders”: In the footsteps of Commissaire Dupin
In “The Fleur de Sel Murders”, a series of murders sows terror and mystery. Inspector Dupin, renowned for his sharp mind, is called in to solve the Fleur de Sel murders, where past and present become tragically intertwined. As he immerses himself in the complex world of family and professional relationships of Paul Daeron, the […]
“Murder on Brittany shores”: In the footsteps of Commissaire Dupin
In the novel “Murder on Brittany Shores” by Jean-Luc Bannalec, Commissaire Dupin finds himself in a delicate situation after a difficult night, marked by a storm and troubling thoughts about an ongoing investigation. As he tries to gather his thoughts and prepare for the day, he receives crucial information about disappearances and mysterious events linked […]
“Death in Brittany”: In the footsteps of Commissaire Dupin
In “Death in Brittany”, Jean-Luc Bannalec plunges us into the enigmatic world of Pont-Aven, a Breton village with undeniable charms but disturbing shadows. Following the shocking murder of Pierre-Louis Pennec, a respected businessman with a passion for art, Commissaire Dupin is called in to solve a mystery that threatens the harmony of this community. The […]
Smile of the Angel II
“Angkor Wat Temple, Cambodia. The sun disappears behind the sprawling cheese trees. An exchange of glances, a smile, the woman bowed by the weight of years absorbs me in the orange hour. The lens captures the memory of this unique moment. Back in my makeshift studio, with my feverish brush I caress the canvas on […]
Nepalese wood carrier at the monkey bridge
“We are approaching Phakding in the Everest Valley on our way back. Our trek of over 200kms is coming to an end and ahead of us, to cross that last monkey bridge, a porter loaded with a ‘mountain’ of wood waits patiently for the yaks crossing in his direction to reach our side. He is […]
A little corner of happiness
“In the interstice of a distended leather corner, a forgotten project of an old grimoire with leather corners whose title in gilded letters would have been erased by time and mould, slipped the four-leaf clover of joyful superstition.”
By candlelight
“Under the soft glow of the candle, the muse reveals her lines and her modesty
Angel’s smile I
“Angkor Wat temple, Cambodia. The sun disappears behind the sprawling cheese trees. An exchange of glances, a smile, the woman bowed by the weight of years absorbs me in the orange hour. The lens captures the memory of this unique moment. Back in my makeshift studio, with my brush feverishly brushing the canvas on a […]
Young seated monk
“We leave Ta Prohm, its sprawling kapok trees swallowing up the temples, to cross paths with some villagers in the heart of remote locations. Perched in his hut on stilts, a young monk in a toga lets the time and the burning sun of this dry season escape. The golden hour turns orange. The rays […]
Pushing my limits
“Since childhood, we have sought to push back, timidly or violently, the boundaries of our upbringing, to defy the forbidden, to question these bridles of self-righteousness.”
Muse in daybed
“The tropical heat of a torrid South-East Asian afternoon, geckos skimming the walls, cicadas cymbalising, a light breeze lightening the soothing hours of heavy air. My muse relaxes and I sketch her.”
Little bonze
“I was looking through an interior design book on the ‘Chinese’ style one day and noticed a painting in the corner of the room (see photo). I reproduced it as faithfully as possible, despite the poor quality of the photo, and it now hangs in the billiard room
The e-reader
“The eyelids become heavy, the hand falters, the words fade, the reader falls asleep on her book and strolls into the world of the novel.”
Extended Muse
“Back from my travels, needing peace and quiet, far from airports and the frenzy of my trans-Asian-Pacific job, I throw my brush into a handful of simple strokes.”
The naive genesis of a giddy scribbler
“One day, while we were having dinner at the home of some wealthy friends overjoyed to have acquired a canvas by a renowned master. This very large oil on canvas sat in the middle of a vast white wall. No oil pigments, just white, white on white. A low-angled white light highlights some discreet dark […]
