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Tales from a French Riverbank ...

Welcome to our blog about living in France, the good and the bad and the adventures we have on a day to day basis whether it is restoring our old stone farmhouse, dealing with French bureaucracy or shopping at the weekly food markets. Life in France is very different: one day we might be chopping down a tree, the next sourcing antiques for our business or fixing a hole in the barn roof.


Here we will also give you a taster of our antique buying trips around France, Belgium and the Netherlands and a look at some of the treasures we find. You will also be able to see what we are working on or restoring, see the items we are re-working or up-cycling: furniture, chandeliers, brocante and religious collectables.


And of course there will be food because we love cooking, eating and the odd glass of wine.

Our latest news

Busy Grape Picking

The grape picking season is well underway in France although our region, the Correze, is not known for wine-making and there are very few vineyards. Indeed the Correze is known more for it’s Limousin cattle, chestnuts and for apple growing. Most of the wine produced in the Correze is in the south around Brive, now more famous for it’s rugby club which has a large number of English players. As well as these wines the region is known for Vin Paille which translates as straw wine, so called because the grapes are left to dry on straw matting until around

Interested ? Keep Reading . . .
29th October 2018

Just Back

We got back, totally exhausted, at the weekend, from our latest buying trip. We took a van load of French furniture and antique chandeliers, bought on our last trip, to our courier in the UK ready for delivery to our UK buyers. We were just 24 hours in the UK to keep ferry costs to a minimum which involves getting a ferry at around midnight – yawn, and making sure we get a ferry back before midnight the next evening. Of course we had to stop off and top up on the essentials you can’t get in France: Baked Beans,

Interested ? Keep Reading . . .
28th October 2018

Scandinavian Bureau Cupboard

In a brocante in northern France last week we discovered a fabulous and very unusual Scandinavian bureau/cupboard. It has a very plain, flat front embellished with ornate faux hinge covers. The hinges have an almost oriental look to them. It’s driving me mad at the moment because I know the maker – a Finnish company, but I can’t remember the name. We have a corner bar cupboard by the same maker in our lounge with exactly the same decorative hinges. They are really quite rare pieces as the company in question were better known for making timber buildings but diversified

Interested ? Keep Reading . . .
28th October 2018
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Browse Our Shops

We sell the vintage treasures we find on Etsy and eBay. Click on either of the links below to view and buy our items for sale or contact us direct. If you can't see what you want feel free to contact us, we may have it in stock awaiting preparation or we may be able to source it for you.

eBay

Check out our eBay site for upcoming furniture auctions: armoires/wardrobes, bedside cabinets, tables and much more. Also chandeliers, religious collectables and French brocante.

ETSY

Visit our Etsy site for re-worked figurines and lighting, religious collectables and those special French finds foraged from flea markets, brocante's and our favourite dealers around the country.