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About this site
Once upon a time, a French-German and British family from London decided to move to the French countryside with their 3yo. They have this big idea of renovating the old family home and settle for a new life with cheese and wine... and chickens! Read more here...
Latest Blog Posts
May 2025
/
Philippe MIGUET
A slow burner – Part 4: what did we get done?

May 2025
/
Philippe MIGUET
A slow burner – Part 3: the garden

May 2025
/
Philippe MIGUET
A slow burner – Part 2: renovations

Apr 2025
/
Philippe MIGUET
A slow burner – Part 1: the chickens

Jan 2025
/
Philippe MIGUET
Coop & Cage: First Experiences

Jan 2025
/
Philippe MIGUET
Welcome to 2025 – The Recap of 2024


May 2025
|
Philippe MIGUET
A slow burner – Part 4: what did we get done?
That is a question, we have been asking ourselves. Being the one doing the renovations, sometimes it is difficult to see the trees in the forest. But feedback from visitors or even neighbours have been rather positive. Particularly from visitors which have known the house for a long time, i.e. my brothers or family friends. The Clear-Out I think the

May 2025
|
Philippe MIGUET
A slow burner – Part 3: the garden
The garden is one of my main projects while my husband takes care of the renovation works where I am not much of a help. At the moment the house is rather plain. Don’t get me wrong, my aunt uses the garden a lot, it’s her little baby and she’s done a good job. But you also can tell that

May 2025
|
Philippe MIGUET
A slow burner – Part 2: renovations
We have recently passed our one year anniversairy of moving to France and whilsts we did achieve some stuff in the house, sometimes it feels rather like we didn’t. Back then when we got here, we said seven months is plenty of time to turn one room into livable space with proper heating so we could survive a winter in
Impressions

















Helpful Links
Life on the Plateau
Mairie Plateau d'Hauteville
Office de Tourisme
Haut-Bugey Agglomération
Chickens
YouTube Channel "Oak Abode"
Holidays
Au Pâturage Montagnard (for groups)
Leisure
La Praille (Google Maps)

May 2025
|
Philippe MIGUET
A slow burner – Part 4: what did we get done?
That is a question, we have been asking ourselves. Being the one doing the renovations, sometimes it is difficult to see the trees in the forest. But feedback from visitors or even neighbours have been rather positive. Particularly from visitors which have known the house for a long time, i.e. my brothers or family friends. The Clear-Out I think the

May 2025
|
Philippe MIGUET
A slow burner – Part 3: the garden
The garden is one of my main projects while my husband takes care of the renovation works where I am not much of a help. At the moment the house is rather plain. Don’t get me wrong, my aunt uses the garden a lot, it’s her little baby and she’s done a good job. But you also can tell that

May 2025
|
Philippe MIGUET
A slow burner – Part 2: renovations
We have recently passed our one year anniversairy of moving to France and whilsts we did achieve some stuff in the house, sometimes it feels rather like we didn’t. Back then when we got here, we said seven months is plenty of time to turn one room into livable space with proper heating so we could survive a winter in
Impressions

















Helpful Links
Life on the Plateau
Mairie Plateau d'Hauteville
Office de Tourisme
Haut-Bugey Agglomération
Chickens
YouTube Channel "Oak Abode"