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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
Jan 2026
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Philippe MIGUET
Happy New Year!

Aug 2025
/
Philippe MIGUET
DISCOVERING: Belley

Jul 2025
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Philippe MIGUET
Parc des Oiseaux
(Villars-les-Dombes)

May 2025
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Philippe MIGUET
A slow burner – Part 4: what did we get done?

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

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


January 2026
|
Philippe MIGUET
Happy New Year!
I am wishing everyone a happy new year and hopefully you all had a good start into 2026. Towards the end 2025 it has been rather chaotic for us. I haven’t sent out an update in a while, so when I get a quiet minute I will write a wrap up what has happened here recently. See you then!

August 2025
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Philippe MIGUET
DISCOVERING: Belley
Just as a heads-up: this entry will probably be updated over time. Most of the times, if we go to Belley, we only go there for shopping purposes, as it has the different and/or bigger supermarkets (or rather a “hypermarché”). So maybe check back after some time to see if there’s any new stuff below. 🙂 Parking The parking situation

May 2025
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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
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)

January 2026
|
Philippe MIGUET
Happy New Year!
I am wishing everyone a happy new year and hopefully you all had a good start into 2026. Towards the end 2025 it has been rather chaotic for us. I haven’t sent out an update in a while, so when I get a quiet minute I will write a wrap up what has happened here recently. See you then!

August 2025
|
Philippe MIGUET
DISCOVERING: Belley
Just as a heads-up: this entry will probably be updated over time. Most of the times, if we go to Belley, we only go there for shopping purposes, as it has the different and/or bigger supermarkets (or rather a “hypermarché”). So maybe check back after some time to see if there’s any new stuff below. 🙂 Parking The parking situation

July 2025
|
Philippe MIGUET
Parc des Oiseaux
(Villars-les-Dombes)
My brother is a big fan of this park and has been there a couple of times already. So as it came highly recommended and we had some friends coming to see us, we thought that might be a nice change of scenery. Of course we can’t compete with Disneyland here, but who can… 😉 Parking Parking was easy and
Impressions
Helpful Links
Life on the Plateau
Mairie Plateau d'Hauteville
Office de Tourisme
Haut-Bugey Agglomération
Chickens
YouTube Channel "Oak Abode"



