Hugh and I were invited to 'house sit' for our friends in the Cantal (part of the Auvergne region) while they took their annual holiday. Of course we jumped at the chance to experience winter in these lovely mountains. We know the area well after staying there on holiday for several years and the house and its inhabitants are dear to us.

         

La Roussière stands alone at the end of a wooded valley. Begun in 1629, the later part of the house was built in 1834; the original section includes the remains of a small chapel.

Brigitte and Christian waved from their car as they set off, leaving us to ourselves for ten days.

         

The house, now a chambre d'hôte, has been magnificently restored by the owners.

          

 These were our views from the two windows of our room - or rather, from our suite.

                  

We wandered around the house, admiring the ancient oak staircase and old family portraits.

         

The sitting room with its huge traditional fireplace, called a cantou auvergnat, has wooden seats which were used to store salt. Logs for the fire measure at least one metre (over 3 feet).

         

The original shelves in the alcove next to the fireplace hold found objects from the garden and house as well as enormous logs. Overhead you can see the old pegging in the beams and a high suspended shelf where bread was kept safe from rats and mice.

         

Every day we read for hours in front of the fire. On an old school desk, the sort with porcelain inkwells and lift-up lids, which is long enough to seat at least five children, were more books, mostly about the Auvergne and the local cuisine.

         

La Roussière is full of intriguing objects like this ingenious system for holding water in the gentian fields for knife sharpening. The peg in the side slides over the farmer's belt. Once in the field, the barrel containing a sharpening stone is filled with water and the holder is pushed by its pointed end into the earth.

On the track close to the house a stone marks the place where a priest was laid to rest in a wall. During the winter of 1859, deep snow prevented his burial and no help, either from doctor or gravedigger, was available until the spring.

         

         

Brigitte's kitchen is a pleasure to work in with its wide professional cooker and its table, built by Christian, which can seat a dozen diners.

We were not quite alone in the house. Hysope and Pline kept us company - or was it the other way round? More about them tomorrow.

Click on the pics!