Together with Aurore and my mother-in-law, I was invited to
Pascal Le Bihan and
Cécilia Roiu to celebrate their opening of a
'Chambre d'hôtes', a french term corresponding somewhat to Bed & Breakfast in English.
I met Pascal and Cécilia when participating in the tourist- and cultural heritage-education (Visa Accueil Tourisme) in La Châtre last year.
This is the third 'chambres d'hôtes' in La Châtre:
My mother-in-law has two appartments (she was the first one to open this kind of facility in La Châtre I think), a lady by the name of
Maria Deidda (who also participated in the above mentioned education and this evening) proprietor of one chambre d'hôtes and now Pascal and Cécilia.
They are all very different in style, equipment, location (all within La Châtre) with only breakfast or breakfast and lunch, giving visitors the possiblity to choose the one corresponding to their needs and wallets.
My mother-in-law offers the visitors, not two rooms but two appartments (40 and 25 square meters).
Concerning the chambre d'hôte of Pascal and Cécilia the idea is to offer live music for those interested and this through the simple fact that Pascal - besides having worked as a lawyer and being an amateur painter - plays the saxofon and other instruments and in the neighbourhood, there are friends of him being musicians willing to cooperate around this idea. These friends were invited this evening too, of course.
On a summers evening at sunset, sitting outside on the porch or in the garden, drinking something refreshing, listening to live music at your choice, is a nice idea I think.
In connection with weddings there could be a possibility to enjoy music when returning back to the rooms perhaps.
How this is going to be realized in the future, in detail, I don't know but as this 'chambre d'hôte' is newly opened - they have had and do have guests already - wherefore the future will tell.
Before my mother-in-law opened her chambres d'hôtes the only options were the hotels, a hostel and a camping site.
If you don't want to pay for a hotel and also want something more personal than a hotel or a hostel, this is a much more attractive option.
When we knocked at the door friends of Pascal and Cécilia had already arrived and we also got to meet his daughter and later that evening one of his sons.
We started with an apéritif, of course, introducing ourselves to each other, then it was time for the music to start.
Later on there were some very delicious hors d'oeuvre and an extremely tasty dessert, a chocolat truffle made by Cécilia's daughter who also functioned as the hostess, attending us in the most charming way.
In this photo we see Pascal - the
Sidney Bechet of Berry - waiting for the other musicians to arrive.
In this photo we see one of his
Berry.
For those of you interested in guitars,
he plays on a
Gibson!
Or is this perhaps the Django Reinhardt
of this group? On the loudspeaker we see
another guitar name:
Ibanez.
This flutist played some
very charming pieces of Irish music...
...together with his guitar playing brother:
More pictures depicting the very same musicians:
Taking a pause in reality as well
as in the musical notation.
On the table in front of Pascal and his musician-
friend we see the delicious chocolatetruffle made
by Pascals daughter. I ate ten or more? Lost count.
It became a very nice afternoon and evening (we came at 3.15 pm and left at 9.15 pm) with a lot of encounters, laughters and of course - the music!
We wish them Good Luck! Bonne chance!
