Bye-bye Pyrenees - But Only For Awhile!

Two little balls of energy sat at the kitchen table, dressed in matching red and white striped shirts, gulping mouthfuls of food so that they could go back into the lounge and watch a cartoon on television. Everyday life in France was just like family life in Australia, England, the USA or any other place that we have lived.

We ended our two week stay in the village of Argein on Wednesday and began driving north to Normandy. But we were going to miss this lovely family and I thought I’d share some photos from our time with them.

Matt and Becky are transplanted Brits raising the previously mentioned boys, Ed and Henri. Matt is a builder and Becky is a real estate agent who also manages the business side of the building company, Ariege Artisan. My husband Mark did stone work around their house and then did construction work with Matt for two days as well. So now Mark has dipped his toes into French construction methods.

This charming couple are currently expanding their company a bit, so I have spent the last few weeks doing public relations work for them — taking photos and editing/improving old ones, helping to fine tune the gallery on the new website, setting up a Facebook business page for them, and creating business cards and new brochures for them.

Business card for Ariege Artisan ©Deborah Harmes

And did you know that if you do business in France and you advertise, all of the advertising that might be in the English language is required to be translated into French as well! That made for some interesting layout challenges.

Ariege Artisan brochure -- outside cover ©Deborah Harmes

Their village setting in the Ariege region of the Pyrenees is absolutely stunning and their lovingly restored house is wonderful. Below are shots of the house, the deck, what you see if you are lying in the pool, and the view from the deck.