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The Roannais
The Magical Château du Bourg in Perreux.
The Château du Bourg is located 3km away from Roanne, and about 80km from Lyon. Situated in a 500 acre estate it has beautiful views of the 16th century medieval village of Perreux. Based in a region famous for its gastronomy, the Château du Bourg has a large summer house (it’s original orangery), recently renovated […]
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Le Cuvage Story: ‘Keeping Your Head Above Water’ by Brian Franklin
Continuing on from my last month’s article about our renovation and conversion of ‘Le Cuvage’ in the Roannais, Rhône-Alpes, things have moved along rapidly. Our French friends, Jean-François and Adeline, co-partners in this exciting joint project, have now moved into their part of Le Cuvage. Their new home looked great! Although each of the three […]
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Restaurant la Rocadine in Perreux, Roannais
This is a sincere recommendation to an excellent restaurant run by Jérôme and Mélanie Sadot.In typical Jérôme fashion his menu and presentation is traditional French, but with contemporary and original styling. A winning combination along with the use of high quality, local produce. It’s a good sign when you can see many local French people […]
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From Dubai to Château de Champlong in the Roannais by Brian Franklin
Here at Purefrancenow we always take the chance to emphasise great experiences we have had, especially those we have had with very good friends. It is particularly the case in this instance when they are friends who have travelled all the way from Dubai to visit us here in the Roannais as part of a […]
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Le Cuvage Story: ‘The Finishing Touches’ by Brian Franklin
One of the salient reasons our Le Cuvage project progressed with such confidence and competence was the planning. We employed a French quantity surveyor, along with an independent project assessor, conducteur/ driver, as our French friends called him. Before we moved a single lump of earth or hacked into any structure, we commissioned a comprehensive […]
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Restaurant de la Loire in the Roannais
Well worth a lunchtime or evening dinner visit! Cuisine gastronomique. Specialities: Charolais: Sirloin of beef with pepper sauce, variety of sea fish, fresh grenouilles (frogs). Closed Sunday evening, Monday and Tuesday. Open Tuesday evening in July/August. Menus of 21€ (except Sunday and fete days) to 67€. Children’s menu 10.5€. Service mid-day to 1.30pm and evening […]
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The warmest Spring in France since 1900, and in the Roannais!
Thisfrenchlife.com features a report on the hottest Spring in France since 1900. Here in the Roannais it has been sizzlingly hot and dry for over 2 months. Temperautures have reached over 30 degrees at ‘Le Cuvage’, Perreux, Roannais. The recent rain has been very welcome for the regions water supplies, inlcuding the garden. Several of […]
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Restaurant L’Astrée in Roanne, the Roannais
Restaurant L’Astrée in the centre of Roannne in the Roannais. One of the many excellent restaurants in this region that, amazingly, we have never visited. And yet, all our French friends and food connoisseurs have always recommended the place. In fact, they have often described L’Astrée as second only to the famous Troisgros just down […]
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‘Topping Off’ celebrations at Le Cuvage in the Roannais by Brian Franklin
Over the Autumn in 2005 our ‘Grand Design’ project in the Roannais continued apace. Incredibly, all the work progressed like clockwork. Even we were amazed at how smoothly things went. Our previous renovation and conversion of The Stables at the Château des Cresses was, to be honest, fraught with various beginner’s problems, mostly due to […]
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It’s a serious business building in the Roannais, Rhône-Alpes.
So just what is involved in converting an old property in The Roannais, in the Rhône-Alpes region of eastern France, north-west of Lyon? Brian Franklin continues his story of how he and his wife, Lucy, slowly and sympathetically renovated a collection of outbuildings found in the grounds of the Chateau des Cresses, near the medieval […]
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Jean Guy Lathuiliére exposes more photos in the Roannais.
A special exhibition during April in the village of Saint Alban des Eaux in the beautiful Côte Roannaise featured some remarkable images from several regional photographers, including an exciting collection by Jean Guy Lathuiliére. www.purefrancenow.com The Pure Art Gallery _________________________________________________________________________
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4 Stars at Château de Champlong in the Roannais
One of our favourite places in the Roannais, Château de Champlong, has achieved 4-star hotel status. Recognised in the region for being a superb restaurant in beautiful surroundings, Château de Champlong is going from strength to strength. with excellent food, service, facilities, and hotel. All owned and managed by Olivier Boizet (chef de cuisine) and […]