I started this post in April 2021, but I'm not great at blogging so it sat around for far too long. In the spirit of "Done is better than perfect", I publish it here with minimal changes and somewhat unfinished photos.
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Time flies! It's been more than a year since we left Auvergne. Let me recap the most exciting moments of the 6 weeks in Chemenet.
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First of all, it's the people. Living in a big house with friends is great! Especially in these strange times, being able to safely see a human being, without a mask, every day was amazing. Thank you to Linas and Pauline who invited us, and to everyone who came and went through Chemenet while we were there: Adeline, Gabriel, Diane, Max, and Sisi. Without you, living in the middle of nowhere would not had been so fun! And a special thanks to the British neighbours - Bernie and Naomi, a lovely couple of musicians enjoying their retirement in the French countryside, and their friend Nadia.
Second of all, it's the nature. We could go on a walk anytime, any day. No curfew. No masks. No cars, no noise, just you and the nature. I walked on the morning dew, or while the lunch was being cooked, I climbed the nearby hill to watch the sunset, or I wandered out at night under the crazy light of the full moon; and on weekends we enjoyed long hikes on the empty trails.
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Finally, it's the quiet. No cars, no people, no window shops trying to seduce you into buying something, no fancy clothes. Almost no noise — though there were some jets buzzing in the sky from time to time, or an occasional tractor in the field, it's nothing like Paris. No light pollution either. Even though I worked full time, my spirit rested like it would on vacation.
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So what did my typical day look like? Almost every morning I started my day by going outside and checking out the weather. Which, by the way, was phenomenal for Auvergne in February. I made some coffee, and we ate our breakfast at a long table by the window, passing sliced brioche to the designated Toaster Operator (usually Pauline). I then worked for a few hours in my office upstairs.
Around noon, somebody went down to prepare lunch — we all helped each other with the cooking — and then we ate. Believe it or not, we even had a few lunches outside, two of them in T-shirts! We had coffee (we could even get some good beans delivered. Thanks for the awesome logistics, France!) and some chocolate, then we worked some more.
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Another nice thing to do midday was to do a few sets of exercises on the rings, or have some fun on the jump rope.
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It is after lunch that the office atmosphere was the strongest. Everyone sat in their rooms, typing away, joining the video calls, and being productive. The work continued until a late hour with few interruptions; however Anna and I just couldn't bare watching such wonderful weather go by and so we had many a walk in the hills around us in the sunset hours.
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When the work was done for the day, one by one we did some yoga and joined the dinner cooking party. For such a big group, it was always a process, and the food was always delicious. It was a pleasure to discover everyone's favourite recipes, such as the Lithuanian Salad, or the countless tartes and quiches.
A few times Anna and I embarked on the tedious journey of cooking the Medovik. It was a bit challenging to figure out the oven, but otherwise it was a hugely rewarding exercise in team work.
With our bellies full, we sat by the fireplace, played guitars and sang. We also watched a bunch of movies, notably the entire Harry Potter series.
Very often we also had a small walk under the bright stars in the unpolluted skies of Auvergne before retiring to our bedrooms.