About us

Tired of the "cut and thrust" of modern English life, we opted for a new challenge at a more relaxed pace. Our searches led us in early 2007 to settle in the mountains of the Auvergne and the rural peace of the village of Pitelet where we are renovating a charming 'corps de ferme'. All of the photographs on the site have been taken around our home, Pitelet and the surrounding area.

Our aim, for ourselves and for our guests, is for life to be as simple, as stress-free and as slow as possible. Slow in this context does not mean to move at a snail's pace (unless you want it to, of course), but to live at a sustainable pace, at which "now" is more important than "yesterday" or "tomorrow" and "quality" is more important than "quantity". We aim to provide a refuge where you can simply be and de-stress, where you can boost your energy whilst perhaps recovering from an illness or where you can write or paint in tranquility.

We trained and worked for many years in the hotel and catering industry and latterly Andree set up and ran her own very successful cookshop in Norfolk in the east of England called "Head Cook & Bottlewasher" selling high quality equipment and utensils both to the public and the trade. Hence hospitality and customer service are dear to us both and this is reflected in the high standards of food and accommodation we offer.

Our gite, La Maison de Réflexion, is ideal for "chilling out" in tranquility. The village and the surrounding area have a quality which the Greeks have a special word for - "isichia", calm. Should you wish to experience 'chez nous' some of the hospitality and the produce, for which the region is well-known, we are pleased to be able to offer you additional services which are detailed later. Where possible, the ingredients we use are produced locally. We grow some ourselves and are willing to discuss and cater for many individual dietary requirements. Unfortunately, nut allergies are the exception as nut trees are prevalent in the area as are nut products.