Our Home

Thanks to the sweet and generous couple Françoise and Jean-Claude we have now a lovely home for ourselves. It is the first one the two of us have together, holiday homes not included. We have learned immensely from travelling in and exploring different parts of mainly France, and now it was the perfect time and place to park our luggage in Espinas after two years of searching for our own little paradise.

Before our landlords moved into the stone house of Françoise’s parents located on the same property, they first spent 10 years in this little mobile home. We have renamed it “the mobile loft” to give a more accurate feeling of the place, as it is far more elaborately done than many trailer homes here in France.

First of all, the terrasse is almost as big as the mobile loft, which makes it a great living room in summer. Second of all, the view ain’t too bad.

The landlords had already refurbished the place, removing almost all the interior walls to create a sensation of big, open space. Whenever we need some privacy between the bedroom/bathroom section and the rest of the mobile loft, we pull out the curtain.

And for a couple of minimalist travellers that only brought a bit of luggage, it was with gratitude that we moved in without having to buy lots of new stuff to fill the mini house. On the contrary, we have spent quite some time emptying it of old stuff that we don’t need!

In the kitchen we have our “grocery store” shelves displaying our dry food in reused glass bottles and jars. It is very practical, as we can see what we have “in stock” at all times. We buy a lot in bulk, trying to avoid plastic packaging. Instead we transport the food in reusable textile and paper bags.

Otherwise there is the geek office, reading nook and meditation spot with view by day, and comfy bedroom by night. The sofabed is of the very comfortable kind.

One of the landlord’s sons has dressed about half of the walls with decorative and isolating wood panels – which I have plans to give a lighter feel soon, yet keeping the charming wood texture visible. Although there is no need to fit into a Scandinavian interior design magazine, a brighter touch wouldn’t hurt.

A solid Norwegian wood stove intended for a big house keeps us very warm in winter. And yes, behind the only door inside the mobile loft we have an excellent compost toilet! Why do people take a dump in their drinking water, anyway?

There is even a mini guesthouse with space enough for two! As it has the shape of a boat tipped upside-down, it is called “la coquille” – the hull. It has already been double booked once, so let us know in advance when to reserve it for you 😀

A huge bonus with the place is the beautiful terrain where it is situated. Some rather big alterations have been done after I took these photos, more on that to come later on.

Thank you for reading. Until next time!