Who we are
About us
The five of us live in the small hamlet of Albugue: Jean-Marie and Jule with their two daughters Lila (9) and Marilène (7), together with mother (and mother-in-law) Yvonne.
Yvonne and her late husband Michel left the Netherlands back in the 1980s in search of a home surrounded by unspoiled nature. They purchased the ruins of Albugue in 1982 and dedicated their lives to rebuilding it into a little paradise.
Our daily life
Life at the farmstead
On our 12 hectares of land, we have many fruit trees and a large vegetable garden, which feeds us almost year round. We keep sheep, chickens, and bees. Our firewood comes directly from our own forest.
All of us love music and share a passion for working in and with nature. Our goal is to create a welcoming place for ourselves, our guests, and our family, with a deep appreciation for our connection to nature and to one another.
Since 1981
The rebuild of Albugue
In 1981, Michel and Yvonne left the Netherlands for France with their one-year-old firstborn son Christiaan, searching for a place to build an independent life in nature.
After a year of searching, they fell head over heels in love with the almost completely collapsed hamlet of Albugue on their very first viewing. The fact that only one building had a roof, which was leaking as well, did not deter them. They bought it using the small amount of savings they had.
Fortunately, Michel was handy with tools. He built two doors and two windows, laid down a floor, and they were able to move into their new home.
Soon after, their second son, Jean-Marie, was born. To earn a living, they quickly decided that creating a campsite was the way forward, and the first terraces were dug out.
Most of the roofs and walls were still collapsed, and guests in those early years sometimes drove away, assuming they had taken a wrong turn looking for their holiday destination.
In the meantime, they sold their own honey and jam at the market, while Michel took on extra jobs for other Dutch locals in the area.
After a while, they were able to buy a tractor, allowing Michel to haul trees out of the forest to craft wooden beams. Without a crane, but with blood, sweat, tears, patience, love, and plenty of cursing, the heavy beams went up into place.
Walls were rebuilt by hand using traditional local stone. Albugue was personally restored in an authentic style.
In this way, the first gîte became a reality in 1984. Those handy hands kept working, and by 1992, the workshop, a painting studio, and the second gîte were completed.
More camping terraces and a sanitary building were added. In between construction work, they tended to the land, sheep, chickens, and bees.
They were also blessed with two daughters, Nelli and Liza. Now raising four children, they would go on to handle the local school bus transport on behalf of the municipality for 25 years.
In 2003, two more gîtes were added. This time, with a bit more budget available, the slate roofs were laid by a local contractor.
During the summers, the weekly restaurant and music night came to life. The family not only pampered all the guests at Albugue with a meal straight from their own garden, but also loved joining in on the musical entertainment in the romantic courtyard.
Michel and Yvonne could never stop building and renovating. Antique farm cupboards were lovingly restored, chairs were re-caned, curtains were sewn, and staircases, kitchens, doors, and tables were crafted using their own timber.
It was a blend of necessity and ideology. Moving away from consumer culture, they took pride in making or repairing things in a sustainable way.
In 2009, father Michel and son Jean-Marie decided to restore a small building located further up in the forest. It had once been a secadou (a traditional chestnut drying hut), but it became a romantic holiday cottage.
True to form, the wooden wall paneling came from a second-hand shop and the slates were sourced from a local farmer. They named it "Foncombe", the French translation of "Rivendell" from "The Lord of the Rings."
Welcoming guests became a huge success; Albugue grew into a true little holiday paradise, and no one ever wondered if they were in the right place again. This includes Jule, who spent seven summers at Albugue as a child and would later become Jean-Marie's wife and mother to their two children.
Gradually, they have been taking on more and more responsibilities, sharing the very same joy in receiving guests and lovingly continuing to make Albugue ever more beautiful.
