It’s time to catch up with Jane and Gary of Mas d’Augustine, the classic French B&B outside Uzes, France. With the winter chores done and a few holiday getaways behind them, I asked Jane, ” What’s it like to return to welcoming guests at a French chambre d’ hôte?”
Here’s Jane’s response:
“This has to be the best May we’ve had since we moved to Uzes. The weather was just stunning, with beautiful blue skies, lots of sunshine, and cooler evenings. It is definitely one of my favorite months.
The garden looks beautiful this year, as it is finally maturing, and our lawn looks like a lawn rather than a cut field! Considering it was just a vast expanse of sand and weeds when we repurchased the Mas in 2010, it has come a long way. The extended vegetable garden is now planted, and we will soon pick our own salad leaves, potatoes, tomatoes, peppers, etc.
May was a hectic month, and we had many clients from Europe. It is always challenging to get started again after the winter months, and this year, while we had a few guests over the Easter period, it is not until May that the hard work really begins.
Gary is much better than me at getting up in the mornings; I struggle to get out of bed before 9 am, but that is out of the question once we start work. He is always up first and takes on the task of laying the breakfast tables and cooking the bread and croissants. I followed half an hour later and swept the courtyard, watered the plants and vegetable garden, and then made the fresh fruit salads. Once the guests arrive for breakfast, Gary is in front of the house, and I happily make tea and coffee in the kitchen. Then the egg orders start, and Gary loves walking into the kitchen and saying, “Two scrambled eggs, two soft-boiled and four poached!”
It took us a while to realize why we were so tired at the end of our first season…… there are no weekends! Once May has started, we do not get a day off until the beginning of October; breakfast has to be made every morning whether we have a few guests or are completely full. We split the tasks very well; Gary is responsible for all the laundry, washing, and ironing while I clean and make up the rooms. Gary looks after the pool and grass cutting while I do the gardening and cooking. All the other jobs are shared, and considering we work together 24/7, there are very few arguments!
We only fall out in the evening when we offer the Bistro menu. I am very calm and organized in the kitchen, and Gary gets a little stressed when we are swamped, mainly because he is hungry and cannot sit down to eat until the dinner service is over.
We had an excellent Table d’Hotes evening with some super guests from Belgium and Switzerland, and of course, we sat down and enjoyed the meal with them, so it was a lovely, relaxing evening for everyone. Meeting people from other countries is always so interesting, and most of our guests become friends. We look forward to them returning the following season. But the most exciting time for me was the week we were visited by my son Edward and his friends. They came to stay with wives and girlfriends to take part in the Aix-en-Provence Iron Man competition. This was the first time most of them, including my son, had competed in such an event. It involved swimming 1.9 km in the beautiful Lake of Peyrolles in the city of Peyrolles-en-Provence. Then, a 90 km bike course passes through Pays d’Aix and eight surrounding towns, climbing up the mountain Sainte-Victoire and finishing with a 21 km run through Aix-en-Provence and La Torse Park.
We watched the final running stage, as they had to complete 3 loops before passing the finishing line at the Rotonde in the city center. They had a fantastic day, completing all three stages to gain their Iron Man medals!
Then, it was back to Mas d’Augustine for a huge celebratory BBQ and an opportunity to try out the new barbeque that Gary built during the winter months. The idea is to hold BBQ and boules evenings with our guests during summer.
As soon as the celebrations were over and the boys had left, it was back to cleaning and bed-making to be ready in time for the new intake of guests. We were fully booked, and everyone was dining, so there was lots to do. But, on Thursday, I went from cleaning toilets to modeling (for charity). On the 25th of May, there was a fantastic charity fashion show, followed by a luncheon on the grounds of Chateau Arpaillargues, organized for Cancer Support France. We all had a great time modeling a summer collection of clothes from a dress shop in Uzes. The event was attended by over 90 guests, raising over €2,900 for the charity.
After the fashion show, it was a quick lunch for me, just a couple of glasses of wine, and then back home in time to prepare table d’hote for our ten guests.”
The French B&Bn Table d’Hote Menu
Smoked salmon terrines with pickled cucumber and wasabi cream on a roquette salad
Roast fillet of pork with Ardeches vegetables, roast tomatoes, and a port wine sauce
Strawberry and white peach vacations, with a raspberry butter sauce
“We had a lovely evening, the guests dining by the pool until the early hours. I am afraid I left the clearing up to Gary that night and fell exhausted into bed.”
Mas d’Augustine, a former silk farm built in the latter part of the 18th Century, retains many of its original features and has been restored concerning the original architecture. For information about a visit with Jane and Gary at Mas Augustine in the village outside Uzes, La Bruguière, check out the website: masdaugustine.com
