House Stalking French Style

 

 

I didn’t want to do it. I protested heavily. I came up with all sorts of excuses. In the end, I was forced to do it and… I was happy I did it.

As you know, sometimes I let fear get the best of me and it was roaring its ugly head yesterday.

My husband 99% of the time always lets me make the plans and we always end up doing chick stuff that I like… Flea markets (he likes), walks in the garden (he likes), Sunday sushi (he hates), visits with my friends (he mostly hates), Sunday church candlelighting (he tolerates but I think he secretly likes), museums (he likes because I would not have married him otherwise) and a host of other activities that I always have planned on the weekends.

Yesterday, he had a plan that he wanted to do. Ugh… What is it, David? It turns out he wanted to rent a boat and take it out on the lake. Now, this sounds like a perfectly lovely plan… To take out a boat and cruise around beautiful Lake Annecy in the French Alps on a beautiful summer day. To me, it sounded like pure hell. Before you think I'm a total brat, let’s remember that I have ALS and that includes being totally paralyzed, having a huge breathing machine, a feeding tube and diaphragm pacer that cannot get wet, a wheelchair and last but not least, I am Irish and have very fair skin and I do not think that fact should be overlooked. On top of all of that, my husband is the worst driver on land so I can only imagine what he’s like on water. This little boat ride was not my idea of a relaxing Sunday.

I had a lot of excuses but I think my most valid excuse was, “What if I drown?”

My husband looked at me and quite frankly said, “So what if you drown.”

My answer? I thought about it for a bit and decided, “You’re right, so what if I drown. Let’s go!”

I also knew that I selfishly wanted to look at all of my favorite houses along the lake… The expensive ones. So now, this brings us to today’s blog. I am totally going to pull a Cote de Texas blog (which I love) and go on and on endlessly about houses. So what, it’s fun.

Annecy, in my opinion, is one of the most beautiful and charming villages in France. Situated in the French Alps, near Geneva, Annecy offers “the perfect summer.” The main attraction is obviously the lake… Clear blue, no sharks (yes, a legitimate concern of mine), no snakes, no big yachts (tacky), little restaurants dotting the shore, and from the lake you can see castles, snowcapped mountains and centuries-old churches. Does it get better than that? Yes it does… The old town of Annecy could not be more charming with fairytale buildings, flowers everywhere, waterfront restaurants with swans floating by with their babies, gardens, all different types of cuisine and great shopping. The once a month brocante is one of the best I’ve ever been to (more on that later) and the Sunday’s farmers market would make Julia Child jump for joy. Check out my previous blogs about Annecy HERE and HERE and HERE.

But today, it’s all about the lake houses of Annecy. It might not get much better. 18^th-century houses on the lake. My God! This is why I eventually agreed to go on the boat… Because I needed a lake view of my favorite houses… Here we go…

 

 This first house, at first glance, looks a bit odd in its position because the front of the house is facing the side yard and not the water. But, it actually works because the house gets a broader view of the length of the lake.

 

See?

 



 This is their left facing house towards the garden.

 

 Not too shabby, huh.

And now for the second house, equally amazing... but with a better garden.

  

 

 

A perfectly symmetrical lake house. I would, however, have made the windows larger. I know that they built it this way on purpose to keep the cold out and the heat in during the winter and vice-versa in the summer... But still, it's 2015... retrofit!

 

 

 This is their left side yard with a pergola. A pergola on the lake for God's sake!

 

 

This is still their yard.

 

 

A statue in the pergola.

 

I would, however, remove the right side canopy because it makes the house look like a hotel. Also, I would remove the contemporary "I am from Geneva" flying bird art installation.

 

 

Saving the best for last... My favorite lake house... And here's the best news... It's for sale. If you have €10 million, it's all yours. Here we go...

 



 

I would probably change these floors back to their original state because they look a little Home Depot.

 

 

 

 I love the tartan plaid yellow walls with the yellow print tile floors.

 

 

 

Why do rich people always fuck up a kitchen? Your house is huge... put the washing machine in the cellar, for God's sake. Obviously, this kitchen will have to be gutted. Two words... La Cornue.

 

 

 Even though this room looks old, it is perfect with the vintage wallpaper. I might do a four-poster bed with fabric. 

 

 

This room is perfection including the persimmon colored linen bed spreads.

 

 

 Love this room but I would take out that stupid Edwardian chair and that little desk in front of the door and add a larger gilt mirror (but not fancy) over the chest of drawers.

 

 

I would take out all of the furniture around the upstairs staircase and I would add nearly floor-to-ceiling family photos in all the same picture frames.

 

To see more amazing properties in Annecy click HERE.

 

So, obviously the boat ride was worth it even though my husband nearly hit 3 buoys, 4 kayakers and 3 swimmers. The upside to our adventure is that  I got to see my favorite houses from the vantage point of the water, I got a little sunshine and I got to see my hunky husband in a bathing suit. Winning!

*A little extra news… I decided I’m going to add new items to my shop only once a month. I’m going to do this because I need time to collect everything and it’s more fun for you to have lots of stuff to choose from. I have been scouring flea markets and brocantes for the past month and I am ready to debut everything Monday, July 6. Some really really great pieces at every price point...Paintings, kitchenware, serving pieces, chinoiserie, wine baskets, linens, and some surprise pieces! Everything quintessentially French. I will be giving sneak peaks throughout the week on my Instagram. You can follow me on Instagram HERE! Stay tuned…