Real Life Experiences: Rich Rewards

Driving through the sleepy little hamlet of La Roë, deep in the peaceful green countryside of the Mayenne department, you may be a little surprised to come across a Union Jack flag fluttering gently in the breeze in front of a grand château. Should you turn into the driveway, perhaps seduced by the brocante sign on the side of the road, you may well find yourself amidst a civilised game of cricket taking place on the château’s immaculate front lawn.

The lawn belongs to Château de Boulay which in turn belongs to Robin and Geneviève Mitchell who bought the property some 20 years ago. ‘I’d always fancied a château’, says Robin, in his softened Lancastrian tones, ‘and I fell in love with this one.’ Perfectly symmetrical, solid, square and imposing, it is everything you could wish for in a château and it has been a permanent home for the couple for the last ten years.

The little slice of Britain that the Mitchells brought with them to La Roë is more than adequately counter-balanced by their passion for all things French and is perfectly encapsulated by their Anglo-French roots. Geneviève is originally from the Gers region and met British-born Robin on a blind date in Bath. Theirs has been something of a nomadic life. They lived in Saudi Arabia for 18 years and have just sold their property in the UK but they now happily refer  to La Roë as home and are well-ensconced into village life.

‘The house brought us to Mayenne’, explains Robin.
‘It is a relatively unknown area as many people simply pass through on their way south to the Loire valley or Poitou-Charentes but we love it here. It is very green and agricultural and feels just like a home from home. There are a few other Brits in the area; house prices are still low and we are within an hour of Rennes airport and an hour and a half from St-Malo and Caen ports, so it’s ideal.’

In fact, when it came down to it, it was Robin who had to persuade Geneviève to make the move. ‘Village life in France can be quiet – very quiet – and La Roë has just 250 inhabitants,’ stresses Geneviève. ‘We have always lived places where we have had to organise our own entertainment though so I knew we could make it work. And I loved the house too.’

Antique furniture

The beautiful 14-room property has been lovingly restored from top to bottom and the couple now run five rooms as chambres d’hôtes all year round. ‘We got the double pitched roof done while we were still in Saudi – it would cost an arm and a leg to do it today,’ continues Robin. ‘The rest we did after we moved in and it took us about three years to complete.’

The basement brocante is Robin’s indulgence and his eye for antiques and bric-a-brac is evident as soon as you step through the door. The rooms have been tastefully fitted out with a selection of British and French antique furniture; the chambres d’hôtes rooms in particular being in possession of some fine beds.

‘We basically started at the top and worked our way down so all the leftovers ended up in the basement. We toyed with the idea of having a Jacuzzi in the basement,’ laughs Robin, ‘but I had always wanted an antiques shop so went with the brocante instead.’
He is the first to admit that it’s not big business and a sale is generally viewed as an added bonus rather than a necessity. He spends his time at auctions and house clearances and the brocante is the perfect showcase for his eclectic taste.
Crockery sits alongside an ancient doll or an object of militaria; a rare painting hangs above some French linen or a snakeskin handbag; a stately dresser holds glassware, an emerald ring and an old English pottery statue. The unpolished and subtly lit basement provides the ideal setting to root around these forgotten treasures.

The brocante is in its fourth year but the cricket has been going longer still. ‘Again, it was something that I had always wanted to do,’ explains Robin. ‘I had always played at school and in the Air Force and so, in 2002, to celebrate the Queen’s jubilee, we had a match on the front lawn.

‘That’s where the flags originate from; a French chap hoisted the Union Jack and vice versa. We invited people from the local expat society, Euro Mayenne, and we ended up with mixed teams of 15 players. We had to amend the rules to accommodate the short pitch and we played with a tennis ball. We organised a picnic as well and it was beautiful weather so it has now become an annual event and something of a local institution.

‘The match got me thinking and so, with a friend, I put an advert in the local supermarket and today, there are 15 of us – 14 Brits and one French man! As cricket is not played in France, the maire of the neighbouring village lets us practice on the tennis courts and play on the football pitch. Again, we have to adapt the rules a little but it’s starting to take off. We are the only team in Mayenne so we have to travel quite far to Normandy, Brittany or Vendée for our matches.’

Jazz evenings

For Geneviève, quite apart from running the chambres d’hôtes, which she does largely single-handedly, she has found what appears to be a full-time job in saving the local abbey. The ruined abbey at La Roë is vast and was once an important site in the area. The Mitchells’ château was built on the abbey’s land. When the couple arrived, the maire approached them seeking support for the project and it all started from there.

‘We organise a programme of events that take place in the abbey; anything from classical music concerts, jazz evenings, piano recitals, art exhibitions and workshops. Robin was in the Air Force and so he engineered a really successful exhibition of the two world wars in 2000,’ explains Geneviève. Robin swiftly interjects: ‘The abbey is Geneviève’s baby. She is always on the radio raising awareness, promoting events and keeping the site in people’s minds. It’s hard work but she has achieved a great deal’.
‘Any money we make just goes back into the association to keep it ticking over. We haven’t been able to afford to make any improvements to the abbey,’ continues Geneviève. ‘We set up the association La Roë Tourisme in 1997 and we use it to manage both the cricket team and the abbey. Everything needs an association in France!’

The latest exhibition to be held at the abbey is a somewhat surprising gallery of patchwork. ‘Robin unearthed a patchwork quilt screwed up in the corner of the church and his brocante eye immediately lit up. It is a religious patchwork of 3,000 pieces and it dates back to the nineteenth century and it is now listed as a monument historique. It gave me the idea for the exhibition and we received some fifty patchworks from all over the world to hang in the abbey, along with a replica of the original one found by Robin; it took six women two years to make the second one!’

So what is the secret to becoming so involved in community? Certainly, their Anglo-French partnership gets a foot in the door but it is almost solely down to their enthusiasm and diverse interests: ‘As I said before,’ concludes Geneviève, ‘we have always lived in places where we have had to make our own entertainment.’ And even the sleepy little hamlet of La Roë has proved no exception.