What a wonderful memoir this is， the first one in a series by Lindy Viandier。 She and her husband， Mr V have just bought a 300 year old ‘fairy tale， but sadly neglected。 cottage’ in the Côte-d'Or area of Burgundy。 It charts their first year in Les Libellules and describes their ongoing efforts to make the house habitable while retaining some of its traditional features。 At the same time， they are tackling the overgrown garden and clearing the ‘mare’ to create a wildlife friendly pond。 It’s all a What a wonderful memoir this is， the first one in a series by Lindy Viandier。 She and her husband， Mr V have just bought a 300 year old ‘fairy tale， but sadly neglected。 cottage’ in the Côte-d'Or area of Burgundy。 It charts their first year in Les Libellules and describes their ongoing efforts to make the house habitable while retaining some of its traditional features。 At the same time， they are tackling the overgrown garden and clearing the ‘mare’ to create a wildlife friendly pond。 It’s all a great deal of work as they live in Paris and have to travel down at weekends and holidays to work on the house。 I particularly like the chapter headings and short chapters full of detail。 I had to laugh at some of the ‘what I’ve learnt today’ statements。 Lindy has an amazing eye for detail and her descriptions of the wildlife， and the beautiful Burgundian area are simply wonderful。 She captures the changing seasons and scenery with words and with her camera。 I would love to see some of her photos。 She and Mr V easily make friends within the little town and she writes with such warmth about their neighbours and all the various local celebrations。 I think my favourite was the Fete des Voisins。 There are tales of flying ants， marauding mice and troublesome toilets。 Oh， and cats， lots of cats。 In short， this memoir is a delight to read， Lindy has the knack of drawing the reader in with her conversational style and sense of humour。 It's beautifully written and quite lyrical at times which greatly appealed to me。 There are also some rather scrumptious recipes to try。 What a bonus。 Read this book， I can highly recommend it and am already looking forward to the next in the series。 。。。more