During our search for a suitable house for our plans, we quickly fell in love with the long-fronted farmhouse we now live in, located in the hamlet of Lafayette. The name Lafayette immediately reminded us of a dog that plays a role in “The Aristocats”, our children's favourite Disney film. In this film, Lafayette, together with another languid dog, Napoleon, keeps the countryside free of strangers. We thought it would be fun to do something with this idea in the naming of our guest rooms, but we weren't sure how. The first guest room to be completed, the mini-loft, was named Lafayette, but that also refers to the name of our hamlet.
For the next project, the rooms for the chambre d'hôtes, the idea arose to use the French translation of our family names. The first two rooms could be called “Étincelle” (Spark) and “Le Petit” (The Little One). We did not agree unanimously, and we could not let go of the “Aristocats” either. So we put this option on hold and continued to puzzle over it.
Since we have been living in France, we have enjoyed browsing at “brocantes” and “vide greniers” looking for nice things for our house and books. Comic books are our favourite, and this is also a fun way to improve our French reading skills. Then came the moment of inspiration to combine our (comic) book hobby with our family names. We already had Antoine de Saint-Exupéry's famous book in our possession, so the name of the first room became “Le Petit Prince”. This pays tribute to Carianne's family name. The next room will be named “Astérix”. A star fits nicely with the theme of “sparks”, which regularly fly off in his adventures with Obelix. The dining room also gets a name: Olivier B. Bommel. His famous saying, “A simple but nutritious meal”, is the starting point for our table d'hôtes.
