Our first summer of breakfasts, guests & very early mornings
It is nearly the end of August, and I find myself asking the question everyone seems to ask at this time of year:
Where did the summer go?
It seems only yesterday that we were preparing for our first full summer season at La Maison de la Grange. Then suddenly the rooms began filling—and, for much of the summer, almost every room was occupied.
We went from heatwaves and hurriedly installing air conditioning, to guests cooling off in our dipping “hot” tub—which was decidedly a cold tub during those very hot days—to now noticing that the evenings are becoming just a little chillier.
The light is changing. The days are becoming shorter. There is that first hint that summer in the Creuse is preparing to give way to autumn.
And somehow, our first summer season as a Chambres & Tables d’Hôtes is almost behind us.
What a wonderful learning experience it has been.
My breakfasts are “copieux”, as my guests are saying with a smile and holding their bellies.
One of the words I have heard repeatedly this summer is copieux.
Traditionally, the everyday French breakfast is quite simple and sweet: fresh bread or tartines with butter and jam, perhaps a croissant or another viennoiserie, accompanied by coffee, tea or hot chocolate. Yoghurt, fruit and juice may also appear.
At La Maison de la Grange, we’ve taken that French foundation and made it our own.
Partly because I love breakfast.
And partly because when guests are staying with us for a week, I don’t want them to come downstairs every morning to exactly the same plate.
So breakfast has become another experiment in learning French hospitality as we go.
The morning begins with the boulangerie
My morning often begins around 7:00 or 7:30, with fresh bread and viennoiseries from the boulangerie in Lavaveix-les-Mines.
There is something wonderfully French about beginning the day with still-fresh bread, croissants and pastries from the local boulangerie.
Back at the house, we add butter, yoghurt, muesli, fruit and local homemade jams, changing things according to the season and what we have available.
And then there are the eggs.
The eggs have definitely been a hit.
Scrambled, fried, boiled or made into a local vegetarian or ham luminettes omelette, they give breakfast a slightly heartier and savoury character—particularly for guests setting off for a full day exploring the Creuse.
Then, occasionally, my Canadian side sneaks onto the French breakfast table.
Maple bacon, anyone?
Or pain perdu—French toast—with fruit, jam or a little maple syrup.
Perhaps not the breakfast you would find every morning in a traditional French household, but that is becoming part of the fun of breakfast here: French foundations with a little La Maison de la Grange twist.
A different breakfast every morning
Our week-long guests have really encouraged me to experiment.
If you’re staying one night, a beautiful basket of bread and viennoiseries, yoghurt, fruit, homemade jam and coffee can be a lovely introduction to a French morning.
But seven mornings?
That’s a challenge I rather enjoy.
So breakfast changes.
One morning there might be an omelette and fresh bread. Another, yoghurt and muesli layered with fruit and homemade jam. Another might bring pain perdu. Eggs may appear in a different form the next day, accompanied by something savoury.
Seasonal fruit changes too, so what appears on the breakfast table naturally follows what we are finding locally.
The goal is that even after several days, guests still come downstairs wondering:
“What are we having this morning?”
And then there are the 5:00 a.m. breakfasts…
Hospitality has also taught me that breakfast time is a somewhat flexible concept.
We’ve had athletes staying with us who needed to leave extremely early for competitions.
That has meant some 5:00 a.m. mornings for me.
At that hour, the village is silent, the house is dark and even our dogs seem to think I have completely lost my mind.
But if someone is heading out to compete, I want them leaving La Maison de la Grange with a full belly and enough energy for the day ahead.
Coffee becomes particularly important—for the athletes, certainly, but perhaps even more so for the hostess.
When the house is full, breakfast changes again
When every room is occupied, breakfast naturally becomes more convivial.
Rather than trying to individually serve everyone at precisely the same moment, we can create a generous buffet-style breakfast where guests help themselves to bread, pastries, yoghurt, muesli, fruit, jams and other dishes while hot items appear from the kitchen.
People wander in.
Coffee is poured.
Someone asks another guest where they are from.
Plans for the day begin to be compared.
And suddenly breakfast becomes its own little gathering.
At other times—particularly with older guests who enjoy a more traditional experience—we slow everything down.
The table is properly set. Coffee and tea arrive. Breakfast is served at a more deliberate pace. There is time to sit, talk and enjoy the morning.
Just as I am discovering with the French evening meal, convivialité matters.
Breakfast doesn’t have to be rushed simply because there is a château waiting to be visited.
“So, where are you going today?”
This has become one of my favourite breakfast questions.
What are you planning to do today?
Sometimes guests already have an itinerary.
Sometimes they have absolutely no idea.
And that is when breakfast can turn into an impromptu Creuse travel-planning session.
Maps come out. Suggestions are made. We talk about villages, châteaux, gardens, markets, churches, museums, walks, brocantes and some of the wonderful places that visitors can easily overlook when simply following the larger tourist routes.
A guest might arrive at breakfast planning to do one thing and leave the table with an entirely different day ahead.
That, to me, is one of the great pleasures of running a Chambres d’Hôtes.
We aren’t simply handing someone a room key.
We get to introduce them to our little corner of France.
Our first summer
So here we are, approaching the end of August.
The air conditioning that seemed absolutely essential only weeks ago is getting a little less use.
The dipping tub doesn’t need quite so much encouragement to feel cold.
The evenings are cooler.
And breakfast conversations are beginning to include thoughts of autumn.
When I look back, it is difficult to believe how much has happened in one summer: the guests who arrived for one night and those who became part of the household for a week; couples, families, travellers and athletes; completely full breakfasts and quiet breakfasts for two.
There have been early mornings, late dinners, endless cups of coffee, mountains of croissants, plenty of eggs and more than a few lessons learned along the way.
Most importantly, there have been people around our table.
That is what I will remember most about our first summer.
And we’re not finished yet.
There are still breakfasts to make, places to recommend and guests arriving at the door.
But on these cooler late-August evenings, I am beginning to wonder what our first autumn in the Creuse will bring.
For now, though, there is bread to collect from the boulangerie tomorrow morning.
And I should probably decide what I’m doing with the eggs.
Helen
Host, La Maison de la Grange – Chambres & Tables d’Hôtes
Saint-Martial-le-Mont, Creuse, France
