Starting afresh
Hello and welcome, we’re Joanna and Joël. We hope you’ll come and stay at Gîte Le Benouchon soon, here in the Bresse country in eastern France.
In May 2022, we took a big leap – coming to settle here with our small family and four-legged friends, leaving behind our native country, in search of a life that suited us better.
Our hectic lifestyles, busy maintaining the image that society expects, had left us exhausted and out of tune with ourselves. We took some time to really think about what we wanted, and realised we needed a change of lifestyle, to move on to a simpler, fuss-free way of life and thinking.
Love at first sight
When we first visited the area, we were struck by how calm and peaceful it was. We finally found a place where we could really settle, start something new and truly enjoy our lives.
We want to share this restorative place with you, so that you too can recharge your batteries. Meander among the trees listening to the rustle of their leaves, enjoy the lull of the swing or the hammock, take time out to read, admire the surrounding nature, savour the silence and perhaps even be inspired to write, paint or compose, unearthing the creativity within you.
Perhaps we can chat about the merits of slowing down, taking things at a gentler pace, imitating the tortoise in Jean de La Fontaine’s famous fable ‘The Tortoise and the Hare’...