One girl, one farm....

There is nothing better than to be stuck in bed with food poisoning to feel on fire two days later. I'm back to my normal self and I have bags of positive energy (plus my car passed the M.O.T which really made my day!) so I wanted to share with you this gem of an eco farm in the south of France which I saw in the August issue of the French Marie-Claire.
Are you gumboots ready? OK let's go....

Graine et Ficelle is an eco farm near Nice (South of France) set up by Isabelle, an ex-Parisian who left the capitale to follow her dream. As you know by now, I'm a sucker of these 'dream come true' stories because I think it's hugely inspiring to see so many women following their dreams but I also really like the relax, carefree, contemporary look of Isabelle's farm which is also a B&B and a cooking school for children.
Although her farm is now a little gem for families and children who want to learn about nature, getting there wasn't a piece of cake. Isabelle was not a farmer and had no real experience about eco-farming but she had grown tired of the city, wanted a change of lifestyle and be closer to nature so although she had no farming credentials until then, she had a huge amount of determination and vision!
As Isabelle didn't find the farm of her dream, she decided to build it - a massive job that only took 4 months in the end but which was nothing in comparison to three years of putting the project together, trying to convince the bank,the French agriculture body, etc... Once the farm was built, pigs, cows, chickens and donkeys moved in....

I really like how inviting Isabelle's open-plan kitchen is and you can easily imagine children getting excited and trying to get one of her homemade cakes or glass of homemade lemonade.... Between space, natural light, yummy smells from fresh food and this very long communal table (which I love!)....I just want to go there during the Summer and just be...you know, not doing anything in particular but just appreciate nature and its surroundings and have a chat with Isabelle while she is cooking fantastic, fresh meals with goods from her garden.

Do you want to get the look? OK so here are a few suggestions....

KITCHEN: Isabelle sourced vintage glass jars to display cereals from local flea markets but you can find some beautiful, vintage ones from Holland in Columbia Road or get new jam jars by Le Parfait from Labour & Wait (John Lewis sell them too). Ikea does similar jars but not as pretty and being French, I've a soft spot for the original Le Parfait preserving jars which look so much better. You can also display fresh basil in this herb stand. Kathleeen Hills designed some gorgeous ceramic pendant lights. The Kitchen units are the Varde range from Ikea.
BEDROOM: the white ball chair is available from here and you can get a similar lamp from Roche-Bobois. Skin Flint Design (one of my favourite websites) sells fabulous, reclaimed lights and vintage, distressed mirrors can be found at Cox Interiors in Islington but they will be expensive so if you really want to source great vintage French accessories at great price, go to Lille for 'La Grande Braderie' the first weekend of September (pure heaven!!)
LOUNGE: For a country/close to nature look, you can get sublime stools from Bleu Nature. Habitat also sells nice bamboo salad bowls to leave fresh fruits available to kids anytime and nice eco linen shopping bags are available from here.

For more information, go Graine & Ficelle
Photos: (c) Michel Figuet and I do apologize for the poor quality of mine that dont do justice to his beautiful shots.