Travel the Home Exchange Way blog

One month ski chalet home swap in Le Sappey, France

Home swap: in a ski chalet in Le Sappey, France

It's always great to hear members' home swap experiences. Here's a recent trip report from an exchange this March between Jean's ski chalet in Le Sappey, Rhone Alps, France and Helena and Mike's lovely country cottage in Shropshire, England.

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Home swap: Shropshire, England >>> Rhone Alps, France

"We swapped homes with Jean for a whole month. She was fabulous and provided care and love for our elderly Labrador who couldn’t come with us. Her ski chalet in Le Sappey was delightful, so when it snowed for a week we loved being indoors and enjoy the cosy alpine atmosphere. Thones is a charming town and Annecy is very close by. We were spoilt for choice with great ski resorts - we chose Le Grand Bonard as it had a wealth of easy green runs. Also great to find a bridge club in La Clusac, so bridge and French language skills got done practice. Thanks Jean for a great home swap!" - Helena & Mike

 

Home swap: Rhone Alps, France >>> Shropshire, England

"My home swap in Helena's house in Oreton, Shropshire, was really relaxing. It's a charming country hideaway, where the pheasants, and even the curlews, outnumber the people. Ludlow was only 20 minutes away and is a really beautiful town; we visited several times in order to appreciate everything it has to offer, including the pubs and restaurants! Even more intriguing, is Cleobury Mortimer, with its crooked spire and unique independent shops. I miss the three beautiful cows in the next field, who always wanted to eat my left over food, and lovely old Stella, Helena's brown Labrador. Helena and Mike are kind and generous people, who made sure that I wasn't short of company during my time there."  - Jean

 

Photos of Jean's chalet in Le Sappey, France

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Photos of Helena & Mike's country cottage

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Meet the members:   View Jean's home swap offer: beautiful ski chalet in the Rhone Alps, France View Helena & Mike's home swap offer: country cottage in Shropshire, England

 

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Home Base Holidays member on Masterchef!

Paul and Judith's home in Olonzac, France and Paul appearing on Masterchef

March was an exciting month watching Home Base Holidays member, Paul, appearing as a contestant on the very popular BBC series, Masterchef. We're all so proud of him and he did incredibly well, making it all the way to the final 12 (episode 15). His French inspired food looked amazing and received excellent feedback from the Masterchef judges, John and Greg. Some of the highlights included cooking a lunch service at The Frog restaurant in London's Covent Garden and cooking for the world-renowned two Michelin Star chef, Michel Roux Jr. Way to go Paul!

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Paul and Judith relaxing at their home in Olonzac

Paul and his wife Judith are early retiree art & design lecturers and very experienced home exchangers. The couple have a beautiful French home in Olonzac, right in the middle of the wine producing area of the Minervois in Languedoc Roussillon. Their home has a lovely courtyard planted with figs, grapes, lemons, olives, bougainvillea, oleander, hibiscus and lavender, as well as herbs and tomatoes, where you can dine al fresco. You can certainly see where Paul gets many of his culinary inspirations from!   

 

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On home exchanging and sampling local produce, Judith writes: "We're SO proud of Paul! A great benefit of home exchanging is being able shop and cook locally. We have great memories of the farmer’s market in San Francisco, Piggly Wiggly in Charleston South Carolina, VONS in LA, the roadside stalls in Acapulco, fishermen’s hauls in Spain. We bought the weird and wonderful in Australia - Morton Bay Bugs and kangaroo steaks, then cooked it on a beautiful flowery patio beside our very own pool. Cooking food on a variety of interesting quirky ovens and BBQs is one of the thrills of a home swap, something that would be impossible in a hotel room." - Judith

 

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Watch Paul's Masterchef journey via the BBC iPlayer: (only available in the UK)

You can catch up with Paul's Masterchef appearances via the BBC iPlayer: https://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episodes/b006t1k5/masterchef 

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Meet the members  Check out Paul and Judith's home, a lovely 120 year old town house in the friendly, bustling village of Olonzac. View Paul and Judith's home swap offer