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The former auberge is in the heart of the Livradois forest
Pastures new F
or me, my wife Ingrid and son Lorenzo, 2023 was always going to be a pivotal year. It was,
after all, the year I would hit my half-century. A big milestone in anyone’s life. But even if one is in denial about the passage of time, we have to accept the facts. In truth, I think I actually did that over 30 years ago when my hairline started going north. “Think of the money you’ll save on haircuts and grooming products,” my inner voice said. Anyway, last August
offi cially marked 50 long and eventful years since I fi rst opened my eyes in a Cumbrian hospital. The same year (ironically) that the UK joined the EU (then called the EEC), VAT was introduced and Pink Floyd released The Dark Side of the Moon. It was also the year the US offi cially signed an agreement to end the
After a whirlwind decade, Tim Bell, owner of the Chabanettes Hotel & Spa, has decided the time has come to pass the baton of this landmark Auvergne business on to new owners
Vietnam War and bring a small element of welcome stability to an increasingly volatile and unpredictable world. Big events politically, economically and culturally. And perhaps a little part of me wanted to mark this occasion with my own, rather humbler, yet personally signifi cant milestone.
HOPES AND DREAMS This magazine has kindly off ered me several opportunities over the past few years to wax lyrical about our day-to-day lives running Chabanettes Hotel & Spa in Auzelles, Puy-de-Dôme, in central France. I’ve been able to share our ups and downs, our hopes, dreams, aspirations and actualisations. But this time I’m not writing about a new extension or refurbishment, I’m announcing that we’ve put our beloved little hotel on the market. It’s time to offi cially close this most life-changing of chapters, and an opportunity to refl ect in writing on this incredible era of our lives. But before I explain our
64 FRENCH PROPERTY NEWS: May/June 2024 Then and now: the Bell family are proud of the business they’ve developed
reasoning for deciding to let go of a home and business that we’ve poured our heart, soul (and an awful lot of cash) into over the past nine years, I want to say straight away that this was always the plan when we started dreaming of our new
©CHABANETTES
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