House Renovations

In February 2013, we bought a house on the banks of the Canal de Garonne in Moissac. The reason for this was that one of our aims for the coming years was to bring the steelband over for a tour of Southern France, where we could play a series of gigs in Moissac and other towns along the Garonne Canal. To this end, we started looking for a house in the region which we could initially use as accommodation for the band, and also for members of Rita's family, and for friends who might want to visit the region.

Having looked at a few houses in Moissac and elsewhere, we eventually settled on this house in Moissac. However, having seen the house, and the potential it offered, our ambitions were elevated. We realised that with the size of this house (6-7 bedrooms), it would be possible to convert it into a Bed & Breakfast for Australians visiting France, where we could also run workshops in a range of disciplines (e.g. steel pans, cooking, painting, Lateral Thinking etc), in addition to accompanied cruises on Kanumbra.

This, however, would require substantial renovation and modernisation of the house. The story of the renovation of La Maison de la Rose (The House of the Rose) is told here.