All three of our properties in Burgundy are run by myself, Laura Bradbury, and my husband Franck Germain. Imagine me falling in love with a Frenchman named Franck ! I tried to convince him to change his name to François but he is stubborn - typical of a native Burgundian as I have come to discover. Franck was born in Dijon and grew up in the village of Villers-la-Faye, where La Maison de la Vieille Vigne and La Maison des Chaumes are located.

I hail from Victoria, Canada and fell head over heels in love with Franck when I was only 18 and in Beaune, where Le Relais du Vieux Beaune is situated, for a year as a Rotary Exchange Student.

We bought our first house, La Maison des Deux Clochers in the village of Magny-les-Villers, just after I finished a grueling law degree at Oxford University. Shortly after writing my final exam papers I realized that my soul would wither away if I did as everyone expected and actually became a lawyer. Instead, Franck and I threw our hearts into buying and renovating our little 18th century pied-à-terre near Franck’s family while trying to figure out what to do next.

Now, eight years later, and with a family of our own in the form of our three daughters, Charlotte, Camille, and baby Clémentine, we realize that ditching my law career and buying La Maison des Deux Clochers turned out to be a much more fortuitous decision than we ever could have imagined!


Here are Franck and I on my turf in Canada.

We moved from Victoria, Canada to Villers-la-Faye with our daughters in 2004 to commandeer the expansion of our network of Burgundian vacation rentals. Not only do we have three properties here for rent now with a fourth on the way for Summer 2009, but Charlotte and Camille attend the same school in Beaune that I went to during my exchange year, speak perfect French, and squabble over who gets to eat the last escargot.

To get frequent updates on my joyful but very chaotic life in Burgundy managing four vacation rentals, three daughters, and one very French husband, visit my blog