French Shabby Chic

We were at the most glamorous of locations down here in the South of France yesterday, the décheterie to be exact, that's the council tip or dump in plain English. Approached up a pretty lane strewn with wild flowers and views of surrounding open countryside we eventually reach the entrance. Up a well maintained drive lined with gravelled borders and planted up with some beautiful plants such as lavender and roses we pull up at the smart green skips all neatly labelled. The boss ambles out of his small whitewashed office and inspects my 'membership card' peers into the open top car bulging with an assortment of rubbish and then proceeds to actually help 2b and I unload !

Old habits die hard and I cannot resist peering into one of the bins. The last ' find' on my previous visit was an elaborately carved gold gilt edged mirror and my eyes lighted on a white wooden garden bench. 'I would like that' I said, always a great believer in getting straight to the point. He shook his head and went into a detailed explanation as to why it was no good. However he had got some garden chairs tucked away in the office if I was interested. Heavens above, not only were they wooden and in perfect condition they even looked as though they had been painted in a Farrow and Ball colour. Having done my bit of recycling for the day we set off home, 2b veering between admiration and exasperation at his Mother.

Promptly placed in the garden under the bay tree and next to the old stone wall they add that oh so essential 'french shabby chic' to the garden.

Seriously 'de rigueur'