This is a question that I asked myself a few weeks after we shifted into our holiday home two summers ago, knowing full well that we would not be in France for the majority of the renovation we knew we would need to find a main contractor that we could trust but with my background in hotel development advisory, the already well thought through scope of work to be done and a document of mood images that took me three months to compile we could have gone either way.  So what made us decide to engage a professional to help us through the design phase of the renovation? Are you wondering the same right now for your place?  Well here are some things to consider: Location – are you in the same town as the work ? are you able to meet suppliers, contractors, other consultants on site or do you need support to do this?  We are based in Dubai and our home is in the Savoie, France so we definitely needed to find …

Now that we spend time in France each year we thought it was a good idea to expose the kids to as wide a range as possible of French food as possible.  That means anything from a croque monsieur to steak hache to something that does not really look like anything they have tried before. This was one of those days when we wanted the kids to adventurous and try a truly delicious market menu from Atmospheres up above Bourget du Lac.  Only ten minutes from home I can’t believe it has taken us over a year to visit so I wanted to share our experience. A very modern sleek dining room and terrace provides a simple and elegant setting for some amazing food.  With a private dining room to one end we had a perfect vantage point across the garden and view across Lac du Bourget back towards our place.  Also a good place to put a party of seven when three of them are 6 years and under.  It meant that the kids …