About us
Welcome to Le nouveau printemps! We are happy to share this amazing little gem we call home with you.
Your hosts
We are Roos and Julien and since 2022 we live in Maisonsgoutte. We met each other’s in the Netherlands both working as project managers and living the city life. Like the rest of the world, we ended up being at home for most of 2020. It gave us time to work in the communal garden, discuss, study, read, reflect and walk. In the end we both quit our jobs and packed our backpacks for a walk across Europe , starting in Rotterdam and ending in Nice: the long-distance trail GR5.
After 2100km and 4,5 months of walking and bivouac, we arrived at the Mediterranean Sea. This amazing trip was the start of a different look on life for us. We wanted to keep the simplicity we had during our hike, spend more time outdoors, take care of our Earth, share and connect like we did during our hike.
And here we are, welcoming you at Le nouveau printemps! You can find us both around the house and in the garden. Julien also has his own consulting company involving education on ecological transition and Roos is learning French, and teaching permaculture.
Our philosophy on ecological
What is an ecological bed & breakfast? The most important thing for us is that we run our bed & breakfast in the same way as we want to live our life: according to permaculture ethics, and keeping in mind the elegant simplicity.
Satish Kumar inspired us in changing our lives by his book ‘Elegant simplicity’. In a nutshell:
“If we live simply, we will need less money, we will need to work less, and our time will be liberated from drudgery and boring routine. Then we can pursue the path of spiritual fulfilment, focus on personal wellbeing and on the development of arts and imagination. Then we can have time and space for friendship and for love. It is a beautiful paradox – material minimalism maximizes spiritual wellbeing.
Simplicity requires elegance and beauty. Whatever we have should be beautiful, useful and durable at the same time. When I speak of simplicity, I don’t mean a life of deprivation, hairshirt living or hardship. I believe in a good life, in beautiful things, in arts and crafts, and in sufficiency. I believe in joy and celebration.”
Let us explain our way of ecology according to the 3 ethics of Permaculture.
Earth Care
We take care of Earth and all living and non-living things. This means that we strive to have a balanced ecosystem on the land and in the house. We collect and re-use rainwater and we renovated the house in such a way that the temperature and humidity are good in every season without use of fossil fuels. Keeping non-recyclable waste as low as possible is important for us and we use products that are friendly for the environment. We try to create cycles where nutrients do not leave our land. For example, composting with greens from the kitchen, having chickens, a compost toilet and re-using garden green ‘waste’.
During the renovation of the house, we thought every step of the way what the best solution with the lowest impact would be, and how we could design it in a simple and elegant way. Renovating a house is by default not neutral because of the amount of new material that goes in and non-recyclable materials that need to go out. So, we used mostly natural materials such as hemp, wood fibre, newspaper scrap or earth. We re-used materials in the house as much as we could. We introduced low-tech solutions. Besides doing a lot on our own with the help of family and friends, we worked with local craftsmen and companies committed in sustainability.
People Care
Our goal is to make your stay pleasant, so you can relax and feel at home. We produce and cook healthy and tasty food at the table d’hôtes and breakfast. You can wander and rest as much as you like in the large garden.
Fair Share
Le Nouveau Printemps has not been conceived as an island in the world of humans but is integrated into the community. We share time and knowledge volunteering in education on ecological transition. We not only buy and serve local and organic food, but we contribute to the harvest when possible and open our permaculture gardens for everyone who is interested in the process and the principles. We give back to the earth what it needs to regenerate itself: so that the soil, insects, birds, mushrooms, deer, badgers, foxes, and flowers can thrive alongside us.
❉ You can also visit our blog, there are many interesting things to read! ❉