During our search for a suitable home for our plans, we quickly settled on the long-fronted farmhouse we now live in, located in the hamlet of Lafayette. The name Lafayette immediately reminded us of a dog that plays a role in *The Aristocats*, our children’s favorite Disney movie. In this movie, Lafayette, along with another long-nosed dog named Napoleon, keeps the countryside free of outsiders. We thought it would be fun to incorporate this reference into the naming of our guest accommodations, but we weren’t quite sure how. The first guest accommodation to be completed, the mini-loft, was indeed named Lafayette, but of course that also refers to the name of our hamlet.
For the next project—the rooms for the chambre d’hôtes—we came up with the idea of using the French translations of our family names. That way, the first two rooms could be named “Étincelle” (Spark) and “Le Petit” (The Little One). We weren’t all in agreement, and we couldn’t quite let go of the “Aristocats” either. So we set that option aside and kept brainstorming.
The thing is, ever since we’ve been living in France, we’ve loved browsing “brocantes” and “vide-greniers” in search of fun little things for our home—and books. Comic books are our favorite, and this is also a fun way to improve our French reading skills. Then came the moment of inspiration to combine our (comic) book hobby with our family names. We already owned Antoine de Saint-Exupéry’s famous book, so we named the first room “Le Petit Prince.” This pays homage to Carianne’s family name. The next room will be named “Astérix.” A star fits nicely with the theme of “sparks,” which, moreover, regularly fly off in his adventures with Obelix. The dining room will also be named after Olivier B. Bommel. His famous quote, “A simple yet nutritious meal,” serves as the inspiration for our table d’hôtes.
