Yesterday was the hottest day so far this summer, and we experienced our first delayed train as we travelled from Dijon to Paris. In fact, it was two hours late and lots of people were not happy. It was so hot that the railway staff were handing out free bottles of water. However, we eventually made it to our new location in the Île-de-France Region, where we will stay until early August.

We are staying in an absolutely beautiful home on the edge of both the Forest of Fontainebleau and the village made famous for its annual jazz festival which, luckily for us, starts today!!

Django Reinhardt was a very famous Gypsy guitarist who created a new style of jazz, and he retired to this village in 1951.

Over the next few days there will be many free concerts in the village, as well as the more prestigious concerts and performances in a park near the Château de Fontainebleau, which is only 10km from our house sit.

The town we are staying in is called Samois-sur Seine, and so this morning Mick and I went to get a closer look at the River Seine.

There are a few restaurants on the river which we might check out during our stay, but definitely not over the next few days as hundreds of people are expected for the festival.

We tried out the coffees and croissants at the local boulangerie this morning and there was a bit of a stand-off between Mick and our new ‘charge’ – a beautiful-natured dog who loves croissants too apparently.

Mick did end up sharing.

There are many interesting villages not too far from here, as well as many châteaux, and Mick and I are very excited about exploring this area more fully during our house sit.

Oh, and this is the gorgeous view from our bedroom!!

Mick’s job is to keep the lawn looking this good and mine is to ensure all those bright red geraniums survive. The owners have generously loaned us a car to use during our stay. Can you guess which one??