After a spooky Halloween with a beautiful (and edible!) decoration of the chateau, our American colivers hosted an exceptional Thanksgiving feast and now we’re getting ready for a cosy and merry Christmas and a very happy and joyful new year!

The weather is getting colder and while we’re having some productive workdays wrapping up our projects of 2022, we’ve had many fun days and nights inside! It has been an autumn full of mulled wine, cheese boards, skill shares, day trips, and even a ‘murder mystery’ to solve!

In October we broke out the costume box in time for Halloween and enjoyed a wicked feast. The colivers got creative and made oreo cookie “bats”, the nomad  dog-coliver at the time – Raspa turned into a ghost thanks to repurposing a pillow case, and for our “pumpkin carving” we enjoyed a pupkin themed dinner (think anything that could be made out of pumpkins – we had it all)!
After dinner we joined together for a cut throat game of Among Us – we play it in real in the castle, not the digital version and it’s one of the all time guest favourites! 

November meant the true start of autumn, but ended up full of many sunshine filled days and seeing how many people we could gather around the smallest kitchen table for our weekly chateau lunches. We had a few solo traveling Americans staying with us during Thanksgiving, and they celebrated by cooking up an unforgettable feast. Sharing their favorite traditional recipes from home, we enjoyed roasted chicken, garlic green beans, mashed sweet potatoes, an apple dressing, pie and more. Between the day trips to places like Cherbourg, Bayeux and the Christmas Market in Caen, the colivers also enjoyed an exciting selection of movie and game nights with holiday themes.

For one of these game nights, a great mystery plagued the castle! What type of mystery? A murder mystery, of course. The colivers got an envelope slipped under their doors with the details of this soiree they were invited to, and came dressed to the nines as their characters. Unfortunately Josephine (you may know her also as Katia) was the “murder victim” and it was up to the colivers to investigate whom the criminal mastermind was! Through collaboration, perhaps some wine, and laughter..they solved the mystery and justice was served 🙂

December has at last arrived and here at the chateau we’ve been busy ‘decking the halls’ to bring the holiday spirit. The entire house spent a day listening to cheerful songs, drinking hot cocoa (okay and some mulled wine) and decorating the chateau. This month we will be going all out with celebrations as special guests from afar (hello Burgas coliving), long time friends and other nomads reunite to ring in the new year!

We’re planning 3-days of festivities to end 2022 in style!
– 30th of December we’re celebrating the birthday of our yoga teacher for this season (also known as the workout witch 🙂 – the lovely Anastasia!
– 31st of December we’re planning a party with all the colivers and some close local friends, we might or might not host a Chateau Talent Show 😉
– 1st of January – grand of opening of the New Year with another Murder Mystery to solve, yes, that means going all-in with costumes and all!

The chateau is already fully booked for the New Years festivities, but If you’re tempted to join the fun, we still have some space in the apartments, so it’s not too late to  join with friends!
Happy Holiday Season, everyone! 

By Alexis Dean-Shubin