st pancrasse

Hank, a new American friend whom I met a few weeks ago, invited us to his house in St. Pancrasse, at the foot of the Chartreuse. He had told me a little about his house, so I was excited to see it and meet his wife. It turns out that they have a beautiful house with stunning views of the Belledonne. He has done most of the work himself, and it is pretty much a dream house. There is even a wine cellar with a hand made counter weighted trap door! Even the stairs leading down into the cellar are well made. Their backyard has a huge garden, and one can see pastures in the foreground which apparently will never be developed. Also interesting: they have a mass heater, which provides heat for the house (as well as water heating) for several days after doing just a three hour firewood burn. Very cool. The company and lunch were also great; they had friends over from his wife's company and conversation was a mix of french and english.