"L'Arbre émaillé" — the name intrigues. Where does it come from? Here's the story — that of a French longère (long farmhouse) discovered one October 2017 morning, a sleepless night carefully cutting out each letter of a hamlet's name on a sheet of paper, and a revelation: L'ARBRE ÉMAILLÉ is the exact anagram of LA RAMBELLERIE.
A longère in the Pays des 3 Rivières
After visiting more than 25 properties in the Pays des 3 Rivières, in the north-west of Loire-Atlantique, one October 2017 morning I walked through the gate of this beautiful renovated longère, with its inner courtyard and outbuildings. It had every criterion I was looking for to create the welcoming place I had in mind.
I had already spotted it back in January 2017, but I didn't have the budget needed to buy it. The owners eventually lowered their asking price, so I could finally afford to visit.
"It was obvious"
The moment I entered the house, I felt a weight lift from my shoulders, a sense of wellbeing wash over me… It was obvious! This house was the one.
After the visit, I stopped by the Port of Blain and treated myself to lunch on the terrace, alone, trying to sketch the floor plan on a scrap of paper while looking at the photos. I was smiling on the inside…
The night I cut out every letter
That night, I couldn't fall asleep. My thoughts were fixed on La Rambellerie — the name of the hamlet. My project was becoming more and more real. "La Rambellerie, La Rambellerie…" The word kept looping in my head.
So I took a sheet of paper, wrote "La Rambellerie", and then carefully cut out a small square around each letter. I started trying to find every word I could spell with those letters. My mind was busy — it felt good.
- aimable · aimer · mer · mère · rare
- abime · réel · libre · ailée
- emballé · libraire · marée · mimer…
And suddenly it hit me: "That's the name I need! The one with all the letters!"
L'ARBRE ÉMAILLÉ
L'ARBRE ÉMAILLÉ is the exact anagram of LA RAMBELLERIE. The same letters, rearranged. A name born from a piece of paper, a pair of scissors, and the sleepless night of a woman who had just fallen in love with a longère.
A dream becoming reality
A few months later, I bought the longère. Today, the place welcomes B&B guests, cottage rentals and motorcyclists stopping over in the heart of Guémené-Penfao. But the name itself was born that night — from a sheet of paper, a pair of scissors, and the urge to find the words hidden in a hamlet's name in the Pays des 3 Rivières.
The name says what I wanted to do here: love (aimer), set free (libérer), embellish (embellir), connect (lier). All those verbs, and many more, were already hidden in the letters.
The best way to understand a name is to come and meet it. Book your stay at L'Arbre émaillé — B&B rooms or cottages.