Well, 2009 has drawn to a close and 2010 has started...with much debate on how one actually pronounces 2010 – 20/10 or two thousand and ten....we are sure this debate will continue for some time to come !! Debate or no debate, we would like to take this opportunity to wish you all a very happy and healthy two thousand and ten !!

Thank you again, to all our clients who visited Poppys Tea Room during the past 12 months. The year was a fantastic success, achieving increased visitor numbers month on month.

Publicity was marvellous too and was mostly achieved through word of mouth – the best sort of publicity (!!), although we also had articles on us and Poppys Tea Room in two national UK magazines (Living France and My Weekly) and in France, the Calvados magazine, Calvados Tourist guides and all the regional newspapers, so we were thrilled to receive such widespread coverage.

Feedback from customers on service and content was excellent and in response to such feedback we expanded on the traditional “tea room” menu to also, include lunches and meals throughout the day, which proved a great success. We had a number of birthday, anniversary and retirement party bookings throughout the year, so our function side of Poppys has continued to gain momentum too.

And because of all this, POPPYS IS FOR SALE !!!
We came to France to work or run a museum and as you know, as well as developing our Montchamp museum, David is now curator of the famous Second World War museum at St Martin des Besaces and works with “Normandie Memoire” promoting the memory of the liberation of Normandy, France and Europe from Nazi tyranny in 1944. This was really our intent, when we came to France two years ago so, with all the success of Poppys Tea Room we have decided to sell the enterprise as a “going concern” – specifically, we are selling the buildings and land for 165,000 euros and the tea room furniture, stainless steel kitchen, fixtures and fittings etc for 35,000 euros, so that we can concentrate on our two museum projects (Montchamp and St Martin des Besaces).

We are pleased that the grapevine has been working overtime, as already, we have received contact from some interested parties...however, if you too are interested, then please feel free to contact us, by email :poppysnormandy@gmail.com or by phone on 00 33 (0) 231 092422. We look forward to hearing from you !!

May we finish this message on our blog, by once again thanking you for your custom this year and to wish you a happy, healthy and prosperous New Year !!

David & Jeanette xx

We were very pleased to welcome to our tea room on Sunday 19th April 2009, 29 members of the Oxford University OTC group, taking part in a battlefield tour of Normandy, prior to the 65th Anniversary of the DDay landings in June.

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When we opened our Tea Room in September, it was our darling little granddaughters wish to have a “grand opening” of the room she had so painstakingly spent hour after hour discussing, planning and telling us, exactly how it had to be – how many of your grandchildren have done the same ?!!

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We closed the doors on 2008 with glad hearts and a feeling of great joy that all the long and hard hours of work seem to have paid off.

The year started with renovations, hygiene legislation, health & safety legislation, business registration and the many more French registrations that one has to comply with in setting up a new enterprise here. However, we finally managed to open the doors to our tea room on the 3rd September – a rather amazing coincidence, as this was the same date that war was declared in 1939. This we thought was rather a “meant to be”, knowing our fascination with Second World War history !!

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This article was published in "The Rendezvous" magazine June 2008. The Rendezvous is a magazine published in Normandy for British residents and visitors.

Poppys Tea Room and Museum

After visiting the British Cemetery at St Charles de Percy, David and Jeanette Mab-butt couldn't find anywhere nearby to have a cup of tea. "It is so emotional visiting these cemeteries, reading the inscriptions on the gravestones, seeing how young all these boys were, that you need to pause afterwards to digest and talk about the experience," says Jeanette.

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This article was published in the French newspaper "Ouest France" on the 26th May 2008.

Un couple d'Anglais crée un musée à Montchamp

David et Jeanette Mabbutt se sont installés dans le Bocage virais. Leur projet : ouvrir un musée de la Seconde Guerre mondiale, évoquant la bataille de Vire.

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This article was published in the French local newspaper "La Voix" in the 2nd week of May 2008.

HISTOIRE - Un musée dans la plus pure tradition anglaise à Montchamp - Ils refont l'Histoire à l'anglaise

David et Jeanette Mabbutt, passionnés par l'Histoire de la Seconde guerre mondiale, vont ouvrir un musée au milieu des anciens champs de batailles. Un lieu un peu à part, avec un salon de thé à l'anglaise.

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