Chez Nous Campagne

Somewhere between a brocante and a curated design studio, Chez Nous Campagne occupies a category of its own. The shop sits within the outbuildings of a 17th-century priory near Tourouvre au Perche, in the Orne countryside of Normandy. An oak-shaded pond and open meadows surround the courtyard. The setting works on visitors before they even reach the door.

Inside, 180 square metres divides into four distinct areas, each with its own mood and register. One corner handles the substantial pieces — restored buffets, industrial furniture, statement lighting and larger patinated finds that anchor a room. Another moves through decorative ceramics, vintage mirrors and wicker, the kind of objects that reward close looking. An upstairs expansion added a dedicated space for textiles, rugs and decorative accessories, giving serious fabric hunters a reason to climb the stairs. A lean-to greenhouse extends the display into the garden zone, where outdoor pieces and plant-adjacent objects feel at home in the light.

Owner Cécile Schmitt built this shop around a clear editorial eye. She selects for patina, proportion and the quiet history that a well-worn object carries. Nothing feels accumulated for volume. The result is a shop that feels like a considered argument for a certain way of living — slow, material, attentive to craft.

The range is genuinely broad. Smaller decorative items and fashion accessories sit alongside major furniture finds, which makes Chez Nous Campagne workable for visitors without a van as well as those who came specifically to fill one. Curiosities and craft objects resist easy categorisation but tend to find their people. Seasonal showcases and creative events bring fresh collaborations and one-off pieces through the year, so repeat visitors rarely see exactly the same shop twice.

The tea room pulls its weight. Homemade pastries and warm drinks slow the visit down in the best possible way. Browsing here tends to drift into sitting, then back into browsing. That rhythm — looking, resting, looking again — suits the kind of buyer who wants the experience alongside the object.

Opening hours suit a weekend excursion or a late-week detour. The shop opens Thursday and Friday afternoons from 14:30 to 18:30, and runs from 10:30 to 18:30 on Saturdays, Sundays and public holidays. Monday through Wednesday it stays closed. For buyers already working the Orne and Perche antique circuit, the Thursday and Friday afternoon window makes a natural late-day stop.

Getting here requires a car. The nearest recorded bus stop, Le Gué à Pont on bus line 414, sits approximately 5.2 km away, and other stops on lines 414, 422 and 419 are at similar distances. Plan to drive. The priory grounds and the surrounding Perche countryside make that journey genuinely worthwhile — Chez Nous Campagne is the kind of destination that justifies rerouting an itinerary rather than simply fitting around one.