Rock Eddy Bluff B&B: The Perks of Being an Innkeeper
Every time we return home, we feel profoundly enriched. Each adventure reveals new facets of the human landscape, leaving us energized, inspired, and amazed. But how can modest innkeepers, living in a quiet rural retreat in America's heartland, afford to travel so frequently? Our secret lies in our life choices: we prioritize adventure over new cars and flashy boats, fully embracing a simpler, more meaningful lifestyle.
This privilege stems from the conscious decisions we make every day. Furthermore, we travel abroad smoothly by avoiding what many Americans consider mandatory tourist itineraries. As innkeepers, our schedule frees up during the winter months—precisely when travel expenses are at their lowest. It is the perfect time to get away! During these quieter periods, we exchange stays with fellow innkeepers, offering us a truly special way to explore new places.
We recently fulfilled another lifelong dream: riding the majestic Trans-Canadian railway. Later, we explored the picturesque backroads of France, far removed from the frantic pace of Paris. Our little red Citroën guided us through charming villages along the Seine. We also visited our fellow innkeeper, Philippe, in a remote region we likely would never have explored without this cross-continental connection. We have exchanged stays with innkeepers across the United States and in two other countries. This unique lifestyle grants us incredible experiences—like the two weeks we spent in a self-contained Scottish Highland cottage, shared with friends we originally met when they stayed at our own B&B.
Our French friend Philippe is an absolute master of this art. You can learn a great deal from his experience. He recently returned from a several-week journey through Australia, having previously spent weeks exploring America. On every trip, he stays with fellow hosts through these exchanges, immersing himself in their daily lives, forging deep friendships, and sharing his boundless adventurous spirit.
His approach is remarkably simple: when he first started seeking exchanges in the United States, Philippe would simply select interesting innkeepers from directories on the internet. He would send them an email expressing his desire to swap stays and ask if they were interested. Additionally, he maintains a rich and comprehensive website where he shares his many exchange experiences and formally proposes reciprocal visits. Philippe is a fantastic host and a wonderful guest!
We first met Philippe when he stayed with us for a week in winter during one of these exchanges: we would eventually stay at his guesthouse, "L'Etoile," in France, and in return, he spent time at our property, "Rock Eddy Bluff Farm," in Dixon, Missouri. A year later, we were standing at his doorstep in the Cévennes.
It is essential to say how much we appreciate Philippe; we hold him in great esteem and have deep respect for him. He is courageous, honest, highly intelligent, and incredibly easygoing. He is naturally comfortable around others, endlessly curious, and broad-minded. His English may be tinged with a thick French accent, but that never stops him from genuinely engaging with people, completely unhindered by cultural barriers or dogma.
When visiting America, Philippe will show you his true, unfiltered self, and I am convinced he expects the exact same authenticity in return. Be yourself and give him the opportunity to experience your life personally. Introduce him to your daily routines, the people you interact with, and share ideas that might differ from those he is accustomed to.
The key events of his life perfectly illustrate the kind of man he is. Philippe didn't enjoy the rigid structure of school. Wanting to dive headfirst into "real" life, he asked his father—a freelance journalist in Brussels—for permission to leave. His father replied: "If I see that you can get good grades, then I'll let you go." Philippe easily aced his exams, and at the age of fourteen and a half, he left the classroom behind to fully embrace the world.
He worked on organic farms for several years, then took up construction jobs in France and Belgium. Later, his travels took him to Peru, Australia, Greece, and eventually the United States. At sixteen, he cycled solo across France, and by seventeen, he rode from Brussels to Athens to participate in an environmental protest protecting the Mediterranean. A year later, he embarked on another solitary bicycle journey through Scandinavia. "Cycling was the ideal way for me to travel far and cheaply while remaining completely free," he told me.
At 21, inspired by a television documentary, Philippe decided to search for gold in California. Speaking very little English, he flew to New York with his brother Michel, and they hitchhiked all the way to Northern California. Along the road, he learned the language by necessity. "When you are forced to learn, you learn," he laughed. Among the very first phrases he picked up was "Hands up!"—an expression he understood instantly when facing a loaded gun. A driver in a stolen car had picked them up on the highway, resulting in the brothers spending a day in a local jail. What an initiation!
In Arcata, on the Pacific coast, they met John, a former Vietnam veteran who hosted ladies in the afternoons in a rather unique setting: a giant waterbed. Heavily tattooed, powerfully built, yet a true gentleman, he did everything to keep his guests happy. John happened to know a man named Brian Hill, a gold miner working up at Eagle Creek.
After a few days, Philippe and his brother navigated their way into the deep Redwood forest to find these isolated miners. The men lived entirely self-sufficiently in remote cabins roofed with redwood shingles, surrounded by their horses. To reach them, one had to follow Willow Creek, pass through Denny, and take the rugged trail leading to Eagle Creek, where everyone knew Brian.
"Once you arrive," Philippe recalled, "you are in another world. Out there, I had to prove myself, adapt quickly, think big, and completely forget my prejudices. Everything else is swept away; you have to keep moving forward, not wait for others, and be highly creative just to carve out a small place for yourself. Almost everyone there had been part of the special forces in Vietnam. The experience was intense. The sheer beauty of nature, with its raw, healthy, and unforgiving side, was overwhelming." What more could a twenty-year-old brimming with energy ask for than to experience "something entirely different"?
"The first nugget I found was about 1.5 by 2 centimeters. Searching for gold gives you an incredible surge of strength. The others were quietly waiting to see what I was made of. One night, I smoked a joint of marijuana they had grown and downed half a bottle of vodka. I was completely high but in excellent company. We hunted bear and deer, then built massive bonfires and enjoyed saunas on the hillsides alongside hippies, rugged miners, and young kids riding horses bareback like Native Americans."
These vivid memories sound like they belong to a literary cousin of Jack London. Philippe spent much of the night convincing us that the 20th century could still feel like the wild frontier of a last-chance saloon. The Greco-Belgian truly speaks with the soul of a writer.
At age 30, along with his partner, three horses, and two dogs, Philippe traveled 650 kilometers across France over two months. They followed the long-distance hiking trails (GR), sleeping on farms or simply under the stars. For an entire year, he lived like a true cowboy, taking meticulous care of his animals and seizing the opportunity to learn how to shoe a horse, craft a Texas saddle, a pack saddle, and leather chaps.
He immersed himself completely in this rustic lifestyle, an opportunity provided by his friend Olivier, whom he met in a small village in the Cévennes. Running a farm inn, Olivier occasionally hosted hikers in a large dormitory and shared meals at a communal table. "I felt an immediate connection to the concept," Philippe said. It was exactly what the former gold miner had been looking for!
It was during this long journey that Philippe discovered the Hotel Ranc, which was up for sale in the village of La Bastide-Puylaurent. Though he had very little money, he declared instantly: "This is my guesthouse!" "What drives you to make these major life choices?" I have asked him variations of this question more than once. Each time, his answer remains beautifully simple: "I don't choose; life chooses for me," he replies with a grin.
Here is a perfect description of Philippe written by Nicholas Crane, an English author who traversed Europe's mountain trails and eventually knocked on L'Etoile's door: "The Hotel Ranc had briefly become a holiday retreat for former soldiers who served in Algeria. It is now a beautiful guesthouse run by the young and very tall Philippe Papadimitriou, a Belgian-Greek whose grandfather once owned the prestigious Hotel de Paris in Cairo. 'It was intuition, not science,' laughed Philippe. 'Voila!'"
By Tom Corey
Tom Corey is the author of "A High Sunny Place". The book can be found here: https://www.lulu.com/spotlight/rockeddy
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