The first mentioning of the monastery dates from 1868, when Jean Delos of Francescas sold the land to Pierre Poudenson and Marie Castex. Pierre then exchanged the ground with the Conche-Bartherotte family. This farmer in Francescas sold it to Abt Laclotte, priest in Fieux in 1875.
 

The abbot Laclotte started with the construction of "Le Couvent". He placed five to six nuns there, including  Monique Dagorette, his niece, to cope with the education of the children of parish: catechism, sewing, reading and writing, counting, geography and history are taught there. The chapel had a wooden floor and a large wooden door to allow classes. Children were being taught on the ground floor, while the sisters on the first floor lived in individual cells.

Abbott Laclotte donated the monastery to sister Monique Dagorette in 1891.

The chapel also had a small door outside in the sacristy where the abbot Laclotte performed his mass. In the last years of his life, he cycled all day between the church and the monastery. According to an old resident, many children from the village came to the park near the church during the holiday to swim and eat candy.

With the separation of church and state in 1905 in France, the nuns did no longer have the right to teach the children of the parish and had to return to their Mother Superior in Agen.

Monique Lagrotte then presumably donated the monastery to her cousin Martial Dagorette in Bordeaux and stayed there with two other nuns. A member of the Dagorette family then tried to sell the monastery at a low price to someone who was willing to let the sisters live there until their death (two are buried at the cemetery of Fieux in two unnamed graves).

Jean Richefort heard about the offer in Agen and told his son Marcel. Having a commodity in Paris,  Marcel Richefort  bought"Le Couvent" in 1912 for his parents. Jean and Anna Richefort settled with two remaining sisters. They had a cart, a donkey, four goats, chickens, rabbits, etc.

Marcel Richefort became mobilized and went to World War I in 1913. His wife Jeanne and their daughter Yvonne stayed in Fieux during the war from '14-'18.

The extended family and other Parisians also resorted to the monastery for a while. Anna and Jean Richefort died. Marcel Richefort, battle-scarred, left Paris and bought an iron trade at Olonzac in the department of Nérault.

From that moment on, the monastery became a holiday home. The family Richefort stayed throughout July and August in Fieux until Marcel Richefort died in 1970. In his youth, Marcel had a car which he put in the chapel after he broke out a wall and one of the windows.
Marcel Richefort's daughter sold the monastery to the Sénat family in 1970. Jeanine and Philippe Sénat, as well as the father of Philippe were living in the house. Jeanine knew Marcel Richefort well and cared for him during the last moments of his life.
The Senate family did great work in the house: heating, sanitary ware, toilets, as well as dismantling two classes on the ground floor to make a living. However, the chapel remained functional as storage. 

When Philippe Senate died, Jeanine sold the monastery to the Parisians Julien and Christine Simon in 2002. They fell in love with the house and the view of the Pyrenees. At the same time, they acquired a part of the lower field with the intention of a small park to be made in the future.

 They mainly undertook repairs to the chapel by local craftsmen: roofing, fencing and walls repair, windows repair and placement of a marble floor over a large part of the ground floor.

They also changed the cells on the first floor, to make 2 spacious rooms equipped with bathrooms. Many doors from the nuns' time are removed because they had no place to stock them.
The Simons reopened a cellar that was  closed by the Senat family, because they had heard a story  in the village that there was a tunnel which ran from the castle (current town hall in Fieux) to below the monastery (nothing has yet been found ). 
Only a few objects of the nuns are saved during the renovation works: two crucifixes, a prayer chair and two glass / crystal candlesticks. The beds of the attic could not be restored because they were too damaged. Furthermore, the Simon family created a beautiful and colorful garden.

Julien and Christine Simon sold the monastery to Eric and Sylvie Lantin in 2008 to help their son financially with his business.

Sylvie Lantin painted several rooms of the monastery in pastels of the region. These decorative works led to the installation of a contemporary kitchen with modern dining room. She decorated the rooms with a tasteful combination of antique and modern furniture, giving the rooms a contemporary character.

 

Sylvie also started with the construction of the park in the lower field, where some fruit trees are planted. With the birth of their first grandson, however, their desire to live closer to the family becomes too big and they return to Agen. They set the house for sale. 
Via the internet, we got acquainted with "Le Couvent" in the summer of 2016. We visited the location during our holiday in the Lot-et-Garonne and were impressed. The coolness of the monastery, the lofty feel with the high ceilings and the light falling through the windows, the beautiful view of the Tuscan looking countryside, the tranquility of the surroundings and yet close to the people, ... it appealed very much to us.

We visited Le Couvent again in September, to make sure that it wasn't just a summer love.
After that, we purchased the monastery, so for the first time foreigners became the owners.

In order for this beautiful building to be inhabited for a longer period of time, we decided to equip the monastery as a fantastic holiday home for families or friends. Le Couvent is a pleasant stay with enough space and privacy for 12 people.
We therefore strive for the same comfort as at home. In spring 2017 we renovated and doubled the sanitary and bedrooms. A heated swimming pool was also installed.

 

The family Van den Bosch-Daneels from Heist-op-den-Berg welcomes you all to Le Couvent in Fieux!

When the infrastructure  was completed, my sister in law helped me with the finishing touch to turn Le Couvent into a warm home.