I think it's fair to say that by the end of the week I'll be well hacked off with hacking out but it has to be done. By Wednesday you can really see the results of all our hard work & it's been well worth the effort. It's just as well we're making reasonable progress as the architect turns up with the revised plans for the barn & we now have to submit them to the local Maire. We can then begin work on the barn!!!We're having a royal visit this week from Beryl, Barbara's mum, and on Thursday we're off to Limoges to pick her up. Beryl lives in Blackpool and up until a couple of weeks ago Ryanair had a flight from there to Stansted that linked up perfectly with the Rodez flight. Rumour has it that Blackpool airport authority saw how busy the flights were and decided to up the landing fees. In typical Ryanair style they said you can stuff your increased fees and pulled the flight. Let's hope one side comes to their senses and the flight is reinstated, in the meantime it's off to Limoges for us. It fits in quite well as I've arranged to collect the bike mount off the tow bar on the Merc that I was unable to remove before it was collected last week & the garage is just north of Figeac which is on one of the routes we can take to Limoges. The garage owner has said he'll leave the part in the back of my old car which he'll park up just off the road. What a sorry site it makes when we get there with all the carpets gone, back seats removed and door panels missing. It almost makes me want to give him his money back, but not quite.
Although we've passed Limoges a number of times it's the first time we'll have been in to the city. Well as it turns out we don't get to see much of the town as the airport is well to the west and by the time we get there Beryl's flight is due in 20 minutes, good timing. I was expecting an airport of a similar size to Rodez but it turns out to be much bigger with UK flights from Manchester, East Midlands, Newcastle, Stansted & Liverpool amongst others which must explain the number of British cars in the car park. I know on occasions I can be given to slight exaggeration but there were more British registered cars there than you'd find on the average Saturday at the Trafford Centre! We know of someone who flies in to Limoges regularly and on one occasion he'd stopped counting GB plates when he got to 144. Once in the airport a quick check on the arrivals board shows Beryl's flight is delayed by 2 hours and is now due to land a 5:05. Ah well, time to catch up with the news and there's lots of English newspapers available to choose from. At least we don't have as much time to idle away as the couple we sat next to in the café. They'd missed their flight and would be sat about the airport until the next flight to Stansted which was at 10:00 the following morning. The flight arrives at just after 5:00 and Beryl is the first off looking well & remarkably fresh considering she's been on the go since 6:00 this morning. She obviously pleased to see us both and we hit the road for the drive back and her first viewing of Lagarrigue. As we near the house we can see lightening in the distance and there's rain in the air. We manage to get in the house as the heavens open and there's the biggest downpour and thunderstorm we've witnessed since we arrived. Despite the appalling weather Beryl is well impressed with what we've done and quickly relaxes in to the French way of life with a glass of red wine and a cheese baguette.
Friday we get a rude awakening when a lorry pulls up just after 7:30 with a delivery of sable & chaux in preparation of starting the pointing. We spend a leisurely morning showing Beryl around the local area and in the afternoon we head over to VDR. It's like being on your holidays & I'm getting withdrawal symptoms from not hacking out for a couple of days, what a waste of money those hard hats were. Saturday is another day spent on 'our hol's' with a day in Albi the birth place of Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec. Click HERE for more details of the town and the painter responsible for such titles as 'Woman Pulling up her Stocking', 'The Toilette' and my favourite 'Two Half-Naked Women Seen from behind in the Rue des Moulins Brothel'.
Back to the real world and a little hacking out when we return home while Beryl 'rests' from the days activities. Sunday we can't resist a trip to the market in St. Antonin-Noble-Val where we know Beryl will enjoy wandering around the food & craft stalls. In the afternoon it's a little furniture removing duties as we help G & S move some of their furniture to the house in Mazarolles. It's really coming together for them and they're really looking forward to spending their first night in the house.
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