UK tour 2007

Well it's over two weeks since my last posting and we've travelled nearly 2,000 miles since leaving home on the 11th December. We had a good trip up to Calais & the circumnavigation of Paris went like a dream. The only worry was when my navigator Babs asked, as we were entering a tunnel, did I think that this was the boulevard soleil? We arrived at the ferry 2 hours early and the check in clerk was already full of Christmas spirit as she allowed us on the earlier ferry with no extra charge. Our first night back in the UK was spent at Matthew's and it was straight to the local Indian restaurant for a long awaited curry.

Wednesday we headed north to Blackpool to stay with Barbara's mum for a couple of nights and do our first bit of Christmas shopping. Barbara was well organised and had ordered the majority of this year's pressys over the internet and Father M & S had made an early delivery to Blackpool so it meant that thankfully it was only bits & pieces we needed to pick up. Next stop on our tour was Scotland where we spent a couple of nights with N & A in East Kilbride. When we arrived on the Friday night it was warmer than when we'd left Blackpool, perhaps we should keep heading north. We had a great couple of days & on Sunday afternoon we headed south again and spent the rest of Sunday & Monday with C & S in Carlisle. As usual C had been busy baking & there was as always a great selection of cakes & by the time we get back to France I think we'll be getting the diet books out. We left Carlisle on Tuesday and headed over to P & C's loaded down with a delicious looking home made Christmas cake; thanks. On Wednesday we had a trip into Newcastle during the day and called over to see B & L in the evening. Thursday it was time to return south with a car loaded down with curtains (thanks Ca) and cakes (thanks Ch) and after a quick visit to S & J's we hit the A1. All went well until we hit the rush hour traffic entering the Blackwall tunnel, it's not a journey I'd want to do everyday & made me think of those quiet French country roads. Thanks to everyone who made our UK tour so enjoyable & we look forward to seeing you all out in France in 2008.

Once back in London we started what was a bit of a busmans holiday. We'd recently completed on a small flat in Tunbridge Wells & along with Matthew set about pulling the kitchen out & fitting a new one. It's amazing how much easier it is negotiating prices in Wickes & B & Q where they speak English, although in a very strange southern accent. Saturday we had to hit the shops in Ealing for the 'last minute' presents & food shopping. What fun that was & when we asked the local green grocer for a turnip and he said he only had 'Scottish turnips' & handed us a swede I thought we were back 'up north' where everyone seems to get their turnips & swede mixed up!

Have a great Christmas & New Year and if you're heading to south west France in 2008 make sure you call in and see us.

Barn again

This last few weeks it's been a real struggle to come up with anything original to put in the blog. Working hard on the bedrooms & en-suites has meant that we've hardly ventured across the threshold and have little to report on apart from placo & plaster. On Tuesday we did hit the high spots of La Fouillade and called in to chase M. Regourd, our electrician & plumber. We were ready for them to fit the bathroom & electrical fittings and were hoping that they'd be able to get the job finished before we set off for the UK, you'd think by now we'd have realised we were being a tad optimistic. They did turn up on Thursday but only had time to fit the electrics so although we could now take a shower with the light on we were not going to be able to have a long well earned soak in the bath. There was a promise to return early next week & to have all the first fix plumbing completed for when we return in the new year. We'd also received a call from the builder we're using to open up the windows & doors in the barn to say he'd be with us Monday morning so it looks as if the site is going to be a hive of industry in our absence. Let's hope he gets the holes in the right places & we don't return to a pile of rubble!

Saturday we took time out to stock up on the Christmas essentials we promised to take back to the UK with us, namely wine, beer & duck. The wine merchant had obviously dealt with lots of Brits taking wine back to the UK & suggested we'd find it easier to pack the car if we bought the wine in boxes rather than the normal plastic kegs. He was right & we were able to get even more wine in than we planned. Next call was the supermarket where we picked up a good supply of duck breasts, confit de canard & cheese all of which are significantly cheaper here in France. With the car fully loaded all I hope now is that the car's suspension holds out for the duration of our trip.

Well here we are in December & I can't believe we've been over here in France for nearly a year. It really doesn't seem that long ago that I left Antalis and joined the massed ranks of the unemployed and then went dishing out the wine at M & S. It's been an interesting 12 months during which time we've had many ups, downs & lots of 'what the hell are we doing'. It's certainly been a steep learning curve & we've learnt a lot (apart from the French language) but there is still so much more for us to learn. We're looking forward to seeing all our friends back in the UK and are both quite excited about the next few weeks & no doubt by the time we arrive at Rebecca & Alan's on Christmas Eve we'll have put back on all the pounds we've lost through months of hard labour. I hope to be able to update the blog between now & when we return in early January so watch out for the update emails.

A bedroom at last

Another week of fitting plasterboards, plastering & at long last painting. There's still the second bedroom en-suite & small bedroom to finish boarding but with visitors expected on Sunday it was out with the tin of varnish & tubs of paint. While P & I continued boarding Barbara had worked extremely hard to meet the self imposed completion deadline of 28th & had she worked until midnight on Wednesday we'd have made the deadline. As it was we were only a day late (wish the roofer had been the same) & the first lick of paint was applied on Wednesday and early Thursday it was on with the second and the first of 2 coats of varnish to the bedroom floor. Barbara was up early on Friday morning brush in hand applying the second coat to the floor & then standing guard outside the bedroom door to make sure we didn't stray on to the wet floor. There are still one or two finishing touches required, the main one being an electricity supply, but after spending Saturday afternoon moving beds & furniture about we were at long last able to spend our first night in our very own bedroom. Whoopee! Having lived in one room for the last six months it seemed strange climbing the stairs to go to bed & having a living area without a double bed in the middle of it.

After a week of hard labour it was time for a rare treat & on Saturday night we booked a table with P & C at the local tearooms that do themed dining evenings once a month. Those of you who have read the blog since the beginning will remember we'd attended a Burns night when we first arrived here. This time it was an Italian themed meal with fruits de mer (not very Italian I thought) lasagne & tiramisu. I did ask for a bottle of Chianti but as is normal there was a wide range of wines available, as long as it was French!

Sunday morning we managed a bit of lie in. We'd only just got up when a car pulled in and 2 pompiers (firemen) got out. 'Quick turn the fire down' Barbara said 'it must be causing too much smoke and they think it's on fire'. She shouldn't have worried because they were selling a calendar & after a donation for the local fire & ambulance station. It was a great mountain biking morning, not too cold, a little damp & lots of mud about & I managed to do a few kilometres. I'd not been out long when I came round a bend & was met by a man out walking his dog & two goats. The goats & man were quite friendly but the dog would have got a lovely kick had the owner not managed to catch it & put it on a lead. Back at the house it was a quick tidy up as we were expecting visitors from the UK. Peter, an ex colleague & skiing buddy, and his wife Angie were on their way to Spain and were staying with us over night. We had been a little concerned that they'd find our 'facilities' a little basic but as it turned out we needn't have worried as they'd spent Saturday night sleeping in their van in a French motorway services! It hadn't been one of Peter's better ideas and one I think he will be reminded of on numerous occasions in the future. After a quick tour of Najac we called into to see P & C and finished off a relaxing day with a lovely meal cooked by yours truly.