December already?

Wow I can't believe it, it's December! The year has flown by and here we are planning our return to the UK at the end of the month. We plan to spend a couple of months back in the UK so making sure everything is weather tight is a priority and when the roof sprang a leak last week it was just another item to add to the long list of jobs that have to be completed before we hit the road. We now have one wall of the upstairs barn plaster boarded and have at long last reached the final section of the ceiling. We've also ordered the wood burning stove & are working hard to ensure the section where it's to be installed is ready by the end of next week when the roofer is calling to fit the chimney and hopefully repair the roof. It's going to be interesting to see whether we get withdrawal symptoms and need to go out and get a fix of plasterboard whilst we are in the UK.

As well as working hard we've also been partying hard over the last month. Rebecca paid us a visit in the middle of the month and we were able to enjoy a trip to Albi and a nice long relaxing and sunny weekend with her. The following weekend we were invited to attend a local ladies basketball match in nearby Lunac which was followed by tapas and a disco. Lunac is just one of many small villages in the area & like so many of them it has an excellent sports & social club. No sooner was the game over, which for the records they lost, than the social committee leapt into action and within 20 minutes the bar was open, tables & chairs had been erected, the DJ had set up and the food was on it's way. Whilst the food couldn't be described as gourmet and considering the speed at which it was prepared the standard was excellent and the dishes of whitebait, mini fish cakes & duck was well received by everyone present. Had we known what was coming at our next night out I think we both would have had a little less of the duck dish. Every year in nearby Sanvensa they have a fête to celebrate the canard and as you can see from the picture of the nights menu it features heavily in what's on offer. With over 600 people there, it was hard to believe that there were any ducks left in the region but we were informed that as every last bit of the bird is used only about 70 are sacrificed. As I've mentioned in previous posts these events tend to run on well into the following morning & this one was no exception with us finally flying home at 3:00 AM which wasn't bad considering that we didn't start eating until 10:30.

Whilst the fêtes are a good night out as I mentioned earlier the food is best described as OK, that wasn't the way I'd describe the food we had when were invited to a French neighbours home for supper. I'm still as clumsy as ever & when we sat down to eat at a table covered in antique glasses, cutlery and little crystal ribbons to rest you knife on I felt a little uncomfortable. The meal was excellent and was washed down with lots of Gaillac Primeur, the local equivalent of Beaujolais Nouveau, and the main course of paupiette, which are known locally as 'birds without heads', was delicious. When we finally have a full kitchen up & running we'll have lot of entertaining to do and given that our our host was a big Jamie Oliver fan and an even bigger fan of Nigella (although I'm not sure it was her cooking he admired) we'll have plenty of choice to show off the delights of British cooking.

Let it snow...

Snow in October? Yes it wasn't just the UK that was hit by an early snow shower last week. Here in the Averyon where the sun always shines & it never rains we had snow on the 30th of October. An unheard of occurrence according to the locals & not brought about by global warming but by the number of British in the region. We've not only brought the language here but we now inflicting our weather on the poor old French! Speaking about the language thing (no pun intended) it really is no surprise that the French are a bit twitchy about the English language. Browsing through one of the many special offer leaflets we get in the post every week it was noticeable how many of the products on offer are labelled in English. Even the latest LCD HD TV was described as being '32 inch high definition'. 32 inch? You'd be sent to prison in the UK for trying to sell something in imperial measurements.

Saturday 25th saw the last Ryanair flight of the year into Rodez & we were there to welcome it along with Matthew who had grabbed a late booking at a bargain price. The timing of his visit turned out to be perfect with both Barbara & I being able mix a little business with pleasure & I'm sure Matthew enjoyed visiting the builders merchants and being press ganged into moving some wood & helping his dad move the scaffolding along to the next stage of the barn ceiling. Yes the ceiling saga continues & yes it does seem to take a long time to do each section but having to fit the metal supports, spray the wood with anti-termite stuff, fit the insulation, fit the plasterboard, apply tape and three coats of plaster to the joints, apply two coats of paint, clean the beams finally apply two coats of varnish does take a while but we're getting there at a slow and steady pace and the finished result does look fantastic.

Sunday saw the annual chestnut festival in nearby Laguépie and what a great place to take a city boy used to the bright lights of London and show him the quieter side of life. At least he can go home knowing which mushrooms are safe to eat & how best to roast his chestnuts. Wednesday it was off to Toulouse and after a very nice lunch in one of the many restaurants above the famous Victor Hugo market Matthew headed for the airport and we headed home.

Well that's the top of the ceiling done and later this week we'll begin work on the sides of the ceiling. It was one job I wasn't looking forward to but it has gone far better than I could have dreamt and having T's scaffold has certainly made a major difference. We're also now the proud owners of a fully functioning central heating system, well at least we are on the ground floor. The system was installed last week but it was only today that we had a timer fitted. I'd asked Stephané where the room thermostat & timer were & he'd replied that these weren't standard fitments on a French central heating system & that they came as 'extras'. Thank goodness the weathers warmed up a bit & we haven't had the heating on, I hate to think what temperature the house would have reached & how much oil we'd have used. Stephané has been really busy this week finishing of the downstairs electrics & fitting the one item Barbara's been desperate for, a bath. I had told her the shower worked well but she would insist on waiting for the bath to be installed. Well done Stephané the pong was getting a little much!

Living on one floor again has meant that we only have the very basic cooking facilities & we've been living on a diet of stews, chillies & pasta. I'm not complaining of course as all these dishes, lovingly prepared between painting & sanding down, are greatly appreciated. We have, however, had one or two very special treats. P, who bought the house from us was before retirement a development chef for 'Not Just' any leading UK High Street retailer but one that I'm sure misses the talents of one of the best wine advisor's in the business and one who continues to develop his wine tasting skills on a regular basis. P has been good enough to make us a couple of curries that would put Madhur Jaffrey's efforts to shame. We're hoping for further supplies & have asked G & J to bring some papadums & mango chutney with them when they're here next week. Fingers crossed P reads this & gets the hint!

And now for something completely different!

We're on to the second section of the ceiling & things continue to go well. Barbara's currently up the scaffold applying the final layer of plaster to the joins and then tomorrow it'll be time to rub it all down & apply the first coat of paint which was specially imported from the UK at the bargain price of £14.98 for 10 litres. Not bad compared with the current 'special offer' price of €54.98 at our local DIY store. On Wednesday M. Regourd senior turned up with a representative from the supplier of our central heating system to take final measurements for the radiators etc. It's turned a little chilly at night so the good news is the boiler, fuel tank and all the other items were delivered today & will be hopefully be up & running by the weekend. The bad news is we'll have to fill the tank with oil.

With the downstairs of the barn nearing completion & the upstairs making progress we find ourselves thinking more & more about what's next. We had planned to continue with renovation projects either here or back in the UK but you may have noticed there's been a small slow down in the housing market. Looking round for alternative sources of income we've come up with the idea of house & pet sitting. It's never going to make us a fortune but hopefully it'll keep the wolf from the door & keep us out of mischief. So if you know of anyone looking for a 'Responsible married couple in their early fifties (yes I know it's hard to believe) willing to take great care of your home & pets' then give us a call. I've put a link to our web page on the 'links' section of this blog.

TV Times

Sunday 21st it's Barbara's birthday & I'm off to collect her from the airport at Carcassonne. This will be the third time I've collected her from Carcassonne & we still haven't visited the historic fortified town, there's always been a reason to head straight back to Lagarrigue and get on with some work. This time we were still heading straight back but only because we had a table booked at the 'Le Four à Pain' to celebrate Barbara's special day. As usual we had a great meal & it's such a shame that come the end of October the chef will pack his knives away & head for the south of France for the winter which sounds like a great idea, think we'll put the scrapers & trowels away & head south to.

With some help from P we've been able to make a start on the upstairs ceiling, something I've been more than a little apprehensive about. But I'm pleased to report that things went well & the first section of the ceiling has placo in place, has been taped & two coats of plaster applied to the joints. We'll finish each section, including painting, before we pull the scaffold down & re-erect it and although this takes a little time we're hoping in the long run it'll be the right way to do the job. Anyway we can now see the finished height of the living area and it's certainly going to have the 'wow factor', I just hope the 30cms of insulation we've fitted is going to be enough for the long cold winters in the Averyon. Talking about the weather, I have to mention it, it's been glorious for the last few weeks with us being able to barbecue & eat outside on the terrace a couple of times last week which is just as well as I haven't got round to setting up the dining room table. I have sorted one priority, the telly is back just in time for Strictly Come Dancing. Wouldn't want to miss that!!!!!

Thursday was the first anniversary of Barbara's French/English conversation group in Najac and a soirée had been organised for the evening. There was really good turn out & everyone had been asked to bring along some food and drink. There was a great selection including octopus & potato soup and carrot cake, a dish that really confused the French contingent. I'm sure if the French have a Peter Kay equivalent he'd have a great time with 'cake & carrots?' Needless to say the wine flowed and we all had great time and even I managed a little French conversation.

Still alive

Well at last a few spare minutes to sit down & catch up with the blog. Things have been very hectic over the last few weeks hence the lack of 'blogging'. We've really moved the barn on which is just as well as we moved in last Friday (5th September) and there was more than just a touch of déjà vu about it. We're only residing on one floor but at least this time we don't have to go upstairs and use a temporary shower, we have a lovely new en-suite bath room. We've also got a lovely terrace off our bedroom & a fantastic cave where we can store all the bits & pieces we seem to have collected over the last few months. Despite August being the month when everyone in France takes their holiday we've had Stephané Regourd working hard to get everything in place & T & I have been busy building the terrace/cave & the wood & central heating oil storage area. All we have to do now is save up enough money to fill the fuel tank!
It was great to be back in our own home, although our temporary digs weren't bad (thanks G & S) and we're both looking forward to starting work on the living area & kitchen & we had a real boost in that direction last week even though we weren't in France. We'd popped back over to the UK to see Rebecca & Matthew & whilst we were away T laid the screed on the floor upstairs. Now I've no excuse & it's time to start work on the ceiling, something I've been putting to the back of my 'to do list'. I'd hoped that while we were in the UK we'd have had time for a little R & R but when we arrived at Rebecca & Alan's they had a list of jobs to be done. Ah well, another busman's holiday but great to see them all.

My trip was back was fun. Barbara was off to spend a few days with her mum & I planned to take a leisurely journey back to Lagarrigue. I suppose with the Channel Tunnel closed I should have expected some problems & although the ferry was very busy that part of the trip went well, it was when I came to try & find a place to sleep that the problems started. I'd borrowed G's satnav for the trip back to the UK & had thought that it might have located some likely places for me to lay my weary head but after trying 14 hotels & being told they had no vacancies & by then being less than 150 kms. from home I decided I might as well head for home & arrived at just after 3:00 in the morning. Next time I'll 'book early. The satnav had worked well on the journey through France & it was only when we left the ferry at Dover that it got a little confused. 'Enter roundabout, take second exit & board ferry' were it's instructions. Perhaps it was trying to tell us something.

Well I feel more in a blogging frame of mind now & with the nights drawing in it'll give me something to do other than watch the telly.

Work, work, work

Phew what a scorching few weeks we've had and oh what fun it's been working hard in temperatures topping 36ºC. Not that I'm complaining of course 'cause we have had our fair share of rain over the last few months. We've continued to make good progress in the barn & with T's help our bedroom & ensuite and one of the other bedrooms now have lovely wall to wall floor tiles in place. As regular readers will know we've been waiting for EDF & Sogedo, the water company, to install our new meters for what seems like forever. Well last week things came to a head when the contractor we'd hired to do some hard landscaping arrived & discovered that the water main ran diagonally across our field & under the area we wanted to use for parking. He called the local Sogedo surveyor out and within 3 hours he'd arranged for the engineer to call out on Friday 1st August & re-sight the water meter. We've also started work on the terrace at the rear of the barn, hence very little time to blog.

For the first two weeks in August we've had my Aunt staying with us and I think she really enjoyed her time with us in the sunny south of France. Although there wasn't much time for sightseeing she has been able to keep a close eye on the progress in Lagarrigue and had a great time meeting the local artisans & residents. Yet more visitors last week with Rebecca, Matthew & his friend Martin here for a few days. Surprisingly it proved to be very difficult to get them motivated to give me a hand in the barn but they did have a relaxing time. I will really have to get back into 'blogging' mode next week as there's been quite a bit going on & with my memory if I don't write it down I'll forget it. I think it's an age thing.

Busy busy, Busy

Too busy last week to post the blog what with moving house, home building & a quick look at the passing Tour de France. The stage from Figeac to Toulouse took the race through VDR and despite the work load I couldn't resist watching the riders hurtle past. Monday the 14th was Bastille day so we managed a couple of hours off & visited the annual brocante in Najac which I guess on reflection was bit of a waste of time as we'd spent the last few days getting rid of rubbish & the last thing on our minds was acquiring more to replace it. Once back at the house it was out with the cleaning equipment to get the house spick & span for the new owners and move the last of our bits & bobs into Thierry's barn. We spent Monday night in our beautifully renovated French farm house & prepared ourselves for the temporary move to G & S's where we were were made very welcome it's just a pity the swimming pool isn't ready. Theirs is a large country house & we'll certainly be spoilt over the next few weeks & it will make the move back to the barn at the end of August when hopefully we'll have running water, electric & a working septic tank, pretty tough. Anyway thanks G & S for your hospitality.

Tuesday 15th July 2008 & we're at the Notaires for 10:00 and after yet more signatures we completed on the sale of the house. It was a great feeling to think all our hard work had finally brought a pay day which was only a little tainted when the Notaire's clerk said he'd send the cheque early next week. Mme. Hill was not happy and asked what interest we would make on the money & insisted that the payment be made no later than Friday but as I write this on Tuesday lunchtime it still hasn't arrived in our bank account. I wouldn't want to be there when Babs tracks down Pascal, the Notaire's clerk. The new owners, P & P, seem to have settled in well & it's a little strange looking across at the house & seeing someone else sitting on the balcony sipping their G & T's. Wednesday it's back to normal & we're back working away on the barn. With promises from the plumbers, electricians, & groundwork artisans to return next week there's a lot to do to meet their deadlines so once again a short blog.

Party time

Not much time this week to get the blog written as moving date is speeding towards us at a 100 miles per hour and we're under orders from Stephané Regourd to get all the plasterboards in place for when he returns later this week. So it's out with the placo adhesive & on with the dot & dabbing, in-between packing up all our worldly goods again. The EDF devis arrived this week & it was itemised down to the smallest detail including €207.00 for opening a file! No wonder EDF can afford to be a key sponsor of the London Olympics. I showed the devis to Stephané & Thierry and there followed a three way conversation in which Stephané attempted to explain the detail of it to Thierry in English. Thierry reminded him he was French!

We have had time for a little relaxation & on Saturday night it was an early finish & on with the glad rags & off to Thierry's 50th birthday party. Appears all the best people are 50 this year. Whether it's because they owned a hotel & restaurant for several years or it's just a French thing but the food & hospitality were great despite us eventually sitting down to eat at 10:45 (we arrived at 7:45). In all fairness there were lots of aperitifs & canapés to keep us going. As always we were made very welcome & thoroughly enjoyed the fireworks & disco although singing along to 'Viva Espana' in French was a little surreal.

EDF!!!

Another busy week with all the screed now laid, downstairs internal walls finished, the first sheets of placo in place & shower trays installed. With things moving a little faster than planned, there's always a first time for everything, Barbara had to hot foot it to VDR & collect three shower trays. It's amazing what you can get in the back of a Yaris. On Monday we'd finished off pointing the front of the barn about 6:00 & with the sun beaming down Thierry asked if we fancied a swim. There wasn't a seconds hesitation in accepting & after a quick shower to remove all the grit of the day it was off for a quick dip in a beautiful pool. The water was a very comfortable 31ºC & after a few strenuous lengths it was off for a quick aperitif. A couple of Ricards later we made to leave but were told that there was plenty of food in the house & we should stay & sample some good home French cooking but there would be no mint sauce! We tucked into a lovely mixed salad, lots of bread, a selection of pickles & what we think was a home-made pork terrine that was so delicious I had seconds which turned out to be a bit of a silly thing to do as what I hadn't realised was that this was our entrée & the ribs, chicken & potatoes that followed were the main course. With cheese and a vanilla slice style pastry for pudding we certainly came away feeling stuffed.

On Monday we had an appointment with an engineer from EDF who we wanted to move the electric meter in the barn. The only problem was that the power currently came in overhead & we knew that EDF would insist on burying the cables. Sure enough the first thing the engineer said was that the road would have to be dug up & a pipe layed to carry the new cable. I pointed out that there was already a pipe in place & they could run another cable through it. 'Non, that is not possible'. I asked Stephané Regourd, who was there working on the first fix electrics in the barn, to ask why & he said there was no point as he is French & works for a state run industry. I can't wait to receive the devis!!

The Fête season is well & truly under way and on Saturday night we were off into VDR again, this time to watch a procession of marching bands and decorated floats & watching the carnival procession pass by reminded me of those hot sunny summer days spent watching Radcliffe carnival pass by. We ate at the same restaurant as last week & although the choice on the set menu was still very limited the sea snails & prawn cocktail starter & roast beef & chips were just as tasty as last week.

Music, music, music.

It's taken a long time to come but this week we've at long last experienced some of the weather we moved to the South of France for. It's really been glorious and made working on the barn more bearable when you're not having to wade through centimetres of mud. Work has progressed at a good pace despite us having a trip to Limogues on Thursday. Philip who'd helped me out with the Lightweight was heading back to the UK to pick a car up. He'd bought a 2002 Range Rover which had been converted to LPG and he was hoping to get it back without breaking the bank. Like everywhere, the cost of fuel here has spiralled but 'GPL' is still considerably cheaper than either diesel or petrol. With the 4.0 litre engine only doing a maximum of 20 MPG Philip will be hoping it stays that way. On Friday it was back to work and with no other tradesmen due we took the opportunity to lay the screed in two bedrooms & the hall. It was great to see some of the hundreds of pipes disappear under a covering of sand & cement & taking us another step towards yet another new home.

It's been a busy week socialising with J & J our next door neighbours here from the UK with our supplies of Branston pickle & Gilly arriving back on Thursday. Saturday night we headed off to VDR to enjoy the various musical events which being held throughout the town. There was something for everyone with jazz, blues, dance, reggae & African music and watching the thousands of people wander around the town on a beautiful summers evening eating at an outdoor café made me think this is the life. Sunday we had our normal morning coffee in the bar in Najac & then headed up to Gilly's to show J & J her house. What a lovely relaxing weekend & it was just a pity that I'd be back mixing concrete on Monday morning at 6:45 am.

In front of the barn is a large tree that needs a little pruning & we'd arranged for a local artisan to call & give us a devis. After carefully surveying the tree he announced that it wouldn't be a problem and as he wouldn't want to damage it he would only be able to work on it during the winter when it had dropped it's leaves. Consequently an appointment was made for him to visit in January! Bets now being taken for whether he turns up at the allotted time.

Hacking out again!

I thought I'd finished with hacking out but I'd forgotten that I still had the front of the barn to do and with the south face now pointed there was no time to waste so it was a pleasant fathers day spent building the scaffold & wielding the hacking out pick. With that job out of the way and with the weather forecast to be wet we'll be able to concentrate on fitting the insulation & erecting the 'Siporex' walls which we're using to form an internal shell. The weather has been atrocious this last week with heavy rain & thunderstorms. On Wednesday Barbara had the misfortune to be caught delivering the coffees when the heavens opened & the ground floor of the barn began to flood. She was press ganged into picking up a bucket & heading out into the torrential rain to bale out a trench that was now allowing water to flow into the barn. She also came up with the bright idea of using the chimney cleaning rods to clear a drain that was blocked with the mortar that had been brushed off during the pointing. She stood at the end of the drain & gave the rods a hefty push and released a torrent of water which she managed to dodge. Not that it would have mattered because by this time she was soaked to the skin & thinking what the bloody hell am I doing in France. There's never a camera available when you want one.

The window fitters were out again this week and we got chatting to the boss. His wife is an English teacher in VDR & they visit the UK at least twice a year. He said he's not very confident with the language but could still remember the first English phrase he was taught at school, “my tailor is rich”. A most useful line that he often uses on his visits to Primark. We asked him what he thought of British food & he said he'd noticed a dramatic improvement during his many visits to the UK but like most French people didn't understand our liking of three delicacies. Peas, they're always very big, mint sauce with lamb & jelly, as in jelly & ice cream, with its bright unnatural colours. They don't know what they're missing & it reminded me I must put an order in for some Branston pickle & apple sauce.

On Saturday we had a phone call from the Notaire to say that all the papers for the sale of the house were now in place & that the 15th July would be the date when the sale completes & we have to move out. Looks like we're going to be very busy over the next four weeks, just hope I get time to keep posting the blogs.

Viva la difference

The early starts have continued all week & by the time Saturday came around I was really looking forward to a bit of a lie in. Things have moved on at a dizzy speed and we have all the downstairs walls in place and can now see what the finished layout will be. The majority of our measurements have been correct with one major exception, our en-suite. When I'd marked out the location of the wall I'd not allowed enough space for the insulation & consequently there wouldn't be room for the bath we'd chosen. After much deliberation we eventually decided not to remove the wall but to go and have a look for an alternative bath. This came as a relief to Thierry who couldn't understand why we would waste half a day for a bath tub. On Thursday I had to spend a day working with Thierry near VDR & when the job was finished we were ready to depart out came the Ricard bottle. The people were so pleased with the workmanship that we had to join them for an aperitif before we left. There are no measures used here & I'm glad I didn't have to drive or operate machinery in the next few hours.

The parts I'd ordered last week for the Lightweight arrived from the UK within 2 days & Philip called in after lunch on Friday & was good enough to fit them for me while I laboured on with Thierry. As soon as it was up & running the trailer was attached & I was off to the builders merchants for a load of sand & gravel so we could get on with building some steps up the side of the barn. There's never a quiet moment when Thierrys about. We'd also been in touch with the Regourds & as usual true to their word they turned up on Thursday to start on the first fix of the plumbing & electrics and on Tuesday the windows arrived. It's all go again in Lagarrigue.

On Saturday we'd had an invitation to attend the home of a neighbour who had recently been elected to the local town council. It's a tradition that when you are first elected you erect a pole, painted red, white & blue, in your garden. The neighbour was a farmer & he'd obviously found the tallest chestnut tree he could & watching it being put in place would have caused many a UK health & safety officer to have nightmares. There were no hard hats or high vis' jackets just a tractor, 3 ropes, 2 old wooden ladders & approximately 200 men, women & children. After a couple of hair raising slips of the pole there was a loud cheer as it was brought to the vertical & the assembled crowd joined in singing the French national anthem over a glass or two of the local wine & a serving of cake. Viva la difference!

Back to it.

After that relaxing weekend back in the UK it was back to work on Thursday morning and as Thierry likes to start early & have a siesta in the afternoon we'd got the scaffold up by 7:30 & was mixing the first batch of concrete well before 8:00. I could just imagine what Barbara's reaction to having her beauty sleep disturbed but I shouldn't have worried as she managed to sleep through all the banging & crashing. With all the materials we'd ordered the supplier had split the delivery in two & at just after 9:00 the first load arrived. The driver was a dab hand with the Hiab and the 500 concrete blocks were lowered in to place and we were ready to make a start on building the first of the dividing walls. It's really speeding things along having Thierry's help & by 12:00 when it was time for lunch the first course of blocks were in place. I had hoped that working with Thierry would have brought my French on leaps & bounds but it's his language skills that have progressed. He's now started measuring things in English & is insisting that I correct him when his grammar isn't perfect. The thorny issue of shovels & spades raised it's head again this week & after a heated debate it was agreed that the British shovel was far superior to the French design & that as a nation we should be proud that we had made something better than the French. After all our food was still inferior & would never match that of the world leaders in haut cuisine. I did point out that the UK now boasted many world class chefs & numerous Michelin star restaurants and that we'd have to do is organise a trip to the UK for Thierry & his wife and show them the delights of the Brewers Fayre. On Friday we continued to make good progress & by close of play we'd managed to lay over 140 blocks, good going considering the number of corners & doorways we'd had to accommodate & we could now get a real perspective of how the bedrooms & en-suites are going to look.

It's been a busy week for Babs as well doing the tourism bit with her mum & aunt. There's been a couple of trips to VDR, lovely meal at one of the local hotels on Saturday night & on Sunday we made our first trip of the year to the market in St Antonin-Noble-Val. It wasn't as busy as it's been in the past so we were able to have a leisurely wander around the many stalls & have a nice relaxing coffee in the market square. I've mentioned before that there's a big UK population in and around St Antonin & it's where the estate agent we used to sell the house is based & looking in his office window & seeing how many of the properties he has for sale have been reduced in price clearly shows the impact the British housing crisis is having here.

Philip called in to give the Lightweight the once over on Wednesday & quickly diagnosed that the clutch was OK it was the lack of clutch fluid that had caused the problem. After a quick search of the internet the relevant parts were located & ordered and Philip offered to come back when the parts arrived & give me a hand fitting them. Fingers crossed we'll be up and back on the road by this time next week.

Come on the reds.

Bit behind schedule this week 'cause I've never stopped! Well that's not completely true but it has been a busy few days. On Tuesday I collected the compressor & sand blasting attachment. All went well & the beams look great but on the way back from dropping the equipment off just the Lightweight decided to play up. The clutch pedal was a bit spongy & by the time I'd made it back to Lagarrigue I couldn't get it out of gear. I'll have to make a phone call to my local Land Rover consultant, Philip, when he returns from Paris & hopefully he'll be able to give a bit of advise. The Lightweight has become an indispensable tool over the last few months & the sooner it's back on the road the better. On Wednesday I'd been helping Thierry finish off Mr P's patio & he'd been confident that Chelsea would win the football as they had more French players than Manchester United. I'd mentioned that I was born just outside Manchester & although not a big football fan I would be supporting the Reds. There followed a lot of ribbing in French, most of it needless to say I couldn't understand, but when we arrived on Thursday football wasn't mentioned & I only wish I'd had a MUFC shirt to wear.

On Saturday we headed back to the UK to make the most of the long bank holiday & catch up with Rebecca & Matthew. It turned out to be a typical English bank holiday in London with lots of rain & a visit to B & Q. Despite this we had a great time and managed to fit in a curry, a film (good old Indie never disappoints), a meal at the youngest ever restaurant to be awarded a Michelin star & a little DIY at Rebecca & Alan's. Barbara had arranged to bring her mum & aunt back with her & we were meeting at St. Pancras station on Wednesday morning. It's a fantastic place & they've done a great job renovating it but I still think Grand Central station in The Big Apple takes some beating. We had a good flight back care of good old Ryanair & were surprised to see that EDF had been out & dug the road up in preparation for fitting the new electric supply. There'd obviously been no bank holiday in France this weekend – now there's a surprise!

Little Britain

Poor old Guilbert. It looks like he's going to end up being the only Frenchman left in Lagarrigue. A couple of weeks ago we'd seen a couple wandering round the houses next to us and I'd gone over to introduce myself, and have a nosey of course. Turned out they were from the North East of England & after a couple more visits and conversations with Thierry, the owner of the houses, they'd put an offer in. Eventually after some negotiation their offer had been accepted and, subject to contract, it looks like we're going to have new neighbours. Lagarrigue is fast becoming Little Britain!

The long bank holiday weekend gave John & I the opportunity to catch up with a bit of gardening & by the time Barbara took him back to Rodez on Tuesday the lawn was looking great & I was contemplating getting the golf clubs out. On Friday Thierry & I calculated the amount of blocks and other materials we'd need to build the bedroom walls & organised the hire of the compressor again, this time with a sand blasting attachment to clean up the the beams, yet another first. Barbara had beat a hasty retreat when Thierry had arrived as he'd brought Gordon with him. Gordon, named after the Gin, is a Doberman and despite understanding 'go away' he makes her a little nervous. Let's hope Thierry doesn't bring him along when we start building the rooms, we'll never get a coffee.

On Friday we had a preview of what it was going to be like when our buyers move in. Peter & Angie, friends from the UK, arrived in their motor-home. They'd left home two weeks ago & had a return ferry booked for late September & in the meantime they planned to amble through France on their way to Italy & Austria. They spent the weekend with us & I think enjoyed the opportunity to have a shower without worrying about whether they'd have enough water in the tanks to brush their teeth afterwards. Monday morning they hit the road to Millau on the next part of their 'Wright Way Round' adventure.

Floors & Holidays

Monday morning I was woken at 7:00 by the sound of a strimmer. Thierry was up early & working on the house next door which, despite the early hour, was a welcome sound as I wanted to see him & arrange a time to start on the barn floor. By 8:15 we'd calculated what materials we needed & he rang through the order for 20 tonnes of sand and gravel, 100 bags of cement, 70 square metres of reinforcing metal & the 40 meters of plastic profile & delivery was scheduled for first thing on Wednesday morning. Thierry carried on with his gardening & I headed to VDR to see the window man as I was a bit concerned that now the floor was going to be laid with an approximate 10mm screed the measurements we'd taken may be a little out. I asked them to hold off making the two large French doors until we'd finished laying the floor. Thierry arrived early on Wednesday morning and by 8:45 he was getting a little fidgety as the delivery promised for 8:15 had still not arrived. After a phone call we were promised that the delivery was on it's way & would be with us shortly, it reminded me of all those times I'd promised moaning printers that their delivery was just around the corner when in fact we were still loading the vehicle. Looked like it was a similar story here as it was another 50 minutes before the lorry arrived. The sand was tipped, the cement lowered in to place with the help of a Hiab & it was on with laying the polythene & metal trellis. It went well and we had an early finish just before 6:00, this after Thierry's obligatory 3 hour lunch.

Thursday was VE day & a public holiday so our timings had all fallen into place for a change. I was heading down to Carcassonne to collect Barbara & John. It was a lovely day & judging by the number of cars on the road it seemed as if all of Toulouse was heading for the coast to enjoy a long weekend, Monday was Pentecost and another public holiday. With a 7:00 start on Friday we made good progress with laying the concrete and had Philip, who'd 'volunteered' to help, not had a previous appointment the floor would have been finished by the end of the day. Another 7:00 start on Saturday saw the floor finished & the first step up the side of the barn in place and by 11:00 we were able to head for Cordes for lunch & a little site seeing with John.

Being a holiday weekend there were several fêtes & events organised our nearest being a Brocante in Najac. Despite it being a nice warm sunny day there weren't that many stalls and we managed to resist splashing out and purchasing any items for the barn. Anything we bought would after all have to be packed away shortly & I'm sure there'll be plenty of opportunities to pick up a bargain or two in the future.

Moving on

The last 7 days have had us on the edge of our seats & every time the phone has rung during the day it's been answered with a little trepidation & a sigh of relief when it's not been the estate agent. On Friday she did ring with the great news that our buyers money had arrived & they hadn't changed their minds. Whoopee!!!!!!!!!! She was surprised that we'd been on tenterhooks all week as in over 20 years or business they'd only ever had one couple change their mind in the seven day cooling down period, something she could have told us last week!

Although we hadn't wanted to count our poulet before they'd hatched we had started the ball rolling with the visits I'd mentioned last week. M. Hugonnet the window manufacturer (we're hoping he's not related to M. Hugonnet the roofer & working off the same calendar) called on Monday afternoon & has promised the windows & doors will be ready in approximately 3 weeks. We also called into see M. Regourd and arranged for him to visit on Tuesday afternoon to measure up & prepare a devis. We'd asked them to prepare a quote for the plumbing, electrics & heating and when we mentioned that we were considering oil fired central heating Mme. Regourd told us that there had been a spate of thefts locally involving central heating oil and that we should make sure the oil tank was well secured and the local gendarmes were now investigating. M. Regourd was there as promised on Tuesday afternoon & after a little arm twisting he also agreed to return on Wednesday morning & fit the waste pipes. With that job out of the way I could get on and lay the 12 tonnes of stone I'd ordered and which was due for delivery late Wednesday morning. Just as the Regourds were packing up the lorry arrived with the stone so it was a quick lunch & out with the barrow & spade. It was hard work but with intermittent showers throughout the afternoon it kept the dust & perspiration levels under control but on Thursday it hotted up considerably & by the time I'd finished the temperature had crept up to 22ºC. I was definitely ready for a cold beer.

With a distinct improvement in the weather you can probably guess that Barbara has headed back to the UK for a few days, funny how in coincided with that delivery of stone. I'd dropped her off at Rodez on Tuesday & she'd caught the Ryanair flight to Dublin & then had to hang about for 4 hours to catch the flight to Blackpool and although it's not very good for her carbon footprint it is cheap. As always happens when Barbara's away I get phone calls from people wanting to arrange a rendezvous, unfortunately it's always tradesmen! This time it was EDF wanting to come and install the new electric supply & after a few s'il vous plaît répéter I managed to understand the time & date they were coming. At the end of the conversation the lady on the other end of the phone confirmed the details of our conversation in English & apologised for not being able to speak it better. It turned out that she'd not used it since she was at school & felt embarrassed about talking to me in case she made a mistake. She's not the one who should be embarrassed! That was the last major thing we needed ticking off and everything should now be in place for a completion date in late June. I'd have popped the cork on a bottle of Champers to celebrate but it's no fun drinking bubbly on your billy.

Saturday I'd been invited out for a meal by G & S and we headed back to the 'Le Four à Pain'. The menu had changed and we had another great choice of freshly cooked food. I had 'simply pan fried coley' and it tasted all that much better because someone else was paying. Thanks G & S it was a lovely night out & I guess we'll not be bumping in to Boris in the local bar again for a while, well at least not for the next 4 years, as I think he's going to be a little busy elsewhere.

Now a request for sponsorship. Rebecca is doing the Cancer Research UK 'Race For Life' on Sunday 11th May at Crystal Palace and you can sponsor her by clicking here. Thanks.

Sold - Subject to contract

Looks like we're going to be homeless again soon. The couple who'd viewed the house a few weeks ago returned on Tuesday and after a quick look round & a few questions answered they retired to the estate agents car. Within 5 minutes the agent returned with an offer & after a couple of further trips the deal was done and we agreed on a price! They're very keen to get things moving and by 3:00 the surveyor was booked for Wednesday at 10:00 and we had an appointment with the Notaire at 9:00 on Thursday. Phew, I've never known things move as fast in France. It now means that we will have to get things moving pretty quickly in the barn & visits to the Regourds, Thierry & the window manufacturer were now a priority. My aunt is visiting us for two weeks at the end of July, our buyers want to be in by the last week in June so let's hope she doesn't mind sleeping in the back of a Land Rover.

The surveyor turned up as scheduled on Wednesday morning and set to looking for asbestos, lead, woodworm, termites & damp with a device labelled 'Radioactive'. I'm pleased to report he didn't find any & also gave us a 'glowing' energy rating with his only concern being that the railings on the terrace could do with being filled in. In France the Notaire acts for buyer & seller so on Thursday morning we all sat in her office, along with the estate agent to help with translation, and went through the Compromis de Vente, a 19 page document, all pages of which require a signature. Our buyers now have 7 days to change their minds & pay a 10% deposit so it's fingers & everything else we can think of crossed. In the meantime we have a bit of admin to do getting all the artisans invoices together & matching them up with bank statements in the hope that we can minimise the amount of tax we'll have to pay. We felt we deserved a coffee after all that legal stuff and called in to the bar in Najac where we got talking to a couple from New Zealand. They were visiting their daughter who was a nanny in Paris and were taking the opportunity to visit what seemed like the whole of Europe. They'd already been to Greece, Turkey & Egypt & were scheduled to visit the UK, Ireland, Spain, Italy, Austria, Germany, Switzerland, Croatia & Portugal and had managed to take over 1,500 pictures.. We exchanged email address' & were told that if we ever make it to New Zealand we were to drop in & see them. We'll have to make sure it's not on the night they're having an evening in showing their friends the holiday pic's.

Let's hope it's not a bit premature but on Saturday night we decided to celebrate the weeks progress with a meal at the 'Le Four à Pain' a new restaurant that opened in Najac last week. The village has been lacking a good eatery and we had high hopes as the chef used to work at one of the local hotels & had a good reputation. We weren't disappointed and although the menu was limited in choice the cream of nettle soup with snails in a crispy herb pastry served with a garlic velouté followed by lamb diablotin with pistachio marinade served on a bed of chickpea purée & semi dried tomatoes was a tad different to the canard & aligot which has become our staple diet when eating out. Judging by the number of people dining the restaurant is proving a great success and we look forward to returning soon.

The weather has taken a dramatic turn for the better and as I reported a couple of weeks ago the wildlife is out & about. We had a tiny lizard in the house earlier in the week & this morning I managed to snap this visitor to Chez Hill. PS; Get in touch if you need some petrol, there's plenty here!

Roquefort & Millau

Bit of an easy week this week, resting in hopeful anticipation that Thierry will be available next week to help lay the new floor in the barn. As always there's a few minor jobs to be done & with the second visit of our potential buyers scheduled for this coming Tuesday it was out with the paint and strimmer and although it is still a little early for them there is now a colourful display of geraniums in Lagarrigue. Let's hope they're a bit more enthusiastic than the couple who asked for directions on Saturday afternoon. They were booked in to one of the local gites and were struggling to find it 'in such a remote location'. Barbara was immediately on the defensive and pointed out the local attractions of Najac & La Fouillade. 'Well I hope they're better than Villefranche, that was a dump'. They'd obviously only driven round the outskirts of the town and hadn't seen the medieval centre. I'm sure after Barbara had finished with them a visit would be on their list of 'Things to do when visiting the Averyon'. We bid them bon journée and wished them a happy holiday – some chance!

We collected Matthew on Monday & used the week to do a little sight seeing with him. On Wednesday we headed over to see le Viaduc de Millau that crosses The Tarn at Millau. Designed by Sir Norman Foster, something the French tend not to mention, it is the tallest vehicle carrying bridge in the world. It's an amazing spectacle and often referred to as 'the bridge in the clouds' but we certainly picked the best of days to visit, the sun was out and we could see the bridge in all it's glory. It's only approximately 10 kilometres from Millau to the village Roquefort, home of the world famous cheese which has been around since 1411 and judging by the smell there's still some of the original batch available in the shop. Despite the delights of the Disney like presentations we decided to pass on the tour, we'd done that a couple of years ago, and headed for a spot of lunch at the 'Roq n Bar' café where you are welcomed by a guitar playing ewe. Sounds strange but the food is reasonably priced and as long as you like like salads & cheese there's something for everyone on the menu. On Thursday Matthew was treated to the delights of VDR's weekly market followed by a long and leisurely French lunch. A belated birthday present but one I know he enjoyed, the meal part of the treat that is. There's been as much interest here in the Olympic Torch tour as there appears to have been back in the UK & there were several people demonstrating in the market place in VDR. We must have missed the torch's procession through the town but we were invited to a festival promoting an independent Tibet.

Things are getting a little busier and this past week there's been a significant increase in the number of UK registered cars on the roads. Let's hope they're all here looking for a beautifully restored French farmhouse to buy 'cause I know where there's one going at a very competitive price. In Najac the Sunday market is back but still has a long way to go before it reaches the dizzy heights of the world famous market in Bury, Lancashire; there's currently only three stalls none of which are selling black puddings. There's also a couple of new restaurants opened which we'll certainly be trying out in preference to The Salamander which I 'reviewed' in April last year. I'm hoping I don't bump into the owner as someone had accessed the blog via a Google search of 'Salamander in Najac' and read my comments! Watch out A. A. Gill.

An aperitif

After 3 more days hard graft digging out & barrowing away the barn's old concrete floor we're now ready to fill it once again with yet more concrete! We'd dug it out to a level approximately 30 cms below what will be the finished floor level and now had to wait until Thierry was available to give me a hand to lay the new floor. Hopefully we won't have to wait to long because if we have another thunderstorm like we had on Thursday we're going to need a pump to get rid of all the water. We saw a few storms & heavy downpours last year but none were as dramatic as this one. The area in front of the house was like a river & I was relieved to have finished the drains that take the rainwater away from the house. As we weren't ready for a swimming pool in the cellar. Just prior to the storm there had been a distinct rise in the ambient temperature & we were hoping that it was the start of a long hot summer with the only downside being the re-emergence of the serpents from their winters hibernation. The joys of being a ophidiophobic & living in South West!

On Wednesday Philip & his wife had called in with a pile of old Land Rover magazines & it coincided with a visit from Guilbert's son-in-law who called in to ask if we would be happy for him to put the vache back in the field? Of course we'd be happy, we thought he was doing us a favour. Last year he'd asked us to visit his farm and we took the opportunity to ask Philips' wife to translate for us. We apologised for not calling in and said we weren't sure whether it was the correct etiquette to just drop by. He said he would speak to his wife and ask her to telephone and arrange a rendezvous. She rang that night and we were invited round for an aperitif on Sunday evening at 6:30. They had a beautifully restored farmhouse that had been in the family for many years and as we walked round their home it turned out that we'd both used a number of the same artisans all of whom had gone to school with Dominque. We were made very welcome & left with a bottle of the local wine & a tranche de veau produced from the vache that had been on our field last year and were told that the meat should only be cooked for a very short time & at a very high temperature. I'll let you know next week how good it was.

Things are still progressing slowly on the house selling front & we've had another enquiry from the advert we placed on the 'Green Acres' website. The couple who visited the week before last and who were going to make an offer have now exchanged contracts on their house in the UK and have arranged to come back for a second viewing on 22nd April. We're keeping our fingers and everything else crossed. G & J have continued to work on their house this week and it's been strange hearing other English voices drifting across from their house. They set off for home on Monday and plan to return in early June when they hope the building work they're having done will be completed. I've offered to take photographs of the progress and email them with all the action. Let's hope I've got something to send them. It's off to Rodez airport again on Monday, to collect Matthew this time.

Fête de gout in Najac

It's been another busy week with two & a half days working with Thierry, digging out the barn floor & selling houses. Last week we'd called in to the local plant hire shop to arrange for the loan of a compressor & pneumatic drill and after a bit of negotiating on the price, which is very expensive here, we booked the equipment from Thursday to Monday. I collected the compressor & drill on Wednesday evening and it was straight on with the work as soon I was back at the house. It's the first time I'd used such a tool and at first progress was pretty slow but after a quick phone call to P for a bit of advice it looked as if I'd be finished with the drill in time to return it on Monday morning. Once the concrete was broken up it was time to load it in to the barrow & dump it out of the rear barn door. It was nearly as much fun as going to the dentist but it did mean we both got a good nights sleep. On Tuesday I'd just finished my 3 hour lunch, we do work until 7:00, when a car with GB plates pulled up at the house next door that Thierry had renovated & was trying to sell. It turned out they were from the North East & were looking for a home in France that they could live in full time once their daughter had finished school in England. They were most impressed with the property & when I mentioned the owner would be calling by in a few minutes they were keen to meet him. Thierry gave them a detailed tour of the houses and they were interested enough to arrange a further visit when they could view plans and photographs of the property before it was renovated. So fingers crossed for Thierry & yet more English in the hamlet of Lagarrigue, poor old Guilbert. On the subject of selling houses we had another visit last week but don't think we'll be getting an offer from them. They thought the gutters ran upwards! The couple who were going to make an offer are still in the picture & are still awaiting exchange of contracts on their UK property at which time they will make an offer on ours, hopefully one we can't refuse.

We had a surprise visitor over the weekend, Rebecca. She'd been able to pick up a cheap flight into Rodez & had decided to spend a very short weekend in the beautiful south of France. Fortunately on Saturday the weather was glorious & she'd be able to return to work on Monday with a very slight red tint. On Sunday there was fête de gout in Najac and Rebecca enjoyed wandering around looking at all the various food and wine stalls & it's just a shame she couldn't take any goodies back with her. Seeing all the duck & other delicacies it reminded me of the van that visits La Fouillade on Tuesday mornings and sells live chickens, rabbits & ducks. We like our food fresh but haven't yet purchased anything from him. We also had another rare treat this week, a curry. G & J who own the house next door arrived on Wednesday & prior to driving down had rang to see if we wanted them to bring anything down with them & I'd said that apart from a couple of jars of Branston a take-away curry would be nice. They'd brought all the ingredients over with them and on Friday we tucked into a lovely chicken jhal fraizi with all the trimmings. It was a great night despite two of the plastic patio chairs they're using while they renovate the house collapsing. No surprise I was in one of them!

La Marseillaise

There doesn't seem to have been quite the same level of interest in the state visit of President Sarkozy here in France as there was in the UK. It did make the newspapers but wasn't the lead story on every front page & the French are not quite as enamoured with their first couple as the British nation were last week. The publicity surrounding the romance between Mr Sarkozy and Ms Bruni was a departure from the French tradition of keeping presidential private lives private and he has certainly been the butt of a number of non complimentary comments. Can you imagine Gordon Brown being the centre of such a glamorous affair, I can't!

I've been continuing to work with Thierry this week & what a mixed bag of weather we've had. The English are well known for their interest in the weather well it's no wonder there are so many of us out here in France. One minute you can be basking in the sun next it'll be raining that hard that it would put Manchester to shame. Both the man we're working for and Thierry reckon that there are now so many British people in France that they've brought their own weather with them because it never used to rain in the South of France. I had hoped that my French would improve & although I've picked up a few useful words it's going to be difficult to drop the French words for chisel, barrow, lump hammer & adhesive into a meaningful conversation. Apart from the friendly banter about the weather Thursday brought several comments about the performance of those superstars of the English football team. They make you proud to be English.

After a busy week, including working Saturday morning (unfortunately not at time and a half), I was looking forward to an afternoon off and getting out of work clothes and putting on my best bib & tucker. I'd just got out of the shower when Etienne rang to say that he'd got us some more wood for the stove & could I meet him in an hours time? So it was back on with the overalls, unload the trailer & head off for another load of wood. We've been keeping an eye on G & S's house since Christmas and had noticed that they had little visitors with pointed noses & long tails. They'd made a meal of some fruit & nuts & hadn't heard that salt is bad for you as they'd demolished a full pack. We'd cleared up as much as we could but when G & S arrived here on Saturday they discovered a small treasure trove of orange peel & nut shells in the bottom of one of their wardrobes. The mice had obviously worked very hard and I think G & S were a little reluctant to move them on but on Monday I'm sure they were hot footing it to e local hardware store for traps, poison or one of the high tech electronic mouse deterers that are popular here.

On Sunday we've got in the habit of calling in at the boulangerie in Najac and having a coffee in the local bar. This week the road into the village was closed and the flags were flying around the war memorial and there was a ceremony in progress commemorating the locals who died fighting in the Algerian War of Independence. Although there was no band present there was still a stirring rendition of La Marseillaise thanks to a cassette player.

Easter snow & wellies

Easter & it's typical British bank holiday weekend weather here in the south of France. Windy, cold & snowing! Last Friday I'd been slaving away in temperatures in the 20's, this week we had to call it a day at lunchtime amidst sleet & hailstones. I'd clocked up a few more days work with Thierry and had picked up a few tips that I'm sure will be very useful. We've been well looked after with regular coffees served, as the French do, in a glass tumblers with no offer of milk but with lots of sugar. It had been quite entertaining trying to explain to the gentleman we're doing the work for that the English refer to rubber boots as Wellingtons and that they are named after The Iron Duke who is not all that popular in France. Fortunately he'd not read the Wikipedia page that goes on to explain that the French company Aigle was the pioneer in manufacturing 'wellies'. Another conversation centred around the difference between a spade & a shovel but I'll save that for another time.

With the continued dip in temperature we'd used a bit more wood on the stove than we'd hoped and if there was no dramatic change soon we were going to run out of fuel. Last weekend I'd rang Etienne who has a small wood supply business and on Monday he called to say he could let us have a stere of mixed wood. We arranged to meet that evening and had great fun picking the wood up from his yard in the pitch dark. It was definitely the right time to go as when I unloaded the trailer in the morning there was considerably more than just one stere and the majority of it was oak. Hopefully we've now got enough to see us through to the warmer weather.

We'd decided over the weekend that it would be a good idea to get another estate agent involved in the sale of the house. There's no reduction in fees for sole agency so working on the principal of the more publicity the better I rang an agent on Tuesday & asked them to co-market the property. They asked me to email across some pictures which I did straight away & as it turned out it's just as well I did as we received a phone call a couple of hours later to say they'd shown a client the photographs and they were very interested & would like to view the house on Wednesday afternoon. So on Wednesday at 2:30, with the sun blazing down, the freshly ground coffee was brewing & Barbara was baking bread. It obviously worked as the couple were most impressed and said that once they'd exchanged contracts on their home back in the UK (hopefully this week) they'd be making an offer. To say we were happy is a bit of an understatement and although it's early days it's great to think that someone actually likes what we've done to the house. Our only problem will be if all goes ahead is where are we going to live! But we'll worry about that if things proceed.

Frere Jacques & Valerie Merz

After 50 years plus as Mairie of Najac M. Bouyssière has finally thrown in the towel. In the first round of local elections held last Sunday he'd poled so few votes that he has withdrawn from the final poll being held today. It'll be interesting to see what changes the new Mairie will make.

One of the ladies who attends Barbara's French/English language group had invited them round for supper last Friday and had said that partners would be more than welcome. Thinking it would be a room full of chattering ladies, I'd originally declined the invitation but as the evening approached I'd picked up on the grapevine that there would be one or two other husbands putting in an appearance, so decided that it was a good excuse to get the best bib & tucker out and I'm really glad I did. We had a great night out (what a fantastic house they had; lovely pool!) & there was a really good mix of French & English all trying to learn each others language. After a long French style supper, we'd arrived at 7:30 and started to eat at around 9:00, it was time for a bi-lingual sing-a-long. Someone had taken their guitar and local jazzsinger, Valerie Merz, (click on the play button to listen to her) was in attendance we and all sang along to Frère Jacques and other well known songs that will not be available on iTunes any time soon.

It's a good job Friday evening turned out to be entertaining as during the day I'd been busy helping Thierry lay the concrete foundations of a patio and was pretty knackered and I don't think it would have done much for Anglo French relations if I'd nodded off during the evening. We'd started work at 8:00, had the obligatory 2 hour lunch & finally clocked off at just after 6:40. Philip & I worked hard mixing & barrowing the concrete and apart from comments about the béton mix being too dry and was water expensive in the UK and were we saving the eau for our Pernod the day went well & meant that I can call on Thierry's help in the future. Back at Lagarrigue things hadn't stood still & I'd had a stroke of good luck. I needed to dig yet another trench for a drain to take the rain water away at the back of the house. After the second spade full of earth I came across a concrete channel that ran the full length of the house that was obviously a gutter. All I now had to do was lay a field drain pipe in it, cover it in gravel & dig a soak away at the end of the gulley. I just wish everything was that simple.

For Sale - A house in the Averyon, France

I suppose it only serves me right for gloating about the beautiful weather last week. It's been bitterly cold, wet & on Tuesday we had snow! So the biking training schedule has gone completely out of the window as I've become a bit of a fair weather biker of late. It hasn't stopped us getting on with work though. I had hoped to be able to hire a small digger this week to dig the trench for the new water & electric supply but unfortunately for me the owner was using it so I had no alternative but to get the pick & shovel out. My original plan was to dig a trench along the side of the road but after just a couple of swings of the pick it was obvious the hard core had spread a little & it would make sense to find another route, straight through Barbara's garden. The top soil came up easily & with Barbara's help, who swings a mean pick, it wasn't long before we hit clay. At that point she decided there were far better things she could be doing with her time and left me to dig the trench down to a depth of 75 centimetres. Turned out it was fairly rock & stone free so on Friday afternoon it was a quick dash to the builders merchant for a length of red plastic pipe to house the electric cable, water pipe and a trailer full of gravel, something to keep me occupied over the weekend. With the trench dug all that was left was to get into the cellar which, when you consider the walls are 65 centimetres thick, was probably going to take a little hammering but by Sunday afternoon the pipes were in place, the trench backfilled, the hole in the cellar filled with stone & the area for EDF's meter prepared, and that was with Saturday spent in Albi on a very enjoyable if a little wet day off.

On Wednesday we'd had the local estate agent out to take photographs and measurements in preparation for marketing the house. We signed the paperwork, you think estate agents fees are high in the UK, and the house was on the internet by 6:00 that night. We're also having a go at marketing the house ourselves & you can have a look by clicking HERE. Please feel free to forward the link on and there's a bottle or two of wine (not Aldi's €0.99/bottle vintage) for anyone who generates some interest for us.

Le Tour de France & M. Bouyssière

If I could see the laptop screen in the bright sunshine I'd be sat on the terrace writing this blog. We've had a glorious day & I've been able to get out on the bike again & clock up a few more kilometres which is just as well as I've been challenged to a ride over Easter. A & J who own a house in the hamlet have been over for a few days liaising with their builder & we'd asked them over for a meal on Friday night. During the evening the subject of mountain biking came up, as it does, & it turns out A is a keen MTB'r and has completed a couple of the local routes. They're back over Easter and we have arranged to check out a couple of the more technical routes, there's always safety in numbers, so I think it's time to get back in the saddle & do a little training. While on the subject of bikes it looks like we're going to get a close up view of this years Tour de France. On 12th July the route takes the race from Figeac to Toulouse via VDR so anyone interested in a room at competitive rates should get in touch now!

In last weeks blog I'd made reference to the concerns being aired in the UK over excessive drinking. Last Sunday I was invited out for a meal & had to drive to get there as unfortunately my chauffeur was still back in sunny Blackpool. I had a great night but what a struggle I had to avoid the demon drink. It was Thierry's 50th, a very popular age, and to say the alcohol flowed was an understatement. Trying to make one small glass of wine last 5 hours was not easy & despite me keep repeating that I had to drive home my hosts wouldn't take no for an answer, 'There'll be no gendarmes out at this time of night'. When I told them about being breathalysed a couple of weeks ago they were most surprised but it didn't stop them trying to top my glass up. We've been invited back to attend his 'official' birthday celebrations in July & I've already booked a taxi.

It's not just the USA who are currently going through the election process. Here in France it's time to elect the Maire, a very important person in the local community and the campaigning in Najac, although not getting the same coverage on the BBC as Hillary, Barack & John, is just as entertaining (not sure if that's the right word for the US elections). M. Bouyssière is the oldest & longest serving Maire in France & several of the locals have decided that at 88 years old it's time he called it a day. He doesn't agree and is campaigning for a further term saying that there is so much left for him to do but things are getting personal and the split in the community would make a great plot for a Sunday night TV programme. The local website is running several non too complimentary videos, here's one of them.

Hubert Bouyssiere presente...
I'm sure M. Bouyssière is running a similar campaign but I haven't managed to find it as yet. Click here and you can see some more of the very professional videos.


On Thursday it was off to Carcasonne to collect Barbara & although she's only been away a couple of weeks the washing machine & I have really missed her. Never being ones to miss an opportunity & despite Babs having left her mum's in Blackpool at 3:30 AM we had time to call into Ikea in Toulouse & collect 2 wardrobes, 2 bedside cabinets, 2 small tables & various light fittings. Needless to say the Yaris was full to bursting and with Barbara having to sit in the back during the journey there was very little conversation as she dozed all the way back home. Back in Lagarrigue I think she was happy with the progress I'd made in her absence and was looking forward t getting the wardrobes built and our clothes out of suitcases at long last. Later this week the estate agent is calling to take pictures and get the house on the market so it's going to be a busy few days 'dressing' the house.

EDF & the Price of Wine

With Barbara still back in the UK visiting her mum it's been very quiet in Lagarrigue this week but it has given me the opportunity to complete the 'to do' list we'd compiled. It's great ticking off the jobs and it's only when you come to that difficult or messy task that you've been putting off to last that the good time feeling begins to diminish. Despite my hopes for rain the weather has continued to be glorious, made it into to 20's yesterday, so it was time to finish digging the holes for the fence & concrete in the posts. Having now completed the job I'm not sure why I had put it off, things went well & it was only the high winds forecast for Saturday night that gave me any worries. I shouldn't have been concerned as the amount of concrete I'd placed in the holes would be enough to support a fence 10 metres high, think I'd got a bit carried away digging! With that out of the way & with quite a bit of gravel left I used it to cover the earth floor in one of the cellars and although I'll need a couple of trailers more gravel to complete the floor it'll be another job done. So with the bedroom heaters wired up & in place, the small bedroom painted & the banister in place I don't think Babs is going to recognise the place when she gets back on Thursday.

I have had the opportunity this week to use my very sketchy French. I'd mentioned last week that EDF & the surveyor had rang to make appointments. I'd already marked out the land so explaining where the division was to go was easy enough & the meeting went without hitch and the land was measured up & staked out in less than an hour. EDF wasn't quiet as easy. I wasn't sure what they were coming to do & although I was hoping they were going to install the new electric supply, deep down I knew I was being a little optimistic. Turns out it was to survey the land and tell me what I had to do prior to them coming to connect the house to the mains. The nearest supply is across the lane at the back of the house and for their €700.00 EDF will dig the road up & run a cable to the edge of our land & install a compteur. It's then up to me to dig a 9 metre trench to the house, knock a hole in the wall & crepe a 60 centimetre square on the cellar wall for them to mount the main trip box. Once I've completed the work I have to ring them & they'll return within a month & connect up the new supply. So given that it was last September when we first contacted EDF things are now moving apace & it's now up to me to get a mini pel hired & the trench dug. That'll be fun. The engineer from EDF was so helpful, he spoke very slowly & when he couldn't make me understand something he drew a picture. He aso suggested we change the electric tariff we're on as our current one is très cher.

I hear that there are concerns in the UK that the days of a bottle of wine costing less than a fiver might be numbered. Click here to see the BBC report. Despite French inflation being the highest in Europe at 3.2% and it being blamed on the rise in price of food & drink, it doesn't seem to have affected the cost of a bottle of wine. You can still pick up a bottle of the local plonk in the supermarket for less than €1.00. Imagine the outcry if your local Tesco had booze on sale at that price? At five times the price in the UK it still seems to be causing problems Click here to see another BBC report. Anyway that's enough comment on the binge drinking culture of the UK, must get back to my second bottle of red.

Hold that plane

What a busy week it's been. A trip to Toulouse and Bordeaux, plastering, painting, digging holes, fitting the cellar door, cooking & trying to keep the house tidy. On Tuesday Barbara was heading back to the UK to be with her mum while she has a small operation & was booked on an Easyjet flight from Toulouse to Gatwick & then on to Manchester with BA. That was the plan & had we got to Toulouse airport on time I'm sure it would have all worked out perfectly. But thanks to hold ups at the toll booths, road works, construction work at the airport & the fact that we set off late we arrived 2 minutes late & the check-in had closed (yes I know we should have checked in online). We tried in vane to convince the check-in clerk that we were a needy case & that she should re-open the gate & let Barbara on the flight. It's not often that Barbara swears but I'm sure you can imagine how blue the air was as we walked away from the desk looking for the film crew from 'Airport'. The next Easyjet flight out of Toulouse was 9:20 PM & for an additional €50.00 we could transfer to that but Barbara would then miss the connection to Manchester. BA also fly to Gatwick and their flight would mean that the connection could be made so it was off to their customer service desk. 'Yes we have seats available on the 12:00 flight & that will be €830.00'. The air turned even bluer! Trying to think 'out of the box' we rang Rebecca & asked her to check flights from other airports that were within driving distance. There was only one, an Easyjet flight from Bordeaux to Luton at 4:30. The check-in staff must have overheard our conversation & offered to transfer Barbara's booking for the standard charge of €50.00, a saving of €60.00 on the price Rebecca had been quoted & so it was hot foot to Bordeaux, fortunately it was motorway all the way & this time we made it in plenty of time. Barbara eventually arrived in Blackpool at 11:30 PM just 3 hours late but a few pounds worse off & what should have been a mornings trip for me ended up with me driving 420 miles & taking the whole day. At least the weather was beautiful & under different circumstances it would have made a lovely day out.

Wednesday it was back to work & making a start on the long list of jobs I wanted completed by the time Barbara got back. One of the things I planned to do while she was away was to fit the windows in the barn but on Monday we'd received the devis from the company we'd been to in VDR & too say we were surprised at the price is an understatement. It included fitting & had come in ever so slightly more than we thought we'd have had to pay for just the large front door & window we needed. Although the Brico Depot window fitting had gone well the quality did not in anyway compare with the ones from VDR so it looks like I'll be removing a window rather than fitting more. I think I'm making good progress with the other jobs & have only had a couple of distractions. Wednesday I received a telephone call from the surveyors wanting to arrange a rendezvous to come & split the land up and although I managed to understand some of the conversation there were some questions I was struggling with. It's always easier face to face so off to VDR I went to hopefully get a better understanding of what was going on. I did & the meeting is scheduled for Tuesday at 2:00. The other phone call was from EDF, once again to arrange a rendezvous to come and install the electric supply for the barn. That conversation was easier & they're calling on Wednesday between 8:00 & 10:00. Things are moving fast.

On Monday we'd had the local estate agent round to give us a valuation for the house. We were pleased with the price he thought the house would achieve & if he manages to get it sold by the end of the summer we'll be even happier. Sunday I treated myself to a morning off & hit the road on my bike. It must be nearly 6 months since I've been out for a serious ride & it wasn't perhaps the best idea to do 38 kilometres, especially as there was a strong wind & it was very cold. There were no holes dug in the afternoon & it was even a bit of struggle to get the painting brush out.

Bonjour, bonjour, bonjour

One of the great things about working from home is being able to listen to the radio during the day. Being of a certain age we listen to quite a lot Radio 2 (truth be told we listen to nothing else) and this week Jeremy Vine had a feature about living in France. It made interesting listening and one or two of the contributors made our little adventure over here appear pretty tame. One women had a small shop in The Languedoc region that sold everything including English paint. Perhaps a side line we should consider. You can listen to the programme yourself for the next 5 days by clicking here.

The French are not big on Christmas cards but they do like to send out happy new year cards which they send out any time during January and we were delighted to receive one from Thierry who had pointed the house & invited us to his daughters baccalaureate party. I gave him a call to thank him for the card, which he had written in near perfect English. I'm glad I rang as he asked if I fancied helping him on a job & in exchange he would do some work for us. Sounds good to me & we agreed that he would ring me in early March when he's ready to start the job. I'm sure we'll find something for him to do! It's been a glorious week weather wise with the sun beaming down from dawn till dusk and even the early morning frost has disappeared by 8:00, yes we have been getting up at 7:30 just to see the sun come up. Well not really it's been an early start every day this week as we've worked hard to get the house ready for the market. Wednesday we had to head to Brico Depot, the French equivalent of B & Q. We had a long list of supplies and as most building items are considerably cheaper than the local store we use in VDR we hooked the trailer up to the Lightweight & headed for Montauban. We managed to pick up skirting boards, fencing, a door for the cellar & mastic before we were asked to leave the store as it was approaching 12 noon when they closed for their 2 hour lunch. By now you'd have thought we would have taken this into account when we planned the day but you don't really expect a place so big to close for lunch. After a very slow lunch & a leisurely stroll round the local supermarket we headed back for the rest of our supplies. Screws, jointing plaster (yes there are more joints to be covered), & a double glazed window complete with frame. The window cost just €105.00 & having now fitted it in the barn we look as if we'll be able to save a good few Euros by using Brico Depot. By Sunday night it wasn't just the window that was in place, all the skirting boards had been fitted which, when you consider how uneven the floors are, went very well. So well that Barbara was able to apply another coat of varnish & get the guest room ready for visitors.

Barbara is heading back to the UK on Tuesday for a couple of weeks to be with her mum whilst she has a small operation so when Saturday arrived it was time to head to VDR for supplies of ready meals & drink. The only problem is the French are not big on 'TV dinners' and it looks like I'll be doing a bit of home cooking if I don't want to go hungry. Oh for a Simply Food in La Fouillade. One French tradition we haven't adopted is having a glass, or bottle, of wine with our mid day meal. Today it was just as well as the Gendarmes, contrary to popular belief, were carrying out random breathalysers at 1:30 in the afternoon. This is the first time I've been stopped by the boys in blue & asked to blow into something & although I hadn't had a drink I was relieved when the Gendarme showed me my score of 0.00 and bid me bon journée.