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.
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.
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.
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