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!