w/c 29 January 2007

Monday 29th and it's my birthday but I'm not allowed a day off! A pleasant surprise in the email in-box last Saturday, a birthday greeting from one of my old customers in Darlington. Thanks for the thought Judith and if you ever get Peter to leave the country we'd be really pleased to see you both. Turns out I did get half a day off, it's still sub zero so not conducive to work in an old unheated farmhouse. Got a nice selection of cards, a lovely t-shirt off my favourite mother-in-law and a kettle off P & C! Thanks to everyone. Spent the afternoon pricing bathrooms, always something you look forward to doing on your birthday. So it's a night in and a candle lit dinner for two, let's hope it's not confit de canard... again. Would love it to be baked beans on toast, getting fed up with all this haute cuisine. It occurs to me that some of you may not have located Lagarrigue on the map. It's in the department of L'Averyon & Rodez is the nearest city of any size and is served by Ryanair (have a look on their website for a rough idea of where we are). We're west of Rodez and approx. 18 kms south of Villefranche de Rouergue just off the D922, near the small town of La Fouillade.
Tuesday 30th – Cold morning again so up to Gilly's to do a bit more caulking in the warmth. By the time our house is ready to decorate I'll be a master caulker. It's a beautifully sunny day & by lunch time, don't forget we get 2 hours for lunch in France, it's warm enough to do a bit on our own house. The plan today is to start erecting the stud partitioning. In France they use a metal framework instead of wood and as I was always good at Meccano I'm sure it will be a breeze. It didn't go to bad with only one piece of metal cut to the wrong length & Barbara & I still on speaking terms. Pity we only got one length done (just kidding Paul). A couple of weeks ago we'd received a brochure through the post telling us that the mobile hardware store would be visiting the district today. One of the numerous items he had on offer was 'Mastic Époxy' the ideal product for repairing tools, pipes, car exhausts and it was only €9.90! As I'd not yet managed to save enough money to repair the car's catalytic converter this could be the answer to my prayers. I'll let you know once it's warmed up enough for me to crawl under the car and have a go at at some DIY. It was so much easier to take it to Kwik Fit & get the company to pay the bill.
Wednesday 31st & we're both keen to get on with wall building so it's sandwiches made and off to work we go. We make good progress and by 11:00 it's time for a cuppa & a chance to try out our new kettle. Only one problem, the waters frozen, so we'll have to forgo the tea. Barbara's not that bothered as it's a long day without a toilet handy! Next to our house is a small cottage which has been up for sale for some time. The old owners started to move their possessions out at 10:00 this morning just as the new owners arrived with the estate agent to check out what they were about to purchase. It's not unusual in France for the house to be stripped of all fixtures & fittings. Not only will they remove the light fittings but the lamp holder & ceiling rose will go as well. Anyway off they all go to the Notaire to finalise the purchase & after a couple of hours they're back to finish emptying the house. We can't help being nosy, and always wanting to cement international relations, we pop out to introduce ourselves to our new neighbours. They're your typical French country house owners, English from Hertfordshire and intend to use the house as a holiday home. Could be some work there for a local couple ready to do anything for a Euro. A short while later there's a knock at the door, 'Do you have an angle grinder we can borrow? The old owners can't get a bed frame out of the house'. A bit more original than wanting to borrow a cup of sugar. We'd arranged for another stove company to visit this afternoon and give us a devis (quotation). Ian was there to help translate & after waiting 30 minutes beyond the appointment time & no sign of them we gave them a call, well Ian did. 'Oh sorry he's been delayed and will be at least another hour. We rearrange the rendezvous for next week but it doesn't exactly fill you with confidence does it?
Thursday 1st February – A productive day to day. Got all the metal stud wall partitioning up, including the doors. The doors come pre assembled and already hung in a frame with hinges & locks in place. It makes them so much easier to install, even for an amateur like me. Weather was a bit warmer today so thought it was time to have a go at the car's exhaust. Getting the car high enough to crawl under was a bit of a problem but with the ramps off the trailer on blocks of wood we managed to get sufficient space for me to work. Barbara mixed the 'Mastic Époxy' and I moulded it round the joint on the catalytic converter & left it to set. Twenty minutes later and I start the car. Fantastic it no longer sounds like an Airbus A320 taking off, let's hope it stays that way for a least a few trips to VDR. Had another chat with our new neighbours today, Barbara giving them lots of advise on where to install the shower. It's amazing what knowledge you can pick up in such a short time as a property developer. Also met their estate agent, another Englishman who has an agency in nearby Najac. Invited us to drop in for tea & biscuits any time we were passing. Wonder if he's looking for an experienced ex sales manager with wit, charm & a winning smile who could show prospective purchasers round properties in the area? Always fancied myself as an estate agent!
Friday 2nd and off to VDR for some more plasterboards. Originally we'd thought it would be easier to work with 600mm wide boards but now that the framework is in place it's obvious that the 1,200mm ones will give us a better finish. You live & learn and I'm sure we'll be able to use the 600mm ones somewhere. Called in to view more wood burning stoves & with a little persuasion from Barbara they agree to call out this afternoon & prepare a devis. I also got another birthday present today, a lovely lunch in a restaurant we've been to before in VDR. I chose the 'menu rapide', country patè, steak with frites & a dessert. Very nice apart from the rare steak that was ever so slightly tough. Ah well it'll be back to the old canard next time. The French love their bargains as much as the English & 'La Poste' deliver special offer leaflets by the tonne. As it's about the only French document I can understand they always get read cover to cover. There were a few bargains this week so we call in to E.Leclerc & Hyper U for a €7.75 orbital sander (I'll be able to give Auntie Sandra hers back) & large boxes of screws for €2.25 (it's amazing what the lack of a regular income will drive you to). There's also a kettle for €5.01, £3.34!!! Don't tell P & C. Back to the house to unload the plasterboards & wait for the stove man to turn up. He does, 30 minutes early, a bit more promising than the last company we arranged a rendezvous with. PS; The car ran like a ran like Mercedes should do, even a 14 year old one with 194,000 miles on the clock. PPS; better go now & study stove brochures with Babs.
Saturday 3rd and we've been here a month. A few plasterboards and insulation in place and it's looking good. Exchanged telephone numbers with the new neighbours & a request to keep an eye on their place. They were on their way to visit a friend of a friend who had just bought a Châteaux. He's an American with a home in The Nappa Valley & an apartment in Paris. Not bad eh? Got a nice surprise today when I opened the post box, the boxed set of DVD's of Auf Wiedersehn Pet and a DVD of various UK TV programmes. Thank you Rebecca & Matthew for Auf W' & Caroll for the TV compilation. The first time Barbara opened the letterbox, which is locked with a key, she had to take a second look t see how the posty had got the parcel in the box! How do they get the parcels through the standard letter box opening? Off out tonight to the 'Quarter Party'. A regular gathering of locals who live within the local area (quarter). We all have to take either a starter or pudding, the main course and wine being supplied by the hosts. May be a very quiet night for us if no ones speaks any English. I'll report back tomorrow.
Sunday 4th and what a great night it was. We were made to feel very welcome with everyone exchanging kisses & handshakes in the traditional French way. With approximately 30 people there and enough food & drink for twice that number you can imagine how the night went. A Ricard on arrival, lots & lots & lots of red wine with the main course, Champagne between the cheese & sweet courses and to finish it all off a home-made prune liquor With a lot of help from Ian & Vilia we were able to answer the many questions the locals had for an English couple who couldn't speak French and had just moved to their village. Why? How old are you (they were pleased we were so young – nice people)? Do we intend to find work?
At about 8:45, we'd been there drinking Ricard & having nibbles since 7:30, we took our seats for the first course, French onion soup with a topping of bread & cheese. Very filling but delicious. The main course was pork loin stuffed with garlic & parsley butter and served with Aligot. Aligot is a local potato dish and we were asked if we would like to see it being prepared. Using a heated bowl the size of a large kitchen sink you boil milk & garlic and add home made butter, all the time stirring in a clockwise direction. You then add dried potato pieces, a bit like Smash, and a local hard cheese. I know it sounds nothing special but it's fantastic. At about 10:30 the pork is ready and we sit down with yet more red wine & enjoy the beautifully cooked main course. We're fortunate enough to sit next to a local farmer who speaks English, he says badly & I say I wish my French was that bad! He has a biological (organic) farm with approximately 22 cattle and tells us that there is no great demand for organic food in France and he has to sell his meat to local butchers who don't differentiate between his & non-organic meat. We also start a long discussion on the length of logs and the environmental issues surrounding the use of oak & chestnut for fires & stoves.
By now we've moved on to the cheese course and the conversation has turned to the longevity of the local 'Maire', a very important & powerful man in France. He's the longest serving Maire in France having held the post for over 40 years & rumour has it he's also the oldest. We got the impression that some guests thought it was time for a change with one saying that as there were now so many English people in the village perhaps Ian should stand for election.
The cheese course consisted of fromage frais which you sprinkle brown sugar on & Roquefort. The Champagne then flowed. There were no cries of 'The Queen Duke Of Lancaster' or, more surprisingly, viva The Revolution. Bit disappointing really. By now I think it must have been approaching 11:30 and the puddings arrived. What a selection, 2 types of fresh fruit salad, sherry trifle from Vilia, walnut cake, tart citron & brioche made with a minimum of 30 eggs! When the coffee arrived it was real struggle to get it down especially as it was accompanied by chocolates & the 50% proof home-made prune liquor which you drank by soaking a sugar cube in it & eating. Well I think that's what you were supposed to do, by that time I was on automatic pilot!. In the spirit of furthering French/English relations we both sampled the potent liquid but I don't think either of us will be looking for a another shot soon.
We staggered home at about 1:15 having enjoyed real warm French hospitality and a superb night out. For those interested our contribution to the starters was a delicious smoked mackerel pate which we were pleased to see went down very well.
This afternoon, after accepting an invitation last night, we dropped in to catch the second half of Najac FC's home game. They lost 2 - 0.