Week Deux

Ok well not quite a week over but I am thinking I should just write when I feel up like it and I have just woken from a lovely late afternoon nap and figured why not?  We have been having a lovely time this week - not exactly kick back and relax lovely but busy and interesting but not really stressful in any way.  On Monday we went to in to Cahors to sort out our Electricity and Telephone accounts.  Thankfully our friend Aileen wanted to go to the market so they came along and helped with the small language issue we have.(hmmm)  I think I could have managed without them but instead of being 15 minute visits no doubt it would have been probably an hour or so and a lot more drama in general - a lot of the time I can understand one or two words which is enough to get the gist of the conversation but some of the time I really have no clue at all - Paul says he has never seen me concentrate so hard as when I am trying to find the right French words.  Even then 9 times out of 10 I walk away thinking 'damn - I just stuffed that up and I do know what I should have said but unfortunately it just takes me several minutes to get together correctly in my head.  Never mind - I am looking forward to the day it all comes a little more natural!

Paul & Chels walking towards the market in Cahors

Anyway back to Cahors - this is a much bigger town then our 'local' Gourdon -and it is about a 45 minute drive away.  And this drive is lovely with some great views but VERY much up and down round and round lots of hills on some pretty tiny roads at times - French drivers tend to be quite happy to take up the centre part of the road at any time including coming around corners at 100 km an hour so it can be a little exciting.  The only saving grace is all the cars are tiny by Aussie standards - mostly due to the high price of fuel here I would think - it's a little less scary when its a Barina sized car passing another Barina sized car!  But I have been having to drive all the time here as if I don't about 3 minutes in I am feeling extremely car sick - apparently I will get used to the roads but I haven't yet!  Well anyway we ended up having a quick look through the market as it was nearly closing by the time we had done the phone and electric stuff - bought some yummo nectarines and apricots - super cheap compared to what we are used to - roughly 2 euro a kilo and great flavour.  Then we had a 'plat du jour' lunch - see happy family pic - just missing the Gabster: :(

As far as the work on the house goes Paul has pretty much been going non stop trying to get the plumbing and electrics going in for the barn so we can move in.  We are about to be evicted from our lovely room at the neighbors B&B as funnily enough they would prefer to have paying guests haha.  Actually big shout out to John and Aileen - we most definitely would not be doing this little adventure without their involvement.  If you don't know the story we came to do a cycling tour with them last September as a treat for my fourtieth birthday - it was while we were having such a good time and oohing and aahing about pretty much everything that we got to talking real estate with them and the whole idea just snowballed from there.  But seriously it was a fantastic way to see a country (or a very small but beautiful part of it!) and I can't recommend you do it enough.  If you're not into cycling then just stay at the B&B - as long as you make sure you have at least one meal here as Aileen is a seriously good cook!!  I will add a link to their website if you want to read more about them :) http://www.lotcyclingholidays.com

So anyway here is some pics of the work going on at the house - note the big cement thing in one of the ground floor rooms - well it is actually an a wine vat that has been made of reinforced concrete which has proved extremely hard to remove.  We thought it might have been as a previous owner had already had a go at smashing it down but not made much of a dent in it.  We did buy a jackhammer drill but even with that it has taken Paul (& Chels) quite a few hours to bring down a couple of the walls of it.  Paul wants to put a power box behind it so he wants it gone.  As of today we now have water in the barn - and during the week I bought a fridge and washing machine online and it was delivered two days later which was great.  I got what I wanted to go in the house so they aren't small - this barn is starting to fill up real quick.  Check out the fancy shower - this was actually the cheapest one you could get but looks quite good we think!

Potential materials transportation!

Paul also went to another English neighbor who is trying to clean out his barn to check out some of his garden tools - I was a little concerned we would end up with everything from their barn in ours after only one week here but Paul did try to restrain himself a little.  It is the most beautiful old stone barn with two stories - the top one comes off the road and the lower level you come into from their amazing English style garden.  He did find something in there that he really wants which I can't really tell you about but lets just say it's old and involves a type of motorbike so anyone who knows Paul will understand. Will see how that story plays out but it could end up with me have a bargaining chip up my sleeve if you get my gist! ha. This same couple also have an old van that Paul wants to get going - so off to Gourdon tomorrow to try to get a master cyclinder for it - could be interesting trying to translate that but if we bring the old one along it should be ok.  Here is a pic of the van where it currently sits - there was even a resident rabbit in the engine!
Late breaking news - it's now Sunday afternoon and it's about 36 degrees - yep it does get hot in France - Paul still trying to break down the stupid concrete thing - lucky it's an inside job as the stone walls are still lovely and cool at the moment.

View across to Lantis from our barn window

Week 1

After weeks of completely frenetic activity we were very much looking forward to getting on the flight and just sitting for a while.  Not sure why as it got old about 3 hrs into the flight to KL.  16 hours later we landed in London feeling mildly shattered and ready for a sleep.  Lucky I had booked into a local B&B only about 5 miles out of Stansted which was fantastic as we could just collapse into a nice bed within about half an hour of landing.  Next day we met up with our daughter who flew in from Chicago and then spent a couple of days in a very rainy London - so much for doing some touristy stuff.  We did go to see the Lion King but Paul and I kept falling asleep which was mildly embarrassing but the jet lag had really started to kick in so we were both in struggle town.  Friday and it was onto the incredibly cheap but amazingly good, flight from London to Brive - after a pretty major stuff up with the hire car we finally made it to Lantis late Friday afternoon.  A quick hello to our friends who we are staying with until we have made the barn moderately habitable, then off to see the house.  We had actually bought it after seeing the inside for only about 10 minutes back in November so we were pretty excited about seeing it properly.  And a little bit nervous too if the truth be known... but it is awesome - some of the rooms I had thought to be quite small are actually very large - particularly the kitchen.  We have realised the flooring on the first and second floor will need replacing and there is alot of work to do but the potential to end up with a great space is definitely there.  We had a few interesting finds too - an old cloth doll in the attic that looked a bit creepy and a trunk of old clothes.  We also saw the caravan we have bought with the house for the first time - what a cool little blast from the past - we think it's from the eighties but is in pristine condition and looks like it's not been out from under the covers much at all.  Will be an ideal sleeping pod in the barn until the house is ready.

Dream kitchen?

The great caravan unveiling....

The walnut tree loaded with nuts - we also have some pears, plums and grapes - neglect obviously hasn't done them any harm!

On Sat afternoon our English friends suggested we go to a little get together at the local village to meet a few of the other expat neighbors and the local "marie" or mayor.  This turned out to be interesting and awkward at the same time as I am fast becoming of the opinion we are going to be known as the local nutters amongst the expats - apparently the English are of the opinion Australia is the land of endless beaches and full time summer, mmmm sort of but not quite haha - so for us to want to move to rural France they all think we are quite strange.  Interesting how perceptions of places and the realities of them can differ so much.  What will we think about our current perception of life 'en france' in the months to come - it all seems to be pretty good for now - perfect weather (I know - the winters are terrible...),  rolling green peaceful countryside, cheap amazing local food, the seemingly friendly but reticent French people and the wonderful local architecture,history, rivers blah blah blah... Will we start thinking we are somewhat "fou" also?  I am already realising my extremely limited French doesn't go very far in most situations - thankfully we have been able to drag our lovely long suffering friends and neighbors along to the important meetings to translate for us.  Although after our three hour trip to the Brico (hardware store) today in Cahors we have enough to do for the time being to just put our heads down and bums up so to speak for a week or two.  As long as the baguettes, brie and rose are still in plentiful supply I think we will be quite fine!