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!