Oi you! Get orf my land!

It’s all been a bit of a whirlwind since we’ve been back on French soil. Our trip down went well, with me following Martin in the new pick up truck. My first time ever at doing the long drive, and apart from a few tense moments involving large trucks and a miscommunication between us as to how long a chain of vehicles I was prepared to risk my life for in overtaking, it was OK – better than I had anticipated really.

The 3 Amigos

Once back in Villefranche-du-Perigord our first priority was to report for housesitting duties for Sue and Paul in Fraysinnet – we were looking after their super cute little wire-haired dachshund called Prune overnight whilst they went off and had some fun. This meant we had the use of their house – including jet propelled shower and a swimming pool – which was brilliant. The weather was not as hot as it had been for the few days beforehand – but still warm enough for me to make very good use of the pool – although Martin couldn’t be tempted in.

Then we spend the weekend busy strimming back some of the brambles and weeds that seem to grow back as soon as we look away for just a few minutes. We remember very well Dad and Ann saying that their frequent trips back to the UK resulted in a perpetual battle of the brambles. We are determined to get a sensible balance between visiting those we love and actually really starting to forge out a life for ourselves here and not let the grass grow under our feet too much.

Monday was a momentous day indeed!! We had our appointment with the Notaire to complete the transfer of land ownership. Because of the lateness in us being send bank details to make the payment we had half expected that the appointment would be delayed – but to our absolute joy we turned up, and one hour and lots of paper signing later – I walked out of his office the proud owner of three small plots of very special, and magical land in rural South West France!! Transfer of ownership document It felt surreal to think that just a few years ago Dad and Ann would have been sitting in that same office doing the same thing – excited with their own plans – obviously not knowing that their dreams would be shattered just a few years later. Part of the reason for us doing what we are doing is to honour their dreams, but of course we have our own dreams to fulfil too. To celebrate we went to Charlotte’ s for a Café Gourmand – something we have been promising ourselves as a treat ever since coming here but never quite finding a good enough reason to have 4 pieces of cake all at once before. Cafe Gourmand

Much to Martin’s disgust my new catch phrase of “oi you! Get off my land!” still hasn’t lost its novelty value.

The first thing we done after this very important RDV (that’s the French abbreviation for rendezvous) was to drive to Belves to the Sogedo office. Sogedo is the local supplier of water. Water, as we have found is such an important commodity. When we drove down in February we had been alarmed to find that the water taps had been turned off at ALL of the Aires on our route to Villefranche-du-Perigord. 100 litres of water was all we had on board and we had watched the level gauge go down and down, realising that our plans to “wild camp” in the Aires was to be scuppered if we could not find one with the water turned on and we would have to find a campsite that was open (also a rare commodity in February). However….we were delighted to find that Villefranche has an Aire that stays open all year round!.

So, the concept of water supply is to us, something that we are acutely aware of it’s importance. Now we have been camping up on the land it’s been lovely in the sense that we can spread out a bit, but a complete pain in the butt to have to drive down to the Aire every couple of days to fill up with water. 100 litres soon goes!!

So, that’s why we were so keen to go to Sogedo. It was a hot, hot day and we had the doggos in the back of the pick up truck, so when we arrived my priority was them of course. We ventured into the office – “parlez vous Anglais” “Non, but my colleague does” – colleague came to front desk. “Merci beaucoup” I said – “but first of all, it is very very hot out there and our dogs are in the car – is it possible that they could come in here”. “Yes of course!”. So, just a few minutes later Luka and Lillie are laying on a lovely cool tile floor, having a snooze whilst we concentrated on the important business of getting a water supply. The trouble was that Sogedo were certain there was already a water meter, and we were certain that there was not. Our previous searches had previously only revealed the isolation tap, never a water meter. Anyway, Corrina the lovely dog friendly French lady said that they would send someone out to sort it out. “How long?” we asked – expecting “un mois…maybe deux mois” as has been the case with EVERYTHING else. You could have knocked us over with a feather when she said “tomorrow”. So, off we went back “home” – really pleased that soon we would have water sorted out.

Next morning, I was at the land alone when a Sogedo van arrived. A bit of an exchange in “a little English, a little French” and the man soon had the water supply turned on at the isolation tap. But now the important issue of the water meter. I explained the best I could that we did not know where it was, he asked where the house was. I said “we have no house yet, we are going to be building one”. “no, the little house”. “Ah, the ruin?” and pointed down the slope in to the woodland. He started to climb down through the thick undergrowth and I said “no, no you will be torn apart with thorns” and showed him the track we have cut through. I went to get decent boots on, and by the time I got down there the man was kicking off get big chunks of dead tree from the concrete lid to a water meter box!! “Voila!” Inside was revealed a very old tap (“be very careful” he said “it is very fragile”) and a 2-foot piece of fairly new hose pipe. l'eau de la vie.jpg Our mystery was solved – this was the water meter that Dad and Ann had installed about 6 years previously – with just 3 cubic meters used on the meter. This makes perfect sense as they would have, like us, needed a utility bill to get other important things like car registration etc. sorted out.

“How did you know it was here” I asked the man – and he said that it was him who closed the meter 3 years previously (it was actually 5 years but in such a poignant moment I did not want to correct him”.

Running water

So….we now have “l’eau de vie” – on tap! Hurry! It has already made such a difference to not have to worry so much about filling up. We still need to do the toilet (back of pick up truck down to the Aire to go into the chemical toilet disposal point) and the grey water (large buckets then thrown in the woodland). But, it’s a good feeling!!

After the excitement of the water I decided to start getting a feel for what the areas of the land will be so that we can begin to landscape it to suit our needs. When I say “landscape” I don’t mean landscape as in your traditional sense by any stretch of the imagination. Just more like organising it into zones. So, I know have a hammock gently rocking in the trees which is roughly in the place where our bedroom will be. Happy in my hammock.jpg

And I have the very beginnings of a Zen garden on one of the dropped terraces – which in time will become a Meditation and Yoga area – maybe with some natural arches providing a beautiful backdrop to my daily practice (which has dropped off of late much to my disappointment). We have lots of ideas and vision for this land. Some of the plans change when we realise that a spot is either too sunny, or not sunny enough for our intended use, but that’s very much the beauty of living in the motorhome up there as we can see how it is 24/7, and as the seasons change. Zen Garden.jpg

The soil is great over here

Our neighbour Violene kindly gave me two baby tomato plants when I told her I was starting to create a garden. For a joke I showed her this photo the next day and told her that the soil must be great in these parts.

Lots of birthday cards

This week also marks Martin’s 59^th Birthday and our 9^th Wedding Anniversary. He had a full letter box of cards waiting for him on his birthday – but actually only one of them really did come through the mail – I played a prank on him by placing all the cards that people in the UK had given me to bring back.

9 years anniversary When we got married 9 years ago we never dreamt we would be living full time in a motorhome on a track next to a bit of woodland – that’s certainly not what he promised me!! But then again, I’m sure he’d say “I beg your pardon – I never promised you a rose garden”. And it’s true – along with the sunshine there’s gotta be a little rain some time. And as I sit here writing this I’m hoping that we get a bit of rain this evening and it’s absolutely stinking hot – too hot really!!

So, the final event worth noting for this week is of course the World Cup. I don’t usually follow the footy but of course when it’s something as important as the World Cup I’ll make an exception. We watched the France v Belgium game on Tuesday and were excited to see them win. On Wednesday we were discussing the potential dilemma that the England v Croatia game posed. If England were to win they would then be playing France. So…who to cheer for!! Country of origin or country of residence? Or both? Anyway, it didn’t pan out that way for England which was a huge shame and would have made this evening’s match very interesting. Then again…as I am writing this I am listening the television at the campsite bar (we came down to watch the match) and France has just won 4:2 – and that’s a really exciting thing!! Aren’t we lucky – to be living in a country that we love and it’s the World Cup holder!! hashtag dilemma

Inlaws, Outlaws and Aliens

Wow, it’s been over a month since my last blog entry. This was a deliberate move on my part as, after careful consideration I decided that I would not do a weekly blog during our trip back to the UK as it was not all directly related to #projectFrance. However, I feel that a summary of our month long trip would be a good idea.

So, we embarked on our 1000km trip back to the UK on 1^st June. The primary reason for the trip back was to provide moral support if necessary for our youngest who has been sitting exams. But also, we had a few hospital appointments, and some dental appointments, and as we left the UK amidst a bit of a drama back at the beginning of May we thought it would be lovely to spend some time catching up with family to update them on how our house building/land acquiring plans were going.

First stop was Broadstairs to visit James, Nicola, Henry and Chloe, and we had a lovely visit to the seafront with them……..and a much looked forward to Indian Takeaway, and an even more looked forward and very much needed bath for me!! It’s not that I hadn’t been showering at all – far from it – it’s just that with only 3 minutes of warm water, showers “a la camping-car” are short and sweet and merely functional. Not like the lovely, relaxing bath with my soothing bath products that I took in their bathroom. Only the promise of the Indian takeaway being ordered was enough to get me out of there. Indian food is something I do miss when in France as there is no such thing as an Indian Restaurant or Takeaway – at least not in rural SW France as are we – maybe in the cities – we haven’t found out yet

We also managed to squeeze a quick catch up with friends Matt and Hannah – who were great friends of Dad and Ann – and it is always lovely to speak to people who know the land well (as they do) and completely “get” what we are trying to achieve.

Then it was off to Chandlers Ford where we used to live. Lots of family to visit here, including my mum, daughter, Martin’s son’s and of course our lovely “daughter-outlaw” Lisa. That’s an ex in-law to you and I. Sadly, a marriage break-up means that she now gets the coveted title of “outlaw” – of which we have a few!! We get on really well with all our “out-laws” – maybe they know something we don’t ha ha!! Enough said about that maybe??? Lisa is also mum to our super cute nearly 4 year old Grandson Max – who we took to the New Forest for some great adventures.

We found a campsite in Ampfield to set up base, negotiated a bit of a discount for a long stay (always on a look out for a bargain and after living rent free for a month in France it was a shock to the system to find campsites cost nearly as much as a mortgage). We were blessed with superb weather for the whole of our trip, and it was really lovely to be able to set up a comfortable base in which we could spread out a bit.

The doggos were delighted to also meet up with one of their favourite doggo friends – Shiloh and the three of them enjoyed a “tail wag” whilst the humans enjoyed a “chin wag”

Whilst in Ampfield we re-connected with old neighbours of ours, who used to live a few doors up the road from us until they saw the light and moved away to a place that is more aligned with the life they want to lead – much like us. They now live in a charming house, with lots of land, on which they can enjoy a life of partly self-sufficiency, and look after some gorgeous rescue ponies – Alwyn and Fergus. Martin quite literally bumped into John whilst out walking the dogs, and they recognised each other. This led to an invitation to dinner and then a return visit to us at the campsite. It was so lovely to spend time with like minded people, and even more so because they are all (including their lovely daughters) vegan – so this led to lots of interesting conversations and sharing of recipes – in particular a kale and chickpea and spelt salad which introduced me to spelt and got me back into kale in a huge way. We were given a guided tour of their raised beds and now Martin has purchased a book to help us on our way back in France. We both felt very envious of their beautiful sunset over the stunning Ampfield woods but of course soon we will have our own stunning sunsets over the woods our of our own kitchen windows.

One of the first things to sort out was to find a Mitsubushi L200 – the vehicle we had decided would tick all the boxes for our needs for a vehicle in France. We were lucky to find HULK very quickly into our trip (named due to his number plate) and in order for me to gain confidence we decided that it would make sense for me to follow Martin and Marsha (the motorhome) around when we set off on our inlaws and outlaw visits for a week.

We also caught up with other good friends, and shared a few meals – most notably the cheesiest pizza I have even had – dare I say it TOO cheesy!! Also, a lovely family meal with Ryan popping over from Bournemouth. And did I mention a fair few Gin and Tonics – another thing that I do miss from England and fully intend to take at least 3 bottles back with me each time for the Gin Bar which I will most definitely be having in our new house.

After said daughter had completed exams and celebrated with family and this anxious mummy was assured that she was happy with how they have gone and was about to embark on a week long bender that would not require parental supervision – we ventured up towards the East of the Country to spend some time with another “outlaw” – this time ex sister in law Sarah, and her partner Gary.

Sarah is the much loved mum of Evan who sadly had a fight with cancer and didn’t win – very tragically lost at the age of 13. Evan’s loss has had a profound effect on all of us. Yes, it was awful to lose my Dad and Step Mum to cancer, but I have no words to describe how I feel about a 13 year old boy having to fight this awful disease. However, time spent with Sarah always is (and always has been) extremely upbeat and fun, she’s funny, brave, kind and clever – and we love her for that.

3 days went quickly and we were soon on our way to my brother Stephen who lives in Colchester. We pitched up at a campsite and picked him up to bring his over for a homecooked curry, a few beers, and for him to do his part of the paper-work for the transfer of ownership. The said paperwork consisted of no fewer than 52 pages – all of which were in French, and had been sent over VERY late on Saturday evening – the French certainly do like living on a knife edge!! Thanks to Google Translate and a huge amount of patience we were able to satisfy ourselves that we are not selling our souls, but agreeing with the succession plans according to French law, and I am buying James and Stephen out of their shares so that me and Martin can build on the land. My comedian of a brother (Stephen) had cracked a few jokes about wanting to keep his share and rent it out to me – but as he was talking in Francs and not Euros I figured he had no idea what he was talking about

Then on to North London to visit the notorious Mother In Law!! She’s actually not bad for a MIL – although I always do find that my dear husband resorts back to child like behaviour when he visits and wants to raid the biscuit cupboard and other boy like stuff!! We were able to do a ridiculous amount of washing at her house, and also give the motorhome a much needed and very thorough wash. Although there was plenty of room to park Marsha the Motorhome on her driveway

we stayed inside the house which was a novelty for us – but I found it a bit disconcerting the first night, to have all that space in a bedroom. But another long soak in the bath was much appreciated and caused me to sleep like a baby the second night. We also saw one of my brother in laws, David, whilst there and it was lovely to update him with our plans for our little house. Whilst talking to them both we realised that we will probably be able to fit our teeny little house twice, maybe three times over in MILs house and I wondered if they think we are a bit bonkers. After all, many of the roads in Stanmore are 2 miles long with only 100 or so houses in them. Now we have spent so much time full time in the motorhome it all seems a bit alien to us to have multiple bathrooms, and enough space in a house to watch TV in one room whilst someone else is in another room.

That was the last stop on our epic round the UK in a week trip, and then it was back down to Ampfield for a few days to see everyone down there again before heading back.

We enjoyed seeing everyone a great deal, but the time spent back in the UK did confirm to us a few things. One being that the roads are so much nicer in France – so quiet in comparison. And also, that we most definitely no longer want the life of a hamster on a wheel- continually running around, getting no-where, trying to earn enough to pay for a life we don’t really want. For that realisation that has come at a time which means we are young enough to really fully reap the benefits of the new life we have chosen, we are very grateful. Our little home on wheels has taught us a lot – most importantly that if it doesn’t fit in a 17 sq metre motorhome we probably don’t need it. We are still adjusting to that life, but it certainly doesn’t feel like a hardship, although we do realise that to some people our lives must appear to be very alien. But, it’s the same for us – we now find the traditional model of domesticity to be quite alien to ourselves – and so, when people’s faces have shown a look of sympathy for the hard life we must be leading without our TV and vast amounts of space we share a wry smile and whisper “if only they knew”.

©Sharon Rees-Williams – wordpress.com/thislittlepieceof.land, 2018

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Old MacDonald had a farm

Part of the charm of living in rural France (or indeed rural anywhere) is the sounds of nature all around you.

Many an hour has been spent simply sitting, listening to the sounds of the birds – trying to identify which they are. We have owls up on the land which we hear at night time, and woodpeckers literally right over head, lots of other song birds – and of course the rooster!!

The rooster belongs to Madam C (the Portuguese lady) whose house is just before our land as we come up the track. You can hear the rooster from right down in the village.

Last weekend I noticed that the rooster was calling out nearly continually and mentioned this to Martin. I asked him if he thought it was usual to make the noise continually – Martin wasn’t sure. Now being more aware of the rooster’s call meant I was listening out for it and noticing it more. “At least it stops at night time” I said.

That night I was amazed to hear it during the night time (rather annoyingly if I am honest). The next day I googled “do roosters make a noise all the time”. The answer was, not normally but they may do if they are distressed. “Oh dear!!” I hope the rooster gets over it.

Over the weekend we went for a coffee at Alice’s and mentioned it to her. I said “the rooster is going Cock-a-doodle-doo all the time – day and night – what does it mean”. Alice laughed – then apologised – she said I’m not laughing that it is making the noise all the time – it’s the word you use – it’s like the children say it. “Oh, said I – what is cock-a-doodle-doo in French then.”. Alice considered this carefully and announced “cockreekoo” – I said “I like that better – how do you spell it”. Alice wasn’t sure but was sure it ended in k-o-o to make it sound exotic”.

We had many giggles over the weekend about the rooster. Alice told us that her son and his partner had said they would get one too, and she had threatened to strangle it if they did. Their daughter, upon hearing this had simply said “Grandma – you are not my favourite Grandma for saying this”.

Alice said that her son had said the solution would be for Alice to get ear-plugs to which Alice had said – the only place the ear plugs will be going will be up that roosters **** – much to our amusement.

But…Monday arrived and so did the new rooster – and we now have “cock-ree-koo” in stereo. And do you know what – we really do love it!!

Even better, just after the arrival of the rooster came a new hen complete with 10 un-hatched eggs – ready any day. Much to our delight 2 or 3 of these hatched out the day before our UK bound trip began so we were able to go to see them. Such a privilege to see day old chicks nestling under their (very protective) mummy.

So, with our two dogs, ‘Doggo’ (Madame C’s dog Ralph), the multitude of puss-chats and puss-chatons, the odd deer, two roosters, 10 hens, new baby chicks, a gazillion spiders and ants, and the multitude of birds…it’s definitely beginning to sound like Old MacDonald’s farm……I wonder if we should get a goat or two?

On a different note, Thursday heralding the beginning of our journey back to the UK. We no longer say “trip home” as this is now the reverse – we are leaving home to go back to the UK for a visit – this particular one to be close by whilst daughter does exams – just in case coffee/cake/comfort is required.

We’ve been waiting all this last month for the “Certificate D’Urbanisation” to arrive – applied for back in February. And guess when it finally came through? Yep!! Approximately 90 minutes after we had left the village – so that will have to wait until we get back.

Such is the French way of life…..slow, often ironic, and a bit Cock-a-doodle-doo (or should that be Cock-ree-koo)!!!

©Sharon Rees-Williams – wordpress.com/thislittlepieceof.land, 2018

Please Mr Postman

It’s been an active and eventful week this week that’s for sure. Once I’d set my mind to walk 5km every morning I was really pleased that first Nic, and then Carol decided to join me. So, every morning this week at least 2 of us have walked the 5km route – leaving at 7.15am – bright and early to get it done before it gets too hot. I’m not going to mention the small point that the first morning Nic turned up to join me I was still it bed (oh whoops I just did mention it). It was partly her fault, partly mine, a bit embarrassing and resulted in a very sleepy me literally being out of the door in about 7 minutes flat and feeling rather dazed and confused for the first few km.

As the week has progressed the walking group has evolved to a running group as well. Not sure how that happened but Carol knows a guy Steve etc. etc. and before I could say “but my knees are knackered and my boobs are too big to run downhill” it was 0800 on Thursday morning and 5 of us – well 7 if you want to count Luka and Lillie too – were off on the hilliest run I’ve ever done in my life!! 20 minutes out and 20 minutes back.

Running group Luka — Luka is my all time favourite running partner

Running group Lillie — Lillie looking the part in her little running harness

Very hard for me and I was the slowest – but I enjoyed it and went back for more this morning – 0800 on a Sunday!! For a run!! Unheard of in my previous life!!

I have also revived my yoga practice and am now trying in earnest to do 30 minutes most days after my walk. So far this has worked well this week as it’s been sunny and warm and I have been doing it outside, overlooking the trees – which has been a fantastic contrast to my previous yoga studio back in the UK – but I did find I was missing a mirror. But then we doing a pose I caught my shadow and realised I was sticking my butt out the back a bit too much and was able to correct it really well by just looking at my shadow!!

Wednesday was a really active day – as well as the 5km walk we also had all our worldly goods arriving in the removal van. This was exciting and frustrating in equal measures. Back in England we had stressed the limited access to the storage barn, and (we thought) agreed that they would bring a small truck but in the preceding few days via a few frustrating phone calls it became apparent that they were going to bring a larger lorry. So, we were both a little nervous about this.

You’ll see from the photo that it was a challenge for them!! It’s a very steep and narrow slope – it took about 45 minutes for them to get up there!!

Enough said about that – I don’t want my blog to be moany but I was disappointed that they didn’t take any notice of us and also even more disappointed that there were a lot of broken items – luckily nothing irreplaceable but it would seem they didn’t take a great deal of care of our possessions. So, everything we own in this world apart from the things we managed to squeeze into the motorhome are now in storage until we build a house to fill up. It’s a good job we had a good de-clutter before we packed it all as I really do not want to EVER move house again!!

We were very grateful that we were going to our neighbour Alice’s for supper that evening and we had a lovely, chilled out evening with her and as always, a bottle of wine and hearing more of her crazy stories unwound our coiled springs.

Thursday evening was another fantastically chilled evening with friends Carol and Craig. Lovely homemade pizza by Craig, and salads from Carol – and lots of Gin and Tonic and Rose Wine – lovely. All enjoyed sat outside looking out on to lovely French landscape and we were completing spoilt by a stunning sunset – see the photo and I swear there were no filters on this picture. Just simply stunning!!

Friday evening was the Fete des Voisins (Neighbours Day) which was in the village at the Halle – which is the covered market area. Large tables were put out, and everyone coming brings a plate of food to share and some drinks. The idea is to get to know your neighbours. It was a really fun evening – lots of wine, I tried “l’eau du vie” for the first (possibly last) time and got up with some young French girls (and some older English girls) for a little boogie.

Martin finally got around to fixing the post box up this week. The said post box was found in the ruin and previously belonged to Dad and Ann, but we have never found the corresponding post. But Martin found an old wooden post on a rubbish pile down in the village so used that to fix it on – hey presto – our very own post box!!

He ventured down to La Poste to check that we have our address correct as technically we are within the Bourgale estate but our access is via another track. He explained to the post woman that we were going to send ourselves a post card to test it out – much to her amusement! With a little shrug she said the post takes “un jour, deux jours?” So, he posted the Post Card – which has full written instructions for the post man on exactly how to get to us….and waited…………….and waited…………..and waited. Every day, we checked the post box singing this song in our heads

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5vAqE0AvEqwAvEqw

Day One – nothing

Day Two – nothing – but we did have loads of junk mail

Day Three – nothing

Day Four – nothing

Then when we thought maybe it had got lost – on Saturday!!

Result!! It’s official – we can now have food parcels sent to us!!

At least now we will have a proper post box to have notes from Alice left it – although I must say it was rather sweet to come home to this on Saturday morning – it was left on our camping table outside the motorhome

She had very kindly agreed to “doggo sit” for Luka and Lillie whilst we attended Bernard’s 90^th Birthday Party – which was great fun. I can’t even begin to imagine what it is like to be 90 years old but he’s looking good on it – and given that he was a similar age to me now when he first came out and was in very poor health I think that’s a very good indicator that life out here could be the healthy option – let’s hope so!!

©Sharon Rees-Williams – wordpress.com/thislittlepieceof.land, 2018

The Princess would like a tower!

Hopping on the scales last week and realising that a multitude of French bread and fromage has led to the inevitable weight gain I have been dreading, has resulted in lots of walks this week. We were lucky enough to bump into our English “neighbour” Katie (I say neighbour loosely as her house is directly above our land but about 1.5km away-so forget the English concept of next door neighbours) whilst out walking on Sunday and she showed us a lovely 5km circular walk which takes in some of the lovely scenery around the Bastide.

5km circular walk

It’s all uphill around here so the walks have been lung busting and strenuous in my attempt to utilise them to replace my previous exercise regime of 3 – 6 high impact up exercise classes a week.

Poppies

The lanes are in full, beautiful French bloom at this time of year and the recent rain, rain and more rain that we have had has really caused the wild flowers to burst out in their Springtime glory.

Poppies have always been one of my favourite flowers – and remind me of my Dad and Ann (as they were in full bloom in Acol (a village near Margate) when they were in their last weeks (and also of my Grandad who I called “Poppy”)

It’s a novelty for me and the dogs to do our walking on roads for a significant part of the route – but I have to say it is a breath of fresh air to be able to count on one hand the number of cars that pass us – and ALL without exception slow down to pass us. There’s also loads of wild life – including cows, donkeys and even deer.

Hee Haw 2

Deer — Almost looks like a painting on the side of the house – there were two of them – so close to us

Whilst out on the many walks and drives we have done over the last 2 weeks we have pondered over our choice of style for the house which we will be building. Initially our plans had been to build a simple, single story wooden house, then we changed our mind and decided to go for a brick built house – two rectangles joined together in a lazy V shape. But, seeing the lovely French farmhouses with their quirky, often irregular shapes got me thinking again that we should be putting something a little different into our design.

Tower through the trees — The Bourg Tower showing it’s beautiful medieval splendour through the trees

So after much pondering, and a fly away comment to Peter the retired architect (“you should get up high to see the view”) it was decided – The Princess would like a tower!! Not a massive, huge Rapunzel, medieval tower – just a nice, sensible sized tower to get up high and be able read the gazillions of books that we have accumulated over the past decade in the hope that one day we would build a reading loft somewhere in the Dordogne!! That sort of tower!!

So, when our builder Laurent came for an RDV (that’s rendezvous to you and I) we told him of the changes and between our bit of French, his bit of English, and Google translate – we came up with a plan to take the new ideas forward. We’re hoping that by taking a few bits from the original plans (like electric shutters (which we didn’t want anyway) and the terrace (which we will do at a later date)) the quote for the new improved “maison avec tower” will come in about the same as before. Fingers (and everything else) crossed!! This photo is not the plans for our house – but this is a style similar to what we are hoping for.

Plans for the house style we like — No swimming pool for us, and also no undercover terrace – but this is pretty much what we are aiming for shape wise. We will add character to this with wooden shutters and decorative brickwork

So, that’s all very exciting!!

Also exciting is the news that the geneologists report has FINALLY arrived, and to our great relief there are just the three of us spawned to my dad!! No wild oat sowing on his part to worry about!! So, the transfer of ownership for the land can now be done. Disapointingly though it’s taken all week to pin down the Notaire to any news of progress and we are still waiting to here!! The French system is certainly sent to try us.

Someone said to me this week “when you first move to France you wonder if you have made the right decision, you wonder if this is the right country for you as everything seems to go wrong”. It’s so true……it feels as if it is just us who are being subjected to the ridiculous lengths of time to get things sorted out – but it’s not just us – it’s just the way it is!! Tres slow!! We need to adapt and to learn patience, and also resilience – and plenty of it – as things change constantly – they rarely go to plan – we just need to go with the flow. And take time to stop for a while and enjoy our beautiful surroundings and have fun.

And celebrate the small successes and progress – like getting to the end of the bit of strimming that revealed the lovely view of the village nestled below us. A village is revealed

©Sharon Rees-Williams – wordpress.com/thislittlepieceof.land, 2018

Settling in around town

So…. we’ve been here for just over a week now, and things have been really busy – non-stop in fact!!

There’s been the serious business of trying to progress the transfer of ownership to deal with, and the even more important business of socialising to contend with!!

Our social calendars are buzzing!! We’ve been for more coffee dates, and meals out than we have done for ages!! It’s lovely! We are feeling as if we are becoming well integrated with the local community – albeit that is mostly – but not exclusively – the English community. It’s all good though. The Maire recognised me when I popped in to his store for some veg, and a few other French people have also recognised us when we have been out and about.

Living life in a van (after all that’s what our motorhome is – a Fiat Ducato that has been converted to include a living space) has its challenges. We are quite literally on top of each other for 24 hours a day – and it’s a small space……and tempers fray!! It’s important to find ways to overcome this, and one of the ways we do it is to not do “everything” together. So, for example, I will stay in bed whilst Martin goes to the boulangerie in the morning with the dogs – that’s after he has made me a mug of coffee!! Oh, I suppose that’s not really the right spirit is it? It’s not far – here’s his route: –

Pain run

But I have to confess that it was bliss to spend last Saturday morning slowly wandering around the village market and then having a peaceful cup of tea in the café watching the world go by – all on my own. Little things like that go a long way to help us not be in too close proximity.

Solitude and tea

We have been very fortunate that we have now managed to clear the land enough to drive the motorhome up on to the track next to it – and most nights we have been sleeping up here, although we did spend one night back down in the Aire – more about that in another blog I think.

Parked in the track

The first night we didn’t know what to expect – we wondered if the doggos would bark all night at the strange animal sounds – but no, they slept soundly – as did we. The second night we were both woken by a really loud hoot and screech of an owl – really close by! Lovely to hear and a very vivid reminder that we really are in the middle of the woods here. It’s really lovely, very enchanted and we feel very lucky to be embarking on this adventure

Memorial service

Tuesday was the Fete du Printemps – the Spring Fair – which started at 0800 but at 1130 there was a memorial ceremony up at the war memorial outside the Town Hall to mark Armistice Day – the French mark both the 1^st and 2^nd World War endings. Naturally we could understand very little – but we listened anyhow and tried to take in the general meaning of what the speeches were about.

Our friend Carol sang in the choir – they performed the French National Anthem – La Marseillaise – which was “Tres Bonne” to hear. There were lots of beautiful things to buy at the fair – we are trying to avoid buying “stuff” as we have such a limited space to keep it in, so it was mostly food we bought. I approached a nice looking food stall being run by a nice looking French man and made a brave attempt at my most recently learned French phase – “Pardon, ma Francais ce n’est pas tres bonne” (sorry, my French is not very good) and then “avez vous any vegetarienne” (have you any vegetarian) to which he laughed and said – it’s OK I’ll speak English then – and told me that just about everything was vegetarian – I was really pleased that a French fete had some veggie choices – not at all what my fears had been. Even more so later in the day when we discovered that the crepes and gallettes stand had a vegan option for a crepe – tofu and mushroom. I was naughty though and had 2 fromages!!

All day people were praising the dogs – everyone loves the doggos and comment on how they just lay down, really calm – just waiting for something interesting to happen – or a piece of sausage to fly their way more like. Doggos at the Spring Fair

Then in the evening we went along to the Café de La Poste to watch the local ex pats play pool – and again everyone just loves the doggos – they are settling in really well.

We’re becoming more French by the day – we do the French kissing thing – and we now have a French bank account. The day we met with Brieuc at the local branch of Credit Agricole to set that up was very amusing. We had finished our business with him and were standing in the little foyer just chatting to him. Unlike in England we can take the dogs pretty much everywhere so they had been in his office with us, and they were just minding their own business by our feet. Then someone came in to use the cash point and the dogs leapt up and starting barking excitedly – then we realised it was our friend Carole – who of course the dogs recognised and she probably had treats for her own dog Panda. We all said hello – and Carole gave me the obligatory kiss on each cheek – French style – then Martin and then she turned to Brieuc and kissed him. I just assumed she knew him from the bank and as she has been out here 21 years it was quite feasible that they had become very friendly. I thought nothing more of it until we went over on Sunday for afternoon tea with Carole and Bernard and she confessed her “faux pas” – she had thought Brieuc was with us – maybe even James – and kissed him without thinking. I bet he had quite a shock!!

Top of the range Cadac

So, as I sit here it is 8.30pm on Friday evening – it’s 24 degrees – nice and cool in comparison to the sweltering heat we had earlier today. We’ve had our dinner – cooked outside on the new top of the range Cadac my darling husband bought me to soften the blow of not having a proper kitchen for a year, and we’ve had our Gin and Tonic in the sun (and also a sneaky little after dinner snooze) and I’m thinking – it’s only a grass track – but it’s our grass track!! And it’s our little piece of quietness, and solitude…. And heaven.

And if this is to be our temporary home for the next 12 – 18 months (or longer if the French system doesn’t speed up somewhat) then that won’t be so bad will it.

Better go now before the grass (quite literally) grows under our feet!!

©Sharon Rees-Williams – wordpress.com/thislittlepieceof.land, 2018

Nous Sommes Arrive

Such a lot has happened since my last entry that I really don’t know where to begin.

Suffice to say, the absence of an entry last Friday should tell you that life was very hectic!! Manic is probably a better word.

After exchange of contracts it was all go in preparation for the Anglo/French removal company to come last Friday to take the belongings that we feel we want to keep in the longer term, but don’t need or don’t have space in our motorhome.

We needed to have a habitation check, a service and some work done on Marsha the motorhome, and unfortunately the only time that was possible to have this done was the Monday, and then the Wednesday and Thursday – which meant I was home alone to do a lot of the packing. Chaos is the best word to describe that whole week. Stuff was sold on social media and sorted out in to piles for the charity shops and the tip.

Shpock Proceeds — £500 made by selling on Shpock and Facebook Market Place – not to be sneezed at al

Martin done a total of 28 runs to the tip in 18 days – we know that as there is an overhead display which clocks up each visit – this made us VERY nervous – what if there was a maximum number of visits? What if this time was the last time we would be permitted to offload some of the contents of our loft which had being lying dormant for quarter of a century on the basis that we “might need it sometime”. Note: we were in our current house for a decade not a quarter of a century – BUT there was definitely stuff up there that had not been sorted for the last move!!

Facebook was definitely my saving grace for this house move. A lovely man called Ade took box upon box of Martin and Ryan’s old computer bits to be used to rebuild PCs for good causes. And a lovely lady called Zoe took a few van loads off for the Shaw Trust which saved us doing even more visits to charity shops.

Removal day was hectic. 6 lads flew up and down and stairs carrying two boxes a time – every time I turned around someone would be grabbing something that was supposed to be staying, and my inventory system just went to pot. I was frazzled by the end of it – but not as worried as the dogs who were noticeably perturbed by the disappearance of all their familiar things.

Luka looking at the things dissapearing — “woof woof – I’d better be quick or I will be left behind”

Last item on was the tandem which is going to be turned into a garden decoration in France when we have a garden to decorate – hopefully that won’t be too long. As we peered in to the huge lorry we pondered on how empty it seemed – was our whole life’s worth of possessions really in there?

Anglo French removal truck — Enormous artic – too big to get down our road – they needed to do a shuttle run with a van – it only took two trips to load all our stuff!!

Friday evening, we had a few Gin and Tonics and Pizza with good friends, which was wonderful – just to relax and enjoy some laughs after the madness of the previous few days.

Then the few days between removal day and completion day was spent taking stuff to family members who are storing a few bits and spending some quality time with them before we headed off.

We were late to bed Sunday as I insisted on thoroughly cleaning the kitchen – including the oven, before we handed over the house, and we were up at the crack of dawn to carrying on with last minute packing and cleaning.

Noon came and went with no sign of completion – for which I was glad as we were still coming across cupboards that had stuff in. Suddenly I realised why the artic seemed so empty!! I was sure most of our stuff was still here. At least it seemed that way.

We were expecting carpet cleaners at 1200 but when they were also accompanied by professional house cleaners I could have spat feathers – after all the cleaning we had done!! The guy opened up the oven and said “it’s brand new” – “no I said, just the result of two hours of my husband’s life wasted” – why did no one tell us!! Never mind – at least no-one could say we are dirty!!

We panicked when the cleaners turned up, or should I say – I panicked – and started indiscriminately shoving stuff in the motorhome – completely filling up every last bit of space. We’re not the best “packers” at the best of times – but this was quite literally piled up. Just enough room for us to sit, and for the dogs to lay under the table – but the bed was full, the chairs were full, and every other bit of floor space was occupied.

I phoned mum in desperation and asked her to come over with her car so I could get some more stuff in her boot. We filled her car up, filled our car up and drove round to her house. Much to the amusement of everyone living at her sheltered accommodation I had “borrowed” an ASDA trolley to wheel the boxes up to her flat – where I sorted out things the best I could.

In my head, I had imagined our last day at our home of nearly 10 years to be somewhat more serene. Handing over the keys to the excited new owners, we would slowly drive up the road in our tortoise-like home, waving to our neighbours (who would of course have gathered around to bid us farewell) and as we sailed off into the sunset we would be smiling, happy, in anticipation of achieving all our hearts could desire.

The reality………………….me nearly having a meltdown at my mums, realising at the last minute that we had no dog food so a rush to pets at home, a frantic dumping off of stuff at Lisa’s including piling up of stuff in the bedroom for Sian that she had no idea was coming to her!!

Dumped at Lisa's — Poor Sian arrived to find all this

Then……………..a horrible rush hour drive to Folkestone, too late now to stop over to visit James, Nicola, Henry and Chloe. Arrival at Le Shuttle to find the duty free closed so no new bottle of gin for me. An attempt to sleep a bit in the driver and passenger seat (remember – no room on the bed you see) – the prospect of four-hour delays – then not…so do we sleep or not? Let’s not chance it.

We finally pulled over to stop somewhere in France at 0330 – shifted enough of the stuff on the bed to allow two very weary bodies to collapse and sleep for a few hours (fully clothed in my case and I kept the same clothes on for another day afterwards – yuk!)

Day Two was, after a very yummy breakfast, more driving – still both feeling a little shell shocked really. Too tired to feel the excitement. This chapter of our adventure has tested our relationship to its limits – there were many cross words said. Conversations surrounding whose fault it was that this didn’t get packed and this didn’t happen – marital bickering at it’s best (or worst).

Day Three – the tightly coiled springs that we had become slowly started to unwind and we began to have a laugh at funny things, to sing along to songs on the French radio. I did some driving – three hours’ worth in fact. Over a lovely lunch we came up with a cunning plan to drop off some stuff at the storage barn to relieve the over occupancy issue – and all seemed well again – TEAM MARSHA (half Martin, half Sharon) was functioning again.

Lunch time picnic — Being exhausted is no excuse to not serve up something lovely for our roadside lunch

The barn was huge!! Dry, and secure, and thankfully no smell of tobacco at all (this had been my fear for the last month). We were more than happy to store our possessions here so we very unceremoniously sorted out stuff on the grass verge at the road.

A misplaced I-Pod was the catalyst for a monumental melt down on my part, and all the emotions that I had been bottling up for the past few days came out in great, huge, gulping sobs – the kind that frighten anyone who hears (I suspect Martin scurried back up to the barn when he heard me) – but once the frustration, and emotions were out things seemed much better again. I needed that cry – it’s a big step we are taking, and for someone like me who doesn’t find it easy to give up any amount of control over her life – everything that’s happened during this process has seemed very overwhelming.

Then onwards we drove, until ………….at last, very tired and extremely hungry – we finally pulled in to the, by now very familiar, car park at the lake in Villefranche du Perigord.

Nous sommes arrive – we have arrived!

Are we ready for this?

Ready Wow! Such a mixture of emotions this week. Every day it seemed we were told we might be ready to exchange contracts and then there was this delay and that delay.

Martin needed to take charge of all communications completely as I was ready to spit feathers at any of the solicitors involved if I was to get to speak to them. And of course, that wouldn’t get us anywhere.

Then, yesterday after thinking it would never happen we got the call to say we had finally exchanged contracts. It was such a relief!! Then of course the panic of knowing we really do only have a week left to pack and of that week Martin is away for 3 days sorting out things with Marsha (the motorhome).

So, it’s tense around here. I am non stop packing, Martin’s life is a constant cycle of driving to the tip and charity shops. Sian is abandoning ship a week earlier and moving her things out so she can get settled back into her A Level Revision time table as quickly as possible. I don’t blame her – it’s been weeks since any of us could sit on a comfy chair and watch TV consecutively (it’s either one or the other). I can’t imagine not seeing her cheeky little face every morning – yet, I’ve known for a long while now that I will lose her to University this Autumn so I have resigned myself to that. It doesn’t stop me sneaking a little tear every now and then though. When Ryan went off to Uni nearly 6 years ago, I cried frequently and didn’t sleep properly for weeks. It’s all part of being a mum.

Martin has been to the tip 10 times in 9 days – he knows this as there is a display showing when he enters the tip – he’s worried in case there is a maximum number of visits. I have a plea to make if necessary – “we haven’t been much at all in nearly 10 years Sir, it’s just that we are taking all our visits in one go Sir” – we really have been the most dreadful hoarders. Every box that comes down from the loft reveals things long forgotten, mostly totally useless, and we wonder if we should just have paid someone to take it all away – un-opened.

However…..for as much rubbish as is revealed – there have also been a few treasures. For instance – a whole load of gold jewellery that I no longer wear, or would even want to wear as I switched to silver when Martin and I had platinum wedding rings (yeah yeah, I would have loved to have had all platinum but…..). And also, cards from my dad, words which reassure me that although he was a man who found it hard to express his emotions, he did love me, and was really keen for us to come and visit them in France and also words of appreciation to Martin for all the help he gave him in his final months.

The mislaid folder of photos and notes from my lovely Auntie Maureen was also found, just in time for the visit last week from our American cousins Doug and Lorraine, and it was so lovely to be able to show them these and reminisce.

So, there is a lot to be said for hoarding stuff. But still, it has to be sorted and so I know I must cull some of it and decide what is really important. I’m taking a few boxes of memories out to France and when I have time on my hands (which I hope may be sometime fairly soon) I’ll make some lovely collages of special cards to put up on the wall instead of tucking them away never to be seen again.

This very thorough way of packing has meant it has taken an absolute age to get packed – and we are still not done!! There is loads to do!! We quite simply are not ready…but we will be. Just the same as Sian is ready to embark on the next stage of her life (although she might not realise that quite yet) and we are ready to start the adventure of our life, come next Friday – when the removal vans arrive – our lives, neatly packed up in boxes, will be ready to be taken 720 miles away to the place where the next stage of our journey begins.

map

Exciting times….and at last I can dare to believe that it is really happening

And we are as ready as we will ever be for as Hugh Laurie very wisely says – “there is almost no such thing as ready – there is only now””.

The F Word

Well two F Words actually…and not the one you might think it is.

First of all, F R U S T R A T I O N

Frustration

Frustration at a system that is so slow…. but at the same time knowing that part of the appeal of moving to a tiny village in the South of the Dordogne is the slow pace of life.

We’ve been trying to progress the transfer of ownership for the land since October last year, and it’s taking ages. It’s not enough to say that you are one of three siblings – we need to prove it. And the only way to do that is to have a Genealogy report. So, eventually after a few small hiccups – we thought that we had that in hand during our February trip.

French letter So, a few days ago we got really excited when a letter arrived with a French post mark on it. We anticipated that inside would be a report confirming that my dad had not sown his seeds elsewhere. But, upon opening the said letter imagine our dismay that it was quite simply a letter stating that now we had sent the forms off (yeah we done that AGES ago!!!) they now had everything needed to send this off to their branch office to deal with!! Grrr!! I wonder how many months this next stage of the process will take.

Patience is a virtue as they say, and our skills in this area are being honed to perfection at the moment. Especially mine…. I am not the world’s most patient person at the best of times and certainly not at the moment.

Add to this the delays in exchanging contracts on our house sale caused by the middle solicitor picking up on something that should have been spotted 2 months ago…. yes, it is fair to say that we are feeling the FRUSTRATION

But, on a more position note the other F Word I wanted to write about is FRIENDSHIP.

The last few weeks have been a whirlwind of coffees, camping trips and dog walks, whilst I try and catch up with all sorts of people in an attempt to say Au Revoir to people before we leave. So, these friendships have been the focus of my mind for the past week or so.

One of the things I have loved so much about France is how easily friendships form. Whereas it might take months, or even years for the slow burn of acquaintanceship to simmer into a friendship in the slightly stuffier confines of a typically British small town/ large village, such as Chandlers Ford. In comparison, in France, we have made, are making friends all the time with every trip. It’s different, very different, and I was describing this today to my friend who I had met for a dog walk. There’s a common ground with the ex-pats in the French village and surrounding areas – a sense of all being in it together. So, people seem much more willing to get straight in there and help people out, and invite them for coffee, and give them lifts and all sorts of things. Stuff that you might wait a long time before doing in the UK. Even in my “mum at the school gate” years where I made friends very easily, it was never so fast and furious!! But these days I am too old for the school gate, but also too young for the U3A so it’s proved to be quite hard to form friendships in the place that has been home for nearly a decade.

community

But in France I love the ease with which that common bond brings people together in a lovely sense of community and neighbourliness.

With the French people, we have found that once they realise you are moving over there to live and will be an integral part of their community they are really warm and friendly, and welcome you with open arms.

So, even though our time in France has so far been a small number of short (but ever increasing durations of time) trips we have started to make friends with all sorts of wonderful people.

Today’s friend (a previous work colleague) and I talked about how the UK has lots of support groups and volunteering, whereas in France this sort of thing is virtually non-existent and we concluded that this is because it’s not needed because there is such a strong sense of community. It’s so true – every one helps each other out in whatever ways they can. Our lovely friend, who at 70 something has help in various ways from her friends and neighbours, also helps out a much younger friend who cannot get to the shops at the moment through her own ill health.

It’s all about Karma, Pay Forward, whatever you like to call it – you do a good deed and someone will do one for you.

So, we can’t wait to get over there and fully embrace the community life which we know is waiting for us.

But first, we have those small issues of frustration to contend with….hopefully this coming week will bring some good news of progress!!

All bound for Mu-Mu Land

Something freakin’ awesome just happened this morning!! My partner in crime, soul-mate, best friend, bed-partner, recipient of my many pranks, Martin aka Gruffalo – just retired!! Woo hoo!!!

After 27 years of a life revolving around reporting for duty at Fawley Oil Refinery (preceded by 14 years of being told precisely what to do in his Army Career) Martin can now choose exactly what to do with his days!! Yee ha!!!

Surprising Martin seems to have accumulated very little in his desk space at work, and despite me fearing he would need a removal truck to bring all his junk home all he had was this box!!

So, Martin being able to choose how he spends his days also means that I can now do exactly what I want to do, as I have been keeping myself busy and occupied with my holistic therapies small (very small) business making sure that I can choose to work when I wish to, and have the flexibility to do whatever fits in around Martin’s work.

And now he has no work!! So, nothing to fit around!! We can do whatever we want to do when we want to do it!! Freakin’ Awesome!!

Since putting in his notice Martin has begun to chill out significantly!! This has been noticed by other people and commented on. It’s also been noticed by me that he has become slightly more liberal in his choice of “party attire” which was witnessed last weekend at our friends Deb and Chris’s party. Not only did Gruffs wear his brightly coloured flowery shirt, he also agreed that colouring the grey bits of his beard blue would be a great idea!! Love it!! I done bits of my hair blue to match!! Love that too!!

Deb and Chris throw amazing parties – they have the most interesting house I have ever been in to. Every nook and cranny is full of something weird or whacky. To illustrate – I nipped to the upstairs toilet and put my hand in first to pull the light on – and realised I was pulling on a Dolls Leg – eeek!! In the downstairs loo Corpse Barbie and Ken can be found making out in some perverted position. So, yes – great parties – which involve the back end of the garden having a fire pit, and a bit of a jamming session and sing song going on with the more musically able of the guests, and their living room being transformed in to a Disco Room – complete with flashing Disco Lights and slippery dance floor.

Martin is usually known to just stand quietly and observe, but on this occasion his imminent retirement situation seemed to have chilled him out somewhat and he ventured in to the Disco Room with me. We had a great boogie – fantastic fun, but when the track being played ended we had a hilarious 5 minutes whilst the 5 of us “50 plus somethings” attempted to find another track on the lap-top – all of us blind as bats without our reading glasses. The song we were trying to find was KLF – Justified and Ancient!!

It was very surreal and very funny and reiterated that this is what happens when the Bowie and Bolan era retire – we will not be going to our care homes all biddable and agreeable “yes nurse no nurse 3 bags full nurse”!! Hell no!! We will be wanting day trips out to AC/DC gigs and selling our prescription medication on the Internet!!

So back to that song!! I haven’t heard that for years – probably not since 1991 when it was released!! But it’s been brain worming into my head all week!! The song is about living in an ice cream van, roaming the land, no master plan, and all bound for Mu-Mu Land.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RPjggN-KByI

And that just about sums us up now!!

We have our van and we are about to embark on our new adventures. First step will be to put down some roots in France, and whilst doing that we have plans to travel around the parts of Europe that we have not yet been able to reach around the constraints of work.

Justified!! Ancient!!! and All bound for Mu-Mu Land!! (Well off to the New Forest camping actually).