Our place in France Chapter 42

Another Christmas come and gone but this was no ordinary Christmas for us. Our first in the Northern Hemisphere, first in our new home and first in our new country. It was almost strange to be wrapping up warmly at Christmas time but it was exciting too. Opening  presents from under the tree in front of a roaring fire was quite a change from our usual South African Christmases. Our midday meal on Christmas Day was also a little different.  We had a typically French starter in the form of a hot goat’s cheese salad, followed by roast capon with sage and onion stuffing, and vegetables and finished off with vanilla icecream topped with a raspberry coulis, made with fresh raspberries. After which none of us could move! To prove the point, everyone sat around the table chatting for quite a while until we all moved into the lounge for coffee  and to watch a movie, which we had recorded the night before. In fact it was a very satisfactory day all round.

The week previous to the 25^th was fairly chaotic until Thursday when Andre and Leigh hired a car so that they could be independent. For example, on Tuesday I had a doctor’s appointment at 10.30 while Neels, Andre and Leigh had an11 o’clock rendez-vous at the bank to set up accounts etc. The girls were let loose in the town. My appointment was finished and done with by 11, so I set off for the bank on foot to the diagonally opposite corner of town. Anyone who knows me will know that walking is not one of my favourite occupations, especially uphill; on cobbled streets; and wrapped up like a Michelin Man. However, by zig-zagging my way along, I managed to intersperse the uphills with a short distances of flat (-tish) ground and arrived at my destination even before they were finished there. My halo was so tight after all that walking that I should have had a headache, I’m sure!

On Thursday we had a similar clash of times but as Neels and I were alone, we managed to work it out more easily. Thank goodness though for supermarkets and shops that close at 6pm. Not that they were any less busy being only a couple of days away from Christmas. Who told me that the French don’t really celebrate Christmas?? I could easily have been mistaken but people appeared to be shopping as there was to be no tomorrow, but if there was, then perhaps it would be a Christmas public holiday! I had to wait a few minutes in the foyer of the supermarket and idly watched the trolleys coming away from the tills. I was amazed, shocked, even appalled at the fullness of the trolleys. Were these people setting up for a siege that we hadn’t heard about? The shops would only be closed for one day, after all. But, don’t tell me, I know. This happens everywhere and the traders just clap their hands in glee. Ker-ching!

Most of the villages around have put up decorations for the season, the scope of these being commensurate with the wealth of the community. The bigger towns, obviously, have  quite an impressive show while some of the smallest villages rely on the inhabitants to brighten things up. Our own village has a number of little pine trees around the centre part of town and these have all been decorated with tinsel and flashing lights. Very pretty and delicate. Imagine our surprise when, on returning from a walk with the girls, Neels and I found our own house decorated with a string of flashing lights wound around the veranda rail. And indoors, our teeny-tiny tree had it’s own string of teeny-tiny lights – a gift from all the children in the house, big and small. We were absolutely delighted.

I have been religiously taking my camera out with us every day in the hopes of finding some new, amazing and startling to photograph and show you, but grey skies are not conducive to pretty pictures so instead I have include a few indoor ones.

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Our place in France Chapter 41

What a week! After a slow start with two days of calm, the fun and games began. It had been arranged that we would drive down to collect Leigh and the two girls from Toulouse, with Andre’s main suitcase coming back with us while he flew on to London for a business meeting. Apart from the fact that their plane was due in Toulouse at 9.40 am, which meant an early start for us, it sounded very simple. So we set the alarm for 6.30 am and quickly woke up and had a cup of coffee. For some reason I looked at my cell phone which is set to ‘Silent’ during the night time hours, and saw that there was a message from Andre. Their plane had been delayed in Cape Town and had missed their take-off slot which delayed them even further, and this meant that they missed their landing slot in Istanbul, and that meant that they missed their connection to Toulouse so there was no reason to go rushing off in the frosty morning to fetch them. Of course, this also meant that Andre had missed his connection to London and was now only flying on at 9.45pm that night. My goodness! The endless complications! They finally arrived from Istanbul at 6.30 pm and we were there to meet them, and then we stayed until about 8 with Andre. This meant that the lovely scenic drive home that we had planned was now all in the dark. Andre got to London Heathrow at about midnight only to find that all the trains into the city were standing because the crews were on strike, so he had to take a wildly expensive taxi to his hotel. After a short sleep, he found that his troubles were not yet over as the meeting that he was attending had been scheduled for 9.30 but was, in actual fact at 8.30! His return flight to Toulouse the following morning was also delayed but only by ten minutes – just enough for him to miss the 1pm train to Villefranche. So he had another long wait until the next train at 5 pm. There was great celebration when he finally arrived but once again the drive home was all in the dark.

In the meantime, while we waited for him to arrive, we walked around the village with Cassy snapping away madly at everything. I have to admit that the sunset was rather spectacular and even I was prompted to take a few pictures. That evening the girls decorated our mini Christmas tree and we found a place for it to stand which is not too much in the way.

The next day, the first real day of their holiday together, we all squashed into the car and went into Villefranche where we made our way to the square in the centre admiring all the old buildings along the way. We found a lunch spot with tables set out on a sunny veranda and enjoyed the wintry sun until the shops all opened again at 2 pm and then they hit the shops as if they had been starved of clothing stores at home. Not true of course, but stores in a new country are always exciting. Even supermarkets!

The idea for Sunday was to go to the village market in Villeneuve but as usual things ran a bit late in the morning so it was quite late when it was time to go. We gave Andre the keys to the car and let him venture onto the country roads alone, on the wrong side of the road. Needless to say he managed perfectly well, and they came back for lunch loaded with goods.

Due to a mix-up, mainly caused by language difficulties, we found that we had ordered a special French Christmas time cake,  un buche de Noel, or Yule log, but that it was for a week too early. So when we came back from our trundling around town, there were two baguettes waiting for us as well as a large box containing two cakes, one with chocolate and one without. Oops! That was supposed to be our Christmas dinner dessert! However, they looked so delicious that we just had to taste, and in a few moments nearly half of each cake had disappeared. And they certainly were delicious! I can see that we will have to order more for next Saturday.

Our place in France Chapter 40

To anyone reading this for the first time, this is going to be the most boring chapter ever written, so I’m sorry but it has been one of those weeks. I have been in a total tizz ever since I woke up on Monday and realised that it was ‘THIS WEEK’! Something we have been looking forward to less than a visit to the dentist but just as inevitable. For most of you who entertain on a regular basis and think nothing of it, it would  be a doddle but we don’t, and having people we hardly know, for lunch has put me in a complete spin. I have already warned them that we don’t do the French thing of having a main meal in the middle of the day and they should expect a soup and cheese type of meal, but even that is hard for me. I am not a confident cook and even making soup proved to be a challenge. It took me ages of preparation of the vegetables and hours of cooking, continually adding this or that and then adding something else to counteract what I had added before and then adding more liquid when it boiled down too low. Then of course, all the seasoning was wrong and I had to start adding this and that again. Perhaps I should have just bought a couple of the boxes of lovely ready to eat soup from the supermarket!

Having finally settled on the soup and managed to get the flavour right, we then decided that if the food was going to be unspectacular, the table at least, would be worth looking at. So out came the special crockery that we haven’t used since they came out of the packing cases when we got here. It all had to be washed and polished well, as did the glasses we intend to use. There is strange phenomenon in this household, and that is, that every time we acquire a set of six matching glasses, one mysteriously gets broken leaving us with numerous sets of five, none of which match anything else. We hope no-one notices.

One more positive event during the week was a bit of ‘up-cycling’ that went on in the workshop. One of the items that came with us from South Africa was a very old tin trunk that came loaded with workshop tools. The tools have now all found new homes in the workshop shelves and racks but the trunk kept getting underfoot. If you know anything about us you will know that we seldom throw anything away, especially something as possibly useful as a ratty old trunk. After some months of being moved back and forth across the workshop floor it has at last found a purpose. Attached to the wall with very strong bolts, it has been turned into a cupboard with a wooden shelf (also upcycled from an old bookcase), dividing it into an upper and lower section. Perfect for the many cans of paint which were starting to accumulate on the windowsill.

The very cold weather that we have been experiencing has brought home to us just how inefficient the insulation is between the ‘cave’ and the first floor – which is where we do most of our living. We called in at the local building suppliers earlier in the week for some advice and have decided to install sheets of polystyrene to the ceiling of the ‘cave’. It is not expensive, easy to handle and install and, according to the supplier, efficient which what we mainly want. It would have been nice to have been able to get started on it this weekend, as it has to be delivered only on certain days, but hey ho! we have a lunch party to organise! Next week perhaps. Hopefully. It gets cold in the living room. Next week  Andre and family will be here and he has already agreed to help with the installation. Isn’t it wonderful to have sons who are handy around the house?!

The day of the luncheon finally arrived and my stomach was full of butterflies, but all for nothing. The two couples who came were simply charming. One couple we had met before, but the others were total strangers. What lovely people though. They are all ex-British and it was interesting to hear their varied comments on Britain and Brexit when the conversation came round to politics, as it always seems to. In general though, there was plenty of chat about a number of things and I just love it when the conversation rambles on through a dozen different topics. All in all it was great success and I will not get in a panic again……………until next time!

No pictures this week. I am sorry but perhaps next week, with the installation of the underfloor insulation there may well be a few ‘Kodak moments’.

Our place in France Chapter 39

As the days draw in ever shorter, and the nights become colder, we are frantically trying to make sure that our long awaited guests will be warm and comfortable during their stay here. The two granddaughters are getting very excited and were even a bit disappointed when we said that we would pick them up in Toulouse, which cuts out a two hour train ride. However, with Andre having to fly on to a business meeting in London, conveniently arranged for the day after their expected arrival here, the train would have been too difficult for them to manage, especially with an extra suitcase to carry. Also, we get to see them all two hours sooner than we might have!

The beds have all been made, and extra blankets piled at the foot of each one. Each bed has an electric blanket and we know from experience that there is nothing nicer than getting into a warm bed. The room heaters will be switched on about two days before they arrive to give the rooms time to warm up. The bathroom towel heaters have been on for some time now and although they are set fairly low, the bathrooms are delicious to be in. Put a TV in there and I would probably be quite happy to stay there! When I mentioned the towel heaters in a previous blog, someone commented on them and said how lucky we are to have them. In fact, towel heaters (and thus bathroom heaters) are compulsory on all new build houses nowadays. Thank you France!

We have also ordered and had delivered a large quantity of fire wood. It comes in cubic metres, known here as ‘steres’ and we ordered two steres. We expected it to arrive in a truck of some sort, but the supplier arrived in a little van similar to our car. We know that we can get half a stere into our car, loading it as far as the front seats and as high as the seats, but we also know it makes a huge mess. But the farmers are not happy to deliver small loads, hence the order for two steres . Even so, he had to make two trips, in spite of the wood being packed in up to the roof. Of course, the van version of our car has no side windows to be damaged and has a netting guard between back and front. It still made a huge mess of the interior but that’s how he makes a living – he doesn’t have to use it for passengers later. What a nice fellow he is – he even helped to stack it neatly and now we have a reasonable amount of usable fire wood. The pictures I have included make the pile look quite small, but please note that it is almost door height and that is not a short door. There is also a smaller pile that still needs to be split so that the boys can play with their new toy.

We had to have some official documents translated from English to French, and for this we contacted a lovely lady who has done this for us before. Our arrangement was the same – we emailed the documents to her; she translated them and then we fetched them at a halfway point between her house and ours, in this case, as before, at Caylus. This is a medieval town about 30 kilometres from us and way down in a deep valley in the next department, that of the Tarn-et-Garonne. It sounds a long way to go for a translation but it has to be done by a certificated translator and these are few and far between. A job opportunity here…………….if you can manage the four year training to qualify.

On the way home again, we saw a sign to the Abbey of Loc Dieu. Being in no rush, we turned off and almost immediately found ourselves outside a wonderful building surrounded by  acres of parkland. It was built as a Cistercian Abbey but has since been turned into a residence. It was originally founded in 1123, but was burnt down by the English in 1409. Rebuilt in 1470 it became  a fortified abbey until the French Revolution in 1793 when it was stripped of its assets. In 1812 the Cibiel family bought it and made it their home and have owned it ever since. During the war, some of the most valuable paintings from the Louvre, in Paris, were hidden here to save them from the Germans. In summer both the house and grounds are open to the public for a very small fee, but as mere photographers, and out of season, we were let in free of charge. We would like to go back there again in summer and have a proper guided tour of the buildings.

As a final offering this week, I have included a picture of a little stone hut that we pass every time we go into town. For some reason I just love it and think it looks very cute sitting there in the middle of the fields.