After 20 years of dreaming and latterly, planning, on 27th August 2011 we moved to France, to live the dream.
The first month wasn’t quite what we had expected of retirement; staying out partying till all hours, listening to a friend’s rock band playing and going for motorbike rides into the Pyrenees.
But that’s all finished now and it’s down to the serious business of preparing the house for the winter, not that winter seems imminent; it was 24ºC and sunny today. Can’t quite believe it in October!
Getting an internet connection took some considerable time, not to mention being extremely frustrating, but at last we’re connected to the rest of the world.
Apart from hours and hours of gardening, we’ve built a New Zealand compost bin system, using the old floorboards from the first floor in the grange. It took a week to fill it, but it actually got quite hot (which it was meant to do)!
Nick and Kieran have insulated the attic and have started to replace the windows with double glazed ones, in the hope that we’ll be able to stay reasonably warm in the winter. We’ve got two wood burning stoves, but that’s all by way of heating, so I’m hoping for a mild winter. They’ve replaced the wooden ceiling in one of the bedrooms and removed the chimney breast. As soon as I’ve decorated that room, they plan to start on the next bedroom, with the aim of redecorating all three before winter.
For my part, I’ve nearly finished giving my mother’s old kitchen furniture a distressed paint finish. Kieran can’t understand why I didn’t just do a lousy job of painting it in the first place – no soul, that boy!
We’re working hard on integrating into village life, and as a result of having helped out at the village fête last month, were invited to breakfast and to watch the France/England rugby match at the Salle des Fêtes last Saturday. Breakfast was bacon and eggs, (served with red wine!) as a concession to the British contingent, then we watched the rugby (enough said about that!). After the match, lunch was served and the Armagnac started to flow; well this is Caupenne d’Armagnac, so you can guess what most of the vineyards around here make. A fun afternoon was had by all and we finally got home at around 8.30pm.
Nick and Kieran are attending French classes and have joined a local climbing club, Nick has joined a cycling club and I teach an English class once a week and have joined a patchwork club.
There are photos in the galleries, of the house, the garden, the area and of the work we’re doing. I hope you’ll have a look. I’ll do regular updates, so do visit from time to time, to see how we’re getting on.