Moving in and our progress

We left the gite on Friday - as soon as the toilet was functional. It's pretty cosy here as long as we stay I the couple if heated rooms. The bedroom is comfy and we are eating out meals in the middle bedroom which will become an ensure for the upstairs bedroom. 

The hit water cylinder is plumbed in. And to think this was my first purchase and was sitting in the hall at Evergreen for a couple of months.

Beams have all been treated against woodworm and other wood eating nasties.

It's almost as though the builders of the house just took a tree trunk and fixed it up here. Full of character though! 

And we even have a bath. Water test has been completed, sadly the water is cold when it should be hot. Phil has gone back to the drawing board and we are hopeful of being able to have a bath very soon.

There isn't any heating up here but the thought of hot water makes that pale into insignificance. 

David (pronounced Da-veede) will be pleased. We have popped into his bar two nights in a row for an aperitif and I'm sure he will ar us if we go much longer without a bath. Incidentally our aperitif consists of a schooner of rise wine. This is twice the suze of their extremely small balloon glasses.  I am on Rose ordinaire at 1 Euro a glass. Phil is enjoying his Rose superieur at 1.60 Euros a pop. David is a lovely chap and gave us a parking wheel for when we want to park in Ruffec. Apparently by setting the time of arrival on this plastic wheel it will save us parking fees. So far I haven't seen anywhere we do have to pay for parking but maybe we have just been blissfully unaware. 

 

I picked up my car yesterday morning. A lovely silver 2003 Peugeot 206. 2 litre diesel. With my French number plates I'll have no excuse not to be aware of any parking restrictions. We are looking forward to leaving the van behind and going for a bit if an explore of the French countryside. Hopefully in Tuesday. Hot water permitting. 

I am so chuffed with myself for buying the car and organising the insurance as neither the garage nor the insurance agent spoke any English, so I was totally reliant in my French. Phil's French is coming on brilliantly. He can ask for our aperitifs now and that's more important than nearly anything.

I've had a weekend where I've caught up with friends and family which has been wonderful. Seems like they are so close with the power of the Internet. 

More updates soon mes amis.

With love xx

Celotex and toilet update

Another cold start and a bit of rain but not so bad as yesterday.

The plumber has left the courtyard to settle but we now have connection to the village drains!

It's a bit of a mud bath out there though as you can see. He will be back in a couple if days to finish and pop a manhole cover on. 

I have been sawing Celotex and started to insulate the attic whilst Phil has been busy building framework and plumbing. Pipes out from toilet are done - just need pipes to come in now to supply water. This is how far he had got at lunchtime. 

Tomorrow is a plumbing day. We still hope to move in on Friday. Before starting work we have to go to get some supplies. Primarily a duvet ( as I brought 3 pillows in a bag marked duvet by mistake) and also I need to drop my insurance papers off at the garage so they can organise my carte grise. 

Nadia and Justin popped in for a coffee this afternoon with their children. Out first guests! 

Will update again tomorrow.  

The first 5 days

The van was full to bursting and weighed tons, literally. We set off on the 23rd heading for Portsmouth to catch the 2.45 ferry to Caen. Phil was worried the van would make it under all the weight we had in her but amazingly I was confident she could do it. We got to the port with loads of time to spare. The crossing was good and we had a bite to eat and went to see Captain Philips in the onboard cinema. What a film! By the time it was over there was only time for a quick drink before arriving. We docked at 9.30pm French time and went to find the Ibis I had booked us into for the night. The rain had followed us from the UK and after what turned out to be a bright day we found ourselves going round in circles for about 20 mins in the pouring rain. When I say pouring it was absolutely torrential; more of a tropical storm.  in any event we finally got on the right track and found our bed for the night. Obviously by then we deserved a beer or two but we were sensible and went to bed before midnight anticipating the next day which was going to be so exciting.

We awake Friday to a grey and rainy day. We had a great drive down, wonderful roads all the way. Hardly any traffic on the autoroutes but we did pay about 50 Euros for the privilege. This would have been less in a car though. The first D road (departmental road) we hit was about 9 Kms from Villefagnan so the driving was all on wide roads till then. Even so the road from Ruffec to Villefagnan is a good one.

The Route had taken us around Le Mans, Poitiers, through Tours where the River Loire was in flood and the the N10 down to Ruffec. At Tours I text Di who has a house with Paul not far from there just to say Hi and that I was thinking of her. 

We arrived at the agent to collect the keys about 3.45 and were given a marvellous welcome. At last I had the keys to my new home. The plumber couldn't get tones until Monday and this was the Friday so we decided that without mains drainage and only an outside loo (for this read hole in the ground with toilet seat above, hidden behind a curtain and blanket) we would stay in a gite. After a quick look in the house and a lovely reunion with Nadia and Justin and their lovely children we set off for the gite having bought a couple of beers and some wine in the local supermarket. At the house was a lovely card from my old and dear friend Jim; a wonderful card with some British red telephone boxes on. He suggested these would be a reminder of home until we had one installed in the courtyard. There was also a card saying the post office had tried to deliver a parcel. We would have to wait till Monday to pick that up at the Post Office.  We planned on food and an early night so we could get up and start the next day a working at the house. This nearly went to plan, except for the power that was on and off all evening and the fact we were drinking wine by torchlight and getting very chatty. Sill it wasn't an overly late night. Neither of us slept brilliantly - we both had too many things whirling through our heads. Something that is still occurring after 4 nights there.

We got up on the Saturday and drove to the house. The day was spent clearing (or rather starting to clear) the house of all of the previous owner's stuff and emptying the van. We are so lucky to have a covered area between the two houses as we can put all our stuff under there and also in the barn. There is a great old workbench and plenty of room to keep tools. 

Laden with bin bags I started going through cupboards and looking to see what could be washed that we could use. I found some plated in house 2 that are now washed and in a sideboard in our kitchen. There is stuff all over the place. I found cutlery in house 2' the kitchen and in a 'mais' in the enormous room next to the kitchen which will at some point become part of our kitchen making it a large room with a utility room. A mais is a large coffin like wooden box raised above the ground where flour and suchlike was stored, out of reach of mice etc.

The weather improved as the day went on and at 4pm we we able to sit outside in the sunshine with a mug of Earl Grey. 

We had a good day and went back to the gite tired but happy to have finally started. It was Burn's night and Phil had brought a haggis and mushy peas (and chips) all the way from the UK. The haggis was on and chips were in the oven when the power went out. We never had the chips...... But we did have haggis and mushy peas by candlelight.

Sunday,the weather was a different story. We had to clear the attic so we could start building work. This is to be our bedroom with an en suite bathroom. It was full of cases with photos that I will go through at some point. There are letters dated 1937 to I think the parents of the old lady who lived here. More on these finds when I have a chance to look through all the stuff.

There was a great big metal tub with a lid that was chock a block with old Bon Maman jam jars and killer jars, we are thinking we may open the courtyard and set up a load of stuff on tables so people can come and help themselves. If anything can go to a good home so much the better. Even so there is so much stuff to take to the dechetterie (tip) and will be for months to come. 

After clearing the attic (well, mostly) I started brushing down the beams and then treating them with Cuprinol 5 star complete wood treatment. It paints on and is like water so lots of dripping all over the place. In the meantime Phil has taken tiles off the roof where water was coming through and fortuitously in the same spot we need to put the Velux for the bathroom, so he has slipped that in. 2 days later after lots of rain there isn't any water coming through which is fantastic. 

We returned to the gite tired and filthy, covered in cobwebs and a couple of hundred years of dust! 

After a shower we went to L'Etoile D'Or where we were welcomed by Helen and Paul who we met in December when we stayed. Paul cooked a lovely pork in cream and cider for me and a turkey escalope with mushrooms, cream and Madeira sauce for Phil. Phil was persuaded to have cheese - he can never say no........ Then we wet back to the gite for an early night.

Monday - the plumber was due to start so we went to the house after breakfast with a plan to pickmup the parcel at La Poste, say hello to the plumber, then to go to look at some cars and leave him to it.The parcel  was my LiveBox from Orange to connect to the Internet. Amazingly quick, I only paid for it last Wednesday and within 2 days it had arrived. We would have a go at installing it later. 

The plumber is a lovely man and he had a helper so we said hello and goodbye and made a quick exit. Joan, our estate agent had recommended a garage on the way to Chef Bouton at Bouin so we headed there. Unfortunatelybitvwasnshut until 2pm so we had a look around and then went to Ruffec to 3MMM to buy electric cable and switches, I used my French debit card for the first time, but I know it won't be the last by a long shot. We knew of a couple of car dealers in Ruffec and went to have a look. It was lunch time and everywhere closes but we could still wander around, but only a Renault Twingo caught our eye and we thought we could go back and have a look later. Then on to E. LeClerc. This is a large supermarket and we spent a while getting some yummy stuff for the next couple of days. After a quick lunch of soup and baguette we decided to go back to Bouin as it had gone 2pm and the car sales should be open. When we got the we were told that the man who sells cars wasn't there till tomorrow and could we come back Tuesday. The receptionist picked up the phone to find out what time would be good for us to return and put the phone down saying, he will come now as he only lives next door. I don't know the guy's name but he certainly knew what cars he had along with their kilometerage, engine size, price etc just off the top of his head. He wanted to show me a right hand drive Suzuki but I told home I really wanted a left hand  drive car. There was also a banana yellow van, similar to our friend James'. I can just imagine the reaction from. My friends if I drove that! There was also a dark green Ford Ka, but Phil wasn't keen. In addition he had a silver Peugeot 206, 2003 diesel with loads of kilometres on the clock but it is a diesel. He asked if I wanted a drive so he handed me the keys and we went for a spin. It was such an easy car to just get in and drive so my mind was made up. 2 litre engine, no wonder she shifted. 3500 euros and I asked him to throw in the carte gripe which he agreed to do. I pick her up Saturday! 

After all this I then had to produce some documents. Passport, proof of domicile in France and I need to have insurance by Friday in order for the garage to get the carte grise.

This involved a trip to the notaire's office to get an attestation that I own the house. Then we went to an AXA agent at the endow the village to try and arrange insurance. The lady there was lovely but didn't speak any English so it was a lengthy process. I had to go back this morning with proof of my no claims but today (Tuesday) I have insurance from 1st Feb. After sorting the insurance we had to go back to the garage with passport and proof of domicile so we covered a few miles yesterday. The day off from physical work gave Phil's muscles a chance to recover so it all worked out perfectly. We only had one thing we wanted to do and that was to see if we could get broadband sorted. It wasn't too difficult and we had Internet by 6.15. Sadly it was only 5.15 in the UK and I tried getting hold of several people but no one was online. Oh well, I can at last Update this blog and publish it. 

To end the day we cooked sausages and had a beer and a glass of wine. Pattern forming here do you think?

So Tuesday today. 

We set the alarm this morning so we could get to the house earlier. On the way we passed the AXA office and I went in to pay and prove my no claims. I came away with all my documentation.

The plumber had already arrived and the courtyard is a big trench with a pipe running through it, great progress. One step closer to having a connected toilet! 

I finished the Cuprinol so we will have to go and get some more and Phil has spent the day building framework for the hot water cylinder and the bathroom wall and door. 

I have cleared the room we will sleep in almost and set up a bed and bedside tables. There are electric heaters in there and it will be lovely and cosy. I unpacked a topper for the bed and pillows and a down duvet that I used to have in Bradley Stoke. I was so looking forward to getting this out again but when I unwrapped the bag it seems I had mislabelled it and there were 3 pillows inside. Doh! So we will have to have a trip to buy a new duvet before moving in. We are hoping this will be Friday. This is where we will sleep. 

As I write the light is fading and the plumber and his mate are filling in the trench. It is so muddy in the courtyard. It seems that below the sandy soil is clay and it has been really hard going for them today. They are wet through and it his cold. They have done an incredible job.  They will leave the ground to settle for a few days and then come back and finish off. Phil is now able to go ahead and connect the toilet. Hoorah! Maybe this time tomorrow we will have an inside loo. 

More soon.

Love to all my family and friends.

Xx

It's mine!

Finally after all the waiting the two little houses are mine. We got the thumbs up that the acte de vente had been signed mid Monday afternoon and the first task was to checkout on the Screwfix order that had been sitting on their server for a month. Easier said than done.... items were going out of stock by the minute and as soon as we found an alternative that was going out of stock too but nonetheless a huge order went in. I got out my trusty M&S credit card and checked out - but it didn't work. After another attempt I got out my Tesco Card and lo and behold it didn't work either. So Phil pulled out his (card) and I transferred the money over to his account. Within minutes M&S were on the phone saying they thought my account had been compromised and got me to cut up my card. They are sending me another.

Then we left for B&Q. We had got a quote last week for bathroom stuff as our first job will be to get an inside toilet and shower or bath sorted. This will be in the attic - which will become our bedroom with an en suite. What a bargain - 25% off and we added tiles and even wood and plasterboard to the order. There was 20% off towel radiators so we added these to the order and then got a further 25% off so we were delighted. Half an hour later I am standing at the checkout and guess what? Yeah - you're right - my Tesco card was declined. So everything is now going in my bank debit card. Not that it makes any difference these days - I'm not going to earn any interest by holding onto the money for another few days.

By this time we were pretty well shopped out so we came home to.......do more Internet shopping.

Screwfix delivered the following day and everything we ordered was there - it did take 2 hours to check everything though.

Yesterday was lovely. Our wonderful friends Mike and Maria have donated a Capel 5 ring gas cooker to us. New hinges have been ordered and also a LPG conversion kit, so we went down to Wimborne to collect it. There is even a rotisserie. It looks very similar to this(or will by the time Mr Muscle has had his way). Huge thanks to you both. I will have great fun cooking on it.

The last few days have been so busy and we have a thought that if all our deliveries arrive by Tuesday next week then we will book the ferry for Thursday or Friday. It's suddenly becoming very real.

Please sign up and follow our journey - I am sure it is going to become much more exciting - from these tame photos here to pictures of destruction and hopefully new creations.

Nearly there......

We took off for France on Monday 9th December full of excitement. I turned to Phil in the plane and said I just can't believe I am going to buy a house in France.

We landed in Toulouse and picked up a lovely Fiesta hired from Europcar and drove into the centre of Toulouse (a very short trip). It was cold but the sky was pure blue and the sun was shining. Our hotel was great value (thank you Booking.com) and in a great central location. If anyone is visiting Toulouse I can recommend Hotel le Clocher Rodez on Place Jeanne d'Arc. A cosy room with everything we wanted and friendly staff. We spend the afternoon wandering around Toulouse, visiting the great Christmas Market in Place du Capitole. We could have bought so much but as we were flying we had to be careful of weight limits so just picked up a few pressies which were so different from anything we had seen in England. The architecture was beautiful and we had a lovely meal before returning to the hotel for an early night.

The next morning and more blue skies and sunshine and we set off for Villefagnan. A lovely trip (about 4 1/2 hours). The roads got a bit busy around Bordeaux and we were amazed at the convoys of lorries on the N10. They all stuck to the inside lane though so we sailed on by. We arrived at Villefagnan mid afternoon and booked into the Logis de Tours, a listed building that was once a chateau and will be one of our competitors in the B&B arena.

 

Wednesday we visited the windmill nearby (the area once had many windmills and this one has been restored and still grinds flour)

After that we had a trip to a nearby shopping complex to look at prices and suss out where to get supplies.

Thursday was Phil's birthday and we spent the morning going around an amazing DIY/builders merchants in Ruffec called 3M. We also looked at some second hand cars. These are very expensive in France but I plan on having a budget of €4,000 to get something fairly decent. We saw a Peugeot 307 that fitted the bill so we'll see if it is still available next time. The alternative is to take my car over and have it registered in France. This turns out to be quite complicated and costly. It involves getting a French MOT (Controle Technique), a certificate of conformity from the manufacturers, having the headlights changed by an authorised person and certified and obtaining a grey card (carte grise). Another option is to buy a left hand drive car in the UK but we are fast going off that idea as it involves a trip to Nottingham or Kent and we still have to take the car over. More on this as the plan develops.

In the afternoon we went to the house to meet the plumber along with Nadia and Justin from the agents. This time we paid attention to the furniture we were going to be buying the following day. The plumber turned up a little late as his morning job had over-run and he had to go and have his lunch. Nothing gets in the way of a Frenchman and his lunch. He was a lovely chap and as we were chatting to him about connecting the house to mains drainage and when he could start work (scheduled for 8th Jan) a little old man turns up and starts talking to Nadia.
I gleaned that he was one of the sellers and he was saying that the sale would not be taking place the following day. It transpired that when they were asked if anyone else had an interest or claim to the property they had said 'No'. But then it had come to light that someone else did have a claim. This claimant had died but had 2 children who had to agree to the sale therefore it was going to take some more time. In spite of this we went to the house as planned the following morning and then to the notaire's office where he ran through the whole contract with us and I signed over power of attorney to him - hopefully for the final signing to take place after we had returned to England. The hope was that it would still happen before Xmas. This was very disappointing as we returned home on the Saturday without my French house.

I am now writing in January 2014. The hope was that as the sale hadn't taken place by Xmas, nor the New Year, that the week commencing 6th January would be the week. Sadly, not so - but we have a date of 13th January and a time of 2pm for the sale to be finalised.
On this basis we have now ordered a made to measure wooden window for the bedroom (currently the attic) and are planning on going to look at bathrooms etc. this week with a view to buying as soon as the sale is complete. At this stage I am not holding my breath but we are itching to get started.