A series of unfortunate events

Ste Emeline
Yesterday's weather: cool, cloudy, some sun

Some years ago we heard a lovely story regarding our house. We returned from lunch with some friends and found, to our surprise, a middle aged couple and an elderly woman hovering outside. They had, it transpired, come to see if the previous occupant of a neighbouring house was still here as the elderly woman had lost touch with him some years ago. As she admitted to being 92 we were hardly surprised, but had to give her the sad news that her old friend had died just a couple of years earlier.

The car they were travelling in had come off the side of the road and was hanging precariously over the side of the hill facing into our garden, so while they were waiting for some breakdown assistance to appear, we offered a seat and some water to the two ladies. The seat was accepted for the elderly lady but they refused water and a more comfortable seat in our garden and sat by the side of the lane.

The elderly lady told us that she had been brought up in our village and had moved away after her marriage, to a village just 10 kilometers from here but rarely returned. She knew very well the gentleman in the neighbouring house and had even had her very first flirt in our own house - this was a subject about which she offered no more information.

She did, however, mention that the water in the well on the lane was supposed to be of excellent quality and that we should have it tested. We have only see it as very rusty water that comes from the broken pump and have to take her word for it's quality. It does seem to come straight off the limestone hill and continue in an underground stream across our land which can be heard burbling away when we have particularly heavy rain.

Unfortunately for this family, the breakdown truck then arrived and as the driver of the car assisted pushing it back up the hill, he fell and broke his foot and his wife carted him off to hospital with his mother sitting in the back of the car shaking her head as if to say 'Well, I've seen it all before, life, death, accidents...' but I do like to think that she had fond memories of her little teenage flirt in our little home.

How tickled I am

St Arnauld
Yesterday's weather: Lovely, mild, sunny

My chuckle muscles are getting a work out. Ken Dodd would be pleased. Our friends have arrived from England and we are having such a laugh, we had forgotten what a good tonic that is. A very late night last night means a slow start this morning but it is time to get the croissants in the oven (a rare treat for us) and a coffee pot on the stove.

Then we'll be back out calling for Jazz who still isn't home. It isn't quite the longest she's been away but still worrying. This must be the cat with the worst sense of direction.

Next thing, do we go out today or not? It's a beautiful day again and tempting to potter here in the garden and have a leisurely lunch but the views are just wonderful out and around when the weather is this good.

Who said that?

Ste Adeline
Yesterday's weather: Still lovely despite being chilly!

It must be the UK half term holidays. Suddenly today the DIY store and supermarket were full of British cars and English voices again this morning. There are dozens of camper vans with north France registration plates heading south, so the French must be on holiday too.

Funny, we don't think about it most of the time but when the local town suddenly fills up after several weeks it comes back to us. After this week they will all disappear again until around Easter. Many people seem to live here only in the summer and they return on 1 March, the second wave usually arrive around 1 April and then from Whitsun onwards the population is around five times higher than in winter.

Rather like migrating birds, I suppose. Which is very strange since I just heard a noise outside. Hundreds of cranes are migrating south for the winter! If you look very carefully, you can see them.

Back to normal?

Ste Raïssa
Yesterday's weather: Warm, sunny, cool breeze

Happy Birthday to Jack. 6 years old today. Lots of love to you xxxxx

Crikey! I'll need to keep an eye on the garden if this keeps up. It's only 2 degrees above freezing this morning. The figs on the tree outside our kitchen window look rather shocked, but it is warming up quickly now that the sun has popped his head over the hillside, so I hope they will soon recover and continue ripening.

The best news is that, finally, the chalet floor arrived yesterday afternoon only six weeks late. Unfortunately it didn't arrive in time for us to erect the chalet for our visitors to sleep in as planned. However, it will be ready for next summer. Actually we hope it will be all erected before this weekend as we plan to get going on it today. We need to get all the wood off the grass before it gets damaged by water or frost(!).

It feels rather odd now that our little flurry of visitors have left. The cats are looking round to see who is sleeping where and finding no-one. I spotted Figgy wandering into the tent this morning to see if he could wake Joe up. No-one is expected now until the end of October (unless you know differently) but at least it will give us the chance to get on with some decorating. That is assuming the replacement windows turn up in the next 10 days or so - but I should really know better than to assume anything here now.

Introduction to a Swanne

Ste Marie
Yesterday's weather: hot, sticky.

For the last couple of days Figgy has had a visitor. Not many people pass by our house apart from the neighbours in their cars on their way to work or home again. If anyone is passing they are usually walkers making a circuit from the village through the woods on this hill behind us, or maybe mushroomers after some of the cepes which the locals find a delicacy and we find a challenge. So we were surprised to find a young mother and her toddler son sitting outside the gates playing with Figgy the other day.

I went to speak to them. 'Bonjour', I said. 'He's very friendly, isn't he?' 'Oh, Madame, he is too friendly' said the young mother. She went on to tell me that she had been to visit Figgy a couple of times in the last few weeks and that he had followed her and her son down to the main road. She was so worried that the cat would run onto the road that she tried to frighten him away before gathering up her little one in her arms and running home.

Home for the summer, she said, is a house opposite where she and her son are staying with her parents for the whole of August. She pointed it out and we chatted for a few minutes before she and her son went on their way.

They returned yesterday. I was hanging out the washing as they passed and I waved to them. She asked if it would bother us if they stopped to play with Figaro again, but they hadn't seen him as they passed the gate. I went to find him and they came into the garden to play for a while. She had brought with her a bag of beans and tomatoes from her parents potager with a little note inside saying that it was from our neighbours opposite, Monsieur and Madame L. In a way I was disappointed. We've always referred to her as Mrs Veranda (or Mrs Veranda-Flapper thanks to her 'own' contribution to this blog some weeks ago). Now, I have to call them by their real names. But we were also very touched that her daughter had taken the trouble to collect up a bag of what were, I must say, delicious beans and tomatoes. She stopped a while and told us about all our neighbours that we haven't yet met. They all live behind big fences and have big dogs so we haven't been bold enough to go and knock on doors.

The little boy is such a sweetie, the sort of child you want to hug to you. He loves Figgy and was amazed by the size of Misty who he followed around the garden as she tried to get away from this child that she hadn't been properly introduced to. The child's name, we were told is Swanne. We've never heard that one before but maybe he was named for his elegant long neck. We are looking forward to their next visit. Perhaps I will wander home with her to meet the Verandas in the flesh instead of by semaphore as she flaps her tea towel over the veranda after every meal.

Delivery update
I had a phone call yesterday from the people who are delivering the chalet, shed and shower. Is Madame sure that a big lorry can get up our driveway to deliver it? Yes, Madame is sure there will be no problem. No, but is Madame sure that there will be access for a big lorry? Yes, Madame is quite sure. OK, then, how do they find the house? I gave directions. Thank you. But is Madame quite sure that the lorry will be able to deliver to her house?

By this time I was beginning to think, like Terry Wogan, 'Is it me?' Yes, there will absolutely, definitely, for certain be NO PROBLEM to get a big lorry up to the house to deliver the chalet and other items. Well, if Madame is sure then they will deliver by the end of the week. This week? Yes, Madame, this week. I didn't quite hear him say normalement but I'll believe it when I see it. He is going to call me when the delivery is imminent.

It wasn't until I had put the phone down that I began to wonder what he would have done if I had said that he couldn't get a big lorry up to the house.

Staying in touch

Ste Clarisse
Yesterday's weather: Not bad at all

Throughout last December and January we spent a lot of time visiting, inviting and eating out with as many friends and family as we could. 'Don't forget to stay in touch' they all said. 'We'll miss you. Promise we'll write', or e-mail, or phone, or visit. That was then and this is now.

We have been surprised by the people who have stayed in touch regularly over the last 6 months. We are touched that they e-mail us or sometimes phone. Many of them are people we didn't really expect to keep in contact. Sometimes we have a surprise call - or indeed visitor, for example the man I found standing in the garden last week. I did think he looked vaguely familiar but couldn't put a name to the face. He said 'Bonjour', so I said 'Bonjour' in return, obviously the creases in my forehead were deep enough for him to spot at a distance so he switched to English and said 'You don't remember me do you?'. Well as soon as he spoke English I did place him. He is an ex-colleague of Jon's who stayed here for a week many years ago, shortly after we had bought this house. He was in the neighbourhood and thought he would stop by to see if we were home. He and his family are thinking of buying in the region so we are hoping to meet up with them again before they return to the UK and when they get back later in the year.

In the same week, Jon had an unexpected telephone call from another guy he used to work with. Again, totally unexpected and out of the blue. It was great to hear from him and he promised to mail us soon. Unfortunately we didn't get his telephone number and so we are waiting for his e-mail so that we can stay in touch!

Suddenly at the end of last week I had two e-mails in ten minutes, one from Spain and one from Italy. They followed on from two others a couple of weeks ago, again, one from Spain and one from Italy. Four different people and I was delighted again, to hear from them and to hear their news. Isn't e-mail wonderful? Looking through my in-box I see that in the last few weeks we have also heard from America and Australia and more friends in Italy.

We are expecting a flurry of visitors over the next three weekends, having been quiet since mid-June. The first arrives at the end of next week and we are very much looking forward to seeing him. We used to go out from time to time to an Indian restaurant in Guildford and I was having a 'Moloncho' moment the other week and mentioned to him in an e-mail that we were having withdrawal symptoms. He agreed so I invited him round for a curry, after all it's only a 90 minute plane trip (plus all the travelling either end.....). He's coming for 5 days so I am looking out other recipes too. Can't be eating curry all weekend - think of the consequences!

The next visitors we haven't seen for, probably, 14 years. They are staying two nights and travelling down from the Home Counties on a motorbike. Now that, I say, is effort! I'll have to prime my vocal chords for that visit. 14 years worth of news will mean an awful lot of talking - we'll need to keep the throats well lubricated of course. Can't damage the voices.

The third set of visitors are my brother and his family, on a flying visit for a couple of days before school term begins again. Unfortunately we've spent very little time with them in recent years. It's always difficult when you live on opposing sides of the M25 to have very much time together, so it will be lovely to see them too. We're getting the table tennis set up and Jon and I will be practicing over the next few weeks so that we can take on our young nephew (and his Dad!).

What is equally surprising is how many people have not stayed in touch. People we thought would be the first to be in touch and those we expected to want to come and visit very soon. It's difficult to know what to do for the best. I wonder how many letters or e-mails it is polite to send without getting a response before one becomes a stalker?

No, of course I don't mean you. You're OK.

Now, a quick update on the carte grise situation. You may remember I said that the process normally takes about an hour but, guess what? We took all the paperwork to the Prefecture where it was checked in. The young lady looked at me and said 'Normalement, Madame' (you know where this is going, don't you?) 'Normalement it will only take one hour. But this is August, and the carte grise department is only open in the afternoon..'

They will be sending it by mail and we should receive it by the end of next week. But of course, there is a public holiday on Wednesday .....