French Village Life

Mr. Fix It and I were musing over life, love and France the other evening (not necessarily in that order) over a fine glass of Corbieres wine in our local bar. This is a small village of just over 1,000 inhabitants but there is cause for local celebration at the moment since the bar has been taken over by a lovely young family who are fast making it the hub of the village. They do an excellent 3 course “prix fixe” menu at lunchtimes with a quarter of wine and coffee thrown in for €12. Eddie & Alfie are welcome here and indeed in most restaurants. Being creatures of habit much like ourselves, they have become used to lying quietly by our side watching the world go by and wagging at the odd child who comes up to admire them.

"The French seem happier in their own skin,” said Mr. Fix It, noticing a large family with 2 very young children and a couple who appeared to be grandparents, “and they happily mix the generations.” He is right: young and old alike socialise here and the frivolity seems inherent, not simply induced by drinking too much wine. We got chatting to an older German couple who have lived here for some 30 years and invited us for an “apero”. They said they had been welcomed with open arms from day one and felt now more French than German.

So our village has come alive in the last week or so and the flower festival was a great success. Unable to resist a bargain, I bought several herbs for my kitchen windowsill: I may not have a fitted kitchen yet but my mini oven and I have managed to create some outstanding meals and the herbs are steadily growing in the sunlight.

This evening sees the start of the 3 day “Feria” and we have watched the preparation all week as little stages, bandstands and temporary bars are created. By all accounts, this a great tradition in these parts and we look forward to joining in this evening’s entertainment with a meal, drinks, a torchlight procession along the main promenade and even DJ Fanjou playing some (hopefully) decent tunes; no doubt a picture or two in next week’s blog.

The other thing we have noticed is that the French takes great pride in their community: the dustbin men do a twice weekly round, the streets are always spotlessly clean and there are communal bins dotted around. Not only that, everyone says “bonjour” as we go about our local shopping and on dog walks. We have been here just over 2 months now and have to pinch ourselves because although there is much work to be done on our house, we still feel slightly as though we are on holiday. How lucky are we to know that this is not a holiday: we can live happily and safely here. The community spirit is extremely contagious.




We welcome our first visitors tomorrow and as I write, Mr. Fix It is still drilling holes in walls to afford them an extra socket or two in their bedroom. The 2 ensuites are coming along well and much though I am not madly keen on spending hours looking at plumbing materials in Bricomarche, I am ever grateful to know that Mr. Fix It’s talents mean we are gradually making this house into a beautiful home. He is becoming quite an expert on what to buy where, aided by my France Buying Guide, I am proud to say www.francebuyingguide.com/guide.htm

Every day sees a little more done and we feel as though we know the space now: ideas for paint colours and furniture ramble around in my head even though these things will have to wait a little longer.

So our musings on life, love and France continue. Did we come to any conclusion? We walked the dogs along the canal the other day and were stunned at its beauty. I guess you could simply say that we love life in France. We never want to leave this beautiful country.

Drilling Holes and Drinking Wine

If you asked, say, 10 people what really makes them happy, doubtless each would come up with something different. Mr. Fix It is rarely happier than when either leafing through a building materials catalogue (I know… but each to his own) or getting on with the job in hand, thus this huge project we have undertaken gives him tremendous pleasure and this week has been a prime example of just that. We needed to create a pipe run to the drainage outside for our ensuites which has involved heavy physical work, drilling through brick and rock. “I have used all the tools I brought from the UK now,” he mentioned proudly to me the other day. Not one to be taken unawares, he thought ahead and was well equipped from day one.

Some tools tend to be dear here so this was, as it turned out, an excellent plan and I have watched in awe as he has created the pipe run on the outside of the house, at first balanced somewhat precariously high up, heavy (and lethal) power tool in hand, cracking through solid brick and rock.

We have created much interest in this little wine growing village and our new American friend Craig has been helping with some of the tough work. We have spent many a leisurely hour contemplating life in different countries and Craig has been here 11 years now. It occurred to me that France has attracted so many different nationalities to its shores: even in this small village there are English, Danish, Belgian, American and Canadian people, all mixing in together. The community spirit weaves its magic wand! Life down here in the south of France is much more relaxed than in the UK. It is working to live rather than living to work. Dare I suggest that this is perhaps something which has got somewhat lost in recent years in the UK? Mr. Fix It and I miss nothing about our home country, we have felt at home here since the day we arrived and have encountered nothing but friendliness and peace. We wake up to sunlight and tranquillity, sure that the day ahead will be filled not just with hard work on the house but good leisure times too.

And the wine! We are literally surrounded by vineyards and the choice of decent red wine at extremely reasonable cost is huge. The Languedoc Roussillon has around 700,000 acres of vines and is the single biggest wine producing region in the world, being responsible for more than a third of France’s total wine production. Couple that with the snowcapped Pyrenees in the background, stunning beaches within a short drive and Spain on the doorstep and it is easy to see why this area has so much going for it.

You can find out much more about every region of France in my comprehensive France Buying Guide here: www.francebuyingguide.com/guide.htm

Spring is well and truly under way and we look forward to some traditional fetes and celebrations in the weeks to come. On Sunday there is a flower festival here: the main promenade will be filled with flowers, plants, little stalls, a band and no doubt the wine will again be flowing. The following weekend is a 3 day “feria”. This is a local tradition, much influenced by Spain, involving a team of horse riders and a bull running through the village, to celebrate the bull’s fighting spirit. There is no cruelty; the feria has become a springboard for local celebration with outdoor meals, dancing, a torchlight procession through the village late into the night, a firework display, music and frivolity.

Meanwhile the work continues and every day sees us a little closer to restoring this beautiful old house to its former glory. Whilst I cannot pretend I have been drilling holes in walls or digging pipe runs, I have I suppose been something of a builder’s mate (I am a dab hand at sweeping up as you are about to see) and after all, someone has to go out and taste the wine.

Making Friends In Our Village

Our village is a “circulade”, that is to say a traditional village dating from the 12th century which was built in concentric circles. The centre of “circulades” is often a chateau or parish church and our house is a stone’s throw from the beautiful Parish of St. Julien. Thus we find ourselves in the heart of the village and since we have been here we seem to have attracted much interest locally, not least because we have undertaken this massive project of renovation and we have Eddie & Alfie bounding around in the sun.

The spirit of community is almost tangible here: the lovely young family who run the “epicerie” asked me the other day how we got on with the builders they had recommended. I told them I would have no hesitation in recommending them to others, they did a great job demolishing the supporting wall in our kitchen. Then whilst sitting in the sun by the canal we were approached by a lovely American couple who have a holiday house in our village and invited us for an “apero” the next day. Mr. Fix It made a trip to our local tip this week and met a French chap who is renovating the house opposite us – another invitation, another friend. He was telling us that this village was in medieval times the third most important little town after Carcassonne and Narbonne and had at one time no less than 5 churches! The people remain quietly religious and somehow one respects Sundays here: even Mr. Fix It downs tools then and I am able to entice him to some little brasserie for a “prix fixe” lunch (this is actually not difficult).

We have now put in our permission to the “mairie” to take down the tower in the garden, extend our balcony and put in a spiral staircase. Our lovely builders are preparing us a quote for this part and we hope to be able to get on with this in about a month. The sun and light here are quite stunning and the demolition of the tower means our kitchen and bedroom will be flooded with light.

Mr. Fix It is working on 2 ensuites for our bedroom and the one next door and I have been mulling over kitchen design. We are lucky to have a great space and for my part, I cannot wait to have a proper cooker, decent fridge and good accessories to fully indulge my culinary skills, such as they are. I have had no complaints so far though, it is not difficult to create excellent meals when one has good ingredients: oh the joy of shopping for fresh vegetables in the many markets here. Even Eddie & Alfie seem to be thriving on French dog food!

Many of us dream of doing up a property in France and we do really seem to be living that dream. I would urge anyone to pursue their dream and if yours is to do likewise, do arm yourself with a copy of our excellent France Buying Guide, it has become a veritable bible for many: www.francebuyingguide.com/guide.htm We have our own copy with us here and seem to be constantly referring to it, just lately for the list of shops and outlets for building materials and the like. Mr. Fix It has become rather good at finding obscure pipe fittings, aided by the Guide, his book of “French Building Terms” and his innate ability to mime.

As with most things in life, you get out of it what you put in and gradually making friends here makes us feel we are slowly becoming integrated.

An English friend of mine asked me what, in essence, makes life so wonderful here in the south of France. Mr. Fix It and I mulled over the reasons the other day over a glass of Corbieres wine in the garden. “The sense of space and lovely community springs to mind”, he said. “The sun helps too”, I replied. Then we both realised what really makes us so happy to be living here: it reminds us of how England used to be with its people who take pride in their community and look out for each other, a feeling of safety in one’s home and renewed value in what really matters in life.

The longer we are here, the longer we want to be here, it is as simple as that.

Our village in the early evening sunlight

BLESS OUR FRENCH BUILDERS!

We bought this huge house from the Church, it is an old Presbytery. Indeed, it looks on to the beautiful 14th century Church of St. Julien, just a stone’s throw away. We are not religious people but there is something about being here which gives us a real feeling of calm: the house has a lovely atmosphere, even in its present somewhat rough state.

This week we have reason to celebrate as the local builder, whose very reasonable quote we accepted, has taken the supporting wall down between the kitchen that was and the next room (complete with corner marble fireplace). He came with his brother and another chap when he said he would, got on with the job and now these two rooms are one. We keep looking at the space, it is wonderful and we can now get on with designing our kitchen. So religious or not, we really do bless these builders. Now how many times can one say that?

It pays to shop around, get at least 2 quotes and to trust one’s gut instinct. We both liked this chap and now that he has done such a great job, we have built up confidence and shall ask him to quote for further work (of which there is a great deal). He is local, lives in our village and was telling me just today that he has done a lot of renovation for other English people in the area.

Meanwhile Mr. Fix It is designing the kitchen, making the best use of the space we have. Preliminary thoughts include black granite worktops, an L shaped breakfast bar at the kitchen end and then a large dining table at the other end looking out on to the garden. As for me, I shall soon be sourcing a large range cooker, a fridge and dishwasher. We are just half an hour from Carcassonne, on the edge of which is a large estate filled with shops such as Brico Depot, Weldom, Tridome and many more. The concept of DIY is relatively new in France but becoming more popular and we look forward to shopping for the best deals. If you are not sure where to start, you could do worse than arm yourself with a copy of my France Buying Guide: aside from the main Guide, there are 2 bonus sections with detail of the best shops to go to for everything from DIY to mushrooms! www.francebuyingguide.com/guide.htm

Our future bedroom is coming along, we have stripped the rather strange wallpaper (the French do love their wallpaper) and Mr. Fix It has run pipes up to it so that the ensuite shower room can be put in place shortly. This room faces due south-east so once the tower in the garden is demolished, will be drenched in early sunlight. I envisage many a morning sitting on our new balcony with a cup of coffee and a croissant from our local boulangerie.

But that is yet to come. Last Friday I took Eddie & Alfie to their first class at our dog club and they did rather well. Their French is almost as good as mine now, they respond to “bisous” (kisses), “promenade” (walks), “manger”, (eat), “viens ici” (come here) and their vocabulary grows apace. My main goal is to get them to walk to heel and the lady at the dog club was pleased with their willingness to learn. We met a couple of lovely people, one of whom has a puppy Yorkshire Terrier which looks remarkably like a hairbrush. Eddie & Alfie, although sometimes timid with other dogs, rather took to this one.

So this week has been a productive one and we look forward to a very sunny and warm weekend. I hope to encourage Mr. Fix It to take a well-earned break and go exploring a little more in this, the most beautiful part of France.

Embracing The French Lifestyle

The days are stretching now and we realised this week that we have gradually adapted to the French way. We wake up to peace and sunlight flooding through our bedroom and make the most of the mornings to go out and about sourcing materials for our house. Then, almost as if by magic, everything stops for lunch! We paid a visit to Caune Minervois with its 8th century Abbey the other day and stumbled upon one of those unpretentious bars where the workers go for their mid-day meal. Eddie & Alfie were made most welcome and we loved the “prix fixe” menu, excellent value at just €12.50 with a glass of red thrown in.

Afternoons are the most productive and our new bedroom is coming along nicely. Mr. Fix It – the husband – has worked out a way to feed the pipes up there so that our ensuite can go in (please don’t ask me how, that is his department) and we can’t wait to move in there, extend our existing balcony and enjoy our morning coffee in the sun.

We need to get permission to extend the balcony, create a spiral staircase down and remove a rather ugly tower in our garden. However, this will simply be a matter of obtaining a “Declaration de Travaux” – rather like Building Regulations – and should not be opposed, according to Sue, the lady who is putting in the plans for us. If you are considering renovating in France you may be delighted to know that no permission is needed for any interior works at all, the French simply do not care about that. Anything which alters the exterior in any way however does need permission but the planning laws have been largely simplified of late and simpler alterations may not need full Planning Permission. You can find out more about this and other great hints on renovation in my France Buying Guide: www.francebuyingguide.com/guide.htm

We found a local builder who gave us a reasonable quote for taking down the wall in the kitchen, propping it up and inserting a steel so that we can create our large kitchen/diner. It pays to shop around: we had 2 other quotes that seemed way over the top, plus the chap we found was recommended by our local baker. He will carry this out after Easter so I hope by the time I write next week, our kitchen will be fully open!

Eddie & Alfie know their home now and have made friends with many of our neighbours. I have enrolled them in the local canine club too and their first class is later today. I just hope their French is up to scratch! Here is another aspect of French life that we love: that each village or “commune” makes a great effort to involve its inhabitants with clubs such as this one as well as sports clubs, social clubs and many others. The key to integration is to join in local village life: you will get out of it as much as you put in.

The warmer weather serves not only to make working on the house somewhat easier, it also means we want to explore our surrounding area. We are close to the mountains and the coast and last Sunday we decided to head over to one of the beaches on the Mediterranean, Valras Plage, with the dogs. We wandered along the promenade watching the children play in the sand and the dogs dipped their paws in the ocean. Parking was free and there was a great feeling of joy and relaxation, as if summer had just begun! We remembered how many times we had planned to go somewhere in the UK and it had taken us twice as long as it should, the traffic situation being so unpredictable. In France this rarely happens, the roads are excellent and uncrowded.

So slowly but surely our house is taking shape. We have a long way to go yet but we do know that at the end we will have created a truly fabulous home.