Magical Mr. Fix It

Strangely, with a massive project such as this one, it is sometimes the little touches and not so much the large improvements (such as creating pipe runs, opening up doors, doing up bathrooms) which make one’s heart sing. Mr. Fix It was on his own for a few days this week whilst I returned to the UK to see family. “You will notice a difference when you return,” he told me, fully aware that there is little point explaining to me exactly HOW he does what he does, just that the end results will be there for me to see.

After a mesmerising welcome home from my 3 male housemates (Eddie and Alfie were ecstatic to see me and I think Mr. Fix It was not far behind) we came home and I was led upstairs to the first floor which, although by no means finished, is now graced with 3 large bedrooms, a family bathroom and 2 beautiful ensuite shower rooms. Rewiring this floor was a big deal and we had somehow become used to not having light switches yet, instead plugging in extension leads all over to light up each space as we went along. “Take a look at this,” said Mr. Fix It proudly. He had not only put all the plug socket switches in, he had installed lights in both ensuites, in the hallway and in the now double aspect bedroom. Not only that, he had put up towel rails, mirrors and glass shelves. At last I could unwrap my Floris soap from its wrapper and fold up our big fluffy white towels over the rails.

I confess to being so delighted with these little touches that each morning since my return I have lingered in all these rooms, not yet decorated of course, but beautifully lit and welcoming, and imagined myself in some sort of country house hotel. What a delight it is to know it is not a hotel but our home.

Jean-Louis, our carpenter, turned up to install the full length shutters over the new doors at ground floor level on to the garden. They make a huge difference and once painted, will lend the exterior of our house a graceful air. I have decided that Jean-Louis is Mr. Fix It’s French counterpart: of the same generation, he holds a similar old school work ethic and as we enjoyed a glass of wine in our garden yesterday evening and admired the new shutters, he told us somewhat sadly of how his art is dying out, that with the quick fix alternatives one can obtain in home stores even here in France and the lack of enthusiasm of younger folk to learn a trade, the attention to detail and craftsmanship is not the same as it used to be. Although he speaks no English and Mr. Fix It is not quite fluent yet in French, they understand each other perfectly. Communication goes beyond words.




Our evenings are spent outside, contemplating life, love and the next stage of this project. We know the sun will be up bright and early the next day and even though we have been here for almost 6 months now, still wonder at the majesty of the uplit Church so close to us as night falls.

Although we have a great deal still to do and don’t even have a kitchen fitted yet, I am continually grateful that we somehow found this house, this village where we have been made so welcome and that Mr. Fix It works on seemingly effortlessly to create a beautiful home for us.

As for Mr. Fix It and I, we still feel as though we have just begun: each little piece of renovation in this house brings its own reward and despite our having many more days and weeks of work to go, we enjoy the simplicity of life, the flowers, the natural beauty of this countryside and thank our lucky stars every day.

Alexis
http://www.francebuyinguide.com/

Views From The Top

We bought our house from the Church: previously it had been used for catechism and Sunday school teachings for children. I still remember walking into the grand hallway for the first time and seeing a registration table at an angle, poised in front of the statue of St. Francois de Regis (who still graces our entrance, we have become rather fond of him). The original owner was, we think, a Flemish businessman who built it around the turn of the century in a style totally at odds with French architecture. Either the bureaucracy was not so stringent in those days or the Flemish businessman had enough cash to influence people! Whatever the reason, she stands imposingly opposite the 14th century Church of St. Julien and hardly a day goes by without someone standing outside the huge Church door and looking up at our house, such is her grandeur.

The Church were happy to leave the bits and pieces of furniture and religious artefacts in place – although Monsieur le Cure (the priest) will come by one day to take back some of the dusty books at the top.

Our guests have left us and we have had a week on our own, Mr. Fix It fine tuning the 2 ensuites and starting to connect the electrics on the first floor. The top floor, still awaiting a loving touch, has a magical quality: the 6 rooms are large and afford great views over the rooftops and I have taken great delight exploring their contents. We have huge candelabra, some borne by angels with wings for which we will find a place in the future.

Often when one walks into an old house, one has an immediate sense of atmosphere. The minute we first saw this one, we had a good feel about it and others have commented on this too. Religious or not, there is a feeling of tranquillity and safety here somehow; dirt and dust notwithstanding, we feel as though our house is always smiling at us. The graceful marble staircase winds its way all the down from the top floor and the urge to slide down the banisters is sometimes quite overwhelming.



With summer now in full flow, we relish the hubbub of life in our village. It feels like home now and we feel at once a sense of familiarity as well as admiration for its beauty each time we drive through the promenade lined with huge plane trees. Stephanie and Ludo, who own our bar, have welcomed us with open arms – Eddie and Alfie too. The pace of life is slower, the sun far hotter and the colours and light far sharper than we remember in the UK.

Soon we will be turning our attention to our kitchen – although I confess I have got quite used to our mini oven and lack of cupboards or decent lighting. It is amazing what a feeling of space can do. Mr. Fix It continues to gain my admiration with his attention to detail and fine ideas for design. Why, he must be enjoying it all.

We don’t know how long it will take us to fully renovate this lovely house but we are loving the journey and look forward one day to welcoming both our families down here for a proper celebration. Until that day comes, life really could not be better.

As for Mr. Fix It and I, we still feel as though we have just begun: each little piece of renovation in this house brings its own reward and despite our having many more days and weeks of work to go, we enjoy the simplicity of life, the flowers, the natural beauty of this countryside and thank our lucky stars every day.

Alexis
http://www.francebuyingguide.com/

Days In The Sun, Nights On The Tiles

The tranquillity of the early morning in our village is truly something to behold: the sun, already warm and welcoming, rises over the rooftops, the birds emerge from their hidey holes in the Church (and the top of our house…) and there is a great feeling of peaceful anticipation for the day ahead. As the mercury rises, the boulangerie opens and the dogs sniff out early morning worms in the garden, it becomes very easy to see through the ever present brick dust and marvel at our good fortune in finding this graceful house.

It is still something of a novelty to be able to walk down our new curved steps and out of either of the doors – until recently windows - to the garden. Each morning too I look up to the new window in one of our bedrooms. The difference this has made to what already was a light and gracious room overlooking the Church, is quite extraordinary: double aspect now, an easy breeze running through it, it is quite simply stunning. Our new balcony awaits and I imagine myself one day soon writing as I am now from outside this very room, morning petit café and dogs beside me.



Mr. Fix It has finished tiling our second ensuite shower room so we have gone, somewhat proudly, from one tiny and rather rough makeshift shower off the kitchen when we first arrived, to 3 decent bathrooms upstairs in just over 4 months. Each day our house becomes lovelier and everyone who comes through her huge front door and enters the square hallway with its high ceilings, eyes naturally drawn to the pale grey marble staircase and huge stained glass window at the turn, gasps at her natural beauty.

We have had guests again this week and so have explored our region a little more as the heat of the day takes its hold. The summer is in full flow as every village or town makes its own fetes and concerts. We celebrated Bastille Day here, sitting at our little bar until late in the evening, strolling through the night market and then watching the fireworks add to the stars above at midnight. Bastille Day, called “Fête Nationale in France, is the French national holiday, celebrated on 14 July each year. It commemorates the 1790 Fête de la Fédération, held on the first anniversary of the storming of the anniversary of the storming of the Bastille on 14 July 1789. The symbol of this is the birth of the modern French nation and the coming together of the French inside the monarchy. The feeling of community is ever present here but on this day more than ever there is cause for celebration in every village and town.

So the days are sunny and the nights warm and somehow one adjusts to a different way of living in this Mediterranean climate: it has not seemed strange to find Mr. Fix It toiling and tiling away as the clock strikes midnight. Then as the day dawns and the village awakes, we see people making the most of the sun before it reaches its full heat around mid-afternoon. A little like the early mornings, this is a quiet time until at 5 pm our epicerie and boulangerie open again, the bar starts to see workers and visitors alike enjoying an early evening drink and the older folk mingle on the promenade to discuss their day, their news and their lives.

As for Mr. Fix It and I, we still feel as though we have just begun: each little piece of renovation in this house brings its own reward and despite our having many more days and weeks of work to go, we enjoy the simplicity of life, the flowers, the natural beauty of this countryside and thank our lucky stars every day.




Alexis
www.francebuyingguide.com/guide.htm

Space, Light and Air

It is hard to remember a day when the sun was not shining here in the Languedoc Roussillon. Even when we arrived, witnessed thick snow and sat by log fires in the evening, the sun glinted through the trees making the white ground sparkle. Now, as summer is truly underway, the temperature has gradually soared – each day is around 35 degrees or more - and the heat remains until well into the evening. The village is awash with colour, the straight line of plane trees seems sharper than ever before and the space, light and clarity of air lend us massive perspective: life here is to be enjoyed, cherished, embraced.



Mr. Fix It has been working through this heat to get our 2nd ensuite bathroom up and running: I marvel not just at his knowledge of all things electrical and all things plumbing but his determination to renovate this house with such grace. The large grainy tiles we bought are square and perfect – yes he fitted those too – and so our new showers feel like sheer luxury. The 2 ensuites are side by side, not huge but big enough for each to house a large oblong ceramic shower tray, a square basin and loo.

The bedroom with the newly constructed window is glorious: light on 2 sides, stunning views of the Church, our garden and the little road beyond. Mr. Fix It took down the inner door to this room and raised the gap at head level so it truly is a large ensuite bedroom. The ensuite on the other side will serve the bedroom which looks square on to the garden – and is by far the warmest as it faces east and soaks up the strong morning sun.

Although we have yet to make our new balcony, which will run the length of both of these bedrooms, the pigeons still sit and coo on the sill, protecting the eggs which remain in their makeshift nest. When the tower was still here, Mr. Fix It was sometimes on the verge of taking dummy pot shots at the pigeons who, true to say, did rather mess up our lovely door steps and once even took the liberty to use Mr. Fix It’s forehead…. So imagine my intrigue when I saw him rigging up a cardboard sunshield to protect the box nest from the direct morning sunlight. Mr. Fix It seems to think of everything and although possibly loathe to admit it, feels for these pigeon parents trying to nurture their eggs.

Our carpenter, Jean-Louis, has arrived here early most days this week to avoid working in the deepest heat of the day. We discuss football, door hinges, types of plaster, babies (his son’s wife has just presented him with a new grandson) and joke about the unreliability of English weather and getting older. He is a wonderful man, like the “old school” artisans I remember from my childhood, taking real pride in his work. He has fitted us the 3 new doors, 2 downstairs and 1 upstairs and they look beautiful: they are large and graceful with 4 double panels of window down to I suppose waist level.



Yesterday evening I strolled out to the promenade with the aim of taking a few photos in the lowering sunlight. The lovely couple who own our bar were themselves sitting out and I joined them for a glass of good Languedoc-Roussillon red wine. An English couple we know a little joined us, tanned and smiling. Inevitably, the conversation gets around to life in the south of France and trying to list the reasons why it is so joyous. “Clarity of air,” said Jenny, the English lady. “The Mediterranean climate,” said Ludo, the owner of the bar. “Space and light,” I offered.

In truth, it is all these things and more that makes life special here. There is an intangible quality of peace and fulfilment amongst this community and it is rubbing off on Mr. Fix It and I day by day.

Alexis
www.francebuyingguide.com/guide.htm

Reflection, Anticipation and Enjoying The Moment

When you really think about it, life is a mixture of all of the above, each has their place. It is important to look forward, to plan and to remain positive. Reflecting on what has gone by has its place too. Memories are something we all treasure and the path we take to arrive at where we are now makes us what we are. Enjoying the moment deserves recognition however: it is soothing to appreciate the now without nostalgia for the past or worry for the future.

We have been in all 3 zones this week: celebrating our first anniversary of marriage as we did yesterday, we had cause to reflect on our meeting, the joy of knowing this was right, then our mutual desire to buy a property in France to work on. Then we look at the house and realise we are making progress each day and try to imagine how it will be, say, this time next year. But finally we have enjoyed the company of good friends and have had several moments of sheer joy, sitting out until the early hours in our garden, backed up with rubble which somehow does not seem to matter.

The opening of the window in one upstairs bedroom has made a huge difference: the light floods in from 2 sides and now that the ensuite is up and running, one could almost say this was a luxury hotel suite (ignoring the brick dust of course).



It is stunningly hot and the temperature does not reach its peak until around 5 pm. We have taken days out with our friends to explore this beautiful region and laughed our way through several meals sitting in the dappled light afforded by the plane trees in our village. We have watched children play on their bikes or roller skates, Eddie & Alfie bounding around together along the canal.

Our builders have made curved steps to match the front door below the new openings at ground floor level and it is still a novelty to walk out from either of these instead of the front door. Our garden table sits next to the rubble in the garden but the scale of this house and outside space is such that one hardly notices. Using some of the rubble as a base for the garden is a great idea and it will not be long before we are planning this space. This Mediterranean climate means greater outdoor living and Mr. Fix It has already found time this week, aside from practically rewiring the whole of the first floor and putting in showers in the ensuites, to put together our BBQ.

When undertaking a project of this size it is occasionally easy to forget just how much there is to do but having our friends here reminded us to at least take a look again at our second floor. The marble staircase winds up again from the large first floor landing and here at the top of the house are 6 – or is it 7? – more rooms waiting their turn to be beautified. The views over the terracotta rooftops and on to the mountains from here are stunning.

Our baby pigeons are now fully grown and one has literally flown its makeshift nest this morning! The other teeters on the edge, about to take its maiden flight and lo and behold 2 eggs have suddenly appeared. Having taken the tower – and the pigeons’ home – down, we seem to be unwittingly creating a pigeon sanctuary nonetheless!

Mr. Fix It and I sat outside until the early hours on the eve of our first anniversary, still amazed at our good fortune, not only in finding each other but in finding this beautiful property. The work goes on and there is still much to do but we will always be able to look up at the stars.





Alexis
http://www.francebuyingguide.com/