It's a gas (naturally)!

Heating a grand old house such as this one takes some planning. Mr. Fix It, as thorough (and knowledgeable) as ever, has given much thought to this very important stage of our renovation. Having scoured “Le Bon Coin”, the French internet selling site, for cast iron old fashioned radiators, we now have 11 of these ready to be fired up. We will need more in the future of course – our top floor has yet to receive the magic Mr. Fix It touch – but it has been all systems go this week to work out the pipe runs, the location for our 2 boilers and the positioning of each radiator on both ground and first floors. We have a huge cellar! So the boilers will be sited there, vented to the outside with a grille at garden level.

Next step: finding someone to help Mr. Fix It get it all working. Here is where it pays to make an effort to ask around, get talking to people, be sociable. Now Mr. Fix It’s French is not perfect by any means but he is well passed that elementary “restaurant French” stage (as he would put it) and so it was that we found ourselves chatting to an enormously likeable Frenchman at our bar recently who was, like most people here, very interested in our house renovation. His face lit up as though he had discovered some new invention: “Vous allez rire,” (You will laugh) he said, “Je connais un anglais tres sympa qui pourra vous aider” (I know a very nice Englishman who will be able to help you) Enter Justin, who lives in Carcassonne with his wife and young family. He has advised us well and this week sees Justin and Mr. Fix It working each day to get the heating system up and running. “I love it here,” he offered one day, “I do go back to the UK to visit family occasionally but can never see myself living there again.” We could not help but agree with him.



Not one to be standing idly by, I suppose I could call myself Mr. Fix It’s mate this week. As the gas connection finally went through to the cellar, there was plenty of clearing up to do: every little helps as they say.

Meanwhile the vines, now emptied of their grapes, are turning a glorious colour of burnt red and the French Autumn sun has become golden. It still streams through our bedroom window in the early morning and stays with us till 7 each evening, giving a soft, gentle light as it goes down. Eddie & Alfie enjoy long walks crunching through the leaves beside the canal and this beautiful season is here to be enjoyed, as yet unsullied by thoughts of Christmas. We had a great day out in Caunes Minervois one day, meandering around the old streets and celebrating the “chestnut” fete. Who on earth would think of arranging a fete around chestnuts but the French, we asked ourselves! Quirky it may have been but the atmosphere was so special: generations mixing, a small band playing and a general feeling of relaxation.

Thanks to our lovely Mayor, who contacted Gaz de France to hurry them along, we will have our natural gas connected this week and the boilers will start to hum. We have been lucky, we know that: not everywhere in France has natural gas and to have been able to establish this here is something for which we will be eternally grateful.

We look forward to having our heating up and running very soon but meanwhile marvel, along with the animals, at the gentle sunlight which graces this beautiful village every day.

Alexis
http://www.francebuyingguide.com/