The heat is on!

We all have days and weeks in life which turn out to be little landmarks and which we will remember in years to come. This week has been one of those for Mr. Fix It and I. Yes, you guessed it: our central heating is on, fully operational, fired up and HOT! The bespectacled “monsieur” turned up again just a few hours ago, inserted our gas meter in the wall outside and put the gas on. With a flick of a switch – actually 2 switches since we have 2 boilers in the cellar – Mr. Fix It swung the heating into action. I have watched him pottering to and fro, in and out of the rooms where he has painstakingly fitted these old radiators, as proud as a child who knows he has written a great essay at school.

We look back a mere 5 weeks and note this fine achievement: the road being dug up outside to create the gas run to our house, endless holes drilled into floors and alcoves to receive over 150 metres (!) of copper piping, 2 boilers fitted in the cellar, 9 radiators plumbed in on ground and first floor, sheer hard graft on the part of both Mr. Fix It and the lovely Justin, our English boiler engineer. I feel a small celebration coming on, perhaps that good bottle of red wine I mentioned last week. This one should do the trick…



I confess I would not know where to start when it comes to installing heating in a grand old house such as this one. Mr. Fix It never fails to amaze me with his knowledge of such basic matters. This is more than DIY. He could, in my view, so easily have been a plumber, tiler, car mechanic or heating engineer and his attention to detail is meticulous. A standing joke here in France has been when we meet friends and neighbours around the village and get chatting, as we have done this week at a huge “vide grenier” in our village and I am complimented on my French – to which Mr. Fix It chimes in: “but have you seen her plumbing? Not a pretty sight…” So yes, you guessed it again, we make a good team, he and I, and my lack of knowledge of HOW to plumb notwithstanding, I sure have learnt a lot of French plumbing vocabulary (well, you never know when you might need it).

I am not sure how comfortable it would have been living without heating until mid-November in the UK. Lovely though it is to be up and running, we have in truth not really needed it to date; such is the mild climate down here in the Languedoc Roussillon. Each day has offered full sun, the colours remain outstanding and the sunsets magical. November 11th was a holiday here, to remember the Armistice of the First World War. The weather was sublime and we had a day out in the lovely city of Narbonne.

Village celebrations continue as the lovely autumn season is now in full flow and Friday night we attended a wonderful “soiree deguisee” or fancy dress evening at our local bar. I had no qualms about dressing up as a Spanish dancer, sleeveless in the mild evening air. Mr. Fix It was a cowboy, a persona that does not become him: his work is of anything but a cowboy! We danced the night away, Mr. Fix It’s French coming along apace now as he enjoyed a well-deserved glass or two of red wine. I am not sure I can say the same about my plumbing ability but please continue to watch this space: you just never know.



Alexis
The Overseas Guides Company
Have you been to the main site yet? http://www.francebuyingguide.com

Sunny Autumn days in the South of France

It is hard to believe we are now well into November as the sun blazes down over the colourful vineyards each day. Mr. Fix It flew back to the UK for his dear daughter Rosie’s graduation ceremony at the beginning of the week so for 3 days it was just Eddie, Alfie and I scrunching the leaves along the canal, basking in the autumn sunshine and sitting by a log fire in the evening.

Aside from being a proud Dad back in the UK, this trip gave Mr. Fix It the chance to fall back and regroup, play about with our kitchen plan on paper as he flew north and soothe the callouses which have appeared on his hands from using heavy power tools to drill holes for all the pipe connections to our radiators. Putting central heating in a huge property such as this is a big deal and as proud as Mr. Fix It is of Rosie, I too am proud of him: not only of his ability and foresight (the first time we ever saw this house he clocked the small alcoves in many rooms, as if tailor made to receive pipe runs between floors) but of his energy and enthusiasm to get this huge job done and dusted.

Such is the bureaucracy in France (one does get used to it!), we were obliged to wait for the “monsieur” from Gaz de France to sign off our works and issue a “Certificat de Conformite”: the pipes underground, the location for the boiler, the flue etc. A rather serious, bespectacled chap turned up and gave us the “ok”. Next step: to make an account with one of the 5 gas companies who estimate future usage from the size of the property and await another visit, no doubt from another bespectacled “monsieur” for our meter to be installed in the box outside our gates and finally, for the gas to be put on. This is imminent and no doubt the day it happens will see Mr. Fix It opening one of his finer bottles of Minervois wine.

Meanwhile not a day goes by without my amazement at the balmy days and truly fantastic colours in this, our first autumn season in the South of France. Nature offers us great ideas, I have always thought and as I drove twice to Toulouse Airport to take and pick up Mr. Fix It for his trip to the UK, I marvelled at the sheer reds and burnt oranges all along the way. Even the middle section of the autoroute boasted glorious colour and I began to plan for our future decoration and paint colours as I listened to classic romantic French songs on the radio. Space and stunning surroundings offer inspiration.

Mr. Fix It returned from his trip, happy to be home. “Three days there was enough” he said, “it was so busy, I had forgotten how people race around and how congested the roads are in England. Plus it is at least ten degrees warmer here in France.” The sun shone as he emerged from arrivals and it was hard to know who was the happier to see him: me, Eddie or Alfie.

I am not sure how long it takes to truly integrate into another country. Maybe the length of time is different for each one of us. Both of us having always been truly committed Francophiles, we have taken to French life as a duck takes to water. The secret is to love the differences, all of them, and take the whole package on board. This we have done with gusto as we continue to work on this beautiful house, always taking time to look up at the blue sky, along the tree line and down into the canal waters and thus see this autumn season in its full glory.

Alexis
The Overseas Guides Company
Visit the main website at: http://www.francebuyingguide.com/