A Joyous Celebration Away From The Brickdust

We left the sunshine and the brick dust behind for a few days and flew to the UK to attend my daughter Natasha’s wedding to Sam. Sometimes in life we make our own luck and so it was that this beautiful celebration at a romantic outdoors location in Kent was perfect in every way. As the early evening sun came out to join us, I felt a moment of sheer joy as I watched my dear daughter sing and dance in her wedding dress.



To watch our extended families celebrating this, the happiest of marriages, was a delight. Natasha simply glowed and as I helped her get ready during her last moments of being single, I thought back to the day she was born and wondered where the time had gone. Occasions such as this happy one allow us to take stock and remember that life is to be enjoyed.



Having welcomed my son and his girlfriend Ana to our home ahead of the wedding, our good friends who came to take care of Eddie & Alfie enjoyed a week of celebration here in our village. The summer fete took place the weekend we were away and they were struck by the friendly and safe atmosphere all around us. Having renovated the house to at least a functional level so far, with 3 beautiful and spacious bedrooms to choose from, it was heart-warming to know that our dogs could stay in their own space and that our friends could enjoy something of a holiday as well.

We were welcomed home by 2 wet noses and 2 helicopter tails. To be back in the warm air of the South of France makes us happy and Mr. Fix It is now planning what he calls his “second phase”. Our kitchen design will be high on our list of priorities as well as installing heating ahead of the winter. This week sees us sourcing radiators, air conditioning units and the like.

Having had such a wonderful family time we are also planning ahead to next summer when we hope to welcome as many of them as would like to come. The house is large, open and welcoming and we have yet to meet anyone who has not been open mouthed in admiration at its proportions. Since the day we moved in here I have dreamed of a time when we can welcome everyone to this beautiful part of France.

Many people think of moving to France at some stage in their lives and I am truly lucky that Mr. Fix It and I shared just the same dream. When we drove down here on March 1st this year I can remember wondering what I would miss about the UK and hoping that the huge project we were taking on would not cause us to wonder if we were doing the right thing. I can say with hand on heart that I have not and do not miss one single aspect of life in the UK – and I know Mr. Fix It agrees. Even when it snowed in those early days here and we had to light 4 log fires to keep warm, I have never wanted to leave. Now that we have enjoyed the company of our family and friends and they know they can come and visit us here, that feeling is simply reinforced.

So as we toast my daughter Natasha and her husband Sam at the start of their married life together, we also toast ourselves, this house in all its grandeur and our own contentment at knowing this is our real home.



Alexis
http://www.francebuyingguide.com/

At Work and Play

Watching a beautiful house such as this one regain its beauty is a joy. The day we first walked into the grand hallway and saw the stunning tiled floors, high ceilings and fine grey marble staircase we knew that all it needed was a huge dose of serious “TLC”. The proportions of the rooms are excellent, the ceilings are high and although there is a huge amount of work to do in terms of bathrooms, rewiring, kitchen fitting and the like, there is in truth little structural work aside from remaking the balcony outside (for which we still await permission) and knocking 2 rooms into one for our kitchen (done that).

Thus the space and light we have streaming through the long windows make the work seem – well less like actual work. Mr. Fix It is a natural: never happier than when covered in brick and sawdust. Occasionally he comes up with some great ideas too: “You know, instead of paying to get rid of the rubble from the knocked down wall and tower, why don’t we leave it outside in order to break down at a later stage to create a base for our future garden?” Our delightful French builder is fine with that so this pile of bricks (reminiscent of an entry into the Tate Modern I thought) will serve us well.



We received a letter from the Mairie asking for some more information on our balcony which we have now supplied and so await another letter telling us we can go ahead. If a house is situated close to a Church in France, the rules about altering the outside aspect are somewhat stricter. Still, Mr. Fix It’s excellent drawings and our desire to retain the character of this elegant building will, we hope, stand us in good stead for a resounding “Allez Y” in the not too distant future.

We are greeted by blue sky and warm sun each morning and took some time out to welcome Rosie, Mr. Fix It’s gorgeous daughter to our home for a few days. Bless her, all she wanted to do was pick poppies which abound in the fields and hedgerows and so she and I scooted off with Eddie & Alfie and suddenly the house was filled with vases of these stunning wild flowers. She and I persuaded Mr. Fix It to take a day off and we drove to Collioure and Port Vendres, 2 small coastal towns near to the border with Spain. In the early 20th century Collioure was a centre of artistic activity. Many artists such as Matisse, Picasso, Charles Rennie Mackintosh and Andre Derain were inspired by the royal castle, the sun and the light.

"This feels like a real holiday,” said Rosie, sunning herself as we stopped for coffee by the sea. “We cannot believe we actually LIVE here,” said Mr. Fix It, “it still feels as though we are on holiday too, despite all the work”.

It was heart-warming to see father and daughter spending some leisure time together, Rosie away for once from exam revision and Mr. Fix It for once away from the brickdust



Mr. Fix It is now an authority on French plumbing stores and woodyards. I often wonder what they must think of this mildly eccentric Englishman, gesticulating and miming to describe some obscure shower fitting or pipe connector. Still, who was it who said that if you can make yourself understood you are ALWAYS speaking well? Communication can come in many different forms.

My France Buying Guide is very well thumbed now, Mr. Fix It takes great pride in referring it to it on an almost daily basis. www.francebuyingguide.com/guide.htm I confess I do not know how to plumb in a shower but at least I can help by finding out the best place to get one.

We have days when we feel we have not done very much to the house and other days when we can see that it is coming along apace. The goodness and simplicity of the people we meet helps us enjoy the journey and one thing we never have is a day when we wish we were back in the UK. After almost 3 months of being here, we feel as though we are at home and only wish we had thought of taking on this massive project before now.

Welcoming Our Friends to the Village "Feria"

Last Friday evening we ventured out after the sun had set to the long promenade lined with plane trees in our village. We were met by numerous stalls, lights, people, music and much frivolity. The middle of the promenade was lined with tables and chairs, the idea being that you chose your meal, found a good spot to sit and joined in the conviviality. Eddie & Alfie loved it: the odd chip or piece of bread frequently came their way. Our delightful carpenter, Jean-Louis came and filled our glasses and introduced us to his wife, his son turned up with his young family. This was a truly French celebration.

As for DJ Fanjou: what a guy! We had expected something fairly low key, this being a tiny rural village. But not a bit of it: his show was stunning, with fantastic sound, great tunes, a laser and light show, smoke machine and the rest. “This is really professional,” said Mr. Fix It who knows about these things and before long we realised it was getting on for 2 am and our first guests were arriving the next day so we headed home, amazed at the sheer scale of this celebration.

John and his daughter Phoebe were our first guests. Although we have masses still to do, our house is perfectly comfortable even at this relatively early stage for welcoming guests. Mr. Fix It duly rigged up a couple of lamps in their large bedroom overlooking the Church, I draped a chair with a pale throw and cushion and adorned the marble fireplace with a candle or two and some roses from our garden. “Shabby chic,” said Mr. Fix It. Despite the work still to be done, somehow this bedroom looked so welcoming.

Phoebe loved the Feria. “The French are so friendly and seem calmer than people at home,” she remarked, with the clarity of youth. Spending time with a bright 12 year old keeps one young and I found myself joining her sliding down the huge blown up bouncy castle affair. Mr. Fix It declined: he gets enough exercise in our house he muttered.

On Saturday we watched the horses, ridden by gauchos, parade through the village to the small bull ring at the end. We watched the show, a simple affair of young matadors jumping over – actually cows, not bulls! On Sunday there was a mass at our Church, the horses standing guard literally outside our house as the priest blessed all animals: what a beautiful sight.

We could not let our visitors go back home without seeing the stunning “cite” of Carcassonne and the fortified village of Minerve. Fascinated by the history of this beautiful area of France, I bought myself a book on the history of the Cathars. Mr. Fix It is still astounded by the Cathar monuments which remain. “It took me a day to drill through brick and rock with a POWER tool,” he remarked, “how on earth did they build on this massive scale?” Perhaps this has given him the incentive (as if he needed one) to carry on apace with our house renovation, grateful that we no longer live in medieval times….

So our visitors have now left and we await with eager anticipation the permission to take the tower down in the garden, rebuild and enlarge our balcony and create doors instead of windows from our kitchen and small reception room to the garden. Jean-Louis popped round to see us yesterday, a simply lovely man, a true craftsman. It turns out he knows one of the people at the Mairie and understands that our aim is to retain the character of this house. No doubt he will put a good word in for us and next week we will have our permission. Then it will be all systems go and I will be spending many a happy hour in garden centres planning the layout of our outside space. My France Buying Guide always comes with me on these trips, what a useful tool this has turned out to be for us.

http://www.francebuyingguide.com/

But for now, we retain happy recent memories of times with good friends.

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.