Apres le orage

Well the storm is almost over (figuratively and literally, in a good way) and things here are settling in for the final few weeks of the summer. The storm being that of Maureen, Irene, Sharon, Dennis, Paul, Sybil, Sari, Celine, Donna, Cindy, Evie , Olivia, Thespina, Evie and Kevin.

The morning after.....

We were crammed to the rafters with the 13 at the height of the storm in a house designed for 6. The kids left Tuesday for Paris, and now we are back down to the 7 of us. And now we are left with just a few showers with Kevin willing to drive, the group 5 are off discovering the same villages and towns that we did back in July. The weather varies from very hot and sunny some days, to cloudy, cool and stormy on others, which is a nice variety. Even without the kids, I made the trek over to the pool for a swim and a chance to cool down the other day. There are still no pictures of me in my suit, and if any exist, they won't be published here..... We are spending our time playing House Hunters International as we arranged to see a property just down the street. We have been looking at A Vendre signs all over the village, and even in the window of the Agences Immobilières. When we discovered the house 3 doors down, with the same view as ours was for sale, we thought at least it was a place to start to see if French living was the life for us.

Our New House....?

The house had two bedrooms, a kitchen/living area, an unfinished attic which would make a great room, and 2 bathrooms. The layout did not take the best advantage of the view, so we began to make plans to gut the main floor and move the kitchen/living area to the back so we could enjoy the view all the time. We were getting a little ahead of ourselves, but now we have an idea of how the system works, and we have a contact here in Bellac who knows our price range and some of our boxes that need ticking. As we return to reality, it will be a few more years before we can even think about buying a second home or trading in our life for a full time life in France. We would be interested in selling shares in the house if you are interested.....

We are continuing to discover more trails and walks around the village. This morning, we walked down along the river to the west. It was a nice peaceful, shady path until we got to a gate, which at first we thought was keeping us out of someone's property, but we discovered that it was keeping us in.

Sheep across the river

Through the gate and up the road we went. On the way back home through the village, we stopped into our boulangerie, but they were out of croissants, so we tried a small one that we had never been in before. The pain ordinaire and the croissants were delicious, and the best part was there was no line up to wait in.

As we approach the weekend, we will be back to just the two of us, as our five guests are taking a road trip up north to the beaches of Normandy. They drive up on Friday, take the tour on Saturday, then return on Sunday. It will be a very quiet time here with just the two of us and no car. Maybe get some reading and more village walks in. I feel a visit to the pub is in order this weekend. Also there is an artisans craft fair in the village on Friday evening. So we will not be bored..... and even if we were, its a great place to be bored in.

As always, check out our pictures at:

France Pictures