Nous sommes ici! Encore!

Rue Traversiere before dawn.

It is now Tuesday, July 2 at 4:16 am and we have been up for several hours already. Our journey began on Sunday, June 30 at 10:00 am with a Bel Aire cab ride to the airport. The driver was on time and it was a great ride, well within the estimated cost. Thanks! On arrival at the airport, we noticed it was much busier than usual, even the driver said he hadn't seen it like that. Entering the airport, you couldn't help but notice the crowds and lines. The queue for the international security check in was half way down past the check in counters. We were worried that we might not have the time in the lounge before our flight. The Air France/KLM check in line was not too long, and we were quickly at the counter. We were fine, but when the agent got to the cat, she had to call over the supervisor. She examined the documents from our vet which showed the cat had the 3 things France needed:
    1) a rabies shot
    2) a chip implanted
    3) a clean bill of health
We were unaware that there was a specific document that also was needed, that was hidden away on the airline's web page. With a lot of discussion, and almost tears, she succumbed to her love of cats, and Puffin's cute face through the carrying case, and attached the Cabin Baggage tag to Puffin's carry case. She wished us well and hoped that her decision would not come back to haunt her. More about this latter. She also put Fast Track stickers to our boarding passes which helped us by-pass the extremely long lines and we got right through security. We were wondering how this was going to work. Steve had to carry just Puffin through the metal detector, which with all the crowds around her, we were glad she was on her Xanax. She was a trooper. With Puffin back in the carry case, we were off to the lounge for a well deserved beer or two before boarding thanks to the time saved by the Fast Track stickers. Sitting there, we thought about what might have happened if the agent wasn't willing to forego the form, but in the backs of our minds was the reception we might get in France trying to explain to them why we don't have the form.

The flight was uneventful, but sleepless as these thoughts of dread kept our minds on the tread mill. A few movies and meals and two trips to the toilet for Puffin, all was fine. She was a little squirrelly in her case, but overall she traveled well. Thanks to the two Air France blankets that we used to soak up her pee....

As the sun began to rise, and the plane was over French airspace, premonitions of our arrival loomed over us. Even though we have always been fortunate to have little go wrong on our travels, there is always the first time....

The trip from the plane to the customs hall was quick and painless, and even better when we saw that the queue was very short. We got through in about 10 minutes. Then to pick up our luggage, the the final hurdle looming ever closer. At the baggage carousel, the Air France agent let us know that many bags did not get on the flight and we would have to make a claim. The very nice Air France agent in the baggage department helped us use the kiosk to make the claim. The nice thing is we didn't have to lug our luggage around to get the car and it will be shipped to us in a few days. Now the walk of shame through French Customs and hoping all will be well. I'm sure that they are watching from cameras, as no one is there, but we kept walking and then quickly through the exit door into France, much like the Ikea commercial, start the car and just keep going.

Now normally I am well prepared for travel and have read through the documents and know what to do. Well with all the excitement of retirement and a false sense of knowledge, we headed to find the Renault agent to pick up our lease car. The map on the form showed that their location was in the parking lot of Terminal 3, so off we went, without reading that we should have called them to arrange a shuttle pick up. Well we knew better. After a walk out to a vacant building in the far reaches of the parking lot, we headed back to Terminal 3 for help. We approached a woman wearing the airport uniform and asked. She wasn't sure where it was, but she asked another woman at an airline desk, and finally, she saw the guru of airport knowledge and asked him. He gave us advise, which didn't seem to make sense to us, so I asked if we could use his phone to call the number we had. So he dialed and handed me the phone. The car company was a little miffed that we were now in Terminal 3 instead of were they thought we would be, Terminal 2, but he sent the shuttle to pick us up. The driver was very understanding and within a few minutes were were back to eastern outback of the parking lot, instead of where we were in the western outback. Not long after, we were in the middle of a Parisian traffic jam, which our GPS kept trying to avoid, but enough of the slow back roads, we though it would be better to be on the slow but moving 104 around Paris. Even our French bank cards worked at the toll booths, a far cry from chasing after a blown away credit card on one of our first toll booth adventures.

With a few switches of drivers, and a few stops and even a mutual nap, we made it to Bellac, a record of 7hrs, should have been 4 1/2. After a quick stop at the grocery store for basics, we were home opening up the house. All was well as we turned on the water and electricity and opened the shutters. Even the wifi turned worked right away. Puffin spent time wondering getting acquainted with her new home. A far cry from a one bedroom apartment to a 3 story house.

After settling in, we had a frozen pizza and some of our favourite deli salads and a bottle of red. Our neighbour from across the street popped by to say hi. Right after dinner, early by French standards, we were in bed before 8:00pm.  It is always a process to get over the jet lag. We knew we would be up early, and by 2:00 am we were wide awake. With a little luck and a nap latter, we will be able to stay up later tonight, and sleep until a decent time. Mornings come late here in Bellac, as even as I type this at 5:00, it is still dark outside. We make up for it at night as it is light right now till almost 11.

This morning Puffin had her first adventure. We opened up the door to the second floor balcony, and out she went to investigate. Turning our back on her for a second or 10 minutes , she made a leap to the deck below, from back door dormer to deck (12 feet) unawares to us. A few minutes later, Steve heard scratching at the back door, she wanted in, well at least she knew how to get back in the house. Later today, we are off to the store to buy something to fence off future leaping possibilities.

Well breakfast calls. We will post pictures of the over grown back yard and more once the sun comes
up.

The hard work continues.

Down by the river.

A French Cat Nap

Beginning to tame the jungle.

La Bureaucratie (voir ci-dessous pour la version française)

At my retirement banquet.

As our next departure date for France draws near, June 30, we have begun the process of getting our long stay visitor visa. This will allow us to stay in France for 180 days, but it could be good for a full year. Since the last time Steve applied for a long stay visa, the French government has contracted out their visa application service. They no longer answer visa related questions, and you are sent to the web site of the VFS. This website is vague to say the least, but using last year as a guide, we made our appointment to submit our documents for the visa. This costs just over $35 each, just for the appointment. Somehow in the online appointment making, our credit card was charged twice for this appointment, (more about this later). Arriving within the 15 minute guideline for Steve's appointment, we met the Soup Nazi of the visa world. I had to leave the office and return to the lobby downstairs as I was too early for my appointment. Your pockets are emptied, and she scans you with a metal detector. Your brief case or bag is searched, and lap tops are forbidden. The guy in front of us had to pay around $7.00 for her to put his in a locker during his appointment. Once through the secure door you wait until your number is called. Then the agent sifts through your documents. Our application form passed but only after a second person decided that it was still acceptable even though parts were printed quite lightly. It must have been a colour that doesn't work well in black and white. Next came our supporting documents, of which our letter that claimed we were not planning on working in France, however, we now know that a letter under oath, means that it needs to be notarized (didnt previously). Not only do they need your passport, they need a photocopy of your passport, including all the pages which have old visa stamps.

After a first fail, we thought we learnt from our mistakes. We retyped the letters, and had our notary give them his special seal of approval. We weren’t and he wasn’t thinking, as we used our usual names and not the actual name on our passport. This was to be the first strike during our second visit. The next problem on our second visit was the variety of Steve’s names on other documents, including documents from the Federal Government. All of these documents were needed to prove that we could afford to live in France for 6 months, as well as proving that we were coming home when the visa expires. So needless to say, we were on strike two as we left the office a second time.

Stops at city hall to ask about Steve’s name on a tax document and then at our notary to get the letters changed to include our “legal” names began to give us hope. After rooting through all sorts of documents we prepared for our third attempt. As we prepared to leave in the morning, I was as nervous as ..........With bated breath we watched as she reviewed our documents for a third time. Finally we were able to breath again as she officially recorded the documents, and charged our credit card for the cost of the visa.  Following this we were finger printed and had another mug shot taken. To celebrate we enjoyed a lunch at one of our downtown favourites that is still there. (Even though it has a different name)

Well we are still waiting for Visa and Visa centre to sort out the second charge on the card, but almost all is well that ends well. We now have multiple entry visas for France valid until June 30, 2020.

Our Xanax....

The other new paper project was to get our cat Puffin ready to enter France. She needed to have an identity chip injected as well as a rabies shot. She travels with her own passport to prove these requirements were met. Puffin also needed a carrying case as she will be sitting under the seat in front of us on the plane. The vet prescribed alprazolam (Xanax) to calm her for the flight. The champagne on Air France will calm us down.....

So not only do we have the regular preparations to get ready, even though this time it will be for almost 6 months, I have been counting down the days to my retirement and the regular school year end. Now with less than a week to go before getting picked up for the airport, we only have 2 last social events, my family and our dinner group to attend. We even heard from Bellac that our neighbours were complaining about how long our grass in the back yard was getting. Another call into our house sitter to arrange for the lawn to be cut. I'm sure it will need it again when we arrive on July 1.

Before....

After

la version française grâce à google traduction


À l'approche de notre prochaine date de départ pour la France, le 30 juin, nous avons commencé le processus d'obtention de notre visa de long séjour. Cela nous permettra de rester en France pendant 180 jours, mais cela pourrait être bon pour une année complète. Depuis la dernière demande de visa de long séjour de Steve, le gouvernement français a sous-traité son service de demande de visa. Ils ne répondent plus aux questions relatives aux visas et vous êtes envoyé sur le site Web de VFS. Ce site Web est pour le moins vague, mais en utilisant l'année dernière comme guide, nous avons pris rendez-vous pour soumettre nos documents pour le visa. Cela coûte un peu plus de 35 $ chacun, juste pour le rendez-vous. En quelque sorte, lors de la prise de rendez-vous en ligne, notre carte de crédit a été débitée deux fois pour ce rendez-vous (nous en parlerons plus tard). Arrivés dans les 15 minutes suivant le rendez-vous de Steve, nous avons rencontré le Soup Nazi du monde des visas. Je devais quitter le bureau et retourner dans le hall d'entrée, car j'étais trop tôt pour mon rendez-vous. Vos poches sont vides et elle vous scanne avec un détecteur de métal. Votre mallette ou votre sac est fouillé et les ordinateurs portables sont interdits. Le gars en face de nous a dû payer environ 7,00 $ pour qu’elle mette le sien dans un casier lors de son rendez-vous. Une fois la porte sécurisée franchie, vous attendez que votre numéro soit appelé. Ensuite, l'agent examine vos documents. Notre formulaire de demande a été accepté, mais seulement après qu'une deuxième personne a décidé qu'il était toujours acceptable, même si les pièces étaient imprimées à la légère. Ce doit être une couleur qui ne fonctionne pas bien en noir et blanc. Viennent ensuite nos pièces justificatives, dont notre lettre affirmant que nous n'avions pas l'intention de travailler en France. Cependant, nous savons maintenant qu'une lettre sous serment signifie qu'elle doit être notariée (pas auparavant). Non seulement ils ont besoin de votre passeport, mais ils ont également besoin d'une photocopie de votre passeport, y compris de toutes les pages portant l'ancien visa.

Après un premier échec, nous pensions avoir tiré des leçons de nos erreurs. Nous avons retapé les lettres et demandé à notre notaire de lui donner son sceau d'approbation spécial. Nous ne le pensions pas et il ne pensait pas, car nous utilisions nos noms habituels et non le nom réel figurant sur notre passeport. Ce devait être la première grève lors de notre deuxième visite. Le problème suivant lors de notre deuxième visite était la variété des noms de Steve sur d’autres documents, y compris des documents du gouvernement fédéral. Tous ces documents étaient nécessaires pour prouver que nous pouvions nous permettre de vivre en France pendant 6 mois, ainsi que pour prouver que nous rentrions chez nous à l'expiration du visa. Inutile donc de dire que nous étions en grève deux lorsque nous avons quitté le bureau une deuxième fois.

Des arrêts à la mairie pour demander le nom de Steve sur un document fiscal, puis chez notre notaire pour faire modifier les lettres de manière à inclure nos noms «légaux» ont commencé à nous donner espoir. Après avoir parcouru toutes sortes de documents, nous avons préparé notre troisième tentative. Alors que nous nous préparions à partir le matin, j'étais aussi nerveuse que .......... Souffrant de souffle, nous l'avons regardée examiner les documents pour la troisième fois. Finalement, nous avons pu respirer à nouveau lorsqu'elle a officiellement enregistré les documents et facturé le coût du visa à notre carte de crédit. Nous avons ensuite pris un empreinte digitale et pris une autre photo de mug. Pour fêter cela, nous avons apprécié un déjeuner dans l’un de nos restaurants préférés du centre-ville, toujours présent. (Même s'il a un nom différent)

Eh bien, nous attendons toujours que Visa et le centre Visa règlent le deuxième montant de la carte, mais tout va bien pour que tout se termine bien. Nous avons maintenant des visas à entrées multiples pour la France valables jusqu'au 30 juin 2020.

L’autre nouveau projet de papier consistait à préparer notre chat Puffin à entrer en France. Elle avait besoin d'une puce d'identité ainsi que d'un vaccin antirabique. Elle voyage avec son propre passeport pour prouver que ces conditions sont remplies. Puffin avait également besoin d'un étui de transport puisqu'elle serait assise sous le siège devant nous dans l'avion. Le vétérinaire a prescrit de l'alprazolam (Xanax) pour la calmer pendant le vol. Le champagne sur Air France va nous calmer .....

Donc, non seulement nous avons les préparatifs habituels pour nous préparer, même si cette fois-ci durera près de 6 mois, mais je compte les jours qui ont précédé ma retraite et la fin de l’année scolaire. Maintenant, à moins d’une semaine de l’aéroport avant de venir nous chercher à l’aéroport, nous n’avons plus que deux derniers événements sociaux, ma famille et notre groupe de personnes à dîner. Bellac nous a même dit que nos voisins se plaignaient de la longueur de notre pelouse dans la cour arrière. Un autre appel chez nous à la maison pour organiser la tonte de la pelouse. Je suis sûr que nous en aurons besoin à notre arrivée le 1 er juillet.

Nous sommes ici!

Nous sommes ici! (We are here!)

We arrived here in Bellac on Saturday, March 16 after an overnight flight from Toronto, and before that we had a flight from Vancouver to Toronto. This connection wouldn't have been so bad, but since we had some changes in our plans, Steve couldn't get on my flight to Toronto without paying a large sum of money, so he took a flight 3 hours earlier. This meant I had an extra 3 hours in Vancouver and he had an extra 3 hours in Toronto. Thanks to our credit card, it was spent in the lounge at our respective airports. I got to eat sausages while Steve drank wine . It's a silly law that says you can't get free drinks before 11:00 am but while I passed a bar on the way to my gate people were paying for beer at 10:15 am.....

Montmorillion

Donna under the train viaduct

Steve in the sunshine

Vern and Donna

Steve by the Lantern de Mort

The flights were all on time, as well as Donna's who flew on Air Canada from Toronto, while we flew Air France. After our arrival, we trudged through CDG from the farthest gate in Terminal 2 E to Terminal 2 A to meet her arrival. Then off to the rental car. Why do you always feel you need a cigarette and the morning after pill after dealing with any car rental agency?

The drive down from the airport was very good this time as we had preloaded Google maps and didn't make any mistakes or wrong turns, no busy Saturday traffic or work zones. We did see the "Yellow Vests" at a traffic circle after the express way, but they had finished any protests and were into their socializing stage, but we did hear of more violence and damage in Paris on Saturday.

We are always a little apprehensive as we arrive back after the house has been empty for five months, but all seemed well on our return with the exception of the lack of wifi and that we forgot to over ride the electrics to turn on the water heater. It is set only to warm up over night when the rates for electricity are lower, but you can force it. We had to wait till morning to get a hot shower. The wifi became a bigger problem. It involved taking our "Livebox" to St. Junien to the Orange store only to find out that the problem was not with the box. So we had to make a call to the English speaking help line. The only problem was the box wasn't working and we had no phone as well as wifi. We had planned to purchase a French sim card for our mobile phones, which we had done only to find out the the i-phone takes a nano and we bought the wrong sim. Back to the kiosk to buy another sim card, which then we were able to call Orange and arrange a service call on Wednesday morning between 8 and 11. Somethings are the same no matter where you go. We do have to admit that it is very good customer service for Orange to have an English help line, and the clerk in the Orange store was very patient with my French, and her very little English. So with any luck we will be back in touch with the world by Wednesday afternoon. It is a blessing that Orange does have hot spots all over France including our neighbourhood where we can log into the internet. So it could be worse.

Vern

Vern in Rancon

Train Viaduct in Bellac

Monday morning we stopped by some new friends and completed the purchase of a velo, a bicycle for me. The deal was made back in October, but we collected it this trip. John was able to top up the tires, and I rode home. It is like riding a bike and you never forget. The down hills are steep and the brakes on the bike work well, but my legs don't work as well on the steep up hills, but with some work they will soon, maybe. I have begun to complete the outfit by buying a helmet and a lock so when I stop into the boulangerie, pâtisserie or le bar the bike will still be there when I leave. The bike shorts are next, but like my French bathing suit, it may take some getting used to....

Today, Tuesday, was the first full day without rain, so work has begun in the garden, and we did a walk up to town to our favourite shops in the afternoon. There are a few new shops, while some have moved, and a few have closed. It is a common problem with small towns everywhere. We did pop into the new Action store, an upper scale dollar store which took over from a grocery store that moved into a new location. On our return it was about 4:00 pm (16:00) and it was time for our foursies. A few beers and some snacks in the sunshine at the bottom of the garden. We had to continue inside as a few clouds cooled us down...

Montmorillion

Lanterne Des Morts

Well skip now to Saturday morning, and I realized I haven't got back to the blog. One big reason (or excuse) was our internet was down, but that all changed on Wednesday afternoon. Even though they said they would be here between 8 - 1, a phone call later, and our technician arrived mid afternoon and a dirty plug seemed to be the problem but all is working just fine now.

Friday, we met two new friends, Elaine and Phillip. Steve made an online purchase from them of a ceramic stove back in September. Since he didn't have a car, they agreed to store it for us until now. It was a two and a half our drive down to the Bordeaux region to claim our stove. With the address details, Elaine said she would provide us a small lunch before our drive home. Well 3 hours later we warmed up the GPS again to get us home. We spend a wonderful afternoon in their garden and their dinning room enjoying a fantastic meal and incredible company. We look forward to keeping in touch and have already made tentative plans to meet up with them again this summer. Truly a grand day out.

Today after posting this blog finally, we are off to the Saturday market, the grocery store and the plant store. It will be a garden day for me as the weather is warm and sunny.

Notre retour à Bellac

With less than 2 weeks to go before our return to Bellac, we are making the final preparations. The flights are booked, the rental car is booked and the packing is underway. We have even been focussing on our french, and taking weekly lessons as well as practicing any chance we get. It is good that we are finally heading back as our bottle of Pastis has run dry( not sure how that happened) and our supply of Tuc crackers is quickly disappearing.
 
The weather forecast for Bellac is looking like spring, versus our still winter weather here in Metro Vancouver with overnight lows still dipping below zero.

We will be joined again by Steve's sister Donna for our 2 weeks in France. The plans are to clean up the garden and the house to get it ready for our return in early July. We are also picking up a fireplace and a bicycle purchased online over the winter.  With a little luck, the skies will clear and I'll get out on my bike for some well needed exercise.

Une liste ou deux....

The following blog was written last summer, but for some reason was never published. Now that it is just a month before we head over for March break to get the house ready for the new year, I thought this was a good time to update the blog, and begin new lists for the Summer of 2019. It will be the beginning of almost 6 months in Bellac, as I retire on June 28, 2019.  

Owning a second home that is around 150 years old, but modernized in the past 40 years, there are lots of things on the list. While last year we replaced the washing machine, the hot water tank and built a deck out back in the garden, (well we paid Alan and his wife Marina to build it), this year the list is full of little things.

Garden: The garden is an ongoing effort, with the weeds often winning. This year we have scaled down the vegetable section to just tomatoes, celery and strawberries. Last year our friends Robert and Tric got our garden started early, but this year it was Steve planting the tomatoes and ceilery in June. They are doing well with a harvest of tomatoes just ripening on the vines. The celery is still growing, but at the moment you won’t be able to get much Chez Whiz on the celery stock as they are the size of baby carrots. We purchased a few more annuals and perennials to fill in the gaps. The two new lavender plants are doing very well, as is our honey suckle. Some sweet peas that I planted in March survived the very wet spring and are now just about tall enough to latch onto the chicken wire fence that separates us from Monsieur et Madame, nos voisins. 

Shutters: Yesterday day we finally got our second floor shutters off their hinges and are now ready to paint. The diy hint of the week is the shutters need to be opened to about 45° angle front the wall (sweet spot), and then they lift off the hinges with ease. Well about as easy as could be expected from a large, heavy shutter can lift from a second floor window. We need to thank our new friend and neighbour, Carl for this helpful hint. So now these are in the garage waiting to be sanded and then painted Provence Vert. We just hope the returning of the shutters is as easy as yesterday’s taking down.

Floor: Since moving in, we have always wondered what the original flooring on our second floor was like. The previous owner installed laminate through out the entire level. We had discussed finding a corner to attempt to pull the laminate just to get a glimps of the floor underneath. Well the easiest place to peak into the past was just at the top of the stairs, and we discovered a leveling compound, 

(we think) and the beautiful old country floor dream was quickly dashed..... ç’est dommage.

Shed: When we purchased the house, it came with a very typical North American garden shed. What wasn’t typical, was it was jammed packed with more garden implements than I knew what to do with.  The other issue with the shed was the rust. Today we purchased a rust proof metal paint for the rusty roof. We purchased orange which should match our orange lounge chairs in the back yard. Maybe just a bit too cutting edge for our conservative voisins.
Not only did Steve paint the roof of the shed, he took part in a bit of cultural appropriation, and painted an eagle on the side of the shed.

Garage Door: Along with the front shutters, the garage door has a new coat of paint, Provence Vert. Taking the painting en plen aire to the extreme, Steve added silhouettes of trees, birds and les chats de Bellac on the doors. We understand from Christine, one of our English neighbours, that there has been some local conversations in regards to the doors. 

Deck: Late last year, Alan and Marina constructed our back deck. It replaced a deck that was the size of two shipping palates, and about as well constructed. This year, the deck required a second coat of the stain to protect it. Thinking that this would be a back breaking job, and I had already hurt my back worse than ever before, it spent a long time on our list. Once the job started it only took two afternoons to complete and looks much better than the worn first coat We will have to thank Steve for getting this off our list as he was protecting my back, which was busy continuing to clean up the gardens while he painted.

Entertain guests and neighbours: We have come a long way in getting to know our neighbours since 

arriving. Even with the departure of Linda and Andrew to Spain, we have developed friendships with Carl and Samantha who live just across the train tracks from us and Claire, who purchasoed Linda and Andrew’s old house. In fact, she is dropping by this afternoon for foursies. Foursies are our mid afternoon drink and snack. With dinner not served until 7:00 or later, we need some sustenance to ensure our survival until dinner. Most French have a large lunch, so they do not suffer from this ailment. These new folks are in addition to our old friends, both English and French.

Travel: Each year we head off to discover a new corner of France. This year we are finally off to Normandy. We are headed to the town of Bayeux. This is the home to Bayeux Tapastry, right out of Grade 8 Social Studies and 1066. It is also the departure point for the D-Day Beach tours. Four years ago, a group of our visitors took the tour and raved about it, so this is finally our year. We are also stopping off a a coastal town of Honfleur, made famous in impresionists paintings. This was a favourite of Monet. It is only five days away from our getaway....

Later we plan a beach getaway to the Atlantic coast possibly but August is the month that all the French are on the coast, so maybe we will head back to Paris, of maybe Lyon as a city break, and enjoy the local Lac Du St. Paradox for our beach trips. 

Le printemps est arrivé, bien en quelque sort

A pre-boarding snack at the lounge.

Well we have made it back to our French home. After a long cool winter, the house has made it through unscathed. Our trip started on Sunday, March 18. After an enjoyable few hour stay at the Sky Team lounge at the Vancouver Airport, we were on our Air France flight to Paris. Just before take off, the pilot mentioned that it was snowing in Paris at the present time. Nine hours and 4 movies and a nap later, we discovered he was correct. While the roads were clear, the rental car was covered in snow, and it still was trying to snow. This was not weather we associate with Paris usually. Before we picked up the car, we met Steve's sister Donna, and her friend Denise from their Toronto flight which arrived in a different terminal. We quickly loaded up the car to get out of the cold chill, and got on the road. As with driving in and around Paris, it is not as easy as the GPS might make it sound. We had a route planned to keep to the east of the city following the N104, but it starts off as the N1104, then along the N2, next the A104 and keep left to the A4 and finally exit to the N104 until it intersects with the A10. Well this last exit was a problem in that we missed it, and continued then along the A4 to the A86 which was all backed up with 5 lanes of traffic, and finally the A10 which is the main highway to the south of France.  Even that is not simple as it changes to the A72 then the A20 as it branches off to other various exotic French places such as Bordeaux or Lyon. Five hours and a few cups of coffee later we arrived at the nearby grocery store to stock up on a few supplies.

Denise, Vern and Donna in La Dorat.

Our first major task was to warm up the house and to make sure we had plenty to eat and drink. With it being vacant since before Christmas, it needed the electric radiators turned up to full for a while. We even blew a fuse using so much electricity to keep it warm. Tuesday brought the delivery of two portable electric heaters for the attic which was room to Donna and Denise and had no heat yet except for the fact that hot air rises. It was in sharp contrast to Wednesday's delivery of patio furniture which we put together, but it is still in the garage waiting for the weather to break. Some time in June at the rate we are going this year. After a week we can now keep the heaters at 5 instead of the 10 on the dial as the house is slowly warming up. I have even heard "It's too hot...".

Vern, Donna and Denise in Montmorillon

We have taken the girls out for some short day trips, two church maximum. Monday's was along the Richard the Lion Heart route to the south of us, seeing some castles and chateaux.

Everyday has been accented with good food and plenty to drink. Naps have become a necessity along with sleeping in. It is such a quiet pace in the Spring, much different from the summer. We had no major projects to do this spring and the only thing we had to so was to go to the tax office and change our Canadian address so they can mail our next tax bill in the fall. This was quite easy as the woman at the desk was very friendly and helpful, which wasn't the case the last time we were in the office.

CS Bellac Rugby

We had Steve's friend, Laure, over for a lovely dinner and catch up on Saturday night. Our English neighbours have arrived as well for the Easter week. We will have to meet up for drinks some time this week to catch up with them as well. On Sunday afternoon we were off to the rugby match, Bellac vs Dampniat. We won 17 to 16. It was the big rugby 7's at BC Place, but it was a fun community event.

Today is our first real rainy day, as we made it out before lunch to do a few errands and shopping, but the drizzle has turned to rain, so we are in for the afternoon. I hear there are plans for Yahtzee and puzzles. Sort of like a wet weekend anywhere in the world.

Well fast forward to the next morning, and the puzzle is still being worked on. It is a puzzle of the cover of the Sargent Peppers album. The puzzling continues as the drizzle continues outside. It was full contact puzzling as we now need to repair one of the kitchen chairs.

Denise, Donna and Vern at Château de Montbrun.

Château de Brie

Denise and Donna at Château de Châlus-Maulmont

All of us at Château de Montbrun

Denise and Donna at Château de Rochechouart

Jours de chat de l'été...

Forgive me father.... oh, not really a confession, but I am sorry that I haven't been posting my blog lately. It just seems we are busy, but never seem to do anything. I have written bits and pieces, so now with less than a week to go for my summer, I will attempt to put them together in a coherent, entertaining prose.

vert provence

Back deck in prgress

I have been coming to terms with having only one week left here in France. I know I am very lucky to spend 9 weeks here each summer, but it is now time to gear down and savour the last few days. From our original to do list we still only have the back deck to finish. This was really only going to be a planning year, and find a contractor, but it has gone ahead. We have just heard from our contractor again and there are further delays as we wait for the wood and the deck will be done maybe on Wednesday? During construction, the chairs and table are all over the back yard, and we have to search for the little shade as the framed in deck sits in the shadiest part of the yard, but as the weather goes, we are seeking out any sun we can get... due to a unseasonably cool and cloudy early August. With the delay in the deck,  Steve has taken on painting a wall in the kitchen, as well as getting ready to paint the front window shutters, and our barn door, which we close up when we lock up the house each fall. We hope the touch of "vert provence" will enhance the "quartier".

Lac St. Pardoux

La Plage

We did rent the 'only car in the village' twice over the past few weeks and this gave us a chance to stock up on some of the heavy supplies. If you are planning a late summer visit, we have plenty of beer, wine, sparkling wine, sangria and sparkling water, but the way we are going through them, I can't judge how long the supply might last.  We have spent a couple of days at Lac de Pardoux. The large lake nestled in a forest is about 30 minutes away. It has several beaches, camp sites, sailing, water skiing along with a pool and waterslides. Our destination was one of the sandy beaches. Armed with our beach mats, towels and lunch, we were off.  The water was great, and the crowds were very manageable. After soaking up a bit of the bright sunshine, we retreated to the shade of the trees. Heading down for a quick dip every now and then was a great relief to the sunny days which have been in short supply this year. According to the locals, this has been one of the "worst" summers in a long time. On a different note, just a few days ago, our French friend, Laure, told us about the local uranium mining and how the lake bottom was contaminated and only tourists will swim there. Doing some research, it seems to be under control and all levels are within the "healthy" limits. There will be another test in the fall, so we will check back into it next year, unless we start to glow in the dark.

Last Wednesday, we were hiking in the mountains of Blond with the above mentioned our French friend, Laure and her daughter, Claire-Andrea. They took us to many of the famous "mégalithes" scattered across the mountains.  Now when they say Mount Blond, it is more of a bump in the road than a mountain as we know them, but still there is a fabulous view from the top of Mount Blond south towards Spain.  During our first summer here, we tried to find these sites on our own, along with friends, Sharon and Dennis. That year we were only able to find one of them, which turned out to be our final stop this year. Claire-Andrea had grown up in the mountains, so she was able to navigate the back roads to all of these very interesting pre-historic sites. These monuments date back as far as the Neolithic time through the Bronze Age. Now we have the map and the brochure, we are set to be better tour guides next time.

Fred and Ginger

Steve's "chatons" are doing well.  We have named them Fred and Ginger because Ginger is a ginger and white cat. The names are gender neutral as we think Fred is female and Ginger the male. They are growing quickly and are becoming less fearful of him and of our open kitchen window. I hope they will be ready to fend for themselves by the end of September when their surrogate mother heads for home.

Nazi Occupied France

Our good friends, Linda and Andrew had good news this week, as not only have they sold their house, the woman who bought it, has sold her house in England for cash, so the deal will move ahead quickly, well as quickly as things like this move in France. Other homes in the area have been on the market for years in some cases. They are off next week to view houses in southern Spain. We may be losing some great neighbours, but we are gaining a bedroom for Spanish holidays. They have already found a replacement for their services of keeping an eye on our place when we are back home in Canada. We are having a final dinner at their house on Thursday evening. We bought a bottle of one of their favourite wines, a very big splurge for $30.00 Canadian. (we could have bought about 10 bottles of a nice wine for that price or about 22 bottles of Steve's "vin mousse". They have told us stories from the war years here in Bellac, and the French resistance which was quite strong in this area. We heard about a hotel that was taken over by the Nazis which the resistance targeted with explosives several times.  This apparently angered the Nazis and it was not uncommon for them to take out their frustrations by shooting the locals. There are also tales of secret torture rooms that the resistance used when they captured Nazis and booby trapped safes. I can see a book in my future. ( I didn't say that I was going to write it, maybe just find an interesting history to read.)

Over the summer, we have been getting more adventurous with our cheese selections. We have moved from the basic cheese section in the grocery store to la charcuterie (deli).  We are able to buy just a un peu de cela and un peu de ça just in case we run into any type of cheese we don't like, which hasn't happened yet. On a recent dinner at Laure's apartment, we had a cheese course before the dessert, and tried a few cheeses that we wouldn't have been to fearful to try on our own. It will be hard to go back home to the expensive cheeses, but there is nothing quite like a nice old cheddar.

Sangria

As Labour Day draws near, I have my last to do list written, with the most important to do item is to enjoy my remaining time in Bellac. We have a concert at the pub tonight, which will be a great evening after a morning in the garden getting it ready for winter.  We have harvested the final tomatoes that were planted for us by Robert and Tric back in May. There are still a few peppers both green and hot spicy on the vine. With the deck construction, there are a few plants along the edge of the old deck that have seen better days unfortunately. So just a friendly reminder if you were thinking of visiting the house before we arrive, the Topsfields set the bar very high for getting the garden ready this past May for our arrival.

The final few days and the week ahead have seen a return to summer weather. We, like many French without air-conditioning have closed up the shutters and are doing our best to keep the cool inside. In fact we have been inside all afternoon on this Sunday with the exception of bringing in the laundry. We are planning on still heading down the hill to the pub for a couple of cold beers as we enjoy a final Sunday afternoon concert. At least the house will be cool on our return. And yes it was. The duo that was playing at the pub was a quartet last summer. They were ok, but too many self-reflective downer type songs instead of some up beat pop. I'm sure they play for tips and drinks, so we get what we pay for. After one drink, we were ready to trek back up the hill to home, with the vision of a cool beer out on in our jardin. If I'm lucky, I will find time during a busy week to post one last time next Saturday before my train to Charles de Gaulle airport. Enjoy the last week of "summer".