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".

A Holiday in a Holiday

As we wake on a cool and cloudy Saturday morning, we reflect back on our recently concluded quick get away to Paris. It was a great visit as we got a chance to see some of our favourite sites and discover some new ones. We stayed in a new neighbourhood, Place d'Italie. The Hôtel de la Place des Alpes was chosen due to its proximity to the train station, metro and bus connections, lots of good restaurants and a great price, 76.98€ or about $114.58 a night with all taxes and breakfast included. It turned out to be a new favourite hotel, especially at the price.

Steve in our hotel room.

But the price might have been due to the construction all around. Thanks to the new double glazed windows,  it would have gone un-noticed but opening the windows let in the new sounds of Paris. All over the city, streets are torn up and work is going on. Whether it is just to keep up with the aging infrastructure, or getting ready for the 2024 Olympics, it is a sign of the times in Paris.

The Petit Palais was a nice surprise, as in all of our trips, we have never been there. It is the art gallery of the collection of the the City of Paris. Not only was it a very varied collection of painting, sculpture and decorative arts, it is a beautiful building and a welcome shelter from the rain. The weather this past while has been very unsettled.

Lobby of the Petit Palais

Unlike the weather south and east of us, ours has been cool and damp. While the clouds may make look stunning in our holiday snaps, they have their way with the plans of holidayers. The showers forced us into a small Japanese restaurant for a delicious lunch before they parted just as we arrived at a hidden gem in the Marais. The sky cleared as we found Jardin de Ann Frank. Just a block away from the bustle of the Centre Pompidou, it is peaceful oasis. Located in the rear courtyard of several traditional Parisian apartment buildings, we were all but alone in the sunshine. One of the chestnut trees growing in the garden is from a graft of a tree Anne could see from her window. Our garden tour continued with the Jardin du Luxembourg. We were followed by a patch of blue sky as the rest of Paris seemed to be shrouded in black, ominous clouds. We found two of the laid back chairs and enjoyed a snack as we soaked up some of the brief sunshine that the day had to offer along with the peace and quiet that the gardens have to offer.

Jardin Luxembourg

In an example of the fact that you can never go home, we went back to a favourite restaurant we had enjoyed back in 2006.  We enjoyed several great dinners there over a week's stay in Paris with the mousse au chocolat being the pièce de résistance. Now there is no menu and dinner is only à la carte. Our waiter was not of the traditional French waiter that we had appreciated so many years ago. He was young and had an attitude. On arriving, he said to sit at any table that was set for dinner, but at the same time a regular diner was heading for his table which we had our eyes on and we were hijacked to a table which we were told we would enjoy more, that it was their best table. In retrospect it really was a great table, and it had more space than most diners in Paris are entitled to.

Le Pierrot Restaurant

It is hard to describe his manner, but in watching him interact with others, it was not reserved for the tourists. It culminated with the arrival of the bill. I pointed out that our first two glasses of wine should have been at Happy Hour prices and not the regular price of the next two. He left our table in a huff and crumpled up the original bill as he headed back to the bar. The waiter returned with the correct bill and a lukewarm apology for the mistake.

Tour Eiffel

We followed the meal with a wander down to the Tour de Eiffel to watch the light show that it is now so famous for. It reminded us that some of the best things in Paris never change.

Our culinary tour of Paris included quiche, croque monsieur, pizza, pasta, saucisse de Lyon, Japonaise, traditional French sandwiches and even KFC. It came after enjoying our first Happy few Hours at a sidewalk cafe near our hotel. Like they say, same same but different. Even KFC tastes different in Paris.....

Home now and we returned to see the framing of our new deck finished. We were even visited by the contractor on Friday evening shortly after we arrived to see if the few little changes he had to make met our approval. We had talked about an extra step down as we raced towards home on the train and found out it was such a good idea, Alan had the same great idea and we arrived finding the extra set of steps. He will finish the job when he arrives back from Switzerland doing a job for Apple as he is one of their contractors for new stores. Also, the lumber yard which specializes in long boards of douglas fir will be open by then.

We have a dinner this evening with Steve's friend, Laure and her daughter. Tonight it is her turn to cook. Next week we have booked a rental car for some local days out. With only 3 weeks left for me before I fly home, we still have a lot of French living to stuff in. Steve will be here for the month of September on his own. It will give him a chance to get started on painting the kitchen and maybe even on some canvas for his own enjoyment.

A mural in our neighbourhood.

Arc de Triumphe

D'Orsay Museum

More murals

Jardin Luxembourg

Jardin de Anne Frank

Jardin de Anne Frnak