The French Renovation

Dear Builders,  Should we be worried about these cracks at the base of the first cottage? Or the mould?

Tulle cares for its kayakers. A little safe side lane is provided at each weir or waterfall. As a world-renowned kayaker myself*, I'm sure I will be using that little lane before long. * Okay, that's not entirely true... but I WILL be kayaking there... soon.

Maybe it's because I attended my second French Class yesterday evening, but I was speaking in French in my dream last night. Struggling to read a plethora of French documents and e-mails every day will also prompt this sort of reaction, I suppose. I experienced a little bit of bother with the EDF online form this morning, as it insisted that I must live on a road of some name, but I don't, and it wouldn't let me make up a name, so now I will be contacted within 24 hours to sort this out... by a French speaker... I feel the urgent need to get back to my French for Idiots textbook! :(

 Another beautiful day in the Correze! Some of the wildflowers bringing colour to la vielle ferme:

There is something very important in the French financial world, and that is the RIB- Relevé d'Identité Bancaire. We opened a bank account while we were in Tulle (Yes, you guessed it- this did require making an appointment the day before and spending over an hour with an advisor. She was SO wonderful though, and most of the meeting was conducted in English. Apparently all French banks have at least one member of staff who speaks English- how considerate!) and suddenly everyone wanted a copy of our RIB- the notaire, our currency exchange man, the estate agent... it means that they have all of our bank account details on one handy slip of paper. I LOVE some of the French practices!  

There are a few books and publications that are already proving to be invaluable at this early stage of our French Renovation adventure: More diagrams than words- that's what we like!   We've carried out extensive research in French DIY stores; yes, that's actually true- we spent days visiting different stores in different areas, inspecting the merchandise and collecting brochures, catalogues and price lists. Brico Depot is our favourite, but it is so popular in France that catalogues are scarce. Our 'France friends', Sue and Steve, presented us with this precious gift of a new catalogue when we recently visited them in St Yrieix La Perche. We initially thought that we would need to purchase materials in the UK and drive them out to France, but we have since found competitive prices in several French stores. This book was a leaving gift from my work colleagues, and it is packed full of ridiculously useful information! Like how to skin a rabbit, or ...

Oh, and what IS this? Your suggestions would be appreciated! Found in the hearth. Bic biro included for scale, not art.

What do you know about septic tanks? If you're not French, then you know nothing! I have never come across a nation so well versed in septic tanks, or les fosses septiques, as they call them. As I've mentioned previously, our property has no bathrooms, no toilets, nothing so luxurious, oh no. This means that THE very most important thing in all of the world is that we begin the testing to establish exactly where our fosse will be placed, what type it will be and when we can start work. The fosse man has visited the site and has given instructions. Nothing else can go ahead at the property until the fosse is approved.The testing procedure is precise...   Three holes must be dug in the general vicinity of the intended fosse site. The three holes should be spaced out nicely. They must be EXACTLY 50 cm deep and 30 cm square. All must be filled to the brim with water and left to drain. This took over eight hours. This probably does not indicate 'good drainage'. Howeve...

Some pictures speak for themselves... These are all in the first cottage. One step at a time.

We had to visit the notaire in Tulle to agree the sale of our property. We stayed in the Inter Hotel by the river, actually, everything in Tulle is by the river. The rendez-vous with the notaire involved the notaire, the vendors, our bilingual estate agent and us. The entire meeting was conducted in French. It was very formal, but I didn't giggle. I was able to understand most of what was said, but my goodness, what a challenge! After an hour and a quarter, voila! we had the keys! The vendors then took us out to share a bottle of champagne- actual champagne, none of your cheap fizz, and again, a great cafe chin-chin was enjoyed, all in French. I have to admit to a certain amount of smiling and nodding, without knowing what was being said... and I performed possibly some of my worst French ever, bold and experimental, at best. I have found that the French really appreciate the effort, however, and will kindly correct you.  My new handbag quietly enjoys the ambience of the Tulle...

I know... it's been a while. Finding good wifi in the French mountains is not easy. But I'm about to unleash a barrage of updates! According to my blog stats, my biggest audiences are in the Ukraine, Ireland and the United States, closely followed by the United Kingdom, New Zealand and France! Thank you all for your interest! Let's start with a particularly ugly frog in our water trough: "Allez-vous-en Monsieur Grenouille!" We do see our new French home as a bit of an ugly frog, but once we've given it the kiss of restoration, hopefully we will have a handsome price of a property! It will definitely be a very hard slog. Now that we've purchased the place, our rose-tinted glasses have been thrown to the ground and crunched into smithereens (comes from Irish Gaelic- smidirin! ;) ) under the great foot of reality. To be honest, our glasses were never really that rosy. I'm going to share with you some terrible very recent images of our interiors- tr...

The Limousin region of Correze is named after the little town at its centre. These are two views of Correze.There are lots of old buildings and lights, but we've seen very few living beings there.

Tulle is quite pretty, with lots of ancient buildings and beaucoup des steps winding up between the buildings. This is where we tend to park, by the cathedral.