The French Renovation

Many homes in this part of France are unoccupied, from little stone hovels, to enormous, grand chateaux. At hovel-level, one can assume that the owners simply move to a house with modern facilities; at chateau-level, perhaps the running costs can become too extortionate to face. Or maybe they're (seldom-seen) holiday homes. This particular chateau, somewhere beyond Montgibaud, is empty, but the grounds are very well-maintained. Places like this are always boarded up very effectively, so peeping at faded grandeur is tricky. I could almost hear the echoes of a string quartet playing as I skirted the chateau walls looking for a peep hole... I can just picture the couple (Ian and Carol) from their two-bedroom semi in Sidcup journeying out to this French chateau every August, gleefully climbing these steps, entering their musty palace, then running around each floor, throwing open all the windows and shutters... Now, there's a happy thought. Probably not true though, as t

We resurrected our 'Sundays Off' tradition by visiting some local villages to the East. We normally focus our attentions South, West and North of Cousein Bas. We can hear the church bells from Orliac de Bar, as it's just over the ridge, down the valley and up the hill from us, so we ventured out to find it. As is common in this part of France, there were buildings, but not one human being in evidence... We did come across a winking cat on top of a hedge... The public toilets look a bit grim! Seeking a little cafe in which to enjoy a coffee, we journeyed on to St. Augustin. Again, the place was deserted... Kevin looks at the menu Driving onwards (and upwards) towards Suc au May, we found ourselves surrounded by snow. As we neared the summit of Suc au May, we detected that all was not as usual... A military installation! We weren't allowed to access the summit, so we threw snowballs at each oth

We visited the market in Tulle this morning, and were intrigued to find that the river had frozen over in many parts. On our journey home along the meandering road that follows the river from our little hamlet right into the centre of Tulle, we saw lots of frozen little waterfalls by the side of the road, a subtle draining of water from the hills that we don't normally notice. We noticed today!

Yesterday, we awoke to find the taps in the bathroom sporting little icicles- not good. The bathroom window was encrusted in little ice explosions! Minus 12 degrees Celsius! Eeek! Yes, I expect that, by now, you realise that it's cold here at the moment, but there appears to be a slight thaw today, as we very suddenly found ourselves ankle deep in water in the kitchen. Burst pipe! It was sickening to hear the steady pouring of water inside the wall, and witness the tortoise tsunami make its way across the kitchen. After turning off the water in the cellar, and after eliminating sponges, towels and the mop from our rescue party, we used dust pans as scoops to collect up at least ten big buckets-full of icy water. I think the floor will survive, as it's vinyl laminate with concrete underneath. Kevin had to cut open the wall, yes, the wall I've just recently badly painted in shades of cafe au lait, and there it was, a completely detached section of pipe. Hes'