The French Renovation

The cows at the bottom of the lower field are enjoying the rain! Kevin and I, on the other hand, are enjoying the patisserie's delights! Rain usually means working indoors. I set about filling some of the gaps on either side of the old beams in the sitting room. I thought I could get away with caulking the lot, but no. I had to resort to the rust-tinged end of bucket of pre-mixed filler for some of the wider yawns. I made a mess. But nothing a stiff wire brush won't tidy up when it's all dry. The armoire designed to hide the fuse board is now painted and in place. It's a really useful place for coats and boots. Mains gas is not available up our mountain, so our hob relies on bottled gas. Kevin's made these little harbours on either side of the cooker for the bottles, tucked behind the little dressers we've created. We needed units to go on either side of the cooker, but they had to be 90cm tall and just 70cm wide. This prov...

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...