We arrived in France three years ago yesterday. Will did the last two anniversary entries so it’s my turn this time around. To recap, the first year entry was a light-hearted summary of the year in figures and the second, a much more bleak post that captures our mood at the time. I’m happy to report that things are back on track and we’re doing much better now than a year ago.
For the time being, we’re doing ok on the work front. My current contract runs until Xmas and I’m not sure that it will be renewed but that wouldn’t be terrible. Work is slow but steady for Will and we’re thinking about doing some advertising beyond the DVN, our expat network. On the home front, we recently found some chairs for the bedrooms to replace the ones on permanent loan from the neighbours. We’re also due to inherit a wardrobe from Mike and Jean before they move at the end of the month. We still need to hang more things on the walls and buy some shades for the bedroom lights but that’s mostly it. For my birthday, I bought myself a laptop stand and a French keyboard that I’m using to write this.
Today is a public holiday which is why I am writing this in the middle of the afternoon. We were caught out by this our first year since all the shops were closed. This year, our local supermarkets were both open this morning and although we didn’t take advantage, it’s a sign of progress. It’s typical November weather today: wind, rain and temps in the low teens (50’s) so we’ve just broken down and lit the fire. This morning we got out the chainsaw and cut up as much of the remaining chestnut as we could along with some of the new oak. Although we have 12 stere, only one is ready now although we think we can use some of the four that we got from the neighbour.
We’ve done some socialising since the last post. We had dinner Chez Nat and Jill on Friday night. They had found some rare mushrooms called “Orange” and we had those raw in a salad to start. The main was a duck and potato pie with cepes. It was made from confit de canard and had a creme sauce and was scrumptious. Dessert was brownies with homemade custard. We stayed there until 2:30, drinking and smoking although not too much so we were fine the next day.
The ladies just returned from a lovely holiday in Spain and while there, did some soul-searching and have decided it’s time to move on. They will need to sell their place first and in this market, that may take at least a year or two so we’ll have them around for some time to come. Their plan is to buy a place further south, near Bergerac, and a second place either in Spain or England.
On Sunday, we went to Angouleme to see the Skyfall, the new Bond film. We drove to Lee’s and then he drove us into town. It was our first experience at a French cinema and it wasn’t without mishaps. We ordered the tickets online just to ensure that we’d have seats although it turns out that wasn’t necessary since there were only about 30 people in the theatre. Most of the screenings are in French although they have a few VO (version originale) so perhaps that’s why it wasn’t crowded. It was scheduled to start at 3 but they didn’t let us into the theatre until then. When the film finally started, it was in French causing momentary panic amongst the crowd. After a few of us went out to complain, they restarted the film in English. We all enjoyed the film and also, seeing it in a theatre – our first time here in France. Afterwards, we went back to Lee’s for an aperitif and ended up staying for dinner.
We had our first frost last week so I harvested the butternut squash and a small pumpkin, the only things remaining in the garden. I actually mowed the lawn on Saturday since it had grown a lot in the previous two weeks. I’m hoping that’s the last time for the year but with the amount of rain we’re expecting over the coming days, I’m not betting on it. Mushroom season is over so I had the woods to myself when I went for a walk last weekend. I used to go out walking a few times a week but that’s tapered off since I started work.
The only other news is that Will finally received his Carte Vitale which means he’s now able to use the medical system here. It only took them 18 months so it’s no small feat. Part of the delay is due to a dispute between the UK and French governments that started when the Conservatives took over a few years ago. I don’t know the details but the end result is that Will kept having to jump over more and more hurdles in order to get registered.
Lastly, I would like to close by saying thank you to our faithful readers. It’s been a bumpy ride but if you got this far, then you know already know that. We hope you’ll stick around to find out what happens in Year 4.