La Rentree

Hey ho hey ho, it's back to school we go. Yes we have just experienced 'La Rentree'. We have experienced it before (many times) but La Rentree in France itself is different.

To you and me, La Rentree is the same as 'Back to School'. A very welcome day for parents and a day of excitement and nervousness for the kids.

However in France it seems like an opportunity for the shops and business's to tempt us shopping. As if the long summer holiday hadn't already cost us enough.

The amount of adverts and leaflets we have received saying 'It's La Rentree - why not buy a washing machine....invest in a new car....get 10% off your insurance' and so on.

What has that got to do with going back to school?

I suppose you may need a washing machine to wash piles of dirty school clothes and a car to get the kids there and back and then insurance for when your child accidently breaks a dinner plate.....there is obviously a logic in it somewhere.

Our 3 kids were pretty excited to go back - not that they would admit it.

School uniforms don't exist so Ellie meticulously planned her 'outfit' weeks beforehand. The boys just wore whatever was on the top of their clothes pile. That means they will probably wear the same 2 t-shirts and trousers all year. Wear one, Wash one. Saves us a lot of money!

They all go to different schools so getting them all out the door and onto various buses or scooters starts at 6am and finishes just before 8am. That's the least fun bit.

Then there are the school bags.

The kids are expected to carry their books for the day on their backs all day and that includes snack time, lunch time and every other time. Not such a problem.....except their bags regularly weight at least 8-10kg.

Lockers are provided in some schools but there are never enough. There are some girls though who somehow manage to carry just a handbag (much to Douglas's horror - he's 13) containing nothing but a pen and still manage to get through the lesson. We still haven't worked out what their secret is.

School days are long. For the younger ones it is usually 8am until 4.30pm but the day extends as you get older. Sam our eldest has lessons 8am - 6pm with an hour of travelling each way on top.

However there are no lessons Wednesday afternoon so that is the time to do 'activities' of which there are a huge choice here ranging from martial arts to music and dance to crafty things.

In order to participate in anything remotely active, you must have a medical certificate saying you are fit. What a palaver as parents are queuing up at the doctors or just asking the doctor over the phone to prepare them a certificate.

The boys are doing swimming this term and much to their horror we had to do a trip to the sports shop to get them some of those oh so tight and weeny swimming shorts. Then there is the swimming hat. They are not too happy.

So we are now 2 weeks into the new school year. The kids have new friends, our washing machine and car are being put to good use and so far nobody has broken a dinner plate.

Next Time......A year since our move. Was it the right decision?

The Big Hole is No More

Suddenly 6 weeks has gone and I realise that an update on what has been going on in Limoux and in our lives is well overdue.

However we have not been slacking and have been up to our eyeballs with mud, earth, sand, water and the constant digging and cementing of holes.

Basically the last 2 months have rather obsessively centered around the pool. We knew that we were getting ultra boring when the kids started to say "Can we not have just one day when we don't mention the word - POOL?!"

Well triumphantly I can now say that the 'big hole' that we created in June is now a shimmering oasis in our garden.

Yes our pool is finished......well sort of as there is still a lot to do.

But hey we can swim when the stifling heat of the South of France gets too much for us and that is what we wanted to achieve.

In 2 months we went from this.......


To this......

We only filled the pool a week ago and already the water is 28.5C (yes we are a bit obsessive). Wonderful!


So what else has been going on?

Well the kids finished school what seems like an eternity ago. Lessons officially finished at the end of the first week of July but there is a strange system here whereby once you have been given the go ahead to move up to the next school year in September, it means you can stop going to school for the rest of the term.

So our kids have been at home since the last week of June.

Being conscientious parents (and mean according to our kids) we did try and send them but the teachers huffed and puffed as it meant they had to supervise so homeward bound our kids came.

It has been nice having them all at home though as it has meant we have had helpers to build the pool and most importantly we haven't had to get up at 6am for the school bus. I am not looking forward to 'La Rentree' - beginning of term - but let's not talk about that now.

With the pool (well the swimmable bit) now ticked off the list, we have also been trying to tidy the garden (a never ending and thankless task right now), painting walls and doors, putting up light fittings, tidying the garage (another never ending and thankless task) and just feeling we are busy day in, day out.

We have also found time to browse in the weekly Limoux night markets (a fantastic and fascinating lurking opportunity), get immersed in the various music and theatrical events which take place in Limoux square and just enjoy the balmy hot evenings on our terrace listening to all the crickets and insects who seem to have taken shelter in our garden. Bliss!

We have also had a great time with Bill's brothers and families visiting and other friends popping in for overnight stays. We have just loved showing them around and introducing them to our new life here in Limoux. It is a strange but very proud feeling to be living in our own home after renting for the past 17 years.

Much as we would have liked to have hoards of visitors to stay we are not really set up at the moment for welcoming the masses. I think that is a way off unless we sell the kids to make bed space.

Bill's bijoux office has a sofa bed (for small people) so that has been getting some use and as for our idea of putting tents in the garden well that quickly evaporated when we saw how we get buffeted by the wind which is pretty fierce. Plus our garden, big as it may be, is rather a jungle right now with wild rabbits and snakes ready to welcome any newcomers.

So for now we are just enjoying the summer.

Bill has finished his stint in Nigeria and managing a bit of a holiday before his next assignment which he hopes will be desk based and the kids are making the most of their last few weeks before 'La Rentree'......

Next Time: La Rentree (Back to school).

Building with Lego

We've been in our house 5 and half months now and as summer is approaching we decided "Hey let's build a pool".

Actually it wasn't a decision taken lightly but the salesman (who like any salesman knew how to convince us) persuaded us it was just like building with Lego.

Having brought our kids up on Lego, we are pretty expert by now so naturally we thought it would be a breeze.

So we signed on the bottom line.

Before we knew it, there were what seemed like a million bits of Lego piled high in our garage and we were wondering where to start.

Well after a lot of dithering and dissecting of the Lego manual, we are now at the stage when we have destroyed the garden and filled it with a huge 8x6 meter hole. Well a nice man called Mr Fernandez did it for us.

Guess what? The hole immediately filled up with water. Instant swimming pool, yeah! Job done.

Actually not so yeah when it wouldn't go away and the only solution was to dig further and to put in a so called 'French drain'.

So using our kids as child labour yet again (well they are happy as it helps them earn their summer pocket money) we dug and shoveled and sweated and swore (quietly) until we had what we hope is the drain of all drains.

So far so good.

Next job was slotting together the panels, which look like the sides of a tin can. That is where the similarity ends though as they weigh a ton. The manual writer who said they needed 2 people to slot them together, had obviously not built a pool like this before.

Anyway suffice to say, the tin can is taking shape nicely. The steps are in (precariously balanced on bricks for now), everything is measured and double measured (and triple) to make sure it is all horizontal and vertical down to the last millimeter and we are feeling pretty chuffed with ourselves.

By my calculations, it has taken us 10 days of labour to get to this point. We had a break recently as Bill was in Nigeria (not on holiday!).

We also had a few workers strikes and slackers.....but who can blame them.

More to Follow.......when the workers strike is over.....

No Ordinary Day

Today I received a lovely surprise in the way of an email from Bill. It contained an attachment of his account of a not so ordinary day in Limoux. I have been on at him for ages to write something and so now here it is.....

Tuesday, May 11th 2009.

A day like any other. It is term-time; Nicole and I are both at home. I finished my last assignment at the end of April and am scouting around for new work.

I start the day at 0610. Its getting light now and I make Nicole a cup of tea (he's such a good hubby - ed), make sure Sam is awake and do 20 minutes of exercises – my back is killing me after overdoing the strimming at the weekend.
I take Sam to the school bus for 7am for his trip to Carcassonne and then finish getting up while Nicole drops off Ellie and Douglas at their schools. We've invested in a 'scooter' for the older kids (and, incredibly, for our youngest when he turns 14 next year) but both of them have had minor accidents, skidding on gravel, so we are back in full chauffeur mode.

So the first task of the day is to ride the scooter down to the Peugeot dealer in town. It's a bit of a come-down since my big biking days, but still there is something exciting about being back on two-wheels. The handlebar has to be replaced; apparently a common problem when these bikes are dropped on their side. It's going to cost 117 € but it seems worth having the job done professionally; there's not much room for error on two wheels.

And then we set off for Carcassonne – to reclaim our repaired iron from Darty (it packed up after a couple of months of use) and to do battle with the Caisse d'Allocations Familiales (child benefit office) over our child allowance. First stop, CAF. It seemed rather unusual that all our contact so far had been by telephone, email and post – so we wondered if going in person might help to unblock the payments. No need. After about 20 seconds of waiting we were talking with a conseiller in front of a computer screen who instantly found all our records and informed us that our payments were on their way, back dated to the beginning of the year when I started paying my cotisations. What a result. Of course the money will be useful (especially as I don't yet know when my next job will be), but another sign of our inclusion and integration into the French administration is also very welcome.

Darty (think Dixons ) also goes smoothly. The iron returned and repaired within a matter of weeks (about 3 actually). Meanwhile we get a call from Sam saying that he wants to come home because it is not worth staying at school until 4pm for only one physics lesson. It doesn't seem much of a school day: one English lesson in the morning (where he is more of a resource person than a student), two hours of French cancelled (the teacher has gone for training) and Physics in the afternoon. It seems to happen too often – but at least it is not as bad as the universities which have been on strike for three months. Anyway, we agree to pick him up and take him home, partly because we are in town anyway, partly because his studies are going well and he is serious about them (generally speaking!).

It turns out to be a good decision. Arriving back at the house we find four trees lying in front of the garage door. We bought them ten days ago, to do something about the wind that blows if not constantly certainly regularly up the hillside from west. But their livraison seemed to be difficult for Jardifort. After a week I phoned to ask when they would be delivered and talked with someone who confessed to be so completely débordé (overwhelmed) that he could hardly take time to answer the phone let alone organise a delivery. I tried again yesterday and talked to someone else who said that they just couldn't even suggest when they might be able to deliver. So we were going to go in to see them on the way back from Carcassonne to cancel the order and ask for a repayment… Now Sam can help Dad dig them in. But lunch first…

Lunch was interrupted by a call from Senegal. A former colleague managing programmes for Save the Children in West Africa is looking for someone to help with the strategic positioning of their programme in Nigeria, where there are lots of opportunities to do good work but also lots of choices to make and risks to manage. Sounds right up my street. I hope it works out, but yesterday I also had an interview (by telephone) with UNDP and the Ministry of Planning and Investment in Lao PDR for a three month participatory planning consultancy which would also be very exciting and would mean I could consolidate some work I did there last year. Anyway, it is nice to be in demand. It is my first time in all my working life not to be employed by someone else. It takes a bit of getting used to: the void and uncertainty of not having work lined up and confirmed even over the next few months.

Although I do find it easy to fill the void!

This afternoon it is planting trees. Two of them (a silver birch and an acacia) are nearly four metres already. Instant gardening.

Sam and I work hard; the ground is hard and stony. We have to improve the soil, we have to stake the trees and we have to water them in. I surprise myself how much I look forward to rainy days (or preferably nights) – the water buts are almost empty and mains water is expensive. The gardening goes on into the evening, interrupted by supper and taking Sam to and then from the Aikido club. I hope that scooter comes back soon.

It is 9.30 pm and just light enough to take the dog for a walk around the fields and through the vines without a torch. She chases after the rabbits without success but with a lot of enthusiasm. By 10 o'clock everyone is ready for bed. It has been a busy day. Tomorrow will also be busy – but different. We have to draw the dimensions for the hole that the terrassier must dig for us to install the swimming pool. It's a big job – every time we read the manual we understand a bit more about the challenge ahead.

There are no ordinary days.

Bill

Healthy Reading

Having rarely visited the doctor since our time of living in Africa and Asia over the past 16 years, since living in France we are certainly making up for it.

When we were working in developing countries, our family rule was that we and the kids were "not allowed" to get sick. If we were, then out would come the self diagnosis books (think DIY healthy reading) and drug manuals and off we would go to the pharmacy if necessary. It is not as scary as it sounds as I 'used' to be a nurse and besides it was at times difficult to find the right doctor or the services that we needed.

Anyway roll the years forward to France and in our 8 short months here we have visited : various doctors, X-ray clinics, blood laboratory, specialists, physiotherapists, hospitals, pharmacies.....

I am ashamed to say that most of them are for me - the strong one in the family who is "never" sick. That does still hold true as most of it was for a skiing accident so I do feel that I am still holding my healthy record.

You know what they say about women in their 40's who hit the ski slopes during half term having not skied for years and who then cause mayhem on the piste? ....Yep that was me.

I was the one in the light blue jacket and purple hat who was rolly pollying past you at 100 kms an hour. OK 10km then.

However thinking about our health experiences here, we have been both delighted and frustrated. The delight comes in the efficiency of the health professionals and the health services and we have nothing but good things to say about them all.

Imagine going to visit your local doctor, being seen straight away (and with no appointment), getting a prescription for an x-ray and having that done straight away in the clinic up the road, receiving and having the results explained to you immediately, making an appointment with the specialist and being seen the next week at the time allocated (actually 2 minutes earlier) and then being offered surgery (if I want it!) for the following month. And so it goes on.

No waiting, excellent service and 10 out of 10 all round....except for the radiographer who made me have more x-rays than were prescribed and then charged me (a lot) for the pleasure.

Oh and the other interesting experience (again with the radiographer), was being sent into a cupboard with a man and being told to take all our clothes off (knickers allowed) and to stand there feeling naked and vulnerable until it was 'our turn'. Thankfully the other man was my husband otherwise it could have been interesting.

What I find interesting here in France is how the health professionals seem to work very much on their own in a private practice but who are reimbursed by the state. The local doctor is often a one-man band who answers the phone, sees the patients, does all the paperwork and who cleans up at the end of the day. It explains why it is near impossible to make an appointment over the phone - there's no one to answer it.

The same goes with the local physiotherapists and nurses who seem to be dotted everywhere. Just in our small town of Limoux which has a population of 10,000, we have 22 general doctors, 18 physiotherapists, 11 district nurses, 7 pharmacies, 7 ambulance taxis, 2 x-ray clinics, 1 laboratory plus more.

Are we a sick town or maybe the French just like to keep healthy?

So as you can see we are more than happy with the French health services but if we were to talk about French health care bureaucracy, well maybe a grumble or two is in order. Fill in this, fill out that, send it here, send it there.....and still we are only advancing one incy wincy step at a time.

Basically all we want is to be "IN" the French health care system. We are paying for it (heftily) and our sole aim right now is to get that 'Little Green Card'. The very coveted green card that says you are "IN".

The other day we made what we thought was a big advance when we received 'The Paper'. The magic paper with a big long number on it which is apparently the step before the card. Clap hands everyone.

However quite a few health professionals seem to turn their nose up at it and we get get the "Gives us the card or give us the money" treatment.

So as the money is being handed over left right and center I am beginning to wonder whether I should just go back to my DIY medical books.

In the meantime, other important things are beginning to sprout, such as the garden which has just gone wild. Bill is around for a few more weeks before he rushes off on an assignment so he is busy cutting, trimming, planting and watering. I get the grotty bits like weeding.

It all looks fabulous though and it's like discovering treasure each time something else appears.


Next Time: Working or Gardening - I can't decide. How about 'Working in the Garden' then?

Teenagers in France !

Moving to France with 3 teenagers and a dog in tow was not a decision made lightly.

Mind you we were several steps ahead of many families making the hop across the channel as our 3 kids have been in the French school system since the age of 3 and they already speak French.

For our kids the biggest adjustment we felt they were going to have to adapt to, was living a more 'normal/different' life than what they were used to.

Having lived in Asia and Africa all their lives they were used to warm climates, outdoor living, a lot more freedom in their social lives and dare I say it but a housekeeper who cooked, cleaned and ironed (I miss that too!).

Parties, sleepovers galore, cheap shopping, beach holidays and eating out were all 'normal' life then. The latest fashions were not a big issue, TV was not really thought about, getting out and about in taxis was cheap as chips and kids were out and about doing things in groups on a regular basis whether it was sport or just meeting at someone's house.

And here we were, about to drag them from the bright lights of city living to the country glow of small town France.

Our kids are 13 and 17 (boys) and 15 (girl) so as you can imagine our house at times is high on hormones and hysteria (theirs and mine). But on the whole they are balanced, healthy and cooperative teenagers - did I really just say that?

We purposely chose not to live in rural France, no matter how tempting the estate agents blurb of a "Fully renovated rural French farmhouse with 2 acres of land with a stream and no neighbours" for half our budget was. Teenagers and 'The Good Life' don't always mix. We also chose to ignore the city apartment (us parents needed a veggie patch) and the cute village house looking onto the square (although I am not sure why).

Instead we went for the small town of Limoux in the Aude.

Limoux is a town of 10,000 inhabitants, has a Lycee and college, train station, cinema, restaurants and biggish shops and is only 25kms from the bright city lights of Carcassonne. And it's under 2 hours from the ski resorts and the sea. A perfect compromise.

So how well are they integrating then?

Having being used to socialising with kids of all nationalities and backgrounds, languages and experiences, they have suddenly found themselves 'the odd ones out'. Some treat them as novelties, others ignore them because they are novelties and others have been genuinely kind and interested.

In a way it has been harder for their peers to accept them than the other way round. Our hats are off to our brave bunch of three though as they have each found themselves a great circle of friends - even if we haven't met most of them as they live in a small hamlet in the middle of nowhere.

As for things for the kids to do, we have been pleasantly surprised at how much organised activity there is.

The French love their clubs or associations as they like to call them. The boys have launched themselves into tennis, Aikido and guitar and Ellie does theater and dance. There are clubs galore ranging from canoeing and belly dancing to singing and knitting (I know what the boys would say). Then there are the outings organised by the schools such as ski trips, theatres and spectacles.

The weekends are more of a challenge though as we have found that French teenagers here don't really 'hang out' and much more is done 'en famille' (as a family).

Sleepovers are pretty rare if at all, birthday parties are unusual and meeting up at the weekend for a film and a pizza are just too expensive for many. Also many of their friends live in other towns and villages and with the lack of a local bus system it makes getting from hamlet to hamlet a challenge unless they can persuade their mum or dad with breakfast in bed (hint) to drive them.

One thing we love though is the respect that teenagers show towards each other. Imagine arriving at school in the UK and kissing all your friends hello or shaking hands? Well here it is normal.

We are also relieved to see that fashion 'must haves' are not really a big thing here and that kids love eating school dinners. Interestingly many English kids don't like the school dinners....Jamie Oliver what have you taught them?

Smoking however is a big issue. Getting through the front door of the Lycee at 8am involves a mad dash through a black haze of fumes - and that's just from the students.

Were we concerned about the move to Limoux? YES.

And 6 months on has it gone OK? Surprisingly YES.

We as parents are getting used to having the kids around the house a lot more, having to see (and try and ignore) bedrooms that resemble a boot sale in mayhem, working as a chauffeur and not getting paid (not even with breakfast in bed) and forking out for all those clubs to join.

As for the kids - well they seem to be doing just fine. They have their mobile phones, their computers and hotmail (to keep in touch with old friends), a nice group of new friends plus the odd club to go to, so what more do they want.


As I write this the wind is howling round the door, the blue skies peep every now and then from behind the grey wall of clouds and when Spring comes, I am sure that I will have other things to add to what our 3 teens are up to.....and I hope one of them is breakfast in bed.

Next Time: How we are coping with the health care system.....I snapped a knee ligament whilst skiing.

New Year...New House...New Resolutions

Happy New Year 2009.
December 23rd 2008 was such an exciting day for us - we finally got the keys to our new 'home'.

Needless to say we are just like kids with a new toy. Bill and I continually find ourselves stopping in mid activity to say "We own this house"!

Although we have owned a house in the UK for the past 16 years it was never really 'home' as we didn't live in it - we lived in rented houses/apartments overseas in Asia and West Africa so this to us is very special.

Getting the keys was fun.

We, our estate agent and the vendors met up in the ever important notaires chambers and it was like walking back in time 100 years.

Imagine entering into an oak wood panelled room, faced with walls lined with files dating back to the early 19th century and succumbing to their faintly musty smell. Then sitting in ornate and delicately carved high backed wooden chairs in front of a huge leather topped solid wood partner desk whilst the notaire read out paper upon paper of house deeds and details which were all about us and our new home.

45 minutes later it was all done and we walked out into the sunshine with a big bunch of keys and a huge smile on our faces.

We were now home owners in the sunny South of France.

Sunny did I say?


The last time that snow settled in Limoux was in 1992. However that all changed on the day we decided to move house - Boxing day 2008.

"Yippee" said the kids, "What's this then" said the dog, "*#*@*!*" said the parents.

Our enormous hired Super U van did us proud as it slipped and slid its way up and down hills and slopes and into potholes and dips.

The award of the day though went to Bill who drove it in the most terrifying conditions.

We probably should have abandoned the move that day but you know when you have your heart set on doing something......

Andy and Erica, Bills parents were also with us during the move and we are extremely grateful to their dedicated lugging of bits and bobs and boxes - the quicker they did it the more cups of tea and Christmas cake they received.

We did hear the neighbours whispering something about 'parent labour'...

Three weeks have passed now and although we have unpacked what seems like mountains of boxes we seem to still have several more mountains to go. I do keep asking myself why on earth have we got so much "stuff" and it just goes from box to box to cupboard to shelf and back to box again, until I decide where to put it.

Bill would probably have a good solution.....needless to say I have hidden the bin bags.

As for the kids and Lily the dog, well they too have settled in brilliantly. They each have their own rooms (Lily has a corner) which I have promised not to interfere in (hard, so hard) and they now feel they can invite friends over. Trouble is if they do they are usually asked to carry boxes up and down to the garage and I think they might be expecting payment soon so we might be had up for 'child labour' too.

So the new year started with a new house and now I just need to think of my new year resolutions. I might start with "I must finish unpacking the boxes by Christmas" and "Give more of our 'stuff' to charity".



Next Time: Douglas has just turned 13 so we now have a household of 3 teenagers. What's it like living with teenagers in France?

Hey Ho Hey Ho It's Off To Work We Go....

Who would have thought that you need a degree just to go through the 'simple' process of setting up a business in France?

Much as we'd love to retire, the 3 kids, the dog, the mortgage and the fact that we aren't even at mid life crisis stage have told us otherwise. So we have spent the past month trying to tell the tax authorities "Hey we are here, we are working and we are ready to pay tax".

Simple? Non!

In the UK, you work, you earn, you fill in a tax from and you pay your taxes. Here it's like climbing a mountain, sliding back down and then doing it all over again....ten times. Not only that but the French have invented a whole new working language which goes something like this.

Visit to the Accountant. Discuss our business options - EI, AE, SARL, EURL and BNC. Glad we know the alphabet.

Register with URSSAF to obtain our SIRET from INSEE which includes our SIREN and our NIC. Choose our CAMPLP. Wait for letter from RSI in order to pay CSG-CRDS using an RIB. Wonder whether we should submit a DUE or BNP. Maybe we would if we knew what they were.

Need to still discuss with the accountant about CNAPVL and CNBF which is supposedly about retirement and CMU and ACCRE should the need arise - something to do with state aid.

And that's not even the half of it.

I must say though that everyone we have met from the accountant to the business advisor to the bank manager to the insurance companies have been nothing but ultra helpful. They too laugh at the ludicrousness of the bureaucracy and even admitted that they don't know what some of the 'Secret Codes' are.

So as of the 1st January 2009 we hope that we are in the system. We haven't yet decided which letters to go for but maybe MYOB would do for now.

Apart from trying to pay our taxes we have also been busy enjoying the Christmas preparations here in Limoux which are much more low key than back in England.

Peverse as it sounds, I kind of miss the manic frenzy of Christmas preparations and fraught parents and over indulged kids wherever you turn.

We have also been sampling the delights of the 'Foire au Gras' and the local fetes and fund raisers not to mention getting ready for Bill's parents arrival - our first visitors which will be very exciting.


And most exciting of all.....23rd December 2008 is the day we are signing the Acte de Vente. In other words we get the keys to our new house.

I do feel for the owners thought who failed to get their mortgage (he is self employed and French banks don't like to lend to non-salaried people - bizarre) so they are moving into rented accommodation. I hope it doesn't spoil their Christmas too much but then again at least they got a buyer for their house.

OK, BTW G2G and Merry Christmas To You All =]


Next Time: Winter in Limoux. Can we cope?

Lu et Approuvé

"Lu et Approuvé" for those who haven't a clue what I'm talking about means "Read and Approved".

As the weeks draw closer to exchanging the contract on our house (to be done in the official chamber of Monsieur Notaire - the paper signing that is) we have been popping in and out of the bank like Jacks in a Box trying to arrange our mortgage.

The story goes something like this:

Phone rings,
Called to the bank
Sign here "Lu et Approuvé"
Go home
Phone rings
Called to bank
Sign here "Lu et Approuvé" 3 times each
Phone rings
Go to bank
Sign here "Lu et Approuvé" 20 times each
Go home....mortgage offer arrives in the post.

Aha what does it say?

"Please read this carefully and then sign each page with Lu et Approuvé before returning it in the envelope provided".

So now we are thoroughly and truly "Lu'ed and Approuvéd" and feeling so smug as we now have our mortgage.

The date for completion is set for 15th December 2008 and that day just seems far to far away. Mind you in the past few weeks of waiting, we have not been idle.

We have already painted every room, laid out the furniture, measured up for the sofa and sofa bed, plotted where the pool might go, laid the patio, planted the tomatoes, lettuces and potatoes not to mention the mini orchard and started building the gite.

Of course that is all in our heads but so what, it feels real.

Now I know why kids play make believe so often - it's fun!

The other thing we have been doing (besides working, earning and being sensible parents) is initiating ourselves into the world of wine.

It had to happen I'm afraid.

Now we are both pretty allergic to the kind of people who invite you round to dinner and who spend the first half hour sniffing and commenting on the wine they are serving or worse, indiscreetly put your wine next to the oil and vinegar by the cooker. Or the friend (!) who comes round to dinner at your house and brings a bottle of wine for himself to drink at the table as he doesn't trust your choice of wine - it happened to us.

Now we definitely don't want to become like our dear friend however gone are the days when we can pop into Tesco's and just pick "Special offer" or "Half Price" labels. Instead we pop into LeClerc the supermarket and are literally surround by a million bottles and we just stagger about gripping our trolley and feeling dizzy with the choice and our ignorance.

So we have made the grown up decision that the time has come to become 'Un-ignorant'.

So back to our initiation.....

Four of us descended on one of the most famous wine caves here in Limoux, Sieur D'Arques. On arrival we were immediately led down some well worn ancient stone steps into the cold, dank bowels of the winery. Once inside our eyes gradually became accustomed to the eerie lighting to find a neat row of rather battered wooden school desks facing a teachers blackboard. Slight panic set in at this point. It was only when we spotted the neat rows of drinking glasses in all shapes and sizes and the line up of wine bottles did we relax.

And relax we certainly did.

Dominique our teacher for the afternoon did a superb job of teaching us to use our eyes, noses and tongues and to get us to drag from the depths of our lifelong memories all those smells and tastes that we never knew existed.

She didn't do so well though in teaching us to use the spittoon and when she wasn't looking us naughty school kids were gulping and giggling merrily behind our wooden desks.

By the end of the lesson however, we knew all about 'legs of wine', crescents and clarity, swirling and swishing and that the older you are the better you are at discerning the flavours of a wine - at least I now have one good reason to get older.

So although we are not evenly faintly or remotely near wine expert status, at least we can now open a bottle of wine and play "Guess the Flavour" or "Whose wine is it anyway"?

Anyone fancy coming for dinner? And please bring a bottle.

Next Time: Christmas is coming and the goose is getting fat....Actually I have no idea what to cook so any ideas are welcome.

Out and About in Limoux

So what is there to do in Limoux?


Every morning since we have been here in Limoux we have woken up to a view of bright blue skies.

We are now heading into mid October and we are just feeling so smug that we can still sit outside and eat our lunch in shorts and sunglasses.....and yes we do wear t-shirts as well. Wherever you stand in Limoux, you can see green hills,trees and clear skies. And it still continues to thrill us.

One reason why we picked Limoux is its location. It is far enough South to allow the BBQ to only have a short time in hibernation and yet we are less than a couple of hours drive from skiing in the Pyrenees or swimming in the Mediterranean (no-one ever told us how cold that sea is!). Only yesterday we were out and about mooching around the countryside in beautiful sunny clear skies and yet were able to see the fabulous snow topped Pyrenees in the distance. It can't get much better.

Limoux is situated in a valley with the Aude River running right through the center of town. That is a another treat that we love. You can walk from the town square to the river in minutes and then stroll for miles (must get into the habit of saying kilometers) along the river edge and see only the occasional lazy canoe meandering past or perhaps the silent and ever patient fisherman. Our dog Lily is in seventh heaven.

With a population of 10,000 and growing, Limoux is not your average sleepy French town. What happened to the mid day siesta and the sleepy mid day afternoon streets? - we were quite looking forward to that.

As in many French towns and villages, life centers around "La Place". A lot of the old architecture remains but the old buildings are very much lived in. Getting to the square involves mastering a labyrinth of narrow streets and lanes which I have failed to understand. Bill on the other hand seems to have a built-in radar and sat nav which gets him wherever he wants to go.


Just today being a Sunday we wandered into town as we had heard there was a small brocante sale on. We were expecting a few weathered looking Frenchmen manning a couple of trestle tables and selling the odd rusty chisel or war memorabilia but no the place was alive and buzzing.

In the square the cafe waiters were busy placing little white 'petit cafe' cups on the round chequered tables whilst kids peddled excitedly around the fountain and French fluffy dogs (all French seem to have one) bounced around greeting each other. Not forgetting the men wandering around grasping two heavy balls in their hands as they meandered off to enter the umpteenth boules competition that seems to take place every weekend.

Sunday is obviously the day to meet, greet and play.

In the afternoon we wandered down to the local tennis club and knocked about a bit on a choice of five fabulous tennis courts. There seem to be so many public facilities available here to encourage people to get out and about and to benefit from the French love of culture, patrimonie, music, sport....

In spite of our ever challenged french verbal skills we are 'muddling through'. Actually that is not so true as Bill deserves a medal for braving all sorts of verbal situations and for being happy to be thrown into the lions den. Whereas Moi - well I still go into paralytic spasms when the phone rings or if someone talks to me without having the decency to warn me that they are about to open their mouth.

As for things for the kids to do well there seems to be no shortage. Naturally things revolve round what is on their MP3 player or the computer but occasionally they surface and join in the fun of the town. There's a cinema, open air concerts plus there are clubs galore (more than fifty apparently) - including rugby, tennis, theatre, swimming, and even aikido. Our 3 have joined all of those and are also wanting piano and guitar lessons plus the trombone.

Bill and I are also about to join the Association de Villes de France whereby we can have French, Italian and Spanish lessons and go on all sorts of outings and tastings and even learn Salsa and belly dancing. Now that would be interesting...

As for meeting people. Well the plan was to integrate with our local French kinsmen as soon as we arrived here in Limoux.

We are trying but it doesn't seem as easy as we had hoped. I think you naturally gravitate towards what seems familiar and so we have met several English speaking families with whom we have eaten, drunk and been merry. French neighbours and acquaintances are polite and welcoming but I think they too are wary at this stage to invite us round for a hearty evening of chit chat and merriment. Little do they realise that a glass of Blanquette de Limoux will quickly sort that problem out.

Actually next week we are going on an "Initiation à la Dégustation" at one of the local Blanquette wineries but that will be a whole story on its own I am sure. We know nothing about sniffing and swilling and spitting but maybe that is all about to change......

So when people ask us why we picked Limoux you can see that for now we have no shortage of answers.

Next Time: Sniffing, Swilling and Spitting - the famous Blanquette de Limoux.