Christmas 2011

This was our first 'proper' Christmas in the house. Last year we arrived just before Xmas due to snow delaying transport from the UK. Everything was still in packing boxes, we slept on a mattress on the lounge floor and spent Christmas Day 2010 painting our bedroom. 

This year we have a fully furnished house and were able to have a lovely relaxed day. We have a tree and decorations throughout the house, plus we unexpectedly have three cats; Wellington and Henry finding the tree a great source of entertainment. The higher the bauble the better. The weather, so far, over the festive season has been great - cold frosty nights, with warm sunny days. Perfect for cosy fires in the evening and great bike rides during the day. It's been windless and up to 20C most days so great for getting out on the roads around us.

 

Le dependence, aka le gîte

Besides the pool, the other major project this year has been the demolition of the existing ‘dependence’ and rebuilding it into a two-bedroom gîte. It’s situated on the ground floor at the far end of the cave and originally was where the grape-pickers stayed. It had a bathroom, kitchen/lounge area and two rooms for sleeping but had been unused for many years and was completely derelict.

Given its dire state the best option was to demolish everything (basically just walls, ceiling and floor left) and start again. Cue much banging, dust, noise and rubble. The upside was, we gained a lot of firewood for the winter from the floorboards and foundations. An original fireplace had to go as it just took up too much room in the middle of what will become a useful wall space. The basic layout has remained the same but we’ve stolen a few inches from the bedrooms to create a bigger living and kitchen area. Work is almost complete but here are some photos of the original state.

UK

Since the beginning of November Jane's been back in the London working for an asset manager on a three month contract. Merv's been in charge of bringing up the cats, overseeing the renovations, chopping LOTS of firewood - all the floorboards and beams taken out of the original 'dependence' - and taking over from Jane's job of cooking the Sunday brunch at Louis IV. It's been all change. Merv is now also in the UK going to a BAIML AGM in the Lake District and catching up with friends but we'll both be back in France for Christmas. When we get the chance to upload some photos you'll see a huge difference in the pool (now full of water) and the gite, which we haven't yet described properly. There's been an unusually wet spell of weather in the south of France ... it's been better in London! However, our wonderful house-sitters say it has been sunny and warm since they've been there. Check out www.mindmyhouse.com if you're looking for good people to look after your house and/or garden/pets etc. 

Kerb appeal

Another simple, but effective, thing we've done is remove the rendering on the street-side wall. It was broken in many places and looked pretty shabby while actually covering a lovely stone wall. It only took an afternoon to get it removed and waterproofed and it now looks so much better. We've had many complimentary comments from neighbours and other locals who clearly didn't like its previous state! As it is very visable on arrival into the village it has improved first impressions and made everyone happy. Next, painting those railings ...

Research III

Last Saturday we went to Arles in Provence. It's a lovely town on the northern tip of the Camargue, lying alongside the River Grand Rhone. It's ascent to prosperity began in 49BC under Julius Caesar, when it became a major port and Roman provincial centre. As a result it has a stunning Roman amphitheatre, theatre and necropolis as well as several Roman churches and other buildings. We went to discover the starting point of La Via Tolosana, one of the pilgrim routes of the St Jacques de Compostelle, which ends 1654 kms away in Santiago, Spain. As we are looking to put self-guided linear walking and cycling trips on Mountains and Maps 2012 programme we wanted to investigate the start of the route. We're not expecting people to do the whole distance! Just the most interesting part from Arles into, and across, Languedoc-Roussillon and onto Toulouse. 


We followed the route through the town, then naturally needed to stop for lunch or we'd miss out (it was getting close to 2pm). The lively cafe we stopped at was down to its last plat de jour (an unusual poulet et gambas dish), so we had that along with the classic Salade au Chevre Chaud, a failsafe and delicious option. 


Arles has a fantastic Saturday market, with wonderful Provencal food, wine and general kitchen wares. It is also known for being the subject of renowned resident, Vincent Van Gogh, who spent some time living in Arles capturing many of the street and cafe scenes. Being close to the Camargue it's also famous for its bullfights and cowboys. Not that we saw either in evidence in October. That's a trip for another day.

Hiding

This week we've had a lot of workers at the house; painters, electricians, plumbers and builders. There's been a fair amount of noise, with drills going through thick concrete walls etc. Wellington decided the best place to be was inside the shopping bag.

Just add water

Things are moving apace on the pool. Painting of the interior is almost done and we think it looks fabulous. The pool equipment is all in place and looks scarily complicated but we have been assured it is easy to operate. Will wait and see. 

Piscine progress

Steps to enter the pool are being made, tiles around the edge are being placed and the terrace concrete base is almost done.

We've also got a new 'shed' for the pool equipment, as can be seen at the end of the pool in the photo here. (It's the bit with concrete blocks and sloping roof.)

Les Chatons

In an earlier blog, I introduced our inherited cat, Shadow. Rather belatedly we realised she was pregnant; in fact very belatedly as she was almost at the point of giving birth. Soon we had three kittens in the household. Sadly one of them died after a few weeks, and we were left to ponder on the future of the remaining two. Naturally after several weeks we had become so smitten with the kittens that finding other homes became a non-event. So, now we have Wellington (b&w) and Henry (ginger) keeping us entertained and amused. They are great playmates, very curious and already earning their keep by being good hunters of volls and mice. 


Due to the work going on in the garden and gite, we've had to keep them indoors while the workmen are here. The result is they've become quite fond of being indoors instead of out in the garden, roaming and hunting!

Another room up and running

Managed to redecorate the second bedroom in time for friends from London coming to stay, thanks to great painting effort from John O. Even had a day to spare ...

Before:

And after:

We now have plenty of room for family and friends to come and stay comfortably. And soon the garden will be less of a bomb-site and ready to use too.

We're having an unusually warm October and work continues apace on the gite and pool. We've still been swimming in the river at Roquebrun and yesterday went to Valras Plage (beach) for a long walk - followed by a long lunch - by which time it was 35C!

Away from home

Merv has been in the Pyrénées for two weeks helping run a RAID cycle trip with Marmot Tours. Followed by a week's walking trip based in Ax-les-Thermes. Jane's been in London for a week catching up with friends and work colleagues and generally having a frantic city socialising time. Spent a morning doing a walk to see the Olympic Park venues. The athletic stadium and other arena's look great, especially the aquatic centre, and it was interesting to get all the background to the development. 

Now back and busy with renovating another room for family and friends to stay in some comfort. We've got a steady stream of visitors coming from now until the end of October so the pressure is on to get it finished. Will post further updates as we get the time between painting the ceiling, putting up lining paper, painting and sorting out furniture before friends arrive on 3 October. During which time we'll already have had two lots of family to stay and Merv will be in Italy leading a walking trip in Tuscany. C'est la vie.

Le jardin

The garden has a fantastic 120 year old magnolia tree in the middle. Around this are a mixure of evergreens and fruit trees. It has taken a season to know what they are; a yellow plum and two types of pear trees. There is also a laurel, several grape vines, hibiscus, wisteria, oleanders and one common, but still unidentified, tree. In spring the flowering of the japonica and forsythia was stunning. They have had to be moved for the pool terrace but we're hopeful they will successfully transplant to other parts of the garden. We've got seven fantastic roses, surprisingly this is a great area for growing roses despite the high average temperatures. So far they have been prolifically flowering for six months. Again we've had to move a couple of them for the pool work, but they should go back into place soon. Looking foward to the earth moving and messy work to finish so we can really sort the garden out. At least things grow quickly and easily here. 

It's often the simplest of things ...

yet also incredibly effective, was to put some opaque transfers on the bathroom windows. We got them while in the UK and they've really make the bathroom seem more of, well, a bathroom. The toilet is right beside the windows which overlook our neighbours garden and swimming pool. So, while a nice view from our side, it probably wouldn't be if looking up from a deck chair from their side! We still have a great view up to the hills behind the village and the, almost always, blue sky.

The digger is back

The August holiday break is truly over and work progressing well. The digger was back over the wall to move soil into the gaps round by the pool and dig holes & move fill for the terracing. It's all really taking shape now and we're pleased with it in relation to the whole garden. The solidly constructed brick kennel / niche de chien (complete with fake cave doors) has also been demolished and will be replaced by a shed for the pool equipment.

Back to the Piscine

The national August holiday break is now over so work has recommenced on the pool. The  walls are up and concrete poured first thing this morning. It is really taking shape.

Blast of Bikers

On Saturday we went to Villeneuve-les-Beziers to see the arrival of the Brescoudos motorbike 'club'. Every year at Cap D'Agde around 3,000 bikers, mostly with Harley Davidson's, gather for a week of touring round the region and whatever else bikers do when they get together. It is an amazing sight seeing that number of motorbikes arriving into the main street in all shapes and sizes - both bikes and people. The main square is taken over with live bands, food and drink stalls plus other stalls selling any amount of HD accessories and other bike paraphernalia. We noticed this year there were more women riding their own bikes rather than being a passenger. They were also noticeably younger than the average age of the men, being mostly middle-aged (and that's generous). We stopped for lunch at a little square in the cool of the back streets away from the black-clad crowds and heat. However, as this is France, we were still surrounded by bikers having their plat de jour and pichet of rosé - not the usual image of hardened bikers ...

Research II

Lunch yesterday with neighbours from the hamlet where we rented for eight months before buying our house. J&M are lovely American's who retired to France about eight years ago. They are avid tennis fans, J actually was a 'rocket scientist' and we have lively and wide-ranging conversations. We went to a nearby village, Cessenon-sur-Orb, to L'Epicerie Restaurant. It opened last year but we'd yet to go there for a meal. Very good food by the charming chef, Stanley, with wide choice of crepes as well as the usual French menu options - goat's cheese salad, entrecote and a range of things done with duck. Will be returning now that we've discovered it, as the quality of the food was great and it has a nice ambience. In the morning we did a 30km bike ride to Murviel, Cazoul, Cessenon and back home. Definately deserved a decent lunch after that.

Feline Inheritance

Along with the keys, we inherited two kittens with the house. It is not unusual for the French to leave their cats with the house being sold. As far as they are concerned cats serve a purpose – to catch mice, rats etc, and not necessarily to be a pet. However, Monsieur C was clearly a cat lover and sad to leave the kittens. He wrote us a lovely letter, in English, asking us to please look after and give them a good home, even though they were a bit feral. As we would need a cat, for the above mentioned reasons, we agreed. But we were also just about to go to Australia for a month so hasty arrangements were made for them to be fed in our absence.

On our return, only one very scrawny, timid and wild looking kitten was in evidence. After some patient coaxing she eventually came indoors to discover her territory.  Once the winter got colder, unsurprisingly she became very attached to the sofa in front of the fire and her feral days seemed quickly forgotten.

We named her Shadow; both after the way she followed Merv around like a shadow and because she’s pretty scared of her own shadow. Clearly a mix of a number of breeds, she is now a good hunter (earning her keep), quite loud, independent and still quite skittish with strangers, but we love her.

Petite Cuisine

The next white paint job was the kitchen. It is just a small galley kitchen, the original, larger one is at the other end of the house and not functional. The previous owner, Monsieur C, is 90 so the house was made to be more easily manageable for him by having everything in one small area. This is useful for us at the moment too and he very kindly left behind a fridge/freezer and a (unusable) dishwasher.

A major clean of all surfaces and white paint everywhere soon made it look more appealing as a place to cook and store food. Unfortunately there is no room, or sufficient power sockets, for an oven or microwave so we only have three gas rings on which to cook. Surprisingly, given the reputation of French cuisine it is not unusual for household kitchens to be quite small and basic in terms of equipment. The important thing is the eating, not necessarily the space for cooking! Real estate details of properties with new, larger kitchens are invariably described as having an ‘American Cuisine’. We ponder on where our new kitchen will go eventually but so far have not come to any conclusion. 

Pre-Vendange Fête

Last Thursday our local café, Louis IV, had a pre-vendange (grape-picking) fête. The road in front of the café was closed to traffic, a band played, a pig was roasted and wine tastings were provided by four local vinters: Domaine Maurine Rouge, Mas de Dames, Yannick Pellitier and Domaine la Rabidote. Around 160 people were there to happily celebrate the prospect of great wines to come from this season.

Because spring was warmer and drier than usual, and summer has been the same, the picking is starting earlier than usual.  Already some of the vinters are out very early in the morning hand-picking the grapes. The vendange normally starts in September when there is a mad flurry to get the grapes in before the autumn weather comes. This is mainly a red and rosé wine area, the main grapes being: Syrah, Carignan, Grenache and Mourvèdre and the terroir is schist. Just so you know; schist is a foliated metamorphic rock that is composed of mica minerals, according to www.geology.com. I'm sure that helps ...

No straight floors...

Some examples of the interesting slopes we have in the house. Getting furniture to sit straight can be a bit of a challenge... 

The underfloor beams, which are Douglas Fir, have a 10m span, and there are more of them than are strictly required – although we don’t actually know if there were building regulations in 1912. Given the single length of each beam, over time they appear to have bowed slightly in the middle of the house, creating interesting floor slopes in some rooms. To counteract this movement, RSJ beams were put in all along the cave ceiling resulting in rather over-engineered support. All the architects, builders etc we’ve had looking at the house say there’s absolutely no chance of it moving anytime soon.