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.

Somewhere to Sleep

The first DIY in the house was to create a bedroom more habitable for us to live in. Although there is a choice of six bedrooms, all are in dire need of refurbishment. Knowing that our living part of the house will be the last to be renovated, as we need to get the income-generating parts done first, we went for a quick white paint job so that we wouldn’t have to spend years waking up to peeling old wallpaper. Merv’s furniture from the UK arrived while we in Australia so we set up camp in the lounge and set to painting over Xmas/New Year. The transformation was remarkable, making the room appear much bigger, cleaner and brighter. At some point in the distant future we will reline and paint it properly but for now it’s great to wake up in a nice bright room.

Research I

We regularly visit new places in the name of ‘research’ in order to have first-hand knowledge for recommendations to guests. Other people might just call it lunch. Last week’s ‘research’ took us to the eastern edge of Languedoc on the Petite Camargue. After coffee and croissants with friends by the pretty port of Meze, we each went our separate ways – the others onto the Pont du Gard and we went to Aigues-Mortes. Meaning ‘dead water’ in Occitan it’s bound by intact rectangular ramparts rising from the surrounding marshlands. Built in the mid-13th century to be a principal Mediterranean port, it soon became swallowed up by the silt of the Rhône which pushed the sea further south. As a result of the silt, it is now renowned for its particular sea salt.


Where Carcassonne is fairytale, Aigues-Mortes is functional, but with an equally interesting history and charming streets which, while including the usual tourist shops, also has a thriving artisan and artists community. Lunch was in the main square, and, as is fitting in a town surrounded by coast and the wild bulls of the Petite Camargue, mostly featured Gardiane de Toro or seafood. Very good food, service and ambience on a hot, busy August day. We’ll be going back out of season - for more research.

Bathroom discovery

We have a startling pink-tiled bathroom, with a gorgeous original sink and large claw-foot bath. Unfortunately the bath has been tiled in very securely with concrete (a much favoured material used in the construction of this house). There was also a bidet - but no toilet. That was at the other end of the house so not the most practical arrangement! A pink carpet was on the floor and most definately past its best. One of the first things we did was to rip the carpet up and discovered a beautifully tiled floor in very good condition which we were thrilled about. A bit of elbow grease was needed to rid the tiles of the carpet underlay residue, but it is now lovely. We also had the bidet removed and replaced by a toilet, with a great view over the neighbour's swimming pool! A shower attached the the wall over the bath and a glass screen and voilà, we have a fully functional bathroom.

Toile de Jouy

Our entrance hallway and ‘west wing’ are wallpapered in the classic French toile de jouy, usually known simply as ‘toile’. It is a specific decorating pattern, used mostly for soft furnishings but also wallpaper. The distinctive pattern consists of a white or off-white background on which is a repeated pattern in a single colour, most often black, dark red, or blue. It shows a fairly complex scene, often with a pastoral theme.

As you can see ours is blue with a boy fishing, a woman being wooed by a young musician, two women gossiping over laundry while minding sheep, young lovers under a tree etc. At the moment it’s still on the walls while we concentrate on other renovations, but unfortunately it isn’t in good enough condition to keep. Nice to have in the meantime, however the hallway will look much brighter  - and less frenetic with contrasting patterns – without it. 

Beziers Feria

A reminder last night of just how close we are to Spain – just over an hour’s drive away in fact. We went to the final evening of Beziers four-day Feria, held every August. It brings in over 1 million people, not just for the bullfighting (which we didn’t go to, perhaps another time), but also for the bands, entertainment and general festivities throughout the city.

It was a very hot evening and many clubs and associations set out stalls to sell food and drink to raise money. So, along with all the usual restaurants and bars open, there are many eating places (paella, tapas) and drinking (sangria, wine) to choose from. All of which line the main square of Beziers – almost a mini-Ramblas.  The entertainment included music, dancing, a haka by a Pacific Island rugby group and equestrian events – we watched a horse and woman perform flamenco together...

Needless to say the partying goes on into the wee hours of the morning, especially after the bullfight is over. However, by that time we were home in bed.

First day of ownership

Our first day was a glorious, sunny November day, so were able to see a lot more than the previous night when we arrived straight from the Notaire's office in the pitch dark. The house has amazing original floor tiles and a lot of period features, including some lovely marble fireplaces, interesting old wallpapers and ceiling detail. The previous owners also kindly left several religious-orientated icons and picture - unsure if that was meant as a message!

Not a lot of furniture at this stage, hence the beach chairs furnishing the lounge. As we already had a trip to Australia booked we didn't actually move in until just before Xmas 2010. While we were in Oz, Merv's furniture arrived so we at least had a bed for when we arrived. Neighbours from Lugne, where we previously rented, kindly saw to the furniture arrival in our absence. Snow in the UK delayed our return to France but fortunately got back just in time to celebrate our first Xmas in the new home.

Here comes the digger

Space for the car ...

The cave below the house. Every house in the village has a cave of similar size - yet most people park on the street. Since this photo was taken the cave has become filled with firewood, kayak, four bikes, outdoor furniture, gardening equipment etc etc. There is also a manger where the horses used for the vineyards were fed, and towards the back a wine vat that could hold 1400lt of wine. A stairway runs up the back to the house, but we will be adding a new, better, staircase to go right up to the grenier (attic). Amazing how quickly we've filled this space. It doesn't seem big enough at all now.

Keys to the house

Just a few keys handed over in the Notaire's office on purchase day. The largest one is the front door key and is longer than a normal-sized hand. Not easy to lose but also not good if you lock yourself out of the house. No copies readily available. This has happened to us - just the once was enough. Fortunately Merv was able to climb in through some shutters left open - which we now don't do. Lesson learnt.

Piscine

To start with some photo's of the pool which will be 9x3m. Neither of us were very fussed about having a pool (too much work and we spent last summer happily swimming in either the nearby River Orb or the many great Mediterranean beaches nearby). However, as our maison is a business venture, we took advice and realised to get rentals here you do need to have a pool. Fortunately we have a huge well which will provide the water for it. Location was dictated by the 120 year old magnolia tree in the middle of the garden and having to be 5m in from the road wall. We thought a long, narrow pool suited the dimensions of the garden best. In order to get the digger in, a section of railings were removed and the digger drove off the truck over the wall (which held up - phew) and down some planks into the garden. Very entertaining to watch and no sign of any Health & Safety procedures.Two days later we had an huge hole in the garden which has now been concreted. Work will pause now a) because of the heat and b) most of France goes on holiday in August.

Am having trouble loading the photo's - if anyone can help me with how I do this it would be much appreciated!

Welcome to Jane and Merv's blog site.

At last we've got round to starting a blog so family and friends can keep up-to-date with our house renovations in France. 'No Straight Walls' was chosen because our vignerons maison, built in 1912, really doesn't have any straight walls, creating some interesting renovation dilemma's.  Six months have gone by since we moved in just before Xmas 2010 so there's is a lot to catch up on. We're starting with a post on our biggest project so far - the construction of a swimming pool and the demolition and rebuilding of a 2 brm gite. Later on we'll backtrack to other work we've done until we get up to date again. We love this part of France, the more we discover the region the more perfect it becomes. As well as the work on the house we're constantly finding new and amazing walks and cycle routes, ideal for Mountains and Maps trips.