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.