Friday, June 26, 2009

OK, started well, then life got in the way!!!

We're house buying........
do I need to say anymore?

House buying is slightly less stressful here in France in a few ways.

1 - prices are agreed at the beginning and that's that!
2 - if anyone pulls out the other party pays compensation to them - works both ways
3 - date of moving is set in stone

Well, with all that said, like any financial transaction, you need to keep an eye on everyone and not presume that because it is quiet, that everything is ticking along just fine!

We discovered that, when on Wednesday, the bank announced that they didn't know if they could release the money on time. The Notaire, needless to say, was less than amused and threatened the bank with costs for hotel, storage and compensation to the vendors. So after 48 hours of arguing, guess what, the bank can find the money on time. Funny that, banks having money.... funnier still, getting your hands on it without a fight.

So as the week-end fast approaches, then we know, as best we can, that all things being equal, then we are moving in 2 weeks. For us it is only 2 km as the crow flies or 5 km by road. Sometimes I think that it was easier to move from the UK to France than to move across the valley!! There are no such things as removal firms in the countryside, everyone relies on everyone else and in this case we are as well. The parents of my eldest daughter's best friend are going to help us transport our belongings in the back of their lorry. I've seen belongings in trailers behind tractors before, so our belongings are traveling 1st class!!

So there are boxes to pack, junk to through out and 2 houses to clean - this one on the way out and the new one on the way in!!

Trying to keep calm seems to be the latest hobby, which hasn't been helped by me losing a filling. Thank goodness for French dentists that can speak English - dental procedures sound bad in English and in French terrifying! Mainly because you're sure that they're going to rip your head off to repair the damage!! OK maybe not, but I'm not that keen on having work done. The said filling was approximately 16 years old, so I suppose it did last a while, not sure on the mileage that one should expect. Anyway, the said poor tooth has some amalgam remaining and because my dentist thinks that it is a health risk (and I sure do) then she is going to remove the rest of it, the nerve and put in a proper filling as she called it and it will only take an hour. So I return for the fun a week after we move, now isn't that something to look forward to?!?! In the meantime, there is a temporary filling in its place, feeling huge and tasting terrible.......maybe in 3 weeks I'll be glad to have the procedure..........

Now back to the boxes and as anyone seen a white cat..................

Tuesday, June 2, 2009

OK, so now what do I write about? It is like being back at school,
except that it is your peers that read and pass judgment on your writing.


I suppose what is needed is a quick run-down of what has happened since we arrived here.

For one, time went so fast, the weeks flew by. The first 6 months were spent job-hunting, just as the field my husband worked in stopped taking on - what timing! We never thought of going back, just a case of how do we get over this hurdle, but then if it was too easy would we really appreciate it? Well, eventually after a couple of false starts, jobs appeared and we are here packing up the rented house and waiting to move into the new house. Well, it is new to us!

The new house, is a typical South of France style stone house, with the red tile roof. Except that in the region that we live, they don't exist, except for this one! Apparently, the owner, who had it built, so liked the style that he fought quite a planning battle to get it built and now it is to become ours. So the new house, is complete with the beautiful garden that it comes with - who'd have believed it and only just over 2 1/2 years here.

When we arrived, we never envisaged being able to approach a bank and finance buying a house, it just wasn't in the plans, as house prices had risen here as well. We are so grateful for this opportunity and I think that it will be a very long time before we come to terms with what we are doing. In a way, it means that we are staying and not going back to the UK, but it confirms it in black and white, not that we had any intention to anyway. As it is, we haven't been back, not even for a long weekend, since we left in 2006. Most things are available in the local shops, or the internet is fantastic and of course family and friends with their thoughtful packages, that certainly our children delight in receiving! You just have to look around, it is the land of fine food and fashion, so there are great markets and clothes shops just like the UK and the even have C&A still!

I suppose, as usual, we don't fit in to any box, we sold and moved here independently, no help from employers, no hand holding, just shear bloody mindedness!!!! So we had a few hiccups on the way, but we are here and surviving and isn't that what life is all about anyway? We have a good time, because we can go out and about in our campervan and see Europe and will now have our own basecamp to come back to.

So who am I ?

In our locality, last evening, a new book group was formed, never been to one before and it was enjoyable, all ex-pats, so no having to read French, not that I would mine, it is quite an insight reading in another language. Apart from one or two exceptions, they were all, or had been career women, with their degrees and fancy titles. They were all lovely, but what did strike me was there lack of, I want to say self-confidence, but I am not sure that that is the description that I am looking for. They all live in the shadows of living where there husbands have to work, I know that feeling, but it is deeper than that, they have to prove that they are worthy almost. I don't know, maybe because I haven't been the wife with my own career, I just find it strange. They all seem to be in a great rush to get back to work and find childcare, but part of the joys of being a Mother is to be there for your children, surely? I know that sometimes money is tight, so jobs are needed, but I didn't get the impression that that was the reason why, more a case of identifying themselves and saying that I'm a ............ not just a mother. Mothers are whom bring up the next generation, so surely, that is the most important job there is, just a shame we're not paid for it, otherwise it would be a different world!

I do work, but only part-time and during the school terms, which is ideal. Once they have grown and gone, which will happen all to fast, there will still be time for me to do what I want. So I'm a housewife and what is wrong with that? I look at my children and I'm so proud of what they are becoming. Also, having always been there to take them to school, collect them and all the bits in between I feel that we have a close bond.

Apart from anything else, how do they find the time? Something has to give, surely? They go to this book club now, yoga club and taking their children to different sports and music and all that these past times entail. Where do they get there energy and find the time? It is beyond me, I would be a nervous wreck, somewhere in the corner! People wonder what I do, but I don't stop, I try and prepare all our own food, baking cakes, keeping the house clean (full-time job here with the damp), washing, ironing (avoid if possible) and all the other things that keep a house going. I know that I'll have even less time when we move, because we will be doing all the decorating, cleaning and making it habitable.

I know, that I can look in the mirror and know who I am and I would like to think that my children can do the same for themselves. It is important - looking in the mirror and liking the person looking back at you and recognising your own faults, strengths and weaknesses. I don't mean beauty, but what is inside, because as they say beauty is fleeting, but who you are stays with you all your life.

Well, that is my rant over for the day, I've things to do, can't be stuck by this screen all day, there are soaps to watch, coffee to drink and my feet to put up!!!! But, in the real world, the dishwasher needs emptying, clothes need sorting and what am I going to feed the little darlings later.........

Sunday, May 31, 2009

OK, so here goes!!!

Never blogged before, but hey we all have to try these things at least once!

Why "Surprisingly France"?

Taken from the BBC News, when the Global Financial Crisis first occurred,
it just seemed appropriate.

So I live in France, living the dream some people call it,
but it isn't all plain sailing that's for sure!

Moved here in September 2006 with my family, looking for inspiration and hope, something that we had lost in the UK, not ever realising that the future would be so uncertain. Arrived here, no jobs, nowhere to live and no idea what we were looking for, but we had sold our house in the UK and bought ourselves a camper van, so we had a roof of some sorts above us. We did rent a gite for a month in the Languedoc region, near Castelnaudray, boy was that an experience never to be repeated - damp, infested with terrible insects and next to a graveyard!!! We needed an address to establish ourselves here for bank accounts, job hunting etc, so it had to be done...

Anyway, nearly 3 years on and finally I've time to blog!

We happened upon a small, but modern thinking little French town, complete with a wonderful market which is at the heart of the community. We've rented a house, since we arrived here in 2006 and the thought of another winter in it was enough to make us decide to go house hunting. It is in a valley bottom, so it is damp for 6 months of the year, very poor insulation and just badly designed; it is the small things that have driven us mad, the lack of a draining board in the kitchen, the washing machine out in the garage and constantly washing mould of the walls and windows running in condensation every morning!

Anyway, we've found what we think is our dream house, complete with a fruit garden, well and the obligatory grapevines! There is plenty of work to be done, mainly cleaning, as it hasn't been decorated in quite a few years, but as all the TV shows say, there is potential!

Just as well we still have the camper van to live in!!

It is going to be a long dusty summer!