Decision Time

Several times during our 'visiting' periods, Craig came to the house on his own. Every visit depended on work commitments on both our parts, so there were times that only one of us was available. I wouldn't have felt comfortable staying here alone, but Craig was, and spent the time profitably.

The journey itself was an adventure - he would fly from Luton to Brest (when Ryanair operated that route), shuttle bus into Brest, Brest to Morlaix by train, Morlaix to Huelgoat by bus, and then taxi to the house or vice versa of course. He was always very impressed by the French Transport - its punctuality, cleanliness and the price !

The problem this journey created were numerous, but mainly that he was unable to bring much with him - including clothes, so we started leaving our 'French Clothes' here as much as we could. I would visit the launderette before we left, so that our clothes were fresh and clean ready for the next visit.

On a couple of occasions I visited half way through his stay, which gave him some support and companionship, as it was quite lonely here - no television, no computer, just the phone, and radio. Other times, we both arrived together, and then I left him here for an extra week or so. It was strange each time I returned though, as work had been completed that I hadn't seen before.

One lone visit was spent chopping trees and thinning the hedges, with the help of our elderly French neighbour Joseph. He spends his time doing this type of work, so kept Craig going all day, for several days, despite the inclement weather at the time, and having to dry his clothes each evening around the kitchen. It would have been interesting to be a fly on the wall during this time, as Craig spoke no French and Joseph just a small amount of English. Craig would ring me each evening with an progress report, and sent photos too.

The day finally came when we received an offer on our house in England. It was very scary though - should we accept and make the move, or stay and continue with the renovations on the ad-hoc basis that had been going on for several years now ? Craig had no doubts, but I did. I'm not the most adventurous of people. I don't like being out of my Comfort Zone, and this was as far out as could be !! We would have no jobs, be in a foreign country, away from friends and family - our two little grandchildren, the list was endless as far as I was concerned............

BUT.......we decided to give it a go........

What was the worst thing that could happen ? We would never know if we could make it work if we didn't give it a go. We weren't that far away from everyone, and we wanted the adventure while we were still young enough. If we didn't do it now, then we never would, and we could always come back to the UK when we had had enough, if we wanted to.

SO.....the moving date was set, we handed our notices in at work, said our goodbyes, and left the house that had been home for 24 years.

A Shower in the Kitchen ?

It was always a concern, when we returned each time, that the condition of the house and the outbuildings would have deteriorated. The biggest problem was the large hangar on the side of the house - the intention was always to demolish it. It was unsightly and more to the point, unsafe. We used to watch the weather forecast from the UK, and worry that the winds would blow it into the road, and pull the cables down etc. I'm not sure what we would have done if we had the phone call to say this had happened, because its not exactly a 10 minute ride here ! Anyway, it didn't happen - but the worry was always there.

Originally the downstairs of the main house was split into two rooms - the kitchen and the 'other room'. I'm not sure what this 'other room' would have been used for, possibly a bedroom maybe. And we certainly used it for a bedroom for a while. There was a door between the two rooms, but our ultimate plan involved utilising the space in a different way, and we needed to block this middle doorway up, and create two doorways at either end. The easiest way was to demolish the entire wall, and rebuild a new one, and it was an exciting day when we did this, as it was the 'start' of our project and plans. Rather than visit and try and keep up with the maintenance, we were actually 'doing' something constructive.

As I've said in a previous blog, my photographs of all these early works and adventures disappeared in the blink of an eye - or rather in the crack of a CD !!!

After a few visits when we slept on an airbed, it was luxury to have a proper bed. Craig made a great frame, which we ended up using for a few years, and is still in use as a base for drying the onions and garlics. It is good to recall moments like this, as you soon forget how far we have come.

The kitchen started to evolve early on - we were determined that as this would be our main living area, that we would make it as comfortable and clean as we could. All that was here originally was a sink, a cooker/heater and a light. We moved the sink - well, we removed the old sink, and fitted a new sink in a completely different place. It wasn't easy, as it involved moving the pipes, and drilling through the outside walls - a metre thick !! Once sorted, the kitchen units could be built, and put in place, and things could move on - it all sounds quite easy, but I forget that we had to knock the old plaster off the walls, seal them, then stud and plaster board them first !!!

We are very proud of the cupboard doors, as the oak comes from the Althorp estate, where Princess Diana is buried, and close to our house in the UK. I've just remembered that when Joseph (our neighbour) came into the kitchen at this point to help Craig carry the old cooker into the van, he asked if we would be using the new tap as our shower...........maybe they don't have taps like this here !!

 

Our visits were busy, and tiring, and we had to remember that this was our 'holiday' from work. What happened to the long sunny days we would spend on the beach in Jamaica, with a good book and cocktails on tap......SIGH............!



A New Kitchen Ceiling

Our frequent travels from the UK to France involved a journey in the UK of about 2.5 hours, and a fairly equal road journey in France. The longest 'bit' was of course, the ferry.

Brittany Ferries basically have the monopoly on the sea crossings between the South of England and Brittany. There are other companies available, but they dock further along the coast, which is not so convenient. I know there are many people who 'knock' Brittany Ferries, but to be honest, we have no complaints on their service, and especially their timekeeping.

We joined the Property Owners Club, which has become Club Voyage I think now, and receive discounts on each journey. For us, it is well worth the money we pay annually.

We soon developed our own routines aboard each ship. We always have a cabin, whether its a day or night crossing, as it gives us a base, somewhere to put our bags, somewhere to shower, and a bit of privacy. We made a BIG mistake once, when there were no cabins available in the High Season, of booking Recliner Seats - NEVER AGAIN..........neither of us slept at all, and we ended up, arriving here and then having to go to bed for a couple of hours. Now, if there are no cabins available, we change the date !!

We have had issues, but have found that the Customer Service has been very good, and we have had all our problems rectified immediately. Maybe we have been lucky, but I have no complaints in general.

As our neighbours got used to our frequent comings and goings, they started to chat, invite us for 'aperitifs', and even meals, which was a godsend, when we only had a microwave, grilling machine, and a kettle. Oh, I almost forgot, we had a single gas burner too ! It made us feel more comfortable leaving the house too, as we felt that they would keep an eye on it. They had our contact details, so could relay any issues to us, if necessary.

We always knew that we wanted to make pretty drastic changes to the house, and put in a half-hearted attempt for Planning Permission. I say half-hearted, as now I know the proper procedure, I know that our first attempt was quite poor ! It was quite difficult to complete the forms - the French love their bureaucracy, and biggest issue was - that we weren't here all the time, to answer the questions etc.

I can remember one job that we completed quite early on during our short visits - the kitchen ceiling ! The floor boards for upstairs formed the ceiling for downstairs - so every time someone walked upstairs, dust would fall down into the kitchen. It didn't take us long to realise that we need to prioritise this work. It took a couple of days, but we managed to plaster board in between the beams to make a huge difference to the room. It even meant that we could have some lighting (instead of the one bulb hanging down, which wasn't even in the middle of the room !). In this picture, you can see the upstairs floor boards forming the kitchen ceiling, and a hole where the floor boards were rotten anyway .............

Before we left the house each time, we always had the inevitable tidying up sessions. Locking everything away as much as possible, cleaning, reloading the van with the dirty washing, and switching off the water and electricity. Due to the amount of building materials we had here, we had to leave some outside (well, under the hangar), so we tried to keep them as tidy and contained as was practical. It wasn't easy, but we did the best we could.

 

As our ferry left from St Malo, our journey always started at some unearthly hour of the morning, which inevitably meant switching the water and electricity off in the dark - and often in the rain too !

It was always a little sad to leave each time, but knowing that we had made a little difference was a help, and of course, the thought of a hot shower and a flushing toilet was an even bigger positive !

Visiting Time

Visiting Time

We were pleasantly surprised on each returning visit to find the house in pretty much the same shape we had left it in. There was always that moment before we entered the house that made me panic, when I wondered if anything or anyone had made our house, their house too ! Apart from bits that had fallen down the chimney in the kitchen, and that depended on what the weather had been like - how windy, in what direction the wind had been, and how much rain they had had, there was never anything other than dust. Sometimes it was colder in the house than it was outside when we arrived, but we soon got over that.

On each visit, we brought things with us that made the house more comfortable - maybe a piece of carpet for the concrete floor, or a chest of drawers, so that we could start to leave clothes here, curtains and blinds for the windows. Everything made a big difference.

The problem with such short visits, was that we were unable to start bigger projects, and this continued over the next three years. Once we arrived, we would unload the van, clear up, try to keep the front of the house looking reasonable, and it would be time to head home again. We also had to remember that this was our 'holiday' from work too, otherwise we would go back to work feeling more tired than we left, instead of relaxed and refreshed.

On one visit, Craig knocked part of the render off the bottom half of the house, to stop it dropping off, and fitted a post box - French houses do not appear to have letter boxes. Each house has a post box on an outer wall at the edge of the property, often with the family name on, which is a good help for the postman.

 

As you can see, the goods from the van got unloaded onto the front of the house, and THEN had to be moved again to their appropriate home !

 

We used one of our other buildings for storage, but discovered birds nesting in there at one point, and of course the 'mess' they made was covering our belongings, so Craig made a new door and shutters for the windows out of cedar from the UK. It helped with the security as well though, and of course made the building look a lot better.

 

It also meant that the birds had to find a new home the next year though.

 

Although we had the phone connected early on, it didn't work, and it took us a few months to get it sorted, as we had to arrange a time for the engineers when we would be here too ! There were several visits to the 'shops' in Carhaix and Morlaix, before we managed to find them open ! Eventually, however, it was sorted, and the engineers arrived at the pre arranged time, which I was pleasantly surprised about, but discovered that the problem was quite major, and they had to replace the whole cable to the house.

 

Then once again, time to secure, lock everything up, or down, and leave for the ferry....til the next time !