I guess I could be done for neglect, as it has been over two months since I have updated this blog, and I can't possibly remember everything that has happened in that time, so I guess this post is going to be somewhat......muddled.......confused......downright boring....and well, non-too enlightening.
So here we are, June is upon us and finally we have been bought some beautiful weather and hot temperatures. Most of April & May were a washout (quite literally) in terms of beautiful spring weather - in fact we nearly went to Monsieur François Hollande and asked for a bloody refund, because I certainly didn't expect to be donning my thick woolly jumper, wellie boots and waterproof jacket quite so frequently as I have had to. And we certainly didn't expect to be having to light the fire on an evening to keep us warm - one of the drawbacks of living in a stone house I guess. But I am grateful for those thick stone walls today, as temperatures outside have peaked at 33 degrees celsius and the house at least offers us some respite when needed!
So here we are......still here, still living in la jolie France. I would love to be able to tell you we are so much further ahead than the last time I wrote a post, but alas I fear I am about to shatter your illusions. We knew when we moved here that things were not going to be easy, France being very well known for its paperwork, bureaucracy and general 'slowness'. In fact, if I hadn't studied Spanish at Uni, I would have thought it was the French who invented the word 'mañana'........though in French that would be translated as 'dans quelques mois......peut être'. Take for example the ongoing saga of our healthcare - it has been some months now since we finally managed to get everything that the local social security office needed in order to obtain that little card called 'la carte vitale' - basically a piece of plastic that means you don't have to pay for your gp/dentist appts, medicines etc.....well at least not 70% of the cost. Since submitting all our paperwork all those months ago, we have had several *teasing* letters from the social security office, telling us that they were nearly at the point of being able to give us this wonderful card.....that soon we would be able to take advantage of the wonderful French NHS system, that we would be truly welcomed into French society. And then Saturday two new envelopes dropped into our letter box - could this be it, could this maybe be our cartes vitales? Ah no, it would appear not, but they had sent us another letter! And in it the most hilarious sentence I have heard in a long long time, it read - 'Pour obtenir la carte vitale, c'est simple'! Simples apparently! So simple, it only takes three friggin' months! All they need now is for us to furnish them with a couple of beautiful photos and a copies of our passports........and whatsmore....they have given US a deadline. Fifteen days or we have to start the whole process all over again! Oh là là! Anyway, I am sure we will get there in the end......maybe....oh look, my legs dropped off.
Anyway, aside from healthcare things are progressing....lentement, extremely lentement. Architect plans for the gites are just about there and should be submitted to planning in the next couple of weeks. We are hoping it will be a pretty straightforward 'yes' from the planning department, but this is France, so you never know! Campsite-wise things are a little more complicated. We have had meetings / phone calls / emails with various bods over the weeks, trying to understand the complexities and regulations in terms of registering as a smallholding, and thus being able to open a camping à la ferme. Once things were a little clearer in our heads we wrote a letter to Monsieur le Maire (the Mayor) asking if we could meet with him to dicuss our plans in more details, particularly in terms on the permissions required to make progress. That letter was sent some three weeks ago, and we still haven't received a reply. If I was still in England I probably would have rung up by now, demanding to know why my letter hadn't been answered yet, and telling them customer service was not one of their strong points. But this isn't England, this is France, and being relative newbies to the way things are done here (slowly!) we have been hesitant to go in to such situations all guns blazing. We are trying to be respectful of French etiquette, manners, timescales etc - in some ways I guess you could say we are being your typical reserved over-polite 'Brits', but then when your future relies on something so heavily, you will do all you can to not jeopardise your chances. Hence the reason we have waited patiently up until now....but tomorrow is Monday, so I think now is the time to go into the Mairie in person and ask for 'that' meeting. It is a scary prospect, but we need to bite the bullet now - time is moving on........
Other than trying to plan our future business (and next meals!), we have been busy doing various activities around the land. Mark finished erecting the polytunnel and it is now full to the brim of tomatoes, peppers, chillies and melons. The vegetable plot has been a little disappointing - the incessant rain and relatively cool spring has spoiled some of the crops we initially planted - or rather the slugs had a nice meal at our expense! So plans for relative self-sufficiency may not be entirely successful this year, although we will keep trying! We have some new feathery additions to the land, in the form of some hens and a cockerel - initially we had seven hens and a cockerel, but since one hen has died and one disappeared into the woods and never came back. Very sad indeed but its a price you sometimes pay to have free-ranging happy chickens. Here are a couple of pictures of the lovely things.
Wildlife wise, well I guess you could say I am in seventh heaven. Surrounded by the most beautiful displays of wildflowers every day - ones that in England I would probably have had to go searching for. Here are just a few
OK, more than a few, but still! Its very hard to know which ones not to include!
We also have lots of birds nesting. The blue tit family came and went mid-May, and we now have a family of swallows in the basement.......here they are....
We also have three families of Redstarts around the place, so La Chabanaise is currently a busy place for the bird population. Added to that we daily hear the Golden Oriole singing - Mark has been lucky enough to see it. I am still waiting (im) patiently. :)
Anyway, I am thinking I have probably bought you all up-to-date as best I can. I am sure there are lots of other important things I have missed out, but no doubt if they come to me over the next few days, I will let you know...in between making elderflower champagne, elderflower cordial, strawberry sorbet, mint sorbet......and having a nap on the terrace....
Stay cool!
Alison
xx
