Well we have only gone and done it. We are now living ‘En France’
We started packing the lorry at 10am on Tuesday 11th Dec, and it was finally completed at around 7pm, it was so full that we could not get a lot of the garden stuff in. So all my fruit trees and planters were gratefully received by our lovely neighbours. The lorry was absolutely full to the brim. So full they struggled to put their own sack trolley back on it. We said good-bye to all our worldly goods and started the big clean up of the house. Then the struggle of getting what was left in the Espace. We soon found out that Espace has nothing to do with pots of space, because the car was full before we had started packing it. Poor Junior had a couple of square feet of space, just enough for him to lie down in… He was surrounded by boxes and house plants…
Come 9pm we were just about done and finally closed the door and posted the keys through the letter box. (The estate agent had the master set.) That’s it we no longer had access to our house in Bramley. With a wonderful wave off from our neighbours, we were on our way for an over-night 12 hour drive. Frightened and excited all at the same time and thankfully with Junior settled very quickly, we made our way to the tunnel in the freezing fog which accompanied us all the way through England.
The usual smooth operation that is the Eurotunnel, we were on the train within 30 minutes of arriving at the terminal, and although there was a slight delay with a technical problem on the train, probably due to the extreme cold that night. We were soon popping out at Calais and on our way to Paris.
We arrived at Salles at 10am (French time) after what was a really smooth journey. Junior slept most of the way and was so well-behaved, you would not have thought it was the same dog that didn’t like to travel more than 100 yards in a car. We only stopped once for fuel and gave him a little walk and drink. It was though very very cold. Temperatures varied between -4C in Paris to -12C here in Salles. Thankfully the Renault behaved as well as Junior and did not let us down in any way.
So we arrived and got straight into the Tower House and fired up the heating, put the kettle on and enjoyed a cup of tea. Junior thought all his Xmases had come at once, when he saw the garden….
We had a day to think about what we were going to put where. Our worldly goods would be joining us on Thursday. So just enough time to clear a space in the Barn so we could unload the lorry straight into it. The idea being we have all the time in the world to sort through it and find a good place for it all.
Thursday morning arrived and we called after 10am as we had not heard from them, they had been deployed to an additional drop the drivers had not accounted for, but it did mean they could drop one of the trailers so made it easier for them to get to us, but it did mean they didn’t arrive at us until 7pm. After we fed them we started the big unload, to the annoyance of the new neighbours I’m sure as we did not finish until 11pm, but we did it and then just had the nightmare of sorting through it all starting Friday.
Look what we woke up to.!!!
Just a few bits that will need sorting and time to find a place for it all!
You would think that as we packed it we would know what was in each box..!!!!
Not a chance we are still looking for some things 10 days on, but thankfully the pile of boxes has gone down quite a bit now.
The first thing we needed to do though was get the Wood Burner out and installed into the fireplace so we can at least get that roaring fire going and keep us all nice and toasty.
Job’s a good’un
Thanks to John we had a day or 2 of wood which gave us time to be brave and order a load for ourselves. 3 steres is cheaper than getting 2 so 3 it was. How much wood is 3 steres? A lot this is how much.
So here we are on Christmas Eve.
It is all feeling very homely and cosy and despite us both having a cold we are so happy and Junior is really settled already. Any regrets? Not a chance. Lets just hope the New Year see’s the Bookings rolling in.
A very merry Christmas and a Happy New Year to you all.
Xmas donkeys in Albi.
Tony and Janine, and Junior. xxxxxx
