Jan 5th – At 730pm myself and all our family and friends gathered at the Albion Centre in our home town of Ilkeston for a farewell party. It was also my younger sisters 30th birthday so we combined the two events.
I have to say I have never cried so much in one evening. I didn’t have doubts about we were about to do but I realised how many friends we had and how badly I would miss them all. I felt like I was saying goodbye forever. Of course I wasn’t and I have seen many of them since.
Jan 6th- No turning back now, the 45 foot lorry arrived at 1030am and we started to load our two houses onto the lorry ready for shipping to France. George the driver was great and I would recommend his services to anyone. www.georgewhiteeuropean.co.uk
It was a miserable cold day and to top it off it rained on all our card board boxes. We finished loading all our belongings by 430pm. That night we sat on the floor with my brother and his family, my sister and her husband, my mum and dad and ate our last take away curry.
Jan 8th- At 1040hrs dad and Brian were all packed up in the car with the three family dogs and towing the caravan. They were driving to France ahead of me, mum and Lewis. My Mamma, dads mum, made it just in time to say goodbye to her son, she hadn’t made it to the party and we feared we wouldn’t see her at all. We waved them off knowing we would see them in a couple of days. It was still hard though, I think I was still emotional from the party, saying goodbye to people was the hardest thing I had had to do, up to that point.
Jan 10th - Me, Lewis and mum got on the plane at east midlands airport to fly to France. I didn’t know when I would next see England again.
We landed at airport about 11am. We were picked up by Brian and had about an hours drive to pick up dad and the caravan. After that we had another hours drive to our home. We dumped the caravan, mum, dad the dogs and Lewis and headed for the bank to pick up the deposit for the house. We were supposed to be at the Notaire for 1400hrs but arrived late at around 1430hrs due to the bank being closed till 2 pm. (this we were to discover is the norm for France, everywhere closes at 1200 and reopens at 2pm.
Eventually after much paper work and signing we got back to the house at 1730hrs. We entered the house that was all shut up. For my dad it was the first time he had seen it. The place was freezing and we had no heating. We attempted to light a fire but the wood was damp and we were not prepared with anything else. We had some tea and then went to bed, it was the warmest place to be. Still I tried to remain positive things will be better in the morning.
11th Jan - George arrived with our belongings in the lorry. It did not take as long to off load as it had done to load. A tractor came along the track beside our house were George had parked. He tried to move the lorry but because we had taken out all the weight he got stuck. What a sight a 45 foot curtain sided lorry stuck up a lane. After a lot of manoeuvring and a nice farmer later George did get out.
The next few weeks were unpacking boxes, getting a telephone and internet connection sorted out, getting wood as we were freezing, all things I say with ease now but at the time and our few language skills was a nightmare at the time.
On January 23rd it snowed, it came down while we were in the supermarket, it settled and was 6 inch deep within an hour. We got home from the shops only half an hour away to find just a dusting of snow that melted within half hour.
The weather where we are is very strange. We found it could be minus 8 in the mornings but by lunch time you were in t shirts because it was so hot and this was January. We had a couple of days were it was minus10 and didn’t go above minus 4. Our pipes froze and I have never worn so many clothes, I could barely move.
February was miserable, it was wet and very cold, and the house was freezing and didn’t seem to warm up even though we had worked out how to light a fire got wood. I wasn’t sure I could live like this. The first doubts were creeping in.
Then came the time to say goodbye to Brian. He had to go back to England and work. He would commute out to France for a week every month. I thought it was hard saying goodbye to friends but I found it near on impossible to say bye to Brian. We had never been apart in all the years we had been together. A lump comes to my throat just thinking about it.
Still I survived, just, Lewis and the house kept me busy.
Lewis who was 3 yrs at the time started school in The February. A French school were his teachers did not speak English. He was to go every morning apart from Wednesdays as no school in France on Wednesdays. It took a few traumatic weeks
for him and me, but he eventually stopped crying when I left him. A year on he is in school full time and loves it. I drop him off at 9am and pick him up at 5pm. He has friends and I have met some nice mums.
Our web site was up and running by this time and we took 3 bookings which was really encouraging.
By the middle of March the weather was a lot warmer, we had our first guests. Three Dutch men who just pulled up at the gate and wanted a bed for the night plus an evening meal. I was really nervous and wanted everything to be right. It went like clock work and they really enjoyed there stay.
April was a good month the guests were no rolling in and more enquiries were being made via the web site and through some advertising companies we had chosen to go with.
May was a busy month for Guests and things were ticking along nicely. We had met two more couple who were English who lived in the village, they were a big help to us with information and translation on certain occasions. Then came the big blow. A letter from the Marie arrived telling me I had to get a new septic tank sorted out, and that I had to do by the end on June. That was just over a month away. I went to over drive looking up on the internet what I had to do and trying to sort things out but it was impossible. You cannot get anything done in a month in France, especially when you don’t speak the lingo.
June was another good month for guests. Work started on our barn roof. It leaked and needed insulating and tiles replacing. We hoped to convert it in time to more rooms or a gite. The septic tank saga continued and I was summonsed to the Marie’s office, to give an update. An English lady went with me and explained what I was trying to do. My research had found I needed soil samples, maps, work permits and hole host of stuff, I didn’t know were to start and was terrified of upsetting the Marie. Everyone had said how important they were and I knew he could shut me down if I did not comply.
Turns out he was really nice, said I did not need any of the stuff I mentioned as it had all been done for the village as a whole. He showed me maps and said my soil drainage was good, he made a phone call and told me I would get a visit from SMDEA (I call them the water police now as they are responsible for over seeing everything to do with water) They came and checked out the garden, discussed with Marie and some workers I found about what was needed. I was then told not to do anything until till I received a plan of works. Easy I thought…….
On 4th July Lewis broke up from school for 8 weeks of holiday. The guests were still coming and we had got nicely into a routine of cooking and cleaning. Our guest book was full of encouraging comments so I felt we must be doing something right.
August flew by, although I still had not heard anything from the SMDEA. August was fete month and every village held one, also in August everything (businesses) closes down for 2 weeks as the French take there holidays.
September and Lewis was back to school. The Marie wanted an update so I told him I was still waiting for the plan of works from SMDEA. A few days later a new man from SMDEA arrived and said I would not be able to have a soak way septic tank as there was not enough room on the front garden and there were too many trees. I was told I needed a micro station. So a few weeks later a man arrived with a bunch of info and measured up for a micro station. Shock horror, the 6,000 euros I thought it would cost for a septic tank turned into 17,000 euros for this all singing all dancing station that would be suitable for the bed and breakfast as you could alter how it worked to accommodate the number of guests.
What choice did I have????!!!!
In October mum and dad went back to England for a visit, Brian came to France and it was the first time we had been alone as a family for nearly a year and half. (We had lived with my parents for a year while house hunting) We fitted new double glazed windows in the kitchen and a new double glazed door to help stove off the cold. I wasn’t looking forward to another cold winter. The Micro station was put in, and the Marie was pleased. He probably thought thank god the English have done as they are told (I found out that someone in the village had been complaining to him and he was put under some pressure to get it sorted)
In November I made my first trip back to the UK. I spent two busy weeks catching up with friends. I also found out I was pregnant. Oh my god, that I was not expecting or planning. How was I going to have a baby and run a business while my husband was still working in the UK. I can’t speak enough of the language to even say I was pregnant, let alone give birth in France. My initial reaction was to run back to the UK for the birth, but then how impractical, Lewis would have to be taken out of school, you cannot fly after 6 months, and I would still need to see a doctor before then, how would the b and b run without me?????
I did clam down and am now under a great Gynaecologist and have a scan every month, the care so far has been great. I couldn’t have done it without a great friend of mine though, she is French but speaks English. She is brilliant and has helped me no end, I owe her a lot.
December saw electric radiators fitted on the top floor as it was cold and any guests would have been scared away, never to come back. Trouble is ever since we have had them fitted we cannot have many other electrical items on at the same time or the electric trips out. A common problem in France it seems, not enough power coming into the house. Something I still have to sort out. A new window in the roof for room one, with some insulation and plasterboard put up.
Christmas came and went, our first in France, different to what we had at home as not so much family around. Still we had friends over and a good day was had by all. Boxing Day we all went for a walk and had a buffet tea with guests over.
New Year was spent at some friends although Lewis and I could not make it till midnight.
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