Happy New Year!
We have had a mixed start to the New Year with several good, and a few not so good, things happening. We spent a splendid New Year’s Eve with Angele, Phillipe and their sons Lucas and Georges, at the house of their friends Lynne and Jean-Pierre. We had started the evening by having an aperitif with our gite guests at 6.30 and eventually stopped eating at 3am! We were assured that the meal was traditional fare for Le Reveillon and boy was it good! We ate aperitifs of parmesan biscuits and olives, then had three types of home made fois gras, then oysters, and a plate of different types of seafood, lobster, salad, cheese, dessert (one of which was my contribution- a good old fashioned trifle)and finally coffee and biscuits and mince pies (me again!). All this was accompanied by plenty of champagne and wine – and of course some non alcoholic stuff for me! To say a good time was had by all would be putting it mildly! Back at the gite our guests had also had a good time and were very happy bunnies the next day – when they eventually awoke. They were a group of friends from Clermont Ferrand and had rented the gite so they could celebrate together. They left, saying that they would like to return in the spring which would be nice as they were lovely people.
After that good start, things took a bit of a downturn. Before Christmas I broke one of my back teeth and have spent each Tuesday morning of January so far in the dentist’s chair as she endeavours to crown what is left of the tooth. Those of you who know me will also know that I am almost phobic about going to the dentist so all this has been a great trial for me. The dentist is very good and so far has not really caused me any discomfort, but I hate having things done to my mouth – I’m basically just a big baby! Somehow, too, it seems far worse this time as I don’t always understand what she says to me. But as one of our friends put it once you have your mouth full of instruments it doesn’t matter if you can’t speak any French as you can’t answer anyway! This is also our first real use of the French medical system. We are both now fully part of the state system and also have the almost obligatory “top up” private insurance which is going to pay for most of the dental work so it will be interesting to see how efficiently the system functions when it comes to paying the bill.
We have also spent quite a few hours at the vet with the dog who was attacked by farm dog on one of his walks with Geoff. He (the dog that is – not Geoff!) was badly bitten and eventually after the infection died down had to have several stitches in the wound on his back. He has the same look on his face when he arrives in the vet’s car park as I do when I arrive at the dentist! All this costs a fortune too so we are feeling the pinch a bit at the moment!
We are in the process of giving the gite a bit of a fresh coat of paint and getting all the bedding and curtains washed ready for the new season. It is not too bad a job as there are great expanses of plain walls which mean that they can be covered quite easily and quickly. Also we have had some lovely weather lately – almost spring like which has helped everything to dry nicely.
We took advantage of the nice weather to have a trip across to the ski resort of Super Besse, (about 50 mins drive) on Sunday. We had been looking at the snow covered mountains which are part of the view from the house, for a while and really wanted to see what it all looked like when it was in full ski season. It was really great – very busy with all the pistes and lifts going full swing. We enjoyed walking around soaking up the atmosphere and although I don’t think I am ready to try skiing yet, Geoff quite fancies having a go and wants some lessons for his birthday. I hope that will not result in February being punctuated by more tests of the French medical system with visits to fracture clinics!
One of the goals we set ourselves when we moved here was to try and integrate into the local community. Just how successful we have been at this was brought home to me when I went to the traditional mayor’s “good wishes” ceremony last week. I was really amazed at how many people we do know now and by how many people actively came across to talk to me. Geoff has been even more successful at this integration and this was made clear when he was asked last week if he would put himself forward for election onto the local “council”.
Our friend Phillipe is standing down as mayor this year so the whole council is up for change. It seems that whoever wants to put themselves forward as a mayoral candidate puts together a list of people, who, if elected would then be his/her council. Geoff was very flattered to have been asked, but, after a lot of soul searching, has decided to say no, as he feels that the request has come just too early for him to cope with council meetings. Also he is not really sure he wants to be embroiled in local issues which might mean him “taking sides” at a time when we are still trying to build up relationships with people in the commune.
We have been pleased with the response to our new advertising for the gite. Already we have a booking for February, one for April and a possible one for May, all of which is helping to meet our targets for expanding the holiday season to more than just July and August bookings. We are also beginning to get enquiries for the summer months too. So far though we have not had so much interest in the B&B which is a bit disappointing but I suppose it is still early in the year for that. We feel that B&B is more of a “spur of the moment “thing rather than something planned a long time ahead. I hope so anyway!
One last “up” moment before I finish for this month – we have our first snowdrops in bloom! There are also the first primroses and violets flowering here and there and the daffodils are poking their leaves through the grass too. No doubt that means that we will have two feet of snow next week! We shall see!