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Above - photos of the Diois, La Tamarissière and from our garden in Lunel. Our journey, and arrival in Lunel This diary is written by Jon. |
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29 December - Happy New Year to everyone! Christmas has come and gone, and before we set out for a friend's new year's party near Béziers, (look for more in the 2007 diary) here are some final reflections on 2006 and on the past few days. The time has suddenly flown - for most of the year we were both waiting for all this to happen, and now most of the big changes are past and we are embarking on the long-planned adventure in earnest. It still feels amazing and worthwhile. When we arrived I wrote about the kindness and friendliness of the neighbours. This was multiplied many times over Christmas. Last week we had our housewarming and almost everyone we'd invited came - 21 people including all the neighbours from our little bit of road, 5 from the estate agents' office and the cousin of a very old friend whom we'd met last year and who lives in Lunel. The only disappointment was that Françoise phoned from Béziers, too ill to come. Luckily she has recovered now. Our big living room was filled with chatter for an hour or two, and the neighbours had clubbed together to buy us an orange tree and a lemon tree which arrived in glitter-wrapped pots - it was really touching. Then a round of phone calls with family and friends, and Christmas day dawned still cold and bright. We walked a good way to get our appetite up before arriving at the restaurant just after midday and were rewarded with a wonderful meal of many courses. Over 3 hours later we strolled home and were just about to phone the family when Michel, from across the road, rang the bell and invited us to meet all his family - he had been trying for several hours while we were out to invite us to dessert after their meal, so we went across straight away and spent two hours talking to his many brothers and sisters and ditto in law plus nephews and nieces - a marvellous, friendly crowd, one a medical secretary who offered some health service tips, another a vigneron from Aniane (a well-known village - more in wine notes) whom we look forward to visiting next year! Trudy pottered about under people's feet sniffing out bits of food as always. So it was nearly 7 by the time we sat down, too full to eat anything more or drink other than sparkling water, and phoned people. We went to bed tired and happy after an amazing day. Since then we have been putting up shelves and unpacking the treasures that waited until we had space to show them safely. Now with many of our pictures displayed and ornaments on show we begin to feel the house is taking on character from us. 21 December 2006 - early impressions Nearly Christmas and the cold bright weather has continued - the midday sunshine is clear and the skies often deep blue, and for a few hours it's quite balmy if not quite warm enough to sit out - we certainly enjoy the sunshine through our south-facing living room windows. The house is as good as we had hoped - spacious, solid (as experience putting up shelves with the electric drill testifies) and thanks to a space-age central heating control, warm and comfortable. This should not bother most of you as guests in the summer, when the shutters will be more important, but it's good in the winter months. We have enjoyed exploring the town a bit more. There is a bit more on the Lunel page now. It has confirmed our impression of a reasonably-sized, active place, old and interesting in the middle, with good and useful shops even if from time to time you have to buzz off to Montpellier for specialist things. Actually our main destination there has been IKEA, which is as most English people know IKEA to be but without the annoying 'leave the trolley at the exit and collect your car' thing - it's just like a supermarket, you push your trolley to your car - and most amazingly, not that crowded - I imagine British IKEAs are bursting at the seams just now, but in Montpellier there is lots of space in the car parks. Rather more pleasant obviously. Since we had no lights to start with, we have been buying a lot of those, and shelves. Our settling in has been surprisingly smooth - I heaved a sigh of relief when the internet connection sprang to life with no hitches last night (well, only that the computer clogged with downloading hundreds of your emails, updating virus definitions and getting Microsoft updates including the new all-singing all-dancing IE7 which still makes me blink when I open web pages) and with it we get a cheap internet phone. I will not confuse people by advertising it as an extra line in, but it will help us make cheaper calls to the UK. We have sorted the central heating maintenance, put up lots of shelves and lights, and put more of our things and pictures around, so it's beginning to feel even more like home. Our housewarming for the neighbours and a few local French friends is tomorrow, and everyone seems keen to come. Our friendly contacts with neighbours have continued, and we have had plenty of chance to practise our French in and out of the house. I've started to cycle a bit further afield and plan a photo expedition this afternoon, so look out for local photos in a day or two. We do feel far away from so many lovely friends and relations this year, but have been absolutely overwhelmed by messages and cards so - thank you to everyone who has kept in touch, and a Happy Christmas to everyone. 14 December 2006 It's a week since we moved into 74 rue de la Brèchette and I'm sitting at our computer in the office writing this, although I still have to go to the internet café (no, actually municipal free internet space! - wow) to upload it later today. Lots to do of course, but lots already accomplished including a new phone line (causing surprise and envy among locals - it turns out to be useful to know someone - son of a friend - in France Telecom). You can find our address and phone numbers on the contacts page. What a week - we signed as expected on 7 Dec in a stately, formal ceremony with the vendors and other officials in our lawyer's office during which we learned lots about the ages and maiden names of the vendors, the absence of risk of flooding and termite infection and lots of information about the energy rating of the house. Lots of signing to finish, but it was straightforward really. We'd driven our laden Berlingo from Agde that morning, leaving plenty of time for flat tires and other unexpected things - but there were none. So after signing up for electricity and water we went for a celebratory meal in a little restaurant and then entered our new abode. First shock - there were no lights! The previous owners had taken nearly every one, including bulbs and their sockets, leaving bare wires. They weren't supposed to - it was specifically excluded in the original agreement they signed - but we had the prospect of spending a night in our 'camp' with little or no light. At this point people's kindness showed itself. As we'd arrived after lunch, several neighbours came out to introduce themselves, offering any assistance we might need. We also phoned the estate agent who came round within 10 minutes, expressed shock and rushed off to buy emergency light fittings. Mary went to ask one of the neighbours if we could borrow a ladder and he came and spent 2 hours with me installing lights in most rooms. He, Michel, is incredibly generous - a day or two later he gave us dry wood to start our stove for the first time (not too important because the central heating is tip-top); and that first evening another couple next door invited us for an evening meal. We felt, and do feel, very much at home, and they are all coming to our house warming aperitif (although we shall still be semi-chaotic) on 22 Dec. The other surprise appearance that afternoon was the Hoult's removal man - on his bike. He'd parked the lorry on the other side of town, and was having a quiet prospect as he says he usually does in French towns to see how easy it would be to get the lorry in - in fact, very. The following morning at 7.30 we were astonished to find the lorry already parked outside our gate. At 8 the helper, a fit young man from Lunel, via a local employment agency, arrived and they set to. Everything was in by 2.30! That was the only rainy day we have had, and they had to run in and out - we were thankful for our tiled floors which can be wiped clean. Since then it has been a blur of unpacking, buying furniture and hardware (Bricomarché and Monsieur Bricolage, the ubiquitous DIY chains, are doing well out of us especially since we have not yet found my electric drill which is rather critical...), and we have braved IKEA in Montpellier which left us limp but satisfied - not nearly as busy as UK IKEAs are. In between whiles we have eaten and drunk well - simply, at home, and occasionally more elaborately - we've found a really good small restaurant (NB potential visitors who read this!) and have booked our Christmas day lunch there. And we went to see the new Dreamworks/Aardvark cartoon (called Flushed Away in English I think) which here and in French is Souris City. It was great and the French was not incomprehensible. So we continue, decorating and assembling endless knockdown stuff (some new, some we knocked down ourselves in England and has now to be put together again), battling against aches and pains and thoroughly enjoying ourselves in what we keep pinching ourselves to realise is OUR HOME. The first house we have owned since March, a marvellously spacious and light and airy place especially in the almost continuous sunshine of the albeit short winter days. My arthritic knee is nagging away, no better, no worse, but I have time to do the exercises regularly and to cycle around this flat town at least a bit every day. Mary has back pain and stiffness which lessens with activity during the day after a slow morning start, but she has found an apparently good osteopath who will help - another contact of a friendly neighbour! The human contacts and the opportunity to stretch our French are the most exciting parts of all this, although I feel daunted at times when the conversation goes beyond the bit I'd rehearsed beforehand; and it's good to find things we'd had packed away for months. I will try and do at least another short update before Christmas, but thanks to everyone who has sent cards and messages and good wishes - the postman was quite surprised we had so much post so quickly! We love hearing from everyone. 2 December 2006 Only a few days to go now until our 'signing' for the house next Thursday 7 December, and our furniture should arrive from England the following day. I have spent a lot of the past week in London for a meeting of MoMo Helps (see Voluntary sector page) and catching up with friends and family. I also saw the superb Holbein exhibition at Tate Britain. Now we are making the most of the last few days near the sea at La Tamarissière. In the cooler, cloudier weather of early December the wind is often strong, though still not cold, from the east. It whips the river into choppy waves and the sea into a rumbling procession of waves, rolling white and grey. You can hear the sea from the house, rumbling constantly when it's windy. There were few people about when I took Trudy to the beach this afternoon, and as usual she scampered faster on the sand than she ever does on the gravel paths to and from the house. Several people have used the word 'brave' to describe our move here. I still feel it is more of a challenge rather than a brave act, and the challenge is partly to do with adapting to a culture and making new friends, but has most to do with language. After a few weeks, and short periods away from the French language, I see how easy it would be to 'bump along the bottom' speaking English not only between ourselves but by choosing our company and activities. There are plenty of English people here who seek out compatriots. But we have several advantages and a head start in having French friends, including Françoise whose house we have lived in these last few weeks, whom Mary met in Béziers over the past 3 years. Mary's studies have provided a wonderful platform for using the language, and we regularly turn on French radio and television for news and music, although some of the fast talk goes right over my head and sometimes Mary's too. Above all, for me, the wish to find a French phrase rather than translate an English one is the hopeful sign, and my constant lack of vocabulary, grammar or just confidence is the biggest barrier. Being impatient my gut reaction is to want it to come in weeks or months, but in reality I know full well it will take years. Our friend Krys who has been in France about 20 years and is now retraining as a school teacher is a source of hope and inspiration, fluent and confident at home in the French language!
20 November 2006 After the middle of the month and we are still enjoying marvellous sunshine most of the time although the evenings and early mornings are chilly now. Essentially, we are waiting for the house, and that can sometimes be frustrating, but at the same time there are people and places to see, and things to do. Our big practical move has been to buy a new (to us) car. We collected it - a 1-year-old Citröen Berlingo - on Friday and it is marvellously full of electronic gizmos and plastic storage devices including a detachable shopping trolley!. But it will suit us fine, and we have already taken it and a friend on an outing. To buy it we first had to find out how to insure it in France and how to transfer our no-claims bonus from England. In the end a very nice young man saw us through the complexities in an hour and a half of careful, intricate discussion in Béziers. French insurance has a reputation for being more expensive, but we found that it included breakdown cover as well as what we are used to in insurance, so it's very good value as it turns out; and all that remains is to get rid of the old Saxo. We had the option to scrap it, but that would be a shame since it is still running well despite odd dents, and we have arranged to pass it on to a friend in a few days' time. So our big wait for the house continues with no particular anxieties - we went to see the current owners this week, and both they and the lawyers have agreed that we shall sign on 7 December with our furniture set to arrive the following day. Meanwhile we find things to occupy us, including (of course) some wine trips - new guide to our favourite Languedoc wines coming up soon in the wine diary - but also marvellous visits in this exceptional bright autumn to more Languedoc sights and sites. In the past fortnight we have been to abbeys at Fontfroide and Valmagne (photos will appear in due course), the wonderful mountain village of St Guilhem le Desert, and a marvellous morning at a small, traditional family pottery near Castelnaudary in the beautiful Laurargais countryside east of Toulouse. Pottery photos here. The pottery is right next to the Canal du Midi, and it's the first time we had seen a canal empty or had realised this happens quite regularly - for maintenance of locks of course, but also to clear the plastic chairs, old fridges and other junk people chuck in! Can't resist some photos of this too (below) with a lovely little stone cross, one of several displayed by the roadside in a village nearby.
Other than that it's quiet walks by the river and on the beach with Trudy, meals with friends and checking out the odd bottle of wine. The sea is especially appealing, and a half hour circuit from the house takes us through pine woods and along the beach where Trudy loves to sprint and eat unmentionable things along the tide line. We can't show the spectacular red skies recently because we always seem to see them when driving and can't stop... 4 November 2006 Today we travelled north to see Norman Foster's stupendous Viaduc de Millau which carries the A75 Autoroute across the Tarn. Better to look at photos than to describe this wonderful engineering feat, so here are some.
The motorway is already impressive enough, rising in steady bends and wild landscape from the coastal plains to over 800 metres, and when you come upon the viaduct from the south it is astonishing not just because it slopes downwards to the north - it's part of the descent from those great heights - but also for the sheer scale of the engineering and because of the size and weight of the pillars and cables, which seem so delicate in the pictures. There is a special viewing aire just north of the crossing where you can see it in its glory and the first two photos are taken there - the third is from the old main road south out of Millau, an old bottleneck for summer traffic labouring south up the mountainside from the picturesque town and river valley. Well worth a 150 mile round trip, but we would not recommend Lodève for a stop of any kind - little sign of a simple friendly restaurant for lunch, gloomy and narrow. The new motorway aire at Cayrol, near the highest point and just over the Languedoc border in the Aveyron départementis a better lunch option in wild surroundings. 3 November 2006 We are
settling in at La Tamarissière (at the mouth of the River Hérault near
Agde) in the house our friend has kindly rented us (the family holiday
home by the sea). It is a
small settlement isolated at the end of a road to the sea, on the right
bank of the river which is a wide stretch of water full of fishing boats
and lined on the other side with the buildings of the little resort of
Grau d’Agde. These past
few days it has been beautiful in the sunshine as we approach our house
in a cul-de-sac a few metres from the river. I’m
writing it on 1 November which is a public holiday in France, the Feast
of All Saints, so we have to wait until next week to check back with the
lawyers whether when we can get into the house in Lunel, but meanwhile
the weather here has been spectacular – almost unbroken
sunshine and wonderfully warm until today when the wind is a bit cooler
but the light marvellous. Despite
cooler wind and chilly nights – continuing on 2 Nov, still glorious
sunshine, and now we have discovered how to start the heating everything
will be fine! This
little settlement has no services to speak of in winter – in summer it
is crammed with campers and holiday homers and there is a little ferry
which takes you across to the bustling market and shops of Le Grau
d’Agde, all now stopped – but the 4-mile bike ride to Agde is good
exercise and no hardship in the present weather, and Agde has all the
shops and supermarkets you need. The
drive to Béziers is about the same as from Mansfield to Nottingham, so
if we need a wider range of things – e.g. a car, which we plan to buy
soon – it’s easy to find them.
The walks to the sea through the pine woods are lovely without
campers and the shore mostly quiet although the weekends and holiday
have brought out a number of walkers and paddlers and even the odd
bather. Mary is
knitting a lot and has
finished a marvellous frilly cardigan started in Sept and also made
another superb stripy garment (pictures of both on knitting pages in due
course) and is now starting another short-sleeved cardigan covered with
little beads. Then I’m
hoping she will be able to do me a jumper – though not I think with
beads! We are both reading
a lot and particularly enjoyed Bill Bryson’s childhood memoir The
life and times of the Thunderbolt Kid, which I had for my birthday
– both of us burst into spontaneous laughter at the descriptions. Getting
into speaking French, still more listening to it and understanding, is
taking me a while, but if success is like swimming well, I feel as if I
am at least floating or doing doggy paddle rather than drowning now, and
you get used to the sounds after a while.
Mary is better of course and we help each other along.
My vocabulary is something else again, and even if I know a word
it deserts me or I get the gender wrong when trying to chat away
nonchalantly. In
between all this we have had some good walks and outings and nice meals
out as well as enjoying the food and wine we have here at the house.
As you may have seen in the wine diary we had good visits to wine
makers on the way down and plan more soon here in the south (to fill in
time until we are busy moving in etc!!).
Trudy the Norfolk Terrier is fine too. I guess the thing that is hitting us both is the difficulty of adjusting to life as opposed to holidays in France. We know all the café and restaurant and wine culture, but finding a portable computer printer or a charger lead for the phone or buying a car and disposing of the current one raise all sorts of challenges especially when you are in between addresses. We shall manage, but learning to wait takes extra effort. Family
birthdays come thick and fast in this period, and our wedding
anniversary (28 years) in two days’ time as I write.
We have reached our temporary base in the quiet riverside
settlement of La Tamarissière
near Agde, and we are pleased to stop, unpack and unwind. These
last few days, for the Twinning visit, we stayed in St Roman near Châtillon
en Diois (Mary by roadside above!) with our friend and local artist Ali Benyahya and his family.
The time back in the Diois was excellent but hectic.
We combined twinning activities, mostly communal meals with
speeches thrown in, with visits to friends whose lives and concerns are
always absorbing. We know
the area and some of the people so well after 15 years’ to-ing and
fro-ing so at one level it feels comfortable to be back.
But like so many of our visits the time there has been short and
packed with things to do and see. We
were also encountering again friends from Wirksworth some of whom we’d
said goodbye to only a few weeks before, as well as many active in
twinning in Die over the years. A
highlight was the dance presentation by 20 or so young people from
Wirksworth under the inspired and accomplished direction of Debi
Hedderwick, whose daughter was also a star turn in the show.
The presentation summarised the twin themes of the visit,
building up links with schools and young people, and the re-forestation
of the Diois in the Forêt
Jean Giono near Châtillon,
now mirrored on a smaller scale in the Wirksworth Community
Woodland (Stoney Wood) in an old quarry. You can find more on Diois wine experiences on this trip in the wine diary. 22
October Our
first morning in the Diois where we are joining the twinning visit from
Wirksworth for a few days, and visiting friends, before going on to our
temporary home near Agde. We
travelled over 1100 km in the past 2 days and we are glad to stop. Pausing
in Bourgogne overnight we enjoyed a short visit to our vineyard contact
near Mercurey to collect wine and were welcomed by the vigneron, one of
two brothers who offered us a tasting of the 2004 red Mercurey, a great
treat.
More on Burgundy wines this year in my wine
diary.
Driving back to our friend's house west of Beaune we saw the great
hillsides of the Côte d’Or and the vineyards at their golden
best, now that they have taken their autumn colours.
The trees along the banks of the Canal de Bourgogne were also a
riot of reds and oranges, those near water seemingly turning earlier and
more vividly than in the woods beyond. 19
October After
some weeks of retirement we have packed and left the house in Mansfield
and are on our gradual journey south. All we have left out of store is in boxes and cases in the
car and Trudy lurks in between them in her tube or beneath our feet.
It is a curious feeling - the start of a long-planned project but
also an interlude with few roots or props. Just
how long we had been planning this came home to me when I looked at the
list of wines we have stored in our friend's cellar in the Diois.
Since the late 1990s we have built up a collection of bottles in
France in the obvious expectation that we should have a home here before
too long. Now there is a
good cellar of mainly Bourgogne and southern Rhône wines waiting to
move to our Lunel house in December.
So although Mary's French language travels began in 2003 our
plans have been developing much longer.
These practical indicators are important - my memory of precise
times and plans is increasingly hazy. The
transitory feeling is much more immediate. Suddenly I found my key ring smaller than it had been since I
started work - just car keys and another for my bike padlock.
A symbol of the fact that we have no house just now, and (save
for the kindness of our hosts en route) nowhere but the car to go
inside. It is a very odd
feeling. This
is the last day of our stay in Normandy: we have had a few days each
with friends in Mansfield and Canterbury, and have been thankful for the
welcome they have given us and Trudy.
We have been blessed by warm fine weather almost all the time,
and even today when we drove through a storm back from Saint-Malo, our
walk round the town, the ramparts and along the wide sandy beach near
the island fort was dry and pleasant if breezy.
In
Canterbury we had enjoyed a day looking at art in private houses (both
in the City and in Herne Bay nearby) - another 'trail' reminiscent of
the one we found in Herefordshire in September, and which started in
Brighton many years ago. The
Art & Architecture Trail in Wirksworth has been part of the
September Festival for many years and we enjoyed that again too this
year with friends and relations who had joined us for my birthday party
- some photos from that weekend are attached for interest. September was hectic with Jon's retirement from NAVO (click for photos of leaving event) followed by his 60th birthday when a grand party in Wirksworth featured the Wam Bam Band - click for party photos taken by Helen Voce, John McKean and Dominic Barke) and preparations for our move. During our last few weeks in the UK we enjoyed a short trip to Dumfries & Galloway in south-west Scotland. There, on the Tourist Route from Dumfries to Castle Douglas, we found Sweetheart Abbey in the village of New Abbey. You can see Jon's photos of the Abbey here.
Updated 29 December 2006 top of page
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A
sad moment at a distance - we heard today that our friend Mike Pegg,
ex-John Rylands Librarian at Manchester University, fellow wine buff and
Francophile and beloved husband of Margaret, died this morning after a
battle with liver cancer. Our thoughts are with her, and we feel
sad to be so far away and unable to attend the funeral.
It feels right to record this tribute to them both now as wonderful
people. We feel proud to have known Mike and look forward to our
continued contact with Margaret in the future.
