Summer has arrived

Having had such beautiful weather this past week or two, we now feel that summer has arrived. The garden is looking lovely with so many beautiful colours and such attractive plants. The Sun always makes one feel so much better.

We have visited quite a few Vide Greniers lately; the English equivalent of a Car Boot Sale. (Although the translation into English means "attic clearance" or "empty loft") It seems most villages will have one during May and June and throughout the summer months. It is always so pleasant and enjoyable perusing these stalls, talking to the French and getting to understand more about their culture and habits. We are often surprised to see some English stall holders as well, often selling English books etc. This does make a pleasant afternoon out especially if it’s in a village that we haven’t looked around, and there are so many little villages scattered amidst the countryside. All have their own identity, charm and uniqueness and are absolutely well worth a visit.

Today we woke with a scattering of rain, which now seems to have died out, and it is bright again. Summer certainly is a time when we can appreciate all the benefits of being in this wonderful region of France.

Mushrooms in France

Firstly, there are strict guidelines to picking wild mushrooms in France, and these must be followed:

French Regulations state (Article 547 Code Civil) that mushrooms belong to the owner of the land where they grow. Each commune has the right to decide whether mushroom picking is allowed, and on what days, can say what quantities can be picked, can charge a fee or can totally forbid mushroom picking in the surrounding forests.

You should contact your local Marie in the commune (or your local prefecture) where you wish to pick mushrooms and they will advise.

Tools of any sort are forbidden with the exception of knives
A knife must be used to cut the stipe so as not to damage the mycelia
Mushrooms must be a certain size before being picked so that they have a chance to release their spores
Mushrooms must be carried in a wicker basket to let the spores fall out and help propagation

Do remember that there are over 3,000 varieties of mushroom in France and only a few of these are edible. People still die in France from eating poisonous mushrooms and if not fatal can cause problems such as diarrhoea, nausea, hallucinations, vomiting, cramps, coma and more serious conditions such as convulsions, tachycardia or kidney infection.

Poisonous mushrooms closely resemble edible ones. Pharmacists in France normally have a large photograph on their wall of all the various mushrooms, and are professionally trained to identify which are poisonous and which are not, so if in doubt always consult your local pharmacy in France.

If you collect any wild mushrooms to eat do make sure that your identification checks out in every detail, weather conditions or animal damage can cause differences in appearance that could lead to misidentification and do remember that there are people who are allergic to all species of mushrooms.

One of the most deadly of all mushrooms is the Amanita Phalloides (Death Cap) see image

In case of accidental poisoning, contact the Emergency Service, and if possible, keep some of the mushrooms or the remains of the dish eaten. Do not attempt to throw up and do not take any drugs.

There are some Anti-Poison centres in France

Angers tele: 02 41 48 21 21
Bordeaux tele: 05 56 96 40 80
Lille tele: 0 825 812 822
Lyon tele: 04 72 11 69 11
Marseille tele: 04 91 75 25 25
Nancy tele: 03 83 32 36 36
Paris tele: 01 40 05 48 48
Rennes tele: 02 99 59 22 22
Strasbourg tele: 03 88 37 37 37
Toulouse tele: 05 61 77 74 47

Rain, Rain and more Rain

Well, Tired of Roaming is one thing, but being Tired of Rain is another. When is it going to stop I ask myself.

The other day we had such electric storms, turned off everything we thought that could be affected, which included our pc’s. Once the storm had passed, or so we thought, we turned on the computers again to carry on and several minutes later with no warning came a loud crash, yes, that done it, hit by lightening across the telephone cable. Blew the box and our router, so it has taken a while to get things back to normal.

We know we should appreciate the rain, but at this stage we do not mind giving it to Inland Spain, we know how much they need it. It seems it has done nothing but rain. Think we are all suffering from Sun deprivation now, and are in need of a holiday in the Sun. Weather reports say again Rain all week and temperatures down to 14… is there no end to this and will we ever get our Summer sunshine.

We have been told that this is very unusual for this Region of France.....

So in the meanwhile, we will try to keep smiling.

Dechetterie

A Dechetterie is the French name for a Waste Collection Centre, as known in England as the local council rubbish tip.

In France they are normally extremely well organised and easy to use. Usually you drive your car onto a raised area therefore making the “tipping” part very easy, particularly if you use a tipping trailer as you can reverse right up to the edge to tip your load.

We have found our local Dechetterie to be very helpful and will guide you as to where to put the items, and sometimes help to unload depending on how busy they are.

Do try to avoid mixed loads unless you are prepared to sort it out when you arrive as they are quite strict as to what is allowed in the various containers and it can be time consuming moving the car around the area.

There are large categorised skips for all your rubbish and below is the English-French translations which may help when unloading:

French	English	French	English
Bois	Wood	Emcombrants	Mattresses etc
Ferrailles	Scrap Metal	Dechets Verts	Green Waste
Papier	Paper	Verres	Glass
Huilles	Oil	D.M.S.	Spray Cans etc
Gravats	Rubble	Plastiques	Plastic
Cartons	Cardboard Boxes	Batterie	Batteries

Most Dechetteries are open from 9am until 12 noon and again 1.30pm until 6pm including Saturdays. Although most do have several mornings where they are closed for emptying and replacing. Sundays they are closed all day.

French Customs

Some Useful Information on French Customs

Shaking hands upon greeting and parting is customary in France, (a light grip and a single quick shake) and man to woman, woman to woman, and woman to man by lightly kissing on the cheeks, it can be once on the left and once on the right, this can vary upon the region of France, (like Mayenne) it is repeated so “four times” – (left to right, right to left and repeat).

It is customary to say 'Bonjour' or 'Bonsoir' when entering a shop and 'Au Revoir' when leaving. Use the same greeting for neighbours adding Madame, Monsieur or Mademoiselle and their surname, only family and very close friends are greeted by the first name. Always wait until being invited to use someone’s first name.

The French gesture for "OK" is the "thumbs up" sign. “Zero” to the French is the round index finger touching tip of the thumb.

The French have a great respect for privacy. Knock and wait before entering into a room. Additionally, do not "arrive" unannounced. Always give notice before your arrival.

Another point to remember is when greeting a neighbour or acquaintance, avoid asking how the wife or husband is, the French see this as an invasion of privacy, it is however, acceptable to ask how the “family” are.

When accepting an invitation for a meal an accepted gift is a pre-agreed desert or cheese dish but should you wish to give flowers, never choose Chrysanthemums (given at funerals), Carnations (bad luck), Red Roses or any white flowers (Weddings). Although the younger generation are not so strict on this. Avoid giving Wine unless you are a connoisseur and can give the highest quality.

When writing a letter, this is customary to end it with the sentence “Veuillez accepter, Madame (or Monsieur), mes salutations distinguées.” Avoid the “yours sincerely”, “yours faithfully”, etc. Always commence the letter Madame or Monsieur – never with the word “dear”.

Table Etiquette in France

Useful Information on Table Etiquette in France

If invited for a meal by a French family the following information may be useful to you:

Arrive on time, if delayed by more than 10 minutes then a telephone call is in order with an explanation and arrival time. (This can be slightly different in various Regions of France, the further south the more flexible). Paris is an exception to the rule.

You should always wait for the host to lead the way therefore, when the aperitif is served, wait for everyone to receive their drink and the host will then give a toast, after which “glass clink” before drinking, and do not start the meal until the host has said “bon appetit” and you all reply “sante”.

A French meal usually consists of 5 courses, a starter, main course, salad, cheese course, and dessert. Water and bread are made available throughout the meal. Wine is constantly offered so if you do not require a refill, then never empty your glass. The French always fill a glass to three-quarters, never to the brim.

Fold your salad onto your fork by using your knife. Do not cut your salad with a knife or fork.

There usually are no bread plates. Put bread on the table next to your dinner plate above your fork.

To see how one cuts cheese – see our “Cheese page” at www.joinusinfrance.net

Always tear your bread into pieces before eating, never take the whole piece of bread and bite a piece off in your mouth, this is considered rude and impolite. A piece of bread (usually on your fork) is taken at the end of each course and you wipe your plate clean with it, never use your hand.

The same plate and cutlery are usually used for every course. Always finish what is on your plate. However, in a more formal setting, every course is served on a new plate, so cleaning the plate is not necessary.

It is customary to gently rest your hands on the table (not your elbows). (Do not place your hands in your lap, again this is considered rude)

Do not ask for a tour of your host's home, it is considered impolite.

(If the host offers orange juice or similar at the end of the meal, then that is a hint that its time to leave.)

A very public convenience

Something to bear in mind when visiting or thinking of living in this region of France is firstly French men think nothing of stopping their car at the side of the road, doesn’t matter whether it’s a busy dual carriageway or a single country road, he will pull over and get out of his car and urinate for all the world to see. No discreet actions taken at all and a very common occurrence here.

Secondly, it is normal practice in France to share the public toilets; therefore a woman walks past the men using the urinals to get to a cubicle, again normal practice here.

However, at some service areas on motorways etc, there are some separate toilets for men and woman, but mainly the woman’s toilet will then have what we term as a flushable hole in the ground, you will be very lucky if you find one with a seat. Should you require a seated toilet then look for the disabled sign, which would normally have one.

Dr Tuesday Lobsang Rampa (8 April 1910 – 25 January 1981)

A friend first introduced me to Lobsang Rampa over a cup of coffee some 35 years ago, when the book was placed on the table in front of me and I was asked if I had read any of his books. I had never heard of him at that time, and my friend left the book for me to read. I picked the book up and glanced at it, then unfortunately it got placed on my bookshelf and there it stayed for several years.

Out of the blue one day I just picked up this book “You Forever” and read it, I was so intrigued by this authors writings, it was so interesting I could not put the book down, and I felt after reading it I just had to know more, I went to the local bookstore and ordered every book this author had written to date. There were several books that the store could not obtain, but every book that I did manage to buy I read with total conviction more than once. Over the years one lends out books, looses them, etc and some 15 years ago, I decided to buy these books again. Only several had been reprinted and were available from USA so I ordered them. More recently I obtained the rest of my collection from Ebay from all over the world. The writings are just as fascinating today and make excellent reading.

I do keep an open mind on his books, but then again I do believe in fate, and feel sure I was meant to read his books, and learn from them. Over the years he has had many critics and was hounded by the press, but then I think we all know how the media can make or break an individual.

Lobsang Rampa was unique, a remarkable writer, one of the most fascinating and intriguing individuals with physic abilities and should you require something completely different to read, something strangely out of the ordinary, that can be truly enlightening and depending on your beliefs about life can add another perception to the mysteries of the universe. After reading about his experiences and his explanations we can all draw our own interpretation and conclusions from what he had to say.

'The Third Eye' (1956) - The autobiography of a Tibetan Lama

'Doctor from Lhasa' (1959) - Lobsang Rampa, a prisoner of war, proved that mortal man can discipline his mind and body to survive starvation and torture.

'The Rampa Story' (1960) - Reveals other aspects of the authors strange life.

'Cave of the Ancients' (1963) - Lobsang Rampas experiences in the lamaseries of Tibet.

'Living with the Lama' (1964) – Further revelations into Lobsang Rampa’s extraordinary existence – this time from a curious angle.

'You Forever' (1965) – A special course of instruction in psychic development and talks about Astral projection.

'Wisdom of the Ancients' (1965) – A book of knowledge with special sections on breathing exercises and diet.

'The Saffron Robe' (1966) – The personal story of Lobsang Rampa’s boyhood.

'Chapters of Life' (1967) – Predictions and comments on the events taking place.

'Beyond the Tenth' (1969) – Lobsang Rampa explores the spiritual potential inherent in every human being.

'Feeding the Flame' (1971) – Rampa speaks about Atlantis, The Dalai Lama and many other topics.

'The Hermit' (1972) - Introduces the ideas of human abduction and experimentation for genetic engineering purposes.

'The Thirteenth Candle' (1972) – Rampa’s 13^th book where he answers questions and gives information.

'Candlelight' (1974) – Rampa talks about pendulums and religion, and discusses media persecution.

'Twilight' (1975) - Rampa discusses the power of prayer, hypnotism, etc.

'As it Was' (1976) – Rampas life condensed into four parts, As it was in the beginning to As it is Now.

'I Believe' (1977) – Lobsang Rampa explains in detail about life after death.

'Three Lives'- (1977) – A continuation of “I Believe”.

'Tibetan Sage' (1980) - His final book with prophecies for the planet and his final farewell.

One further publication, which I should mention, an anthology which Lobsang Rampa wrote was published without authorisation in late 1958/early 1959 – My Visit to Venus, and a soft cover copy was printed and circulated in 1988 after his death. Rampa did not want this published, fearing it would be dismissed as science fiction.

Another unauthorised book 'My Visit to Agharta' (2003) Rampa talks about his visit to the Inner world of Agharta.

Spam – Name and Shame

The weather has been wonderful and hot the last few days, and this morning was no exception when we woke.

However, the day was really marred when I switched on my pc to find that some website had decided to use our domain name for Spamming purposes, a continuous flow of undelivered returned emails came pouring through into my Inbox, after several hundred I was getting really cross and frustrated. Being in France, with the technical language barrier, one can't take the appropriate action to stop it. Even then I suppose it’s not easy, (640 and still arriving) and of course as we have genuine mail from our site, I have to click each one to delete !

Why do idiots do this, I feel sure no one in their right mind after receiving a spam, would actually go to their website and risk buying any of their products. How could one trust them, well you cant, can you?

OK….. I went to their site and had a good look around, it’s just a downloading site, and an example of what they were selling for downloading on line……….

Adobe Creative Suite 2 Premium for Windows Retail Price $1199.00
Our Price $149.95
You save $1049.05

Too good to be true !

http: // bb.ekodoem. com (spaced for obvious reasons) - now I DON’T want to give this Spammer any publicity whatsoever, being forewarned is being forearmed, so I recommend you just avoid them like the plague.

Digressing to Life in General

Whilst on the sit on mower this morning, dealing with the long grass in the orchard and having just completed once again one of Tuesday Lobsang Rampas books “I Believe”, (and I shall cover this topic another time as I could ramble forever about this physic and author) I remembered all the controversy years ago surrounding this gentleman, and my mind wandered onto the subject of life in general.


With the UK news recently highlighting the fact that they have now discovered a “fat” gene, it took me back many many years ago when I remember there was a huge outcry from experts who identified plastics that were used to contain food and drink products, having toxicological effects on the human body.

Scientists concluded that eating and drinking from bottles made of plastic would over a period of time affect the genetic make up of the human body and both physical and mental aspects of sexuality would be affected, together with increase in cancer, and Alzheimer disease to name but a few.

It further concluded that there was also a conflict of interest in allowing the manufacturers to submit to their own testing.

Are we are now seeing those physical and mental changes to the Human Race taking place?

I wonder if its like global warming, nothing will be done by the governments until its too late?

Buying or Selling a Renovated Property in France

Once a property has been renovated, and is sold one has to pay tax on the profits, in other words if you pay 100,000 Euros for a property and renovate it, and its now valued and sold at 250,000 Euros, then 150,000 Euros is taxable (we understand this is about 40% of profits). One can produce all receipts for the work done and we understand this is deductible from that amount. The Notaire deals with this paperwork. So be warned and keep every receipt and bill as one can be faced with a huge capital gains tax demand.

Another thing that has come to light, in the event of us selling our property, is that it was good that we had decided not to renovate the two barns into Gites, as once that had been done then we would have had to have paid 19.6% tax when selling, unless the property has been owned for over 5 years.

We had not heard of this before, and certainly no one had even suggested this, so anyone who has renovated and is in this position may we suggest you check with the Notary Office whether it would apply also to you. It could be a rather hefty sum to pay once sold.

When buying a French property which has been renovated one should make sure you have the 10 year artisan guarantees for electrics, plumbing, heating, etc. in case anything goes wrong, and also you could have problems trying to sell the property on in the future without these. All legitimate artisans French or English, registered under the French system will provide these guarantees. No French person will normally buy without them.

There is a new survey that has to be done by law now by the seller, which is done before signing, and this now takes into account the insulation factor of the property. The cost for this is depended upon the selling cost.

We find the French law very complicated and not easy to find things out until one is put in that position. We say check and double check as once you have signed the papers you cannot back out which is why we decided to go through a French Immobilier and not to try to sell it privately.

When considering buying a property do check out http://www.joinusinfrance.net/html/buying_in_france.html

Can you identify the plant

Having been disappointed with the way that Spurs played, decided not to mention anymore about the game. So I wont.

Awoke yesterday morning to an overcast day, we decided to work on the garden again, there is much to do this time of year with the one hectare of land. It is very warm and with no sunshine or wind made it difficult to get on with any motivation, but we plodded on and most of the landscaped garden is now finished, we also have one of the vegetable plots ready for planting. Just need to deal with the grape vines, which we have three, and that side of the garden is looking good.

Stayed in last evening and watched some television, something we do not normally do, but we both enjoy the new programme Joseph, and last night was no exception, thoroughly enjoyed watching the talent, it is just a shame that we cannot vote from here in France.

This morning it’s quite misty and the forecast is hot, so we shall persevere with an area at the rear of the garden that needs clearing. There is a pretty ground cover plant that has sprung up amongst the weeds, it has small white flowers, and I cannot quite remember the name, although I know it’s a very popular alpine in England. I have searched the internet, but with no luck, perhaps someone please can remind me of the name as it appears to be really bothering me, as you will notice the earth here is already very dry.

Up the Spurs

Well yesterday the weatherman said it was going to rain today, so after nearly killing ourselves in the garden yesterday, we had planned for today to be fairly relaxing, but we awoke to glorious sunshine, and as there is much to do in the garden, made an effort. It has been a hot exhausting day and our muscles are aching. The garden does look good now though and its been well worth the effort. (Well we will think so once the aches and pains go)

Tonight I am in front of the TV, not moving for love nor money, Spurs are playing and with fingers crossed may pull something out of the hat. Really need them to do a “Man U” tonight, but am sure we would all settle for a few goals, wont be greedy and expect 7 !

Being born and bred in North London, my senior school being in Tottenham, just around the corner from the ground, and my Father being a Spurs supporter I grew up with the team, if you know what I mean. There was one season where I never missed a game, home or away. (Except for the friendly at the start of that particular season as it was in Motherwell) Alas, those days are well in the past, but I still retain that Bill Nic was the best Manager we ever had, and still support them from my armchair here in France whenever I can.

Iain cannot understand why I would like a cockerel weather vane on the roof.

Sainte Suzanne

It’s a glorious day today, very warm and no wind, its lovely. We have been in the garden most of today, Iain has been mowing and I have been weeding, and getting the pots ready for planting.

Yesterday when we took the dog and four cats to the Vets for their blood test, unfortunately took most of the afternoon, and cost us 360 Euros for the laboratory and 40 Euros for the Vet. More than we had originally thought.

I wanted today to tell you today about Sainte Suzanne, which I think is very under estimated, it’s a lovely village just a short drive from here, not sure I would like to live there, its quite touristy, but lovely for an afternoon out in the Summer.

On route from here, we pass what I class at my “little stonehedge”, “The Erves Dolmen” its one of the best known monuments in Mayenne. It is made up of a square room entered by a porch. “Dolmen des Erves” is on route to Sainte Suzanne via Assé le Bérenger. There is historical information available at the site.

Sainte-Suzanne is situated just the other side of Evron and is a medieval city, an 11th Century stronghold that was built on a triangular spur of rock. Its known history can be traced back to William the Conqueror, who besieged the fortress from 1083 to 1087. The medieval city with its ramparts dominates the River Erve. Its keep, its castle, its old houses and its museum, testify to the richness of its historical past.

Well worth a visit if you are in the area.

Mayenne Town

Mayenne is about 30 minutes drive from our village; it’s a town that is tucked quietly away between southern Normandy and the Loire valley. It offers a taste of real French countryside, an old feudal town, built on hills on both sides of the River Mayenne.

The oldest castle in Europe is well worth a visit, it was built in the 9th and 12th century, it overlooks the river and has several towers, one of which has retained its conical roof. The vaulted chambers and chapel are ornamented in the style of the 13th century. From the ramparts you will discover a spectacular view of the river Mayenne, the embankment and the East Side of the Town.

There are many historical sites to see including the Church of Notre-Dame, with its statue of Joan of Arc, which dates partly from the 12th century.

Mayenne has all the large shops, which one would expect from a major town, and lots of small roads with individually owned shops, well worth a browse in the hot Summer months.

Inhabitants are called Mayennais, and the dialect is quite difficult to understand.

Just another day

Today is a beautiful day here in France, the sun is shining and its warm, the sky is clear blue and it finally feels like Summer is on the way after a long, dark, wet Winter. Another afternoon in the garden and we will feel we are making progress with the borders and flower beds. The trees are covered in blossom, and the shrubs are certainly well on their way. The Peonies are in bud ready to burst into their beautiful colours of various reds and pinks.

Life at the moment for us both due to trying to sell and return to England is generally very boring, particularly around this time of year when it is so quiet. We will be pleased when May arrives and the French General Election is over and things in France have settled down, hopefully the house market will then pick up, and we will have some interesting news to report.

The animals are booked into the Vets tomorrow for their blood tests for Rabies after their booster 10 days ago. We are quite confident they cannot have this disease as they were vaccinated in England before we arrived, but Defra says this is required before we can return them to the U.K. so its something we have to pay out for and do. The cost for this test works out at 450 Euros for the five of them. Certainly not cheap to have pets nowadays.

Our Poppy, a blue/cream Persian we are quite worried about, she is now nearly 17 years old, and looks the worst for wear, we are sure she is deaf, and sometimes she gets quite confused as to where she is and where she wants to go. The Vet did a blood test on her last time we went to check her organs etc. and said she was fine, heart was good and kidneys were ok. So we shall plod with her and hope she makes it through the six month period and the journey.

300

Last night I lay in bed and there was not a sound to be heard, one thing about living here in this area of France, is that it is so quiet. My thoughts took me back to England where living in a small town, I would hear traffic noises, police/ambulance sirens and late at night I would hear people vacating the pubs and clubs normally the worst for wear, and generally quite rowdy and although the noises were quite a way away, one could still hear them. Certainly here we hear none of those noises, even the main road is very quiet, not a noise to be heard, except the occasional owl or late night bird.

Here in this region of France there is no such thing as a rowdy youngster, no binge drinking, no gangs of youths. The teenagers are very well behaved there is no feeling of intimidation when passing a small group.

Last evening we watched a film, the new one “300”, which was based on the novel by Frank Miller, about the war between the Spartans and the Persians, didn’t recognise any of the cast, but I can say we both thoroughly enjoyed it, the animations were excellent, very blood thirsty but all in context of the film.

There are only certain films worth watching more than once, but this one we will certainly watch again, and feel the second showing might be better.

An enjoyable film.

Just a quiet day

Since my mentioning yesterday about the African Hoopoe in our garden, we saw three together this morning pecking with their long beaks. So managed to capture all three of them with my camera, can you spot them? They seem to like the insects in the newly cut lawn. We have been working on the garden the last couple of days as good weather has finally arrived again so perhaps this has encouraged them to stay.

This morning however, we both woke up with backaches, due to the long afternoon of weeding yesterday, so we will not be doing much out there today. It may be a good time to sit and watch the world go by for the afternoon.

We always thought when we got to France we would be sitting out in the garden with a glass of French wine in the afternoon, soaking up the sun, but I don’t think alcohol in the afternoon has ever passed our lips.

Easter weekend without the family around, doesn’t seem to mean much to us here in France, its times like this that we miss England and the family. What with the house market being very quiet due to the elections here, we think it will be quite a time before we can return to England. However, we are trying to make the most of the space here, as once we do return we will not have such a large garden with these outstanding views of the countryside.

The other thing I am sure we will miss are all the animals around us, the field at the back has all the cows in, all tagged in their ears ready for the market. The retired farmer opposite has all the Sheep, and the Chickens, although we have noticed the Cockerel never crows early in the morning, only early evening do we ever hear him and it never bothers us.

African Hoopoe

We woke this morning with the sun shining bright, although it’s still quite cold here. Spotted an unusual bird on the lawn so reached for my camera and through the window managed to get a photograph, its not a very good one, but shows some of the detail of this beautiful creature.

Apparently its an African Hoopoe (Upupa Africana) which I presume most Europeans know, however, never ever have we seen one in England so feel sure they haven’t crossed the channel. I would be interested in hearing from anyone who knows different.

We do not generally encourage birds into the garden due to having the four cats which are often on the prowl, but that doesn’t seem to deter the birds from visiting us, and some are so unusual and different. I will, in the future have to take more of an active interest in capturing these on my camera as there are so many we do not recognise, and they are so attractive.

Feeling Sluggish

Living here in France we have come across some weird looking creatures, we kind of got used to the occasional snake, masses of shy lizards, mating hedgehogs, screaming owls, hornets, extra large tame flies, huge toads, to name just a few. Not sure we could ever get used to the Spotted Leopard Slug, (had to research this one as just had not got a clue to what type of slug it was), however, latin name I think is Limax Maximus so its been around a lot time!

Came across some interesting facts about these creatures:
Their eyes are at the tips of short stalks arising below the base of much longer, more slender tentacles. The tentacles feel what the simple eyes may not see.
Their mouths are directed downward, so that food can be taken from the surface as they travel across it.
They have single, muscular, broad flat-bottomed feet which moves the creature forward.

Understand somewhere there is actually an “International Slug Fest”, a contest to locate and photograph the largest slug in the world, however, did not have a ruler to hand when I wanted to snap photos of these, but they sure grow them big here in this country.

Shopping in France

In England one can wander around all sorts of shops and I suppose just take shops for granted, having been born and bred with the language one doesn’t think twice.

To live permanently here in France, it’s so completely different, you need to acquire technical French for everyday occurrences. Sometimes it’s so difficult to find a specific word and then place that word into a sentence, which is understood without any misinterpretation. The French dialect in our region, we are even told by the French is very difficult to understand, and even the French visiting the area have problems understanding. This does cause us major problems and even stress.

So what chance do we have? It’s definitely a perseverance problem. So one tends to keep to the same shops as after a few visits one can determine how to approach them as they are all different, they recognise you and get to know who you are, and although on the first visit they seem set on not helping you, once they know you are trying to speak the language and make yourself understood, they become much more sociable. However, there comes a time when you need a particular shop only once..and it can be a nightmare.

Once sentence we have learnt not to use here is "Parlez vous Anglais" as the reaction is always a "No" and we feel sure they have been offended by us asking, as usually they will just walk away. (From experience now we know these people can speak a little English, but had no intention of trying due to our question).

We have one particular shop here in our nearest town, it’s a kind of “end of line” “seconds” shop, selling lots of household items, food and clothing at a very reasonable price. It has become our second home, anything we need or require we tend to go there first. We have learnt the way they work, and one can go and see the new range in, and then nearly always go back 3 weeks later and if the items haven’t sold they reduce by 50%…then several days later to 60% or even 70%, it certainly is a good way to keep the bank balance in check. We only buy at full price now, if it’s an “I must have”, and not an “I would like” item. Hence we have many “I would like” items. But don’t tell everyone!

With the shops closing at 12 noon until 2pm, some shops till 2.30pm, you have to change the whole way you shop, it is certainly so different from England. You either have to decide on an early start or the afternoon out. There is nothing worse than hanging about for 2 hours !!

French Elections 2007

The sun is trying to come out today and its quite mild, weather reports say we are in for some good weather, so fingers crossed for some sunshine.

With the first round of the French General Election taking place here on the 22nd April 2007 and the declaration probably on Monday 23rd April for the results of the first round, and the announcement of the names of the two candidates entitled to enter the second round, has made it so quiet here, seems this is quite normal during the election months in France.

We are presuming that it will stay quiet until the final vote on Sunday 6th May 2007 when over 44.5 million French voters which go to the ballot to appoint the new President of the Republic.

President Jacques Chirac announced that he would not be seeking re-election, so we wonder who will gain power. Mr Chirac who is now 74, has been in power since 1995 and has been in politics for 45 years.


12 candidates are officially running in the 2007 election,

Mme Ségolène Royal – Socialist party
Mme Arlette Laguiller – Trotskyite Lutte Ouvrière party
Mme Dominique Voynet – Green Party
Mme Marie-George Buffet – Communist Party
Jean-Marie Le Pen – National Front
Frédéric Nihous – the CPNT hunting and fishing party
Gérard Schivardi – Trotskyite Parti des travailleurs
José Bové – Anti-globalisation campaigner
Nicolas Sarkozy – The ruling centre-right UMP
François Bayrou – Centrist UDF party Union for French Democracy
Olivier Besancenot – Trotskyite Ligue Communiste Révolutionnaire party
Philippe de Villiers – Far-right MPF party

We await the outcome and wonder what effect this will have on those of us living in France……

French Cheeses

Looking at our website we decided to do some more research and place another couple of pages of information on it, so I had this idea that I should list some French Cheeses on it which I thought would be interesting, so I set about researching this.

Several months later, I was still researching, as I was not aware that France had over 500 cheeses, and I seemed to be living and dreaming Cheeses. Some were very difficult to research and took a lot of time, French markets helped quite a lot, but was not easy taking photographs from this source without getting some strange looks.

Finally finished and the website had gained over 550 pages listing a very comprehensive directory of all the cheeses I could find. Some very rare and some that were available in all of the shops.

Had I known there were so many I would not have started, but once I began found it difficult to stop.

Iain had the task of setting up the huge database that we needed which also took quite a long of time… but the result we feel was worth it.

http://www.joinusinfrance.net/html/cheeses.html

Blogging

Iain was so taken with my blog, either that or so fed up that I was always "blogging", he has started his own blog, you know the saying “If you cant beat them, join them”.

He is a qualified MCSE so his blog is http://helpwithpc.blogspot.com/ and he would appreciate some comments I am sure.

Our property on the market for sale

Yesterday morning at 7 am our telephone rang and woke us up, it was a pleasant English gentleman, who apologised for the early call but his brother and his wife were on the road travelling down from Calais from England and wanted to view the property. They were touring around looking throughout the region. We of course, had no objection to this and rang the gentleman directly on his mobile to give him directions. He mentioned on the phone he was struggling to find a campsite, which was open, and would be with us when he could. We checked out some in the area, but they were not open for the season yet, so we obviously rang them and said that we had plenty of land; electrics could be connected to the van, and if they couldn’t find anywhere near, they were welcome to stay on our land with no obligation. Later in the day he took us up on the offer and arrived to view late afternoon.

The one thing we should mention here, is that the last few days we have had glorious sunshine, and it has been quite warm. However, looked out of the window after the phone call to see a thick layer of snow, and to make matters worse, it was still snowing very heavy. Just our luck!By the time they arrived, snow had turned to rain, and the sun was trying to shine but it was still quite wet.

It’s strange how things like this, tends to throw one out, and just shows how we are in certain routines and habits in our life, for we felt quite restless. Anyhow, we showed the couple around and spent a couple of hours covering all the property details with them and left them to settle in for their overnight stay. Not sure if they slept ok, but we certainly didn’t, we seemed to be disturbed all night.

Set the alarm this morning to rise early, and not long after they came and thanked us for our hospitality and left for Brittany where his brother lives.

So our day started early and we are both very tired. We are not sure we like this idea of selling ones home very much if this is how we feel when anyone views, its so unsettling.

Details of our home can be seen on http://www.joinusinfrance.net/html/house_sale.html

Our search for Computer desks

Both of us being PC fanatics, and having a computer each, it was difficult for us to find the space and a suitable place in our home where we could both work comfortably. We searched many a store for a couple of reasonably priced (if not, cheap) computer desks, which would fit in to our lounge area, this being the only place we had available to put them, but to no avail – everything we looked at didn’t seem to look right or fit in or was expensive.

We waited until Wednesday and travelled to our local Emmaus, a registered worldwide charity which has a large warehouse of second hand furniture, bric a brac – well it has everything one could imagine there. It is only open Saturday and Wednesday afternoon, but it is always well worth a couple of visits if one is looking for something French.

We saw this very old French table, solid Oak and very heavy, we could hardly lift it, and with the help of the French gentleman in the store, helped us put it into our trailer, at a cost of 40 Euros – it was a steal!

Arrived home and had to dismantle most of it outside to allow us to lift it into the house, and Iain got busy. Most French tables are extremely long and have extensions in the middle, so it was relatively easy to separate into two parts, having said that there was so much metal work underneath, such workmanship went into making this table. Iain got his saw out and several hours later was ready for me to just run a cloth of woodstain over them and a quick coat of varnish on our two new PC desks. We think they look amazing, and they fit wonderful under the huge area under our stairs in the Lounge, with plenty of sitting room and out of the way.

Also bought a good quality computer chair for 3 euros….. Bargain

An intense smell

We were busy working on the renovations in the house when we heard a huge commotion outside, now being down a very quiet country lane with only a French retired farming couple living opposite we wondered what was happening.

We opened the front door, nearly getting knocked over by the smell of manure, a nice healthy smell that we get twice a year when the farmers transport this up and down the lane to place on all the fields around us.

The farmers “muck spreader” had been going past our door, and the drive shaft had dropped and ploughed into the road leaving behind him a huge gouge out of the middle of the lane. Another farmer came and helped and after quite a time they had transferred all the manure into another unit. Now they had to lift the drive shaft and remove the vehicle out of the way, then tackle repairing the road the best they could.

Triangular road works signs were placed either side and within two weeks the maintenance crew had been and permanently repaired it.

It looks none the worse now.

Gravelling around the property

It took from Spring onwards last year to get the garden in some sort of shape and after spending the end of the Summer having 26 tons of gravel delivered, many an hour transferring this to the drive, parking areas and paths we felt that the garden was just about finished. (So were we).

When we went to the local gravel pits, we were presented with dozens of little plastic containers showing us all the different sizes and colours of gravel, and we were surprised at the quantity that we needed to do the job. We were even more surprised when this huge dumper (camion) arrived and tipped it out, we nearly fell over once the mountain of gravel that completely blocked the entrance to our drive.

It has been a long, cold, wet and windy Winter, but it feels now that Spring is on its way. It’s brighter and the garden is drying out from all the rain we have had. We felt it was time to mow the lawn and orchard and start to get rid of the weeds.

Of course, being in France, it is not permitted to use any form of mechanical equipment outside during the hours of 12 and 2pm and all day on Sunday, although some tend to ignore this, we being English feel we should follow the rules. So Sunday came and went without us getting out the mower etc. and it was such a beautiful day.

Monday came and it was all hands to the deck, grass 3ft high and our sit on mower struggling to cope. It took all of Monday and Tuesday to get a quick cut all round. We just started on Wednesday to tidy up and the heavens opened. One thing about living here is that we do seem to get more than our fair share of rain, locals say this is climate change in the region, and they have never know such rainy conditions.

At least the garden now is on the way to looking good.

Pet Passport

All our animals had all the relevant vaccinations and were chipped etc before we came here, but it seems to take them back we need to go through the process again. Our Vet here in France even thought the English were over doing it by asking us to get them blood tested for Rabies and waiting for six months. They were already vaccinated against it, but we had to get them done again, wait one month and then get them checked to make sure that the vaccine had taken, if so, then wait six months before we can take them back to England. Doesn’t that seem like backward thinking – they were ok in England – vaccination worked so how could they catch Rabies here ! Well, that’s the way it is folks, so one dog and four cats took a whole morning in the Vets and an arm and an leg later, was sent away to wait for a month. Then back again for the blood test, then wait 10 days, then wait 6 months. “Déjà vu.” Then they just have to return to the Vets 24 hours before travelling to be wormed and de fleed.

Getting out and about

After being so busy for so long, it seems strange now having no renovation works to do. We thought we could try and get out and about a little more than we had been used to.

On our way to Mayenne the other day we had seen so many posters for a Brocante and Antiques Fair advertised and although it was over an hours drive away we thought we would have the day out. It said Friday, Saturday and Sunday, so feeling that Friday would be the quietest day we left in the morning for a steady drive.

In England when they are repairing the road it becomes “cone” city, here they either just get on with the road works and one drives carefully round, or for major works they just close of the whole road and put up diversion signs. You can actually drive a detour of 20 miles – which is fairly common and no prior warning.

Ok so we chose the day when they sealed of the road, and we had to detour – a three quarter circle around where we wanted to go, so our journey took much longer and we arrived at the Brocante at 1pm. Now here in this region of France, everything closes between 12 and 2pm – no exceptions really apart from large Supermarkets, Street Markets and Brocantes. In this case – the Brocante we discovered on the first day of opening didn’t start until 2pm..of course, not stating this on their posters and not having been previously, like a few other people, we arrived and looked silly. So we wandered off for an hour (luckily the supermarket in this large town was open).

We arrived back just gone 2pm to find there was a 5 Euro charge each for admission, we have not heard of this before but paid our money and went in, thinking we were in for a real treat ! In France there are normally sellers of hot sausages and food (they usually have a large barbeque where they cook in front of you) and places where one can get drinks and coffee etc. Well, after walking into this hall and discovering there were about 20 stalls, all of which had items on which seemed to be tripled in price to anywhere else, no where to get food or drink, we were quite taken back. Covered every stall I believe three times and found nothing really of any interest and certainly not at a price that we would have purchased anything. Finally, we left and returned home, cutting across country to miss the long detour.

On route, we spotted another Brocante at the side of the road, a small house with a separate section and feeling that we had not had a day out, we decided to stop and peruse his wares. It was a large unit, absolutely brimming full of objects and furniture; it was three storeys high into the roof. We spotted one glass vase for 30 Euros (which in the other Brocante we had seen a similar one for 70 Euros.) There were some lovely items and we enjoyed our visit in his shop, which took over an hour. We love old French furniture it is normally solid Oak and carved and very heavy, and so cheap in comparison to the modern made furniture.


Life in France!

Let’s talk again

The photograph on the left shows the approach to our Viilage, it always makes me smile, such a wonderful view.

Several days after returning to France, we reflected on our Spanish trip, and discussed all our options. Hmm… what are our options ? OK.. we could stay or we could leave..we decided to leave. OK.. where could we go..well, we have Bulgaria, Croatia or somewhere similar where house prices are still relatively cheap, and then we have England. Having been through so much here in France, to adjust to the way of life, the language, the food, the culture, the idiosyncrasies, did we really want to go through it all again in another foreign country, the answer came swiftly… NO.

So it was agreed that we should return to England, but we felt that we must look at this as a step forward rather than a step back. We have learnt much since leaving and should take the experiences back with us. A different area in between all the family, so we could easily travel in any direction to visit.

Perhaps we could ask the government for a nice new town just for “returnees” as so many expats from England are returning for various reasons. Wake up I thought, and I did so quite quickly ! I forgot for the moment the reasons why we had left !

Next step then, we had the house on the market at the price that the Immobilier suggested and was surprised to have 3 viewings shortly afterwards. Then a phone call to say that the third couple had falling in love with the property and were approaching the bank. Well, this got us moving very quickly into “what happens now” mode, and we searched England for a suitable area, made some enquiries and made our decision to rent long term until we were sure this location was for us.

We waited and waited, then a telephone call, our buyers were having problems raising a bank loan, but not to worry because they now have a mortgage consultant who says there is no problem in getting them a loan, and we agreed a price. Guess what, well, we waited and waited and then another phone call several weeks later, they are sorry but they cannot get a mortgage, they are encountering problems, so they promised to advertise our property again.

We went to another two immobiliers in different towns nearby and signed up with them, again they both thought the price was fair…….and guess what……yes, you guessed correctly – we are waiting.
In the meantime, we thought that now that Spain was not happening, we ought to check out the animals for returning to England, so visited our Vet and explained, not Spain now but England.

His comments nearly knocked us over………

Experiences in Spain

We returned to our apartment, tired and confused and feeling unwell……


I was up most of the night feeling nauseous, and felt I had a head cold, and this remained with me for several days, after which I did feel slightly better. This did stop us travelling too far afield but we still managed to view quite a few of the towns and villages in the area.


The weather in this region of Spain seemed so changeable, and as one drove from town to town we would go from blazing sunshine to very cold, rain or even snow. On our journey around this area, it was difficult to keep any equilibrium; we could feel the change in altitude all the time.

Inland Spain was completely different to the Costas where we have enjoyed holidays in the past.


Some of the views we saw were absolutely stunning, breath taking, very beautiful, but these places were inhabitable, usually we were high up in the mountains. The infrastructure of inland Andalusia we felt was not good, lots of very bad roads, broken barriers and lots of road works, and I hate to say it, but plenty of “cones”, something we do not see in France. Also living in France which is a very clean, looked after place, we see no litter on the roads here…. shame we found this part of Spain to be the opposite.


Unfortunately, then it was Iain’s turn to contract a bad head cold, and he became quite ill, we feel sure it was the constant change in temperatures and altitude during the day which we had been experiencing.

However, we searched out some supermarkets and found these to be extremely good, more our kind of food, the meat was very reasonably priced and looked edible. We ate well during our stay and enjoyed what we had bought, which we found to be a very pleasant change. We knew that Spain would not be a problem for food, unlike France.

Both feeling not at our best, we still travelled around and went into a few immobiliers – no luck really, it appeared that even for Inland Andalusia our money would not go very far toward a liveable property. We certainly did not mind doing a part renovation – but the properties were too highly priced for us to consider this option. We felt like this that been an experience, but a completely wasted journey.

We checked our departure information and realised we had to be out of the accommodation by 11am…what a stupid error I had made when booking, our flight was not until 9pm and they had more guests arriving that day, so we could not arrange to stay on. This would not have been a problem, had we both been fit and had we not had to spend from 11.30pm until lunchtime the following day at Stansted.

We drove to Granada Airport to see if we could get a flight a day, or even two earlier, but alas the desk only opened 7.30pm for the one flight a day. So we checked on the internet and found that we could change but it would cost us over 400 Euros to do so. Oh to hell with it, we said, we will just tackle it.

So both feeling like “death warmed up” we left the apartment at 11.00am, feeling too ill to do much, we took a slow drive to Granada Airport, and sat out the 9 hours. Arriving Stansted half an hour earlier than planned, we put our cases into the the left luggage section and tried to find some comfortable seating for the overnight stay.

What an experience that turned out to be, hundreds upon hundreds of – well, we assume back packers and overnight travellers, lying on the chairs, taking up 4 seats with their sleeping bags etc. Not only that, they were on the floor, and in every available corner, some huddled together with roll up mats, some in shop doorways. Where on earth did all these people come from?

Rather than a very expensive hotel, which even we could not afford, why did Stansted not have a large room set aside, (even a small hostel) perhaps with rows of recliners or something. Just something suitable for people who had to stay overnight to get some sleep, and of course, unclutter the walking and sitting areas. We would have happily paid a small charge for this service.

We finally found two uncomfortable chairs and settled for the overnight stint… a long cold wait where sleep would not come. We took breakfast as soon as they opened at 3.30am. and the food was just edible, the tea we had was like dishwater with a heavy film across the top. I can tell you now were so relieved when the time had finally arrived for us to board our flight. Arrived at Tours, very bleary eyed, Iain just about managed the 2 hour drive home, and we said those words…… never ever again!

We got into bed early that evening, where we felt sure our bodies became detached from our brain.

Spain was out of the equation, so it was back to the drawing board to start again……

Spanish Disaster

As I have said previously our apartment in Spain was excellent, even to the point of having an electric blanket. Goodness, we realised that we would need it, as it was very cold on the Thursday morning when we woke. The views were wonderful we did not realise we were so high up.

We had two appointments on that day to view properties that looked great on the internet. Our first one was just after lunch in a small village, this was my favourite it was described as having a lovely rose garden and the outside looked a dream.

We met the agent who had a “runner” with her, and we followed her in our car for miles up in the mountains, we seem to leave the lovely quaint village well below us, and climbed and twisted through a dirt track up the side of this mountain. Quite a difficult time for our hired car, one really needed a 4x4 to tackle such a route. The look on my face I believe said it all when we finally stopped in this mountain village, and started walking to the house. One could not even park near, as the street was so narrow. I wished now that I had taken pictures of this tumble down dump, which required total reform so you could see what condition this property was in. We think it had been on the market for many years and just left to rot. The photographs we saw must have been taken many years prior when the house was looked after. There was a 3ft breeze block wall to the rear of the property that was all cracked and broken and then a sheer drop of over 250ft down the mountain. I myself could not get near enough to look down, it didn’t feel safe. The house itself had no windows to the sides or the back due to having this drop obviously with no access around the house. Just one door and two front windows. The house needed gutting, a total reform. No kitchen, no bathroom, nothing. The “rose garden” was several roses that had been left to go very wild. 85,000 Euros was the asking price !

We were disappointed but not deterred at this stage and looked forward to our next viewing which was late afternoon, this was Iain’s favourite, a village house with 4 bedrooms, again the photos looked lovely. Although we had noticed that the photo of the front of the house had been taken quite close and one could not see the adjoining houses.

For this viewing we attended the immobilier (estate agency) and she drove us to this viewing. Iain looked around as he could not spot the house we were viewing, I had seen it and my mouth dropped. Next door’s side of the house was made of corrugated iron – the whole side, all rusty and dented, and took up the whole side wall of the front garden of the house for sale. Next door on the other side, well, it had burnt out, had a fire, and had been left for many years in this condition, it was a wreck. This house inside again needed total reform, although the details did not convey this message at all. Perhaps at this stage I should say we were looking at properties up 100,000 Euros. Although this was slightly cheaper, certainly not worth the money they were asking.

OK, we were disappointed again, and we learnt from that moment on that one should not take any notice of photographs, they can be too deceiving. We looked forward to Friday afternoon, as another agent who had half a dozen properties for us to see was taking us out.

We woke Friday morning to minus 1c… a very cold morning, and very misty. So jumpers were donned and we drove to a very busy Jaen to investigate the NIE documents and have a look round and then onto our meeting with the agent who took us in her car to a number of houses. The first two houses were reasonable although did need new bathroom, new kitchen, new electrics,etc. but we did see the potential there, with lots of work they would have been wonderful, unfortunately close to our budget, we could not have entertained all the expense to make these a viable proposition. The third house was better, top of the budget with no money to spare really, and just needed a bathroom, new kitchen and the electrics looking at, and obviously decorating from top to bottom. Lots of potential for this property, it could be very nice and I could imagine it completed. But none of these houses had any form of garden just a patio, which we felt was not good for our animals. The village was tidy and the people very pleasant.

Our next stop was a cortijo, we were told this did need some work but had a garden, OK. I agree it had a garden, and was cheaper, unfortunately not cheap enough. It needed total reform, including a roof (it was corrugated) – well it required absolutely everything. Having had one house back to its shell, we could not tackle anything like that again and be alive at the end of it to tell you about it. However, I did get the camera out at this one and took a picture of the bathroom – see picture titled Spanish Cortijo Bathroom.

Last house on the list was miles away and we sat in the car for quite a time whilst this patient lady drove us to our destination, we should point out that now the sun had come out and it was 28c…so we wilted in the car for quite some time. Felt quite ill. Whatever made me put a jumper on !

She parked the car and we started walking again through narrow streets, well all we could say about this one was more than total reform was required. We think it needed to be pulled down and started again. High price for such a property, but it did have a small section of garden – but one had to climb up the side of the hill to get to it – so that one was at the same height as the adjoining properties roof.

We returned to our apartment, tired and confused and feeling unwell……..

The planning of our Spanish trip.

Planning a journey to Spain sounds very easy… unless of course you live in France ! Iain required some time to return to England to see the family, I could not go at this stage due to having to look after all the animals. So we first arranged a return flight to England and arranged for his Parents to return with him, to take care of the animals whilst we were gone, everything seemed to go fine for this stage. No real problems, travelling from France to England and back again is very easy, although now the cost have gone up quite a considerably due to double taxes.

Now planning a journey to Spain from here is a different kettle of fish altogether, we would have had to drive to Paris or drive to one of the other airports and fly to Paris, and then fly to Spain. Firstly, from here not a good journey to drive into Paris, so that got aborted. OK, cant see the point of driving to another airport and flying to Paris and getting across Paris to CDG airport to fly to Spain, at the cost of over 800 euros each. Did not want to tackle the drive to Spain of over 2,000 miles round trip, our car is not that good with the petrol consumption.

OK.. so our plan developed we would fly to Stanstead which is only an hours flights and then fly to Granada or Malaga. Sounds easy – try booking it !…Cheap enough, but all flights out of the region, whether it be Dinard, Nantes, Rennes, are afternoon flights and we would have missed the afternoon flight into either Granada or Malaga. So we then searched French to English airports including the new route into EMA but could not get connecting flights for the same day. The only flight available to us was Tours into Stansted which was a lunchtime flight, we have flown from Tours before and it’s a great airport. So for the flight going out it arrived early enough to get a same day connection, unfortunately the return flight we miss the same day connection which meant arriving at Stansted late evening and catching the next flight to Tours the following morning.

OK, no problem we shall arrange to stay at Stansted for the night. Taking into account certain days with Ryanair which were cheaper than others, we booked for eight days. This of course made it more difficult to find reasonable accommodation for the extra night in Spain, but we seemed to manage that ok. The only problem that we seemed to envisage was that arriving at Stansted 11.45pm and after searching around found it was difficult to get a bed and breakfast place for the night. The nearest one which would take late arrivals was some 10 miles away with a costly taxi fare. The only option was the hotels at Stansted and the minimum for that was 170 pounds, well that seemed so expensive from 12 midnight till 7am in the morning, so we decided to stay at the airport and kill time.

We thought we had everything arranged so we set off on our journey to Tours at 9am. Everything went fine, arrived Stansted, and then caught our connection to Granada, it could not really have gone any smoother and we enjoyed the travelling. Arrived Granada and picked up our hired car with no problems whatsoever and drove to our accommodation, arrived about 10.30pm tired but happy. Accommodation was lovely, a small self contained apartment with a welcome pack, on the edge of the mountains in Andalusia. So a hot drink and into bed.

It was in the morning at our Spanish trip started taking a turn for the worse……