The first guests to rent our former home, the Villa Les Cypres had there first week and seemed to like it so much so they booked for a fortnight next year! We had our first ' change over' with 3 ladies arriving from Nova Scotia.
The walls now completed this is now our home! we will put 3 metres of grass in front of the wall , space for sun beds, then a deck then the pool.



The week between 7th July and the 14th saw another change in clients at Les Cypres, this time a Belgium family staying for a fortnight,a visit to Avignon buying sinks, tiles and beds!shear luxury!pool cleaning and tourist guide!and of course some socialising in the village!the culmination of which was Bastille day on July 14th when our village holds a huge Vide (empty)Grenier(loft/roof space). Like UK car boots it starts at some unearthly hour and is attended by hundreds if not thousands of people selling there toot!
Here is Karen thinking she has spotted a bargain!

Our purchase of the day was a ladder used for Cherry tree picking! very old but lovely and just 15€! And the lady has a house to sell nearby so we are going to see her!

The narrow village streets are buzzing with stall holders selling there xxxx!



But its good for the village, all the locals are out and the shops and bars do great business! The event ends in the evening with fireworks.

Well here we are 22 July, finally after several hours, spread over several visits (seemed like days)in France Telecom we are reconnected to the world!
It has been a while since I updated so here is what we have been doing! This is the kitchen in the gite we will be living in, just need to remove the blue protective cover and fit the fridge in the right hand corner!




These are our roof tiles, about 100 years old (could not afford new - joke!), from Nimes.


The top
course of the terrace walls are poured, part of which will be rendered and some stone clad.



The idea being that the terraces will be a mixture of hard surfaces and planted,leading down to the garden.

Well since my last blog then a lot has been going on!
After our trip to Turkey my sister Gillian & her husband Neil came out to help prepare Les Cypres for our first guests and also help prepare us for our move to the Gite.

They worked like Trojans and we are enormously grateful for everything they did!!

With their consent we slipped back to England for a weekend to attend the wedding of my old business partner John to Gladys and a very nice weekend it was to at the Master builders Hotel in Beaulieu. We finally got to grips with our move and on the 26th June spent our first night with the 3 cats in Les Cerisier.

So this is us on moving in day! Of course it was not all with out a hitch! the solar panels that will heat our hot water were up until the day before we moved stuck on a ship off the coast of Spain! thank fully our plumber managed to install them the day we moved in and boy do they work well! Free hot water! And of course good old France Telecom! having assured us it will only take 10 days to connect us they now say up to 2 months - unbelievable!




Well we have now been living in our gite for about 10 days and it really feels like home! only last night we sat out on the terrace over looking the construction site with a bottle of Bollinger - vintage at that too!! We know how to live!!


We were celebrating the departure of our first guests in Les Cypres who have re booked for two weeks next summer, which is quite an endorsement!

Meanwhile there is much activity on site! Since June 17th the weather has been very hot, 30 degrees and above most days so the builders now start at 6am working until 2pm. There is no better incentive in getting out of bed than a bunch of guys banging plus various machines going past your bedroom window!



The major work over the last 10 days is the building of the terrace walls which once done will be filled and compacted. These will then lead to the gardens and swimming pool.






And as for the other house! its coming along! has windows, no tiles on the roof yet and no internal walls but its coming along!









And finally the cats are loving it, curious yes, very but so far they all seem ok!.

We have just returned from a lovely week in Turkey,great weather, food and people. Helped all the more by going with Sue & Tim who new all the best places having been 5 times before ( like most people it seems!)


I will endeavor to add some pics over the next few days!




Meanwhile we return to find Thijs has been busy with his digger starting to build the terraces and dig foundations for the retaining walls making our access all the more easy ( not!) bearing in mind we move in next Thursday with no water as our Solar panels are stuck on a boat near Spain!no sanitary ware as the tiling was not finished until today and no render or shutters at least the windows are in!



It will be interesting to see how the cats settle!

Whilst doing all the preparation for next week we have to get our current villa fully sorted for our first guests arriving next Saturday - lets hope the weather settles by then!

Today Karen and I assembled the kitchen which is being fitted tomorrow - watch this space..............

The normal bright luminous blue skies have been replaced by dramatic dark threatening ones!



The weather has continued to play havoc over the last week with continued thunderstorms and heavy rain. It is one of the most prolonged wet periods since 1992 causing damage to the areas agriculture notably to the vines where one of our friends has lost 30% and also to the cherries, both damaged by the high winds. Our Olive trees are about to blossom and it is critical that they are not damaged at this time.

In the meantime our plot is saturated and this is the back of the house - we will be living here in just under 4 weeks!



More rain heads our way!



At least our 100 year old roof tiles are being cleaned bringing out there colour & character.


Two of the three pallets of plaster sit in the rain! thank fully they are protected and the plasterer finally starts on Monday, he expects to be there for 5 weeks!



The roof to the upper terrace has at last been added to the second house (to protect from the rain ha ha )whilst our friends have parked there camper for a month or two - we may yet end up using it!


These are our cherries in the garden, sadly a combination of the wind and rain many have been ruined.

The last week has been rather challenging! Firstly the weather has been appalling! torrential rain with the most amazing electrical storms and the scirroco (from Morocco) wind dumping sand all over the place!
We decided to buy a lighter paint spray gun rather than using the compressor which is rather heavy to move around. Bearing in mind we have a total of 8 bedrooms, 7 reception rooms to paint for starters! So here I am just starting off with 10 litres on my back! Unfortunately it was useless so I cleaned it up and took it back demanding a refund, not always easy when its used by I succeeded although not sure whether the guy just thought I was a loony and wanted to get me out the store!
So now its back to the traditional method of rollers!

Then the new pool alarm, compulsory here stopped working.So our Electrician stepped in and took the Siren back to the same shop as the paint sprayer came from demanding a replacement - trouble was I didn't buy it there! so I had to go next day and get one from where I did buy it and meet the electrician so he could go back and avoid further embarrassment! For sure where ever we go we are never forgotten!

So we continue to finish painting the first gite which we move into in about 4 weeks - still no electric or water - but it will come I am sure!


Yesterday we braved France Telecom who like BT monopolies the French phone lines. This involves going into their shop, where there is always a queue and never enough staff. Good afternnon we said to the cherful man - this is your lucky day! we explain we need
our phone number moved to our new house, the internet also and to put a new internet service into this villa for our clients use - simple - two hours later, exhausted, dehydrated we leave and by the time we get home they have cut our phone off - now thats fast - but not what we ordered! So we build up our strength to go back tomorrow!


This is the North face of the gites, now with the roof tiled, the walls will have three coats of render.
Today, Wednesday our removal company who bought us down from the UK came and packed us up to put most of our furniture into the garage of the new house until the house is completed which we hope will be September ish ( this year!). After this relaxing day it was off to Marseille to collect Karens Mum from the airport, Joan has come out to pack boxes, sorry I mean for a holiday!
Tomorrow I am back to the gite to start on the second one, rubbing down the beams , all the ceilings are vaulted, ceiling and walls before the task of 3 coats of paint - Joy!

And this is our garage!

Whilst we were in Avignon the floors were being poured in our house so we decided to stay well out the way! This is the layer of pvc that is put down and the level indicators just before pouring starts.




I know that over the past two years I have upset a few people by gloating at how nice our weather is , so you will be pleased to know that this spring has been the wettest for about 20 years! We really need it for the reservoirs, vines and vegetation but enough is enough!! time for some warm sunshine! The upside is we have the most beautiful landscape, lush and green with poppies everywhere.



After torrential rain yesterday (Saturday) we were concerned that the forecast of sun today would happen, and as we drove to Banon, where the annual Cheese festival was taking place we did wonder. We were literally driving though mist and low cloud - in mid May!

But thankfully as we approached the village the sun shone through and shaw enough it was soon in the mid seventies if not hotter. The band played as they walked through the pedestrians, note his satchel with the items closest to a French mans heart (or stomach)


Banon is famous for its goats cheese,usually wrapped in dried Chestnut tree leaves, it also has two famous shops , this one selling every sausicon you can imagine which they ship world wide




and also the book shop Le Bleuet, one of the largest in France.





The annual fete brings together local cheese and wine producers to sell their wares , there are plenty of free tastings and samples! or you can buy a sandwich, a bottle of wine and sit in the square watching people go by!



So fine goats cheese - guaranteed to put hairs on your chest!



And excellent Jambon,




And finally time to go home, back amongst the poppies.

Over the last week Martin has been here so we put him to work in the garden and for being so good we treated him to meatballs in Ikea! where we picked up the two gite kitchens. He enjoyed this experience so much that on Thursday we took him to lunch in Flunch in Avignon where we spent about 8 hours in various DIY/home furnishing stores etc - it has to be done!

The gites finally have roof tiles, the floors have the under floor heating which cools during summer




and Patrick our Electrician has finished - well almost!!

Have just spent a very pleasant weekend with Sue & Tim who came out Thursday celebrating Sue's birthday Friday. Thank fully the weather was pretty good although not quite as clear as blighty!


Martin is now here on gardening leave! Although it's a case of dodging the downpours - what is going on with the weather - hot in the UK - wet here - don't you just love that!!

We have almost finished all the work on Les Cypres - ready to start at the new house!

Thijs has secured the garage ready to store our furniture, the roof tiles are going on, on Thursday this week the second layer of concrete is poured on the floors over the under floor heating pipes in the gites whilst the first layer is poured in the rest of the house.

With the clock ticking we are getting organised with finishing a variety of jobs on the villa before the first 'holiday' makers arrive in 8 weeks.

Our driveway has caused many people a problem when departing (especially after consuming a few glasses of wine), so we finally got Thijs to carry out a new concrete slope !


It seems like the house has progressed this week!

The covered terraces to the gites are being constructed.


We finally have windows in the second bedroom, lounge & study.




And even a front door! made by a local craftsman to a traditional style in Solid Oak.


Our Electrician is getting to grips with everything! Just halfway through!

Proving that man can multi task - paint brush in one hand roller in the other! second coat on the gite ceiling - I fear two more to go!

Whilst Karen paints yet another set of French doors.