nos premiers pas

impasse du chapitre, Castelnau Magnoac

day one ( sounds like the house) of our exciting new adventure at au petit bonheur, which translates as a little bit of happiness.
At last we are here and all the upheaval was so definitely worth it. We keep pinching ourselves to make sure that we are not in some wonderful dream or just here for a lovely holiday. 

au petit bonheur

a view of the pyrenees from the village

The Pyrenees which form the spanish and french border are 270 miles long  and in the centre reach some 80 miles in width. They are not the tallest mountains in Europe but i believe they are the longest stretch.

There are many views of the mountains 300 perhaps out of 365...if not more. For a  few months and the odd day here and there you would not believe they even existed unless you were in them. They are elusive, mystical as well as majestic which makes them even more exciting, and i for one cannot get bored of daily mountain gazing.

across the lac another church and the village of
Larroque Magnoac where are friends from Taz have built

Castelnau Magnoac is a market town in the commune of the Haute Pyrenees department in South west France. We are about an hour and a half from the Pyrenees National Park which is close to the spanish border. We are about  two and a half hours away from Biarritz a classic fifties, old french resort, very charming. i love where we are it gives us lots of opportunities for exploration in many european countries as well as France. We are looking forward to it.

pack me up before you go go!

wow, unbelievable two weeks, fraught, frantic, traumatic, panic are all words that spring to mind.

to say that we had underestimated how much stuff and how much we have had to do in the last five days would be an under- estimation in itself. As well as being brutal with the house in the end because we were up against it we were also very brutal to each other. They say death, divorce and a move are the top three stress factors we went through all three at least three times a day over a whole week.

anyway...First off, Jeremy arrived for the last boxes (at least eight) plus

more clothes, a desk and a bed plus miscellaneous toolssssssssss......now i know why our decorator had screwdriver envy?!

after that, last minute stuff to the house and packing the loft

one orchid too many....plus
Beryl and Ted

Having cancelled Chartres and the tunnel and put back the whole move back by a day we are still running late. we started at six in the morning and are working like dogs to try and get the remaining stuff into some order in the loft and simultaneously think of stuff that we should leave for our new tenants.

ie obviously manuals, a map of the fuse box? all keys and there are a lot all labelled, that was just Tuesdays list. It may not seem a lot but as well as packing and making sure things are working the french end, lots. The cleaners descended on us as planned and we still had not left, unplanned. Things got unceremoniously dumped everywhere including an unwashed wine glass on the sill of the loft

because i was too tired to go up the ladder again.

Chartres cathedral

Hotellerie St Yves, Chartres

Anyway one hour late and waving frantically at Mik and saying goodbye to Phylis we leave and are on our way, it might sound sad but i am to tired to be elated. Things will be different at the other end, let's

drive....

good journey despite being a day late and two hours, tired but happy to be in Chartres, familiar ground and somewhere we are very fond of. For the last few years we have been staying in a converted monastery, basic but beautifully positioned, very comfortable for a reasonable rate. Chartres itself is a beautiful city and we have enjoyed many a beautiful meal there

                         

Chartres cathedral

                     

Harold is ok Anna, he is now safely unwrapped

easter special

At Easter we had a family get together, generously hosted by Rosemary, my aunt, at Swaylands in Penshurst, Kent. Rosemary with the aid of various family members put on a very generous feast for eleven people, including a choice for main course and five puddings to devour along with canapes cheese and chocolate truffles. It was great to catch up with everyone. My brother and family have lived in Houston, Texas for ten years and although they have been back for the last three, we have not seen much of each other....at least we are not moving quite that far away, and we certainly hope they will visit and visa visa.

Sadly my other brother, Jonathan, was not feeling well and could not make it.

from top left, Joel (i am taller than mark b) Marc b, my dad

bottomn row, Mark s my bruv, me, Anna (i could embarrass

my parents, if they annoy me too much) and mum Beccy

After that lovely food we felt it necessary but unsuccessfully to walk it off in the beautiful grounds of Swaylands. The rockery is the second biggest in Europe it also houses a memorial bench in memory of my lovely uncle Alan who sadly died in february last year.

cameras at dawn!

relocation, relocation

Almost the final leg of our journey and the beginning of a very exciting new adventure. We now have a couple to look after our house so it has now all become very real, with definitely an end picture in sight. Now we just need to sort our rather long snagging list on things to do the house, mostly small things, like leaky taps. The main work which included re-painting the whole house, re-carpeting and building a front garden wall have been done.

a cold end of january trip, no 3?

it's a wrap, recognise harold the hare? hare he is.....

.... and hare again on monday 11th of march, one very cold
night indeed

Masseube pictured on the truck is a small rather lovely market town situated about fifteen minutes from

Castelnau. I wonder if our neighbours are as intrigued this end as they are at the french end. All of the truck arrivals the french end, have been clocked and reported from the Dupont coffee bar which happens to be situated across the road at the beginning of our cul de sac.

Jeremy has done a marvellous job of relocating our stuff this will be one of his many visits to Castelnau, tonight was exceptionally cold (in fact the coldest day on record since 1986). At least he had his wife on board and Louis the border collie for company.