Thursday 23 October 1997
Rick, Sue, Jennifer, Isobel, Donald and Helen

Set off for the 10:30 sailing to Le Havre with the trailer loaded up with the kitchen units and tools etc. Had a few of Rick's stiff gins and then hit the Casino for a game of pontoon. Donald finished £3 up. Another drink and then to bed at 1:00 am.

Friday 24th October 1997

Woken up at 5:00 am with the complimentary breakfast whilst the Kirk's woke up to just a hangover. All we could find for Helen to drink was a can of tonic. It was a bright sunny morning but there was a thick frost in valleys as we approached Carrouges.

We stopped on the way to the house for Helen to buy some croissants. She asked a Frenchman for directions and the next thing we knew she was flat on her face, perhaps it was the lack of food! We arrived at the house at 10:30 am. Martine asked us over for coffee and showed us the revised quote for the electricity installation. Went through the bills with Gaby then Rick and I set off to Carrouges to pay the rates. We were a week late in paying them and this incurs a 10% surcharge( approx £37). They helped us write a letter to get us excused from it.

Lunch at 2:00pm was omelette, kidneys and creme caramel. Helen threw a glass of wine all over her sweatshirt. The Electrician arrived whilst we were there and he went over to the house with Don and Rick. George will be pleased to know that he has been asked to remove the plug from the bathroom. We also asked him to put a light and plug in the garage and the dark part of the cellar. Somehow we have lost the quote, I think it was left at the house but it was approximately l 3000fwith the extras I have just mentioned, this does include the chopping in. Don and Rick started to put the units together and then they went to Alencon to buy two sets of bunk beds. Helen washed the toilet ceiling and walls and Sue undercoated the front door. While we were putting one set of beds together Daniel insisted we go over there for drinks.

Julie seemed to have made a big impression on Daniel. Her first outfit made his eyes pop out, the second got him hot under the collar and third seemed just right. Daniel seemed very excited that evening and I think he had to much to drink. Helen and I put a coat of paint on the toilet and the hallway. Rick and Don stayed up until 1:30 pm to assemble the kitchen units. Donald and Helen slept in the bunk beds in the house and the Wood-Roe's slept in the caravan.

Saturday 25th October 1997

We missed the 8:00 baker's call so we filled ourselves up with biscuits. Rick & Don spent quite a time working out what bits they needed for filling in the wall and fitting the kitchen units. Just as they were leaving for the shops the baker arrived so Helen and I stopped again for breakfast. Helen colour washed the hallway in a pale yellow and I put another coat on the toilet walls. Helen and I spent most of the weekend painting doors (we worked it out to be the equivalent of 28 doors).

Lunch was pate, chicken with wonderful mushrooms and brioche with homemade jam. Don and Rick had a lot of trouble putting up the stud wall, nothing seemed to go right. Helen started stenciling the hallway- it looks very nice. We placed a few units in place in the kitchen and covered them with bit of worktop. Suddenly we were using the kitchen! Martine and Daniel came over with some logs. We all sat drinking in front of the fire and Martine recounted the story of how she remembered putting her shoes by that very fire one Christmas when she was a little girl. Daniel remembered when Martine's grandfather stacked the fire right up to the top and caught the chimney, or perhaps the roof, alight. Helen did some more painting and Don and Rick put the other set of bunk beds together.

Sunday 25th October 1997

The clocks went back the night before but apparently the church bells are changed automatically by a satellite. We thought this quite amazing for so backward a village. We got up early and Don and Rick started to install the units. At 11:00 am we went to Susan and Louis's for aperitifs. Helen & Don gave them some biscuits for looking after our bit of ground. It was pretty hard going as neither of them spoke a word of English. They showed us all their family photographs and their garden. There were lots of hutches in the garden and one was full of rabbits which they breed for eating. This didn't go down too well with the girls.

We then had the best lunch ever. A fish dish followed by rare roast lamb and beef. Sue overdid the aperitifs and lunch time wine and had to sleep it off afterwards. More painting! We went over to the cafe for drinks in the evening and looked at Martine's and Daniel's photographs of their visit to South America last year. Jennifer had a bad dream about crocodiles that night.

Jennifer and Isobel stencilled the toilet with snails, seahorses and sun's. It looks good but unfortunately most of the doors carry the imprint of someone's jumper. Rick and Don finally got the kitchen sink working at 10:00 pm. It seems that you can only use either the bathroom, kitchen or cellar tap at one time. The water went off as I was washing Jennifer's hair as Helen was using the cellar tap to wash the roller out.

Monday 26th October 1997

We spent until 11:00am cleaning up, sorry but I forgot to empty the fridge in the caravan. We then left to look around a large shopping complex in Alencon. Some people who were in the cafe the previous day introduced themselves to Donald. The Wood-Roe's look around a Pet Shop, there were dogs and cats in cages for sale . Also, there was a rat with lots of tiny babies feeding off her. Jennifer bought some Naf Naf shoes which were almost half price. The boat was delayed by about an hour and it was a bit rough. I was sea sick which I think was brought on by concentrating on writing up this diary. However, I soon recovered enough to eat two roast dinners. We had one of the best cabins which made our journey more enjoyable.

It was a really good weekend and I think we are still as keen as ever. It was unfortunate that we didn't finish off the kitchen but never mind there is always next time. Jennifer thinks the whole place is depressing as it is like going back 50 years in time. There are approximately 250 people in the village, I can't think where and we didn't get around to looking. We have decided to use Alencon for shopping as it has lots of modem shops. Daniel and Martine have offered to show us around the old part of Alencon on the Saturday afternoon on our next visit.