FRENCH HOUSE DIARY

2nd May 1997

Sue, Rick, Jennifer
Donald, Helen, Ben, Paul
George, Caroline, Rachel
Julie, Douglas, Philippa, Alexander, Jessica

It started as “The Boat Fund” but turned into “The French House Fund” as French property in the mid 90’s was very cheap. Douglas, Donald and Rick made a couple of fun visits to find somewhere suitable. They still laugh about the cigar incident. I remember watching a video of Don dancing on the boat. Douglas and Rick bet he wouldn’t do it as no one else was dancing. Julie and Douglas friends, Malcolm and Vanessa lived near Carrouges and introduced them to the local Notaire who took them to view the house in Saint Ellier. The house had been empty for a number of years and was in a poor state of repair. The front half had smaller rooms and used to be a Tabac, there was still a rack of postcards in the lounge area. There was a huge extraction tube going across the loft area. In the main house there were flies and spiders everywhere and one of the bedroom had a wig and a handbag on the floor. The walls in the lounge were covered in material. The big excitement was that there was a red Ferrari in the garage, we were all hoping that it came with the house. It took a couple of years from that first visit to complete the purchase. It was francs in those days but we purchased the whole block for roughly £18K and Sue Nazareth and her daughter Lizzie purchased the end part for £6k. The Boat Fund had £10k so we only had £2K to find between 4 families. Because of the French inheritance laws we decided to form a small French company called an SCI.

Tony Blair became Prime Minister today and while on the boat to France we all stood watching him being greeted by jubilant crowds in London. We were all very excited to be having the first full French House Family visit to Saint Ellier Les Bois.

After arriving at Le Havre, George who was driving Diane and Michael's Camper Van, arrived at the campsite about an hour after the Wood-Roe's and the Fishbourne Kirk's. The Camper Van would only go at about 50 miles per hour. The Waite's who were in convoy with George arrived at the same time.

Dick and Don went to the house to unload the cooker, fridge and other bits that we brought with us. The campsite was officially closed but a man said they would open up the facilities for us the next day. The Wood-Roe's had to put up with everyone using the toilet in their caravan. Meanwhile, we all helped to set up the caravans and awnings. The firemen arrived in force for a fire practice. The children purchased a load of bangers which we could hear being let off on their way home.

It was a really warm evening and stayed light until about 10:00 p.m. We had a chilli and bolognaise for supper, after which Don and Douglas went and played table football at a local bar. Due to torch failure and lack of lights, Douglas fell of Caroline's bike on the way back up the hill. It was then about 1:00 am.

Saturday

We arrived in the village about I 1:00 am, George said he may cycle up later. Dick and Don investigated how to tum the water on in the road. After 10 minutes of struggling two Frenchmen told them that they were turning it the wrong way. Sue cleaned the bathroom. Helen rubbed down the railings, Caroline started stripping in the bedroom (wallpaper I mean).-.The Waite's arrived a little later as it was just before Julie's exams.

Douglas and Julie slept off the long lunch and many bottles of wine on the camp bed outside the church. Dick and Don went off to the shops to buy some plumbing parts for a burst pipe. Everyone else busied themselves cleaning up the house and stripping off wallpaper.

After a barbecue we all went to the local bar where Douglas had met up with his friends Malcolm and Vanessa.

Sunday

We finished stripping off the wallpaper and clearing the rubbish out of the house. All the material was ripped off the walls in the lounge. The kitchen was given a coat of white paint and we started to Hammerite the railings. Dick and Don managed to get the boiler going in the bathroom. We now have hot water! Douglas and George cleaned up the loft area. They thought it would be a good idea to use it as a Games Room.

Another very enjoyable lunch was to be had at the cafe. We also met Gabby, who was an English girl who had lived in the village for nine years. The local electrician, who was storing his gear in our Granary came round to look at the wiring in order to give us a quote. Gabby helped translate.

Monday

It poured with rain. We put the Waite's caravan in the garage. Can’t wait for the next visit.