Why would you want to be anywhere else?

This saying became the "Theme Phrase" for this recent trip to France!  If Lorraine said it once she said it a hundred times which I think means that she loved the place almost as much as me... well OK nobody probably loves it as much as me but it was pretty close!  Pretending to loose her passport at the airport on departure proved that, Lorraine you have to go home!

Have to say it was not a particularly good start to this trip as once again an extremely bumpy ride into Limoges airport! This time the rain was coming down in stair rods and the aeroplane hit the runway with some bump and almost for a split second or two appeared to go sideways, took a deep breath in and my knuckles went white as it ground to a halt at the end of the runway.  There was a round of applause from the obviously nervous passengers accompanied by the ritual of the Ryan Air fanfare for another on time flight arrival!


Not being well equipped for the rain, Lorraine and I pulled our cardigans over our heads and ran for cover and with a quick pass through customs we had arrived!  We jumped in a taxi and headed for Limoges station with some free time for a nice lunch before the 3pm train to La Souterraine.


Thank goodness we did have lunch, as we were soon to discover we had arrived on May 8th which is a massive holiday in France and EVERYWHERE was closed.  So here we are arriving at the house, no food, no milk and more importantly no alcohol... note to self always make sure you leave some alcohol somewhere for the next visit!!  Lorraine was pretty miffed everything I had promised her... sunshine, alcohol and delicious fresh food just wasn't happening and the 2 Belvita breakfast biscuits didn't quite have the same impact!  However I have to add that she more than made up for this on the rest of the holiday!!


So after a 4am start we finally settled down in front of the fire but couldn't work out where the running water noise was coming from and why after 2 hours we had no hot water?  I went upstairs to the bathroom and there was the bathroom sink tap pouring its heart out down the plug hole... yes Lorraine!  Lorraine had gone to the toilet when we first arrived and hadn't realised that there was no water switched on until she tried the tap and nothing came out but instead of switching it off she left it on so once I switched the water on obviously it started running whilst we disappeared out in the car for an hour! Therefore there was no bath that night and no hot water until the next morning. Just because she didn't get her supper!!


I think we managed to get through to 8.30pm before finally sloping off to bed it had been a long day and we had to be up early in the morning for the arrival of our builder Mick to start work on the chimney and then we were off to collect my sister from Limoges airport.


Mick arrived bright and early but because of the rain the day before he wasn't going to be starting until tomorrow.With the date of our first renters creeping up on me I had a long list of things that needed to be done on this trip not least to find a suitable cleaner to turn around the property after the company I had lined up had decided to close down!  I am delighted to say that Heather appeared as the last of the 3 people I was interviewing and it looks like all my prayers have been answered I offered her the job on the spot and I am sure she will make a good job of keeping the house up to scratch for the renters.


Wednesday evening we settled down with a big plate of home made bean chilli and the first of 4 bottles of wine...  

... as i said Lorraine more than made up for it!

Kym also got tucked in to the wine and I am not quite sure what she was doing here but maybe it was her rendition of the chicken dance?

We enjoyed a lovely breakfast in La Soutteraine and a trip around both La Souterraine and Gueret markets buying fresh food to eat that evening..

It was great on this trip to also see the new gravel patio area that had been put down the week before.  The garden had had quite a big section dug up to put the septic tank in which meant that it needed re seeding so an easy option was to cover some with gravel.  it was also time for the new chimney to be fitted.

The Chimney exposed 

The new bricks going on..

The New Chimney!

It took the builders 2 days and I would definitely not of wanted to of attempted to go up that ladder to the top!  Apparently one side of the chimney was so bad it was just cement holding it up and hardly any bricks left!  Now we have a chimney that the 3 little pigs would be very proud of and nobody can huff or puff it away!

The patio area I have to say was a little disappointing at first site... but with some womanly touches from us girls it soon took shape and after a stressed call to Phil he has promised to make it look much better when he  gets out there in July with some better edging around it rather than the weather board that has been used.

It started as a muddy area then progressed to a weather-boarded gravel area...

then add a table and a few chairs...

Pot up a few pretty flowers...

add in a garden swing seat...

Decorate the back door steps...

And before you know it you have a pretty patio area to sit and enjoy the sunshine!

Thank you to my lovely sister for the garden planters and to the lovely Lorraine for all the beautiful bedding plants that you bought it really did finish it all off perfectly!

So as yet another glorious sunset glides slowly behind the trees another set of accomplishments get ticked off the list!  Closing the doors this time was even more difficult but the thought of only 7 weeks until I am back again keeps me going and for the hundredth time Lorraine mutters... "Why would you want to be anywhere else" and the answer is I really don't!

But for now its off to Paris for a girls weekend in Montemarte!