France, May '96

Gleaned from Our Travel Notes: A House Hunting Trip

9.5.96:

Made a late start from work to drive down to Jean's new house in Bourneville.

10th:

Afternoon crossing after a leisurely drive to Portsmouth where we also had lunch. Dinner with Valérie Christophe and new baby Léonie. It's cold.

11th:

Said a quick "bonjour" to Gilbert at his shoe shop. Dinner with Valérie, Christophe, Valérie, Guilhaume, Pierrette and Alain.

12th:

Left at 9h30 and made our way down to Montcuq where we arrived at 18h. Just say it out loud in a French accent and you'll/know why the French laugh about it. Overnight in the "Hôtel du Parc". http://www.hotel- restaurant-du-parc.fr

13th:

Our first visit was to a "dream" house with a gîte but sadly, it was too isolated. Had lunch in Beauville and looked at two other houses in the afternoon being driven from place to place by the estate agent.

Stayed overnight in Montreal du Gers at  "La Gare" with its restaurant/museum that even had railway sound effects in the dining room! We slept in what was the old toilet building!

14th:

Looked at more houses but there wasn't anything that leapt up and said "buy me!" Had lunch in the "Trou Gascogne" and met up with June and the girls in Blagnac where the company is putting them up in a hotel until they find something more permanent. Wouldn't you know it, Bill was back in Scotland. Overnight stay in the Campanile.

15th:

Moved onto St Antoine where we had an appointment with another estate agent. Overnight in Caylus.

16th:

Being Ascension Day, today is a public holiday. Lunched in Villefranche after which we telephoned a former colleague of Christian's on the off chance  but he wasn't there. Went to look around Cordes -sur-Ciel which is a lovely medieval hilltop town with cobbled streets and lots of tourists. Another night in Caylus.

17th:

Spent all day looking at houses though of course there was time for an obligatory break for lunch in St Antoine. Drew another blank and as it was too late to drive to Pilippe and Gisèle's, we overnighted in Monesties .

18th:

Made an earlyish start for the Pyrénees Orientales, arriving at Philippe's for lunch. Dinner with the family and a cousin, Michel (a doctor) and his partner. Funnily enough, he's decided to buy Valérie's house that we looked at last year. Seriously, thinking of buying Philippe and Gisèle's house.

19th:

Drove Philippe to the airport.

20th:

Pizza lunch in town followed by shopping in Spain.

21st:

Had photos developped speedily at the outrageous price of £15! Wine is cheap so I guess you win some and you lose some. Left after lunch to drive to Avignon, stopping for a cuppa with Aimée and the girls in Nîmes. Had a BBQ dinner at Stéphane's, once we'd done the shopping of course.

22nd:

Left at 9h30 and stopped for lunch in Tournus, a very pretty town. Dinner with Frank and Valérie (Laurence working late). Overnight in the Confornew. Very wet.

23rd:

Day spent lazing at Frank and Laurence's. Had paella lunch in a Moroccan restaurant across the road. We were invited to Vincent (colleague) and Maya's for an overnight in Reuill Malmaison  and it took us a long 2 hours to get there. GPS can't come soon enough! Also present were Jean-Marie (another colleague) and Odile.

24th:

The three blokes played golf in the morning and golf in the afternoon with lunch in between. The weather was warm so I contented myself with just sitting and reading. 

Did some last minute shopping for cheese and stayed overnight with Christophe and Valérie.

25th:

8h30 crossing, light lunch on board in an effort to counteract the extra pounds around the waist. Visits to Jill and John, Hilda and Dad. 

26th:

Saw Lena and Kate after church, then Chris and Rosemary. Left about 11am ith the car loaded with furniture and were home by 16h.
27th:
Today is a public holiday and Mary Kate came down to share the booty from our boot.