Well on its way

Tuesday morning - It’s another glorious day. The nights are really chilly already, around 10 °c, but the days are still full of sunshine and getting up to 27°c.

M. Humbert is working hard on the barn. It’s been a very dirty, difficult job, removing years of decay, and I can only refer to it as ‘discarded stuff’ - like old shelves, bottles, broken tiles etc.

Today they are clearing the last third of the barn, which holds the well and water pump that supplies the pool. It’s also where the cellar was. We have a passive cellar, which is half above ground, the cold damp from the earth floor creates the right conditions to maintain a constant temperature and environment to store wine. Brian will reinstate this once the area is cleared.

They will then finish building the shell for the store room above the ‘soon to be laundry and boiler room’.

Brian is going to build the stairs up to this, they will wrap around the corner.

This view will not be seen soon as a wall will be going up here to create the store room. We may one day utilise part of this space, but for now I like having the air above the parking area and log store.

Log Jam

Brian jumped out of bed around 7.30, “It’s raining!” he exclaimed. “If you can get out of bed, pop the kettle on”. That was good, It meant I didn’t have to go and help him cover everything up that was stockpiled in the courtyard. We really had not expected rain until Sunday evening. But it was only drizzle, so didn’t take much for Brian to throw a few dust sheets over everything.

We then had a nice slow drink of tea and discussed the plan for the day. M. Humbert, our builder, had given us homework. We needed to move the shelves and everything on them from the main barn, and take the electrics, lights etc, off the beams in the cellar and pump room. Didn’t seem too difficult, but what we didn’t want to be doing is to keep moving stuff from one place to another. So we decided we needed to work on the middle barn first, as the ceiling was removed now in there, and prepare that to move the shelving into. Sounds easy, but the first job was move the log pile.

The new log store

Spot the difference…..

Tomorrow all we need to do is move the shelves from the main barn, and take down the electrics in the cellar and well room. But for now we are both looking forward to a nice hot shower, and a glass of champagne or two.

‘Hay, down there!’

They got off to a dusty start, clearing out the top of the barn. The first job was clearing the hay that must have been there for well over 20 years.

We had a wonderful surprise, after they’d finished sweeping the right hand side of the barn, as part of it still had old flagstones underneath the years of dust and dirt. Not quite sure how they can be incorporated yet, but we will think of something.

Next stage was to start to build the floor going over the boiler room. It wasn’t long before beams were going up and we could start to visualise the space. It looks such an impressive expanse with its aged oak beams, some as good as new, others warped and twisted, or straining under years of doing their job. Those we can replace, but generally it looks good, and with some repair will last for us being caretakers of such a delightful building.

The middle of the three barn spaces

Barnstorming

We woke late this morning after an excellent nights sleep, I think the UK trip had been on both our minds.

However no time to dally, we had the builders arriving at 8.30am to start on dismantling the barn ceiling. They were going to remove all that was rotten and put a new floor in over the boiler room.

Brian had noticed that the ceiling in the well room was starting to deteriorate so we were doing a timely address.

Luckily the forecast for the next few days is excellent, but with the sun comes the risk of a storm which is forecast now for Sunday. So we need to be in a place to put things back into part of the barn on Saturday.

Arrived on time and got straight to work.

With all this in mind they are doing the dismantling in stages. M. Humbert rallied the guys and between the three of them they stormed through dismantling the ceiling, working constantly all morning and, to our surprise, even pushed through lunch to get the real dirty work completed.

It was such a pleasure experiencing their work etiquette, cleaning up as they went along, loading all the debris into the back of their truck ready to take to the tip. It was not an easy space to work in as we were not able to empty it totally. But they protected our stuff on the shelving we’d had to leave around the walls and swept everything down once they’d finished.

This is just a third of it.

This floor needs to come down, hay and all. This is the ceiling above the middle part of the barn.

Kadjar

Wednesday 16th September 

Yesterday we collected our Renault Kadjar. It should be a simple thing, picking up a car, but life became complicated. Importantly, I needed to travel to the UK on Tuesday, on a truly flying visit, to return the Mercedes before the end of our contract. We were concerned that if infection levels increased further lockdown could return and we may miss our window to travel, and then find ourselves unable to return the car. We had an appointment to pick up the Kadjar on Monday, so I booked my tickets for the UK and back.

We travelled to Troyes on Monday to collect, but this is where it started to get difficult. The car wasn’t ready. We had asked for a small scratch at the front to be resprayed, but the chap who does the spraying had been too busy. They explained that even though it was only a small scrape it needed three coats. They proposed we took the car and returned it at a later date for the repair. We both felt that if we took the car it would never get fixed so, after some conversation, we agreed to collect it the following day. However, I was due on a Eurotunnel at noon that day.

So on Tuesday I dropped Brian off at 8am in Troyes to spend the morning sight seeing, then to collect the Kadjar in the afternoon. Whilst I drove the Mercedes back to the UK. It really was a fleeting visit, I was unable to go anywhere, as I had to quarantine. I then headed straight back to France via Eurostar on Wednesday morning.

It was a long day too for Brian, who was a little concerned about having to drive a left-hand drive car for the first time. It was a little stressful all round.

Anyway, Brian and the Kadjar made it home safely, and I’m now relaxing on my train journey whizzing through the French countryside, just enjoying the time. It’s actually really nice traveling by train for me and not for work, which I’ve done so much of over the last few years. As I sat on the train from Ebbsfleet earlier, heading into St Pancras to get the Eurostar, it felt weird not pulling my work phone out to check emails. That is the first time I’ve had that feeling since leaving work.

Brian will pick me up from the station at 6.30pm, and then home again.

Painting

Things are going to start happening on the barn next week, and Monday we are off to pick our new second-hand car up – so work on the shutters had to be halted so we could focus on clearing the barn to a point where they can demolish the old wooden ceiling/floor, revealing the open roof space. It is a bit overwhelming, as we know there will be a lot of mess. And we do have a lot of items set up in the space following our move. Ideally this is a job that would have been completed prior to our move, but lockdown got in the way.

But as I always say, let’s just break the task down into smaller tasks which then make it achievable – so that’s what we’ve done. It was a tough day of bulking stuff around, and we do have more to do tomorrow, but nothing we cannot get done.

We did have a very pleasant surprise arrive yesterday, which we hadn’t opened during the day as neither of us was clean enough to do the opening. A picture tube arrived from a colleague of Brian’s who he used to work with. Rosa is an artist (kerousel.com) and has very kindly sent us a beautiful numbered print of a piece of artwork she has produced. We both love it, and are looking forward to having it framed and finding a suitable place in our home. The light from the evening sun could not be better placed.

Paint

And so the painting begins. I find it quite therapeutic, I think the thought of having them all completed is a really good one, and it keeps me focused. However I do know that’s some way off. We need to do the job properly, as the weather can really take its toll. Extreme heat and sun in the summer, then below freezing in the winter. We are using Dulux weather shield which has lasted really well on the first two pairs we did a couple of years ago.

Preserver already painted, this is the undercoat

the Shutter Challenge

And it is feeling like a real challenge today. I had thought that I would have finished rubbing down the second of the first pair by mid morning. But I’m still going, and it’s hotting up. We’ve stopped for a refreshment break, then we will have another push to get the second one ready to be filled.

The two from the bathroom window did not look in quite such bad condition as the first two, however I think they will still need a fair piece of work getting them ready for painting. The plan is to get these two pairs undercoated before we start on the other two. That will work for me, so I can see something getting finished before we move on.

Brian is definitely perfecting his coffee techniques

Sanding or Filling

Another beautiful morning. We woke this morning with vigour, we wanted to start on repairing and painting the shutters today. We did do two sets (four shutters), I think two years ago now, but need to finish the others. There are four sets left to do. The first thing is to get them down, which is not easy and a bit scary, as we really don’t want to drop them. Brian precariously grabs hold of a shutter, leaving just enough space for me to squeeze in and lift up the shutter using a crow bar wedged underneath. By the fourth one we had mastered the art, with no casualties.

We also need to be certain to know which ones are from which windows, as they just will not fit back on another window, so we need to keep track as we take them down not to mix them up. Then it’s just a case of sanding, sanding and more sanding.

I seem to get the job of sanding…

…whilst Brian gets filling.

By 3pm we had made good progress, and Brian suggested we should enjoy the heat of the day and go for a swim. What a wonderful idea, 30 lengths, beer and cashews.

Weather

It’s a glorious September morning. We have our french lesson via zoom this afternoon, so thought it was a good day to go into Bar-Sur-Seine for a morning coffee, then do some shopping, back for lunch and revision before our class.
We are sat outside the bar drinking coffee and eating pain au raisin with the sun shining and a beautiful blue sky.

We are dressed in our shorts and T shirts but feeling a bit chilly. I noticed everyone else has either a jumper on or gilet, something keeping them warm. We realised that although the sun is shining, the heat from the sun does not warm the air until later in the morning. The cold nighttime air is still lingering in the early morning. Gone are the warm nights of August, replaced with a fresh clear early Autumn stillness.

I’m waiting to see the leaves on the vines start to change colour.

5pm - 30 lengths of the pool completed, now time for an early evening apéro.

Apéro needs to start around 5.30pm so as not to miss the sun.

Garden Wildlife

This was a bit of a surprise when we spotted it. A praying mantis. It was about two inches long and elegantly tip toeing across the courtyard towards the lavender, where it seemed to like being. But the photo of it in the lavender is a bit like ‘where’s Wally’!

We also then spotted a smaller version of the hummingbird moth. We are not sure if that is what it is, or something else, so if anyone knows, please share…

It was capturing the last of the pollen from the lavender, as if it’s job was to clean up after the bees had finished. I will cut it all back soon, but just waiting for the garden wildlife to enjoy the last of the late summer/early Autumn pickings.

Vide Grenier

Otherwise known as ‘empty the attic’, or more familiar for us - ‘a car boot’.

A lot of the vide grenier’s have been cancelled this year, but we managed to find one in nearby in Vendeuvre. It was in the grounds of a very old Chateau, in real need of some major TLC. So any fans of ETTC or rather ‘escape to the Chateau’ could romanticise about doing this one up. Personally I’d say it would be a huge sap on anyone’s resources, but a gorgeous building, in beautiful grounds, and a superb venue for a car boot.

I found myself a blue and yellow checked table cloth in excellent condition, a bargain at one euro. Brian bought a couple of metal set squares for three euros 50, he needs them for some woodwork he is planning.

Back home now, sitting outside enjoying salmon pate on fresh baguette for lunch and a delicious frothy coffee. Brian is now mastering the coffee from his new coffee machine.

Village Fleuri

Our village, Viviers-sur-Artaut, is an established ‘Flowery village’. The commune takes great pride in ensuring it maintains their three flower status. Every year the villagers plant over 100 flower boxes to hang on the railings that run alongside the river Artaut, which flows through the village. It’s source is within the limestone rock just near the lavoir (wash house), and has never run dry.

Every week Richard, the ‘commune groundsman’ (Im sure that’s not his job title), waters the flowers via a pump linked to his truck, sucking water from the river. He also ensures the ‘Mairies’ office looks colourful, and keeps the old presses on the edge of the village filled with colourful blooms. All in all it’s very well tendered.

Emmaüs

After we’d had lunch in Chatillon we decided to head out to a small village about 20 minutes outside of Chatillon called Planay, I have to admit I didn’t realise it was such a small village. The purpose of the trip was to visit Emmaüs. This is a charity brocante (bric-a-brac) which has shops all over France, and is run by teams of people who have no work. I’ve been wanting to visit one for ages, but for one reason or another we haven’t got there.

After our drive through the French countryside, which was full of sun dried sunflowers just waiting majestically to be cut for their seeds and oil, we arrived in Planay. To both our surprises there was a queue of people waiting for 2 pm and the opening of the Emmaüs. We were in the middle of nowhere! What it did do though is increase the excitement for what treasures we could find inside.

We soon found ourselves scouring the shelves of China, glass, bales of linen and rooms of furniture - we found nothing of interest, until we ventured outside, and Brian spied a box of wooden, carved furniture oddments – 10 euros – just the sort of treasure to make our visit worthwhile.

Conversations

Where has the week gone? It’s been such a busy couple of days - yesterday we had our first french lesson for about 6 weeks. It was great to catch up with Clare, our french tutor, via Zoom. There are things that are clicking, but sometimes it’s the simple words that just don’t come to us, that’s an age thing. It’s so hard learning anything as you get older, but learning a language is such a fun way of keeping your brain active. All that said, we feel so much better than say 6 months ago. Even by being here just 6 weeks we feel more confident to leap into a difficult situation. As an example, our little female black cat Lilly was struggling to eat, so we knew a visit to the vet was needed. Telephone conversations are probably the hardest way to communicate, however I picked up the phone and rattled off who I am, where we live, and that we have only just moved here from the UK. But one of our cats, is ill, so can we have an appointment please. ‘Demain’ she asked, “on, no! Aujourd hui”, ‘à quinze heure’, “quinze heure, merci, à quinze heure, au revoir “.

Lilly is feeling her old self today, with her appetite back, so a good job done.

Today we drove to Chatillon-Sur-Seine to meet with an accountant who had been recommended to us. He was extremely helpful in helping us navigate what we need to do and how best to go about things and, more importantly, when to do things. We had a light lunch in Chatillon then went for a walk around the very ancient town. We started talking to a gentleman who said he had been retired for just a year. He knew lots about the town of Chatillon, all of which he wanted to share with us. He did not slow his speech for us, but was extremely clear in his pronunciation. Brian, who struggled previously to hear the French words being spoken, came away extremely happy, as he had understood a lot of what was being said, so we are clearly making good progress.

Some pictures taken around Chatillon-Sur-Seine

Boo, Boo, where are you?

Finally, Boo decided it was time to venture out. There was a lot of tiny intrepid steps to start with, but his curiosity got the better of him, and he needed to go and explore. He crept up to the formal part of the garden first, constantly looking to see where Brian was, but then made himself comfortable on the top step soaking up the warm rays of the sun on his very fluffy soft, ginger fur. He was able to see us, so felt relaxed enough to lay down and play with lizards, whilst also trying to catch a few rays of sun.

Soon though he moved on to see what adventures could be had further afield. We were both a little bit anxious of his disappearance, however I assured Brian that he would return when he got hungry. Which he promptly did about an hour later.

Bath Time

I’d bought a couple of quiches yesterday from the boulangerie, and thought they would make a great picnic for us, so we packed up our rucksack with a flask of tea, a couple of madeleines, a cold drink and our quiches and set off for a walk. It turned out to be quite a lengthy walk, around 8 miles, which, in our currently relatively unfit state, that took some effort. Especially on the way back, when we saw a sign that said 3km pointing to a long slow hike upwards. It’s not that hilly here, but when there are lots of ups and downs it mounts up.

It was a glorious walk through vineyards, across fields, through woodland, past quaint old houses and, best of all, some excellent picnic stops.

We arrived home just after 6. We’d been out for about three and half hours, and were feeling the strain on our muscles and feet so, after a stretch, I suggested we ran a bath before dinner. We enjoyed a relax with some ‘Space NK Laughter bath salts’ and, in my opinion, the best ever view from a bath in the world.

Cheese & Wine

Some cheese, some wine what’s more to say…. Bon weekend all

A unique Press

Earlier this week we were invited by Marie Jolly to visit their family ‘pressoir’ at their home in Landreville - it really is a very unique grape press. It was built by her great grandfather in the 1940’s and is still used by the family and neighbouring vigneron today. Her brother, Charles Jolly, now runs the vineyard and works all year round tending the vines in readiness for vendanges. This picture below is following the pressing for the day, after they had cleaned it down, which needs to happen when they change grape variety, or at the end of every day - it is respectfully looked after by everyone involved. The pressoir, presses 4000kg of grapes at any one time, the juice flows underneath the press and is captured in holding tanks in the cellar below, where any unwanted elements, such as bits of stalk, are allowed to settle to the bottom before the juice can them be pumped to a vat ready to be either sold to other champagne producers, such as Moët, or made into ‘Charles Jolly’ champagne.

We tried the rosé, which was delicate but complex, great for a celebration or to drink just because you want to.

This years harvest has also been affected by the pandemic. The growers have only been allowed to pick up to 7,500kg of grapes per hectare, Whereas in previous years they have been allowed to pick over 10,000kg per hectare. So not only was the harvest very early due to the weather conditions, but also very quick, due to not picking the volume that they would usually do.

you can find them at champagnecharlesjolly.com

Poolside

We have really enjoyed the pool since we arrived, it’s such a great addition to the house. The location, up the slope with views across the vineyards, is idyllic, so calm and peaceful - such a wonderful place to recharge your batteries.

We have had some really hot days so knowing we can go and cool down in the clear blue water is a very welcome thought. And as we are not sure how many more days we will get this summer to enjoy the pool we are making the most of it. We decided to have lunch up there, so I packed a picnic of bread, cheese, cold meats, cornichons (gherkins), and peaches for dessert, with enough water to make some tea - I will no doubt want a cup. The pool house does have a sink and toilet, but it uses well water, so I like to take our drinking water up with us. Brian also wanted to restock the fridge with beer, so he got the pleasure of carrying a crate of beers as well. Then we set off up the slope, with our picnic basket, books and magazines and made ourselves comfortable for the afternoon. I like to do 30 lengths before I get too comfortable, so I got straight into the slightly cooler water and get going. I soon found I had completed my target, think I need to up it slightly.

Here is a collection of videos from the pool taken over the past few weeks..