Reasonably warm start to the day. Becoming much warmer and humid in the afternoon
Woke-up at 8.30 – that’s more like it – and after breakfast I decided to clear-out the bigger bedroom so I can sleep in it at last. So I moved all the stuff off the beds and did the washing so I could have clean sheets and I moved the furniture around several times until I was happy. At last 2 workable bedrooms that I’d be comfortable to sleep in, and all my clothes neatly stacked away where they should be instead of living out of bags.
Put the bike in the back of the van and drove to Collonges-le-Rouge which is a lovely lovely village that pisses all over places like Ditchling or Lindfield in terms of loveliness. They were holding a medieval fete there and I didn’t really know what to expect, but it was a fine afternoon and a lot of people had turned-out to expect something. Actually, they must have been getting a bit bored of all the medieavalitity by Sunday afternoon (it had been running since Friday night), and there really wasn’t a lot going on except for the usual shops open selling souveniers and food,food,food, and a few people in Maid-Marion & Knight outfits. That was about it.
But I treated myself to 3 scoops of ice-cream at the nut-press mill place, because the money I’d saved on parking out-of-village and riding in made it an opportunity not to miss.
Anyway, apart from a few photo oppotunities, the crowds were getting too much by 3.30pm so I drove on to Brive to change my train tickets for Saturday when I’m going to Paris to meet a V.I.P. Managed to change the date back with little trouble, so I got on my bike and rode around the town for a bit to see if I could get a ‘feel’ for it.
It was dead. Nothing happening anywhere that I could see.
Drove home and cooked myself something delicious with the leftovers from the previous day. Was very knackered and the evening was so humid that I decided on an early night at 10:10pm.
21/5/07 – Monday
Had a lot of time on bed last night but it didn’t seem particularly restful. I woke up at 3.30am and had difficulty getting back to sleep due to strange banging noises and the usual suspicious noises that I can only put down to some sort of animal scampering around the house – a rat, a cat, a squirrel, maybe even a bird in from the loft? In the middle of the night it is obviously a marauding bunch of jealous French axemen coming to steal all my possessions, but I don’t really care. I just try and get back to sleep as quick as possible ‘cos I’m tired. They can take all the second-rate crockery and dodgy furniture that they need as long as they just wear slippers while they’re doing it.
Woke-up again at 4.40am (I have a clock by the bed now). This time I’d had a really strange and vivid dream which I think you could call a nightmare because I had been trying desparately to wake myself up to get myself out of there. Anyway, in the total sensory deprivation that are the bedroom downstairs I would expect my sleep and dreams to be different and they certainly are. Very exhilharating when you finally wake up as it happens, but a bit worrying when you’re experiencing it. Apart from the total lack of light, there is also hardly any outside noise. Last night was a windy night and there was a distant storm raging, but I could hardly hear any of it. I put all the banging noises down to the storm and in an almost paralytic stupor drifted back off to my dream within a dream.
Woke-up again at 7.30 and although I wanted to get up, my body wanted another 2 hours sleep, and so I gave in and let my body rule.
Drove into town to the Tresorie (at last the Tresorie – open as it happens). Explained to the girl on reception that I wanted to inform the tresorie that I was the new owner of the house and that I need a new bill sent to my address with my name on it in order that the bank will be able to ratfy my personal details. No problem, she says, and leads me to a computer explaining that it can all be done online these days. Unfortunately she was computer illiterate and didn’t know how to open a browser or type in a Web address, or click on a link, or even know what Website to visit. She went away saying that she’ll find help.
Meanwhile I did a quick search for clues but there were none there, so I quickly checked my email before she came back. When she did come back she said that she’d had no luck but that she had the trosorie official on the phone and I could talk to her if I like. So I gamely picked-up the receiver and explained my predicament to the lady on the other end of the phone. But she wasn’t happy with something – “This is Brive” she kept saying “You need Beaulieu”. I explained that I was at Beaulieu and I was given her number. Anyway I gave the receptionist the receiver and then a look of realisation came over her face which was difficult to describe.
“Ah!”, she said. “There is the Beaulieu tresorie upstairs, I could take you there!” She was appologetic, but not embarrassed enough for my liking. She led me up the stairs to a door marked “Beaulieu Tresor Public”, which is kind of what I’d asked for in the first place. I said to her “Is this your first day?”, and she said “no, I just forgot about this office Shhh, don’t tell anyone!” and that was it! Very strange behaviour I must say.
The receptionist at the Tresor Public looked slightly annoyed that anyone should have come into her office – least of all an anglais – but her demeanor changed when she realised she could be patronising due to my awkward French. She had to go off to seek a higher (and louder) authority, but after several minutes all I got was a shrug and an explanation that if I wanted to change the name and address for the bill that was sent to Jenny, then I should ‘ask’ for it at the Notaire.
I said “surely, if you are the public treasury and you are after money and nobody is paying it due to the previous owner being dead and you not having the current owner’s details then it is in your interest to let me register them here and now”.
Another Garlic shrug. “Yes but you have to get the Notaire to make the changes if you want to. Perhaps you will get a new bill next year.”
“I’m not going to bother”, I said. “I’m not really in the mood for going out of my way just so you can get some money off me – good day”.
What a way to run a Tresorie!
Just had time to nip to the supermarket before the french close down for the day (midday). Bought everything I should need for the week for 40 euros. That’s not bad is it? I reckon I could live on about 200 euros a month just for food & households. It’ll be interesting to tot it all up at the end of the quarter when I can include all the other bills as well (expect the council tax of course – ha!).
Back at the house I cleaned the gutters, put some weedkiller down to clear the driveway, and managed to connect-up the barn with some new-fangled electricity-type stuff. Actually this was easier than planned because the cable was already connected and it just needed re-wiring and re-fusing and away it went.
Then I started plannig my kitchen. This is a bit tricky as it happens because it’s an odd corner to get a sink and oven and fridge and larder into, at the same time as keeping the character of the place and trying to keep some areas of the room distinct from another. I think I’ve got a decent compromise plan sorted out now so I might start tackling it tomorrow.
…subject to envious mad axemen of course!
