{"id":1184,"date":"2011-02-08T23:58:20","date_gmt":"2011-02-08T23:58:20","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.splunge.co.uk\/richnilk\/?p=1184"},"modified":"2011-02-17T17:20:15","modified_gmt":"2011-02-17T17:20:15","slug":"tuesday-february-8th-2011","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.splunge.co.uk\/richnilk\/tuesday-february-8th-2011\/","title":{"rendered":"Tuesday Feb 8th 2011, T-minus 3"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>I decided to go to St. Cer\u00e9 today because that was where the exchange shop \u2018Troc\u2019 that was rumoured to take stuff and sell it on your behalf.\u00a0\u00a0 I cleaned the washing machine and the little fridge and they both looked good as new.\u00a0 I packed them in the van with the single bed, and mattress and then had some time to wait until the shop would be open in the afternoon.\u00a0\u00a0 I spent the time usefully dismantling the wardrobe, because I decided to offer it to the couple who came yesterday to view the furniture but scoffed at the price of it.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 They could have it for free I thought, and wouldn\u2019t be able to resist it if it was nicely dismantled and easy to carry.<\/p>\n

I set off for Troc, timing my journey to perfection and arriving exactly when the man was opening the shop after his marathon lunchtime.\u00a0\u00a0 He was a funny little man and at first he annoyed me because he sneered at all the stuff I presented to him.\u00a0\u00a0 Surprisingly for such a customer-focused country he couldn\u2019t help me with a lot of things.\u00a0 The bed can\u2019t be taken because it\u2019s against the law in france to sell second-hand beds and mattresses.\u00a0\u00a0 \u2018Not unless they are vacuum-packed and fresh from the factory\u2019 he said \u2013which is kind of bizarre and spoils the whole ethos behind a second-hand shop.\u00a0 He does sell new mattresses and beds alongside the other tat, so perhaps that was the real explanation.\u00a0 Also a surprise was that he doesn\u2019t get much call for fridges and washing machines and yes he could take them but they would command a very low price and after he took his commission (30%) there really wouldn\u2019t be much left for me.\u00a0\u00a0 Also he couldn\u2019t transfer the money automatically to my bank because that would cost him.\u00a0 Also he would only send me a cheque if I lived in this country and knew all the words to \u2018La Marseillaise<\/em>\u2019.<\/p>\n

I decided to cut my losses and leave the stuff with him anyway.\u00a0 If it sells I should make 80 euros tops for the washing machine & fridge (assuming he bothers sending the cheque), but I had no other option.<\/p>\n

I returned to Beaulieu where I needed to visit the bank, catch-up with my emails, and print-out my letter of complaint.\u00a0\u00a0 I wanted to withdraw most my money out of the bank in case the council decided to sequestrate my funds after I have infuriated the boss a bit further.\u00a0\u00a0 The only clerk in the bank was at a desk marked \u2018No cash is kept at this desk\u2019 so I wondered how that worked?\u00a0 But it does.\u00a0 I tell her how much money I want and she gives me a smart card that I go and use in a machine.\u00a0\u00a0 Also \u2013 showing some uncharacteristic forethought as to my future financial needs I asked what methods were available to transfer the house money when it arrived to my account in England.\u00a0\u00a0 It appears there aren\u2019t any except for me to come to the bank in person and fill out a form.\u00a0 I explained my situation, and she was flummoxed as to how this could be done \u2013 this was unprecedented \u2013 someone wanting to transfer money without being in the country!\u00a0 Eventually we came across the only solution which was that I could fax my demand to the bank manager, and he\/she would call me back to verify that it was me who demanded it.\u00a0 Okay I suppose if it saves me having to fly over to fill out a form \u2013 but it looks like a forethought too far on my part and I can only see \u2018issues\u2019 arising from my future financial needs.<\/p>\n

I went back to the van to find that it had been covered in dust from a man overhauling the car park and it looked as dirty as it did the day before yesterday.\u00a0\u00a0 It was clearly one of those days.<\/p>\n

I went to the estate agent and as I walked in I was beckoned to sit down with a couple I\u2019d never met.\u00a0\u00a0 Apparently they were the new (future) owners of the house and were keen to come up and have a look round while I was there.\u00a0 Perfect timing.\u00a0\u00a0 They seem a nice couple. White, working class, bikers \u2013 he was about 30, she was about 35 I would reckon, and we made an arrangement for them to visit within the hour.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>Back at the house, I thought about tidying-up but that\u2019s a stupid thing to do because there\u2019s boxes and mess everywhere, so I had a beer and sat in the sun instead.\u00a0 It was a lovely warm day, and I needed a bit of quiet contemplation after the stresses of being \u2018out there\u2019.<\/p>\n

They turned-up promptly with their friends in tow, and I left them to have a look round and show-off their new purchase.\u00a0\u00a0 Their friends in tow included a dog that had to be carried everywhere like a pig being carried to market.\u00a0 I pretended to move things around a bit as they assessed the work that would be needed for their plans.\u00a0 The dog, which seemed to have no discernable legs was stupid enough to remain nonplussed by the indignity of being carted around.<\/p>\n

I chatted to them about their future plans and they have very ambitious plans for the house which include doing everything that I wanted to do with it but with a more edgy contemporary feel to it.\u00a0 Oh the enthusiasm of the youth of today!\u00a0\u00a0 I said that I probably wouldn\u2019t be able to clear everything out of the house in time, but they weren\u2019t too bothered, they understood \u2013 as long as it was as clear as possible and the old van was removed before they moved in they would be happy.\u00a0 I didn\u2019t tell them that the old van had become French and so they would have to deal with it.\u00a0 C\u2019est leur vie!<\/p>\n

When they left I\u2019d got the place back to myself again and it gave me time for reflection.\u00a0 What to do with those mirrors?<\/p>\n

I thought about all those times of refuge I\u2019d spent in the house.\u00a0 Whether alone or with Ilka, or with Jenny, or with bits of the family, with bits of friends, and with friends of friends.\u00a0\u00a0 I like to think that friends of friends had always become friends after spending some time at house together.\u00a0\u00a0 But that\u2019s romanticism for you.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>I had arranged to meet le Professeur<\/em> (always a man deserved of italics), at night fall.\u00a0\u00a0 I wasn\u2019t quite sure when night fall was because he said it in Engleesh and he may have been saying something completely different.\u00a0 The fall of the night you say? \u00a0So I decided that night fall was a few moments after the sun had set.\u00a0\u00a0 It set about 6, and by about 6:13 the whole western sky was seeped in colour and it was just sitting out there on my doorstep.\u00a0 I took a moment to breathe in the ambience from the comfort of my front door then noticed that night was falling.\u00a0\u00a0 Ah!\u00a0 That\u2019s when nightfall is round these parts.<\/p>\n

I snatched a jar of cranberry & orange sauce that was given to me one Christmas by some company or other I was working for at the time (in a hamper with loads of other stuff \u2013 they weren\u2019t that tight!).\u00a0 I quickly soaked off the best before date, which might have been incriminating, and set off down the road to my aperitif.<\/p>\n

We spent a great evening together.\u00a0 It started when he poured me a large glass of Pastis, and he chose \u2018Queen Mary\u2019s favorite tipple\u2019, gin and tonic.\u00a0\u00a0 He put it into a glass pint jug of the type you don\u2019t see anymore.\u00a0 In England, let alone France.\u00a0 I think Queen Mary would have approved.<\/p>\n

The aperitifs turned into supper and then cheese and then digestif <\/em>and then a conversation about something profound, and then about something political, and then a humourous anecdote, and then a memory about a grandchild, and then an opinion about an aspect of modern living, and by the time we\u2019d got onto other things our nightfall time was over and I realised that I\u2019d spent an evening chatting to a bon vivant<\/em>.<\/p>\n

Le Professeur- <\/em> let\u2019s call him John shall we because that\u2019s his non-italicised name \u2013\u00a0 he actually talks quite understandable English.\u00a0\u00a0 Sometimes it takes him a little while to get it out, but he always makes an effort to be correct and correct himself when it doesn\u2019t sound proper.\u00a0\u00a0 I like to think that my level of French is similar that of his English because when we talk now we chat to each other bilingually.\u00a0\u00a0 A bit in French, a bit in English, a bit starting in English but moving into French \u2013 it all seems so effortless.\u00a0 And I suppose that\u2019s because we\u2019re using the best bits of both languages.\u00a0\u00a0 Trying to use the best possible word in the sentence and knowing that the other one will understand.<\/p>\n

Truly John, You are Le Professuer.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I decided to go to St. Cer\u00e9 today because that was where the exchange shop \u2018Troc\u2019 that was rumoured to take stuff and sell it on your behalf.\u00a0\u00a0 I cleaned the washing machine and the little fridge and they both looked good as new.\u00a0 I packed them in the van with the single bed, and […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[26],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1184","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-adieu-le-chassaing"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.splunge.co.uk\/richnilk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1184","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.splunge.co.uk\/richnilk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.splunge.co.uk\/richnilk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.splunge.co.uk\/richnilk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.splunge.co.uk\/richnilk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1184"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.splunge.co.uk\/richnilk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1184\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1212,"href":"https:\/\/www.splunge.co.uk\/richnilk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1184\/revisions\/1212"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.splunge.co.uk\/richnilk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1184"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.splunge.co.uk\/richnilk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1184"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.splunge.co.uk\/richnilk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1184"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}