The French lifestyle and banking on a Monday.

With the painter still here (he's finished the kitchen, and moved onto the small bedroom) and our things still in storage, there isn't a LOT to do. So I've been busying myself with the hazelnut tree in our garden. It's just started dropping nuts, so we had a couple of days gathering them up. The first day, we filled a bowl, and a half a two litre jug - by now, the jug is overflowing, as is the bowl. It's a lovely thing to do - gathering your own food from your garden. Yes, it takes time - lots of it! - but it is a fulfilling thing to do. And who can say 'no' to free food!??

The newly painted kitchen - no longer bright yellow, but
a beautiful fresh cream. 

As for the bank - it seems we still have a lot to learn about this country. We drove to the nearest town (about 9km from us), to the bank, to collect our new bank cards. We arrived, and ..... they're shut. As is most of the town. DUH! It's MONDAY! And the French just don't 'DO' Mondays!  How could I forget. So we bought a cooker instead! ... As you do! Well, since most of town was shut, we went on a little drive to 'see what's down that road', and we happened on a Surper U (supermarket). While I waited with the doggie, my husband went inside to see if they had any cookers, and would you believe it, they did! So he bought one! It's a basic gas stove and oven - just what we need for this house, as there is no 16amp fused plug for an electric oven. PHEW! I was beginning to think that we'd never find one. As they say, 'We're cooking with gas!'. 

I suppose tomorrow will be back to town to make a second trip to the bank. Oh the joys!!

Talking of 'joys', it's mid September now, and it's still beautifully warm here. Sunny and 30C - it was 21 and cloudy where I used to live. .... Remind me why this is such a great place to live?!

30C in mid September?! Not bad at all.

The end of a rather long week!

I am sat at the fold up table in our livingroom typing, as there really isn't anywhere else. The painter has been working on the kitchen all week. It was yellow. Very, VERY bright yellow. And not exactly well painted either. There were brush marks of the yellow paint on the white(ish) cornice, and the doorway didn't escape the torture either. But now, a week later, it's looking rather spiffy! Off white and a white ceiling. All the light and plug covers were removed and cleaned, and the light fitting was also taken off and cleaned. The radiator was removed, primed and gloss painted - BOTH sides!!! Yes friends, this man is an ARTISAN! Here, reputation is everything! People talk. Unlike in the UK - people talk to each other, and if you do a rubbish job, you may as well not show your face in the village again.
The garden is dry as a bone, but hopefully some rain in the near future will bring it back to life.

School - it seems every day the kids tell me of yet another item that they need for school. I find myself saying 'That wasn't on the list!' quite often. But we're muddling through, and I'm sure we'll get there in the end. The weight of their school bags could sink a small ship! All that paper in there - no wonder my son has shrunk a few centimeters.
There has been yet more paperwork from the school - oh yes, there are still a few more trees on that sacrificial pile to be used yet. Forms for responsibility of the school, responsibility of the bus company, should he be allowed into school if he's late (er YES!! Why wouldn't he?!!!), and what to do if he misses the bus.
Yesterday, was the first time on the bus to school and home - poor boy was so nervous, he looked like he was going to throw up. But, he did it. He got there, and back, without losing anything, or getting off at the wrong stop. Of course he made it LOOK effortless, but inside he was a tornado of emotions. He's finally manged to sort out his book bag on his own too - a huge activity in itself!

AND, we have a FRIDGE!! Yes, a full size proper fridge! The little fridge in the caravan can now be switched off. YAY!!! For the first time in weeks, we had properly cold Coke! And Ice-cream too! Love it!

Soon my husband will be returning to the UK to fetch our things and the cat. Then we'll be able to live again! But, in the mean time, we need to find two beds. One for us, and one for the girl. Her bed would never have survived such a move - chipboard 'wood' is only so strong. And our bed was given to my brother in law who was desperate for a new bed. So the hunt began yesterday. We drove to Bergerac. And came home with .... an iron. The beds were ridiculously expensive! I will NOT pay 600 Euros for a bed frame. But fortunately, we've found one online for under 100 Euros.  Just need to get it ordered now, and one for the girl.

One has to remember that in France - everything takes time. Lots and lots and LOTS of time. Nothing happens very quickly. So if you are of an impatient disposition, then this may not be the country for you. Everything closes at 12 for lunch and reopens between 2pm and 3pm (if you're lucky!). Even supermarkets! Restaurants close at 2pm! So if you want to eat lunch out, you'd better get there early. But there are benefits to this way of life too. People work fewer hours, but they work harder in those hours. People feel like work is not their whole life - they have a life outside of work - there is actually TIME to have a life! Lunch is a civilised affair, not a quick stop, where you throw some stodgy bread and bland filling down your throat, in the hopes that you've enough time to swallow before the shift restarts.

Many French schools only have a four day week, and some four and a half (like ours). Usually either Wednesday or Thursday is a half day, or no school at all. It gives the kids a chance to pursue other interests outside of school - which is great, given that they are at school until 5pm for secondary school.

On the whole, the French way of life is good for us. It's what we wanted. More time with our kids, (although 5 weeks in the caravan might be taking the Mickey!), good schools, and a better work environment - just to name a few things. While things are hard for us at the moment - language barrier being the greatest of the hardships - but those will all change, and things will get easier. I still feel that we've made the best choice for our children, and family as a whole. There would be challenges no matter WHERE we lived, but I feel that these are worth going through for the life we will have in the very near future.

Stress and a HOUSE! Brace yourself - it's a long story!!

The last four days have been THE most stressfull of my entire life - bar none. And if anyone is thinking of moving to France, understand that an entire forest will be sacrificed in your honour. I. Kid. You. NOT.

Let us start at the beginning .....

On Thursday morning, we were still sitting in the caravan on the campsite, just a hair away from murdering each other! We were of course, waiting to go see the estate agent (immobilier) here in Montpon. The meeting was at 2pm, but it felt like the longest wait ever! We arrived at the estate agent's office, met the landlord and his wife (who were both incredibly nice!!) and began the meeting. ..... An hour and a half to just go through the lease ... this should have been an indication of things to come. Afterwards, every page had to be signed - all 20 pages - and most are both sides! Then two extra copies need to be made for each of the parties - plus a whole bunch of extra papers about the energy efficiency of the house, local information and so forth. Right! We're all done then?! Um ... no. We were ALL off to inspect the house. Every door, every handle, every light needed to be tested and ticked off. Discussions about what repairs (painting mainly and a light fitting etc) needed to be done, The garden didn't escape attention - no, in-depth discussions were held about what was to be done in the garden - what was to be taken out, replaced or cut back. Finally, when the keys were handed over (and yes, they were indeed some ginormous keys in there!!), we felt like we'd run a marathon!! It was 5:45pm at the end of everything!! Then we still had to go back, get the caravan, and take it 'home'.
Now of course, we had nothing much with us, so the caravan is still where we need to cook and where the fridge is .... just for a couple of days though.

Friday brought it's own set of stresses. School enrollment and bank accounts. yay. (Can you feel my excitement?!)
Our first stop was the Marie's office (Mayor's office, and very helpful people!). They handle most things in the towns. And .... more paperwork. But, we managed to get my daughter enrolled into the village Primary school. It's a school of 75 children. Her old school was over 400 kids. We had to be back for 3:15pm to meet the head teacher. Right. Off to Montpon (8km away), to get the boy enrolled into the school. And ..... MORE paperwork. Birth certificates, passports, two photos, marriage certificate, school report and vaccination certificates - all needed for enrollment. After a short wait, we met the head teacher and the assistant head. Lovely people, very understanding, but very clear about the challenges ahead. Of course we had the all important supplies list too - and there goes another big chunk of the forest! TIMBER!!!
Then we rushed off to the bank. All we needed was a simple current account. Nothing particularly fancy. But it's a full on 'sit down interview'! I felt like I was being 'checked out', whether we were in fact the right sort of people for the bank. Thankfully, we made it though and ....... then the paperwork started. It must have been at least another 20 pages - double sided and two copies of each account's paperwork AND an extra copy of everything for the bank too. I can hear the forests groaning!! After an hour and a half, we STILL weren't complete, and were asked to return after lunch. The entire TOWN closes for lunch from 12 noon to 2pm.
So we returned home (8km back), had a quick lunch, and arrived at my daughter's school for her meeting. Of course the head teacher was in a rush - something about another appointment - and spoke a lot of very complex sounding French at me. I gave my best 'I'm English and I haven't a CLUE what you're saying' facial expression, but it made little difference - she still spoke at me with great speed and zero clarity. Thankfully my husband understood enough to 'Uh huh. Dacaor' back to her. But we are still sure there were some things we missed. And that was it - she was enrolled! And we had yet another supplies list to complete. ....yay.
Of course it wasn't over yet, oh no!! So we dutifully returned to the bank, and continued the process of opening our bank accounts - for another hour and a half!!! By the end of it I felt like my head was going to explode. It was the most intense day I've ever experienced!

The following day, Saturday, was 'Buy all the supplies' day. So we trundled off to the huge hypermarket in Pinehleau (about 22km away), in the hopes that they'd have a reasonable selection. It took about two hours, and the help of one very patient shop assistant to get most of the supplies together. At the end of it, I was so tired, I felt like I should have been put in the trolly and wheeled around!! And the cost of all of this? 200 Euros. <falls down> Good grief. It's not cheap having kids in school - especially secondary school! And the books!! Sooooo many books! TIMBER!!!!! Also. a quick spiffy new haircut for the boy on the way home - his mop turned into a far more stylish cut by the talented William.

Sunday should have been a  day of rest, but in our house, it was a day of labelling. Every pen, pencil, colouring pencil, ruler, chalk stick or compass had to bear the name of the child. Everything. The books were easy once we'd deciphered which ones were for what (large format, medium format, which subject needs folders, and which needs files etc), but everything took soooooo much time! And tissues! How many packs of tissues does one little girl need?!! It's beyond me. And of course all the tissue packs need to be labeled as well! It was a task that took the ENTIRE day. I started just after breakfast, and finished just as dinner was being served. The whole day. I was shattered.

Monday was the least stressful, but still stressful enough. It was the little darling's first day at French school. Both were so nervous, they looked like scared jackrabbits, ready to bolt at the tiniest sound. But, they had no choice, it had to be done. My son was first. And of course .... more paperwork. Bus, and school dinners had to be arranged. But we couldn't hang about - we were off again to take the girl to school. We arrived, and thankfully got to meet her teacher this time (was only the head teacher before). A lovely young Frenchwoman, who looked like she'd get on well with my girl. And that was it. Kids dispatched, and we were off home again ..... just in time to meet the painter, and the gardener. They worked away, and before we knew it, it was time to collect the girl. SUCCESS!! She had a great time at school, and everyone wanted to be her friend! Awww!! Next was the boy at 5pm (kids here have longer at school than in the UK, but they get very little in the way of homework, and if they DO get any, it can be done in the study periods!) and he too had a great time. Perhaps this whole thing really will work out after all. Fingers crossed!
On closer inspection of both timetables, it seems that they both only have school in the morning on a Wednesday. the afternoon is at home. Nice! Except, he STARTS at 8am on Wednesday. Yawn! That's going to be fun! But they've both made a start, and small mercies - there is no school uniform. They get to wear comfortable clothes - that they actually like. There's got to be a bonus in there somewhere!!