Still trapped in Paradise

Confinement started pretty well for me.  I sorted out several cupboards, completely cleaned the kitchen, made 35 face-masks, painted lots of furniture, filed (and read) my bank statements, exercised, weeded the garden and made chicken stock.  Didn’t do so much the next day …  (!) Now we are on Day 40 of lockdown and (to quote my Granny), my Get Up And Go has Got Up and Went.  When you don’t know whether it’s Christmas or Tuesday as every day is the same, it’s hard to get motivated and it is too easy to just put jobs off until the next day, and the next day …

But this is also a time of ‘self-discovery’ - so here is what I have discovered:

  

1. I don’t like cleaning!  You make the bed, wash the floors, dust, clean, drag the hoover around, but it doesn’t last for long and just a few days later you have to do it all over again.  I do, however, find myself strangely drawn to the adverts showing miracle gadgets that clean venetian blinds (even though I haven’t got any) and whiten the grout in the bathroom, but more in the way one watches films of people sky-diving - fascinating to watch but not something I would consider doing myself.
2. I quite like cooking! There is a certain satisfaction in making something from scratch (I have at last mastered apple crumble) but it’s not something you should have to do every day and I miss being able to say ‘to hell with it, let’s eat out’.  It’s also difficult trying to make meals from whatever you find in the cupboard (see Item 5) and I very much regret not labelling stuff I put in the freezer.  (Stewed apple looks very much like mashed potato..) 
3. I miss my family!  But then again, this applies to everybody and the fact that I am here in France and they are in the UK makes no difference as they can’t see each other either.  
4. I am becoming English again.  I used to spend most of my time with french friends or french clients or driving around listening to french radio.  Now I listen to UK podcasts and spend a lot of time on the phone chatting to family or english friends (but the chats are becoming shorter and shorter as there are only 3 main topics of conversation now - a) How are you, b) What is the weather like, and c) what are you having for supper!  I should be able to stay fluent as I live with my french partner but we have barely spoken since Day 9….
5. I don’t like Lentils.  On Day 9 my partner decided to make a rare visit to the supermarket as I think he considers me to be ‘elderly and vulnerable’ so need to stay in the house.  I gave him the list of staples such as cheese, bread, crisps and chocolate but he proudly returned with jars and cans of kidney beans, pois chiches, green beans, white beans (thank goodness I kept a couple of face-masks), and lots of lentils.  Nothing Edible!  I have since taken back control of shopping and normal meal service has been resumed.  
6. I can’t live without the internet.  Here in our little village, the internet is very much a hit and miss affair and the slightest breeze seems to affect it - and I never understand that when I ring the helpline, their first suggestion is that I go onto their website.  If I could do that I wouldn’t be making the call.  I love the daily contact with friends via Whatsapp, or seeing what everybody is doing on Facebook; I can ‘travel the world’ or ‘see’ plays and concerts without leaving the house, and Google the answer to pretty much anything.  Apparently the most popular Google searches during the confinement have been:  Buzzcuts, Animal Crossing, Tiger King, Banana cake, Bread-making, Coronavirus cure, home workout, Zoom, Home birth and Hair tutorial.  On checking my own search history I see that as well as checking the banana cake and bread recipes (not the others) I have also queried ‘How to remove oil-based paint from jeans’, ‘Recipes using chicken stock’, ‘How to clip dog’s nails’, and ‘What to do with Lentils’ (although I was surprised to see that the obvious response of ‘throw them away’ didn’t appear).  Amazon has also been a lifeline but they are only delivering ‘essentials’ - which for me consisted of Hair Dye (no explanation needed), Vitamins (because I don’t eat Lentils or Beans), Print Cartridge (for all the paperwork you have to print and take out to explain why you are out) and Dog Nail-Clippers (although I have yet to use them as I don’t want to make a mistake and have to go to the emergency vet) (and it is quite useful to be able to hear Loulou the Dog ‘ticking’ down the corridor in the middle of the night to tell us she needs to go out!)
7. I miss working!  The government may not consider the work of a Property Consultant ‘essential’, but it is to me!  There is only so much that I can do from home - which is essentially ‘Not Very Much’.  I miss driving round the region, meeting new clients, seeing different houses, matching the right people to the right properties and watching them fall in love with the region and starting new lives.  (I can almost hear the violins playing in the background as I write this …!)

I shall sign off now as my Fitbit alarm has just gone off telling me it is time to move.  I thought it was broken as it hasn’t done the buzzing/flashing thing to celebrate the fact that I have achieved my 10,000 steps recently.  Perhaps you are supposed to do them all in one day …!

Trapped in Paradise

Usually I write about the nice things that happen in the South of France - visits to local markets, restaurants, vineyards, funny experiences etc.  Occasionally I write about the ‘not so nice’ things such as accidents, caterpillars and Brexit.  I could never have imagined I would be writing about something as shocking as Coronavirus.  

Although I was aware of its existence, I certainly didn’t take it seriously enough at first.  It was just amusing that the hugely important french custom of a physical greeting (hand-shake or kiss) was no longer permitted and we had to mutually agree which ‘non-skin’ part of our body to ‘bump’ with the other person.  Even when it was announced that the schools would be closing, all I felt like doing was putting a picture of a large wine box on Facebook, showing how ‘prepared’ I was.  

But that was all one week BC.  Before Covid 19.  Before Confinement.  Who would have believed that we are now in virtual ‘lock-down’,  not allowed to leave the house unless for a very valid reason, risking huge fines if we haven’t printed out and filled in the required form justifying our ‘sortie’.  Even if we could go out, the beaches are closed, bars and restaurants are closed, so there is no reason to go anywhere except for ‘essential’ food shopping, and only 1 person is allowed to go.

It now seems ironic that just a few weeks ago I wrote a blogpost about the difficulties of working from home, as now I have absolutely no choice, and it is definitely not working!  Although much of what I do is for clients at a distance, it is pretty impossible to sell, rent or search for properties without physically being there and with so much uncertainty around, nobody is booking holiday villas for this summer either.

Obviously my main worry at the moment (apart from the lack of work = lack of income situation) is that I have no idea when I’ll be able to see my family in the UK again.  But there are definitely some positives to come out of this:

• My filing cabinet and paperwork have never been in such good order!
• The dogs are happy as we are around all day
• I have enough wine
• The french have learned how to form orderly queues
• There is plenty of time to catch up with all the old friends I promised to stay in touch with
• It is really really peaceful outside with hardly any traffic, no noisy microlights and just the occasional jet passing overhead. 

I realise that there are considerably worse places to be confined than in a villa with a big garden in the South of France, but despite still being able to enjoy the views, the sunshine and the vineyard walks, I can’t help but feel worried.  This is a long way from being over.

Photocredit:  Sumanley at Pixabay

You never run out of things that can go wrong!

I was so excited about my Son and his wife coming to stay for their summer holiday and wasn’t even panicked when he asked if his friends and their toddler could come too – it gave us exactly the deadline we needed to finally get our ‘Gite’ project finished and ready for occupation.  I had loads of ideas of how we would spend our time – lying by the pool, trips to the beach, local markets, meals out in lovely restaurants – and had even planned a big party during their stay.

Day 1 – All went very well – lovely convivial evening together eating and drinking on the terrace and watching the sunset.

Day 2 – Not too bad – went to the shops to get more mosquito repellant as daughter-in-law being bitten to death (everybody else was fine as they were just concentrating on her!).  In the evening the ‘young’ all decided to go off to Thuir for a meal – no room at any restaurant and they ended up at the Buffalo Grill where they waited 1½ hours for a badly cooked meal, but too hungry to give up and move on!

Day 3 – Disaster –The fact that we had been so busy working on the Gite and  preparing for the party meant that I was more than ready to relax and enjoy myself.  Unfortunately I ‘relaxed’ so much (possibly due to not much food and too much wine) that I danced myself off the terrace!  Apart from having a bruised bottom and grazed elbows I thought I had got off lightly, and went to bed.

Day 4 – Not good – Somehow managed to get up and make a coffee.  Surprisingly my head didn’t feel too bad but perhaps that was due to the fact that the rest of my body was hurting instead!  I made a start on clearing the debris from the tables in the garden and was at first dismayed to see the toddler appear with her mum (was in no state to be chatty with a 2-year old!) but actually she was useful as I found I couldn’t bend down to pick up the paper plates and napkins that had fallen so as she was already much nearer the ground, she did it!  Went back to bed after an hour – pausing only to deliver an aspirin to J-M who I had found fast asleep in the spare room with his hand resting on a cold cup of coffee.  The ‘young’ ones somehow managed to make their way into Perpignan in the evening to enjoy the ‘Thursdays of Perpignan’ summer evening show.  (NB not my son, who also spent most of the day in bed, only coming downstairs to ask for a mop and bucket) (and a Croque Monsieur later!))

Day 5 – Very bad – Decided to go to the Doctor as I was unable to move very far without waves of pain in my rib.  He gave me a prescription for some very strong pain-killers and sent me for an urgent x-ray just in case anything was in danger of piercing my lung.   Several hours later the x-ray showed that I had just ‘detached’ something so in a wave of euphoria that I wasn’t about to die of a punctured lung we decided to go out for a meal at the lake.  Getting in and out of the car took longer than the car journey, and I discovered that resting your elbows on the table is not only bad manners but extremely painful.  I also put an end to ‘dry’ Friday (before taking the painkiller!)

Day 6 – And getting worse – The ‘drugs’ seemed to be working as long as I didn’t make any sudden movements.  J-M however was limping badly – he had jumped off the terrace to ‘rescue’ me when I fell, forgetting that he had only recently recovered from breaking his foot a few weeks ago.  Emma (mother of Toddler) was feeling very ill with a flare-up of tonsillitis.  It was obvious she needed antibiotics but as it was a Saturday morning all the GP surgeries were closed so the only option was to send them off to the hospital.  No sooner had they left, Oliver (Son) appeared with blood all over his t-shirt from a wound on his head – having walked into the corner of one of the awnings on the terrace.  Luckily it didn’t need stitches but he spent a very quiet day after that!

Day 7 – Some improvement – In hindsight perhaps choosing a restaurant in Castelnou – a medieval town perched on a hill with steep cobbled streets – was not the best choice for such a group of walking wounded and and we must have looked quite comical as we made our way slowly up the hill; Me clutching my ribs, J-M limping, Samantha stopping every 5 minutes to scratch her bites, Emma still feverish with her tonsillitis, and Oliver wearing a hat! 

But despite all that, they seem to have had a good time - and these photos prove that you should never believe the pictures you see on Facebook - there is often a story behind it!

  

It's beginning to look a lot like ..... Autumn!

After a blazing hot summer and a couple of false starts when I thought winter was on the way and got all my warm clothes out of the attic, the weather has now settled down and we are now enjoying some spectacular scenery as Autumn has arrived.  Instead of describing it, I will just show you some pretty pictures:

Vines

Vineyards with Albère mountains in distance

Wild Olive Trees

Wild Olive Trees

Aloe Vera Plant

                                   

Who can resist a sign saying 'Help Yourself'?!  

And just in case there aren't enough dog pictures...

Climb Every Mountain

Have you been to see the Leonardo di Caprio film The Revenant yet?  The long journey, the slow and painful steps through the snow, the step ascents causing the muscles to contract in pain, pushing the human body to its’ limit.   Apart from the scene with the bear, this pretty much sums up my experience on Saturday afternoon... 

This first picture is a view of the Pic de Neolous – the highest point of the Albères mountains.  It was taken in my garden on Saturday, in 16 degrees of sunshine, so it was intriguing to see the snow.  We decided that would be a good place to go for a walk.

To get there we took the ‘old’ road towards Spain (as opposed to the A9 motorway) and just as you get to Le Perthus, take the road on the left (D71).  This twists and turns and climbs for about 15 minutes and we began to see signs of snow in the verges.  We parked quite near the top where is actually a café/restaurant, which I think is called Le Chalet de l’Albère.  (But I wasn’t allowed to go in as we had brought a picnic…)

The walk started off quite gently (although I wasn’t the one carrying the picnic!) but it was bitterly cold as we strolled up the tarmac road through the forest.  The dog seemed less surprised than I was to see cows wandering about – but as long as she has a stick in her mouth, nothing bothers her.  As we left the trees and started up the exposed hillside the views were amazing.  There was a fallen fence of barbed wire, indicating the border, so having enjoyed the experience of having a foot in each country, we then walked up the Spanish side, from where you could see the sunlit sand of the beaches of the Costa Brava – Rosas, Empuria Brava, and Cadaques.

The snow was deep in places so it was pretty tough climbing but after several pauses we arrived at the top.  There is a huge satellite mast and what looks like a James Bond style nuclear power station there, but the main feature for ‘walkers’ is an obelisk surrounded by large stones (one of which marks the 1257metre summit). It was the perfect spot to set out our picnic (which, for the curious among you, consisted of a bottle of champagne, a sandwich, crisps, chocolate and an apple – my idea of a balanced diet)!  It was pointed out to me that there was perhaps no need to have packed two (heavy) plastic ice packs to keep the bottle chilled – but  I wasn’t taking any chances - who wants to drink warm champagne at the top of a mountain!  It was just as the first drink was poured that my partner realized that he had mislaid his jacket.  This was apparently my fault for not noticing earlier that it was no longer tied around his waist (I think it’s a French thing…)  So he set off down the mountain to track it down while I stayed to guard the picnic, the dog, and to enjoy the wonderful views – Spain behind me and France and the Roussillon plain in front of me.

By the time he returned (successfully thank goodness as the car keys were in his jacket pocket), it was getting a bit chilly and clouds were appearing (Neolous is the Catalan word for Nebulous) so we quickly finished the picnic and decided to head back down.   I have to say that getting down was considerably easier than the climb up, mainly because it involved a ranger’s truck as the dog had injured her foot and couldn’t walk.  Thank you Loulou!!!

Winter in the South of France

People often ask me what’s the weather like here in winter and it is hard not to sound smug but the obvious answer is “Sunny”.  The Languedoc boasts over 300 days of sunshine per year and checking that you have your sunglasses with you when you leave the house is as natural as carrying an umbrella in the UK. 

Talking of rain; it doesn’t very much and when it does rain it seems to be during the night – seriously!  Having said that, this year we have had a couple of very bad days of rainstorms where there were flood alerts but occasions like this are very rare.  You might notice when walking around the towns that the drainpipes on buildings empty directly onto the pavements rather than into drains – definitely not designed for practical use! 

The Mediterranean climate is very similar to the people who live here – gentle & easy to live with.  Winters are mild and the summers are pleasantly warm – although there are exceptions.  I have just looked up some ‘average’ temperatures and I see that January should be around 12 degrees (today it was 22 degrees on our terrace), and last August we had a ferocious heatwave where temperatures hit the high thirties rather than the 28 degree average temperature suggested.

The small price we have to pay for this wonderful climate is that we occasionally have to endure the Tramontane Wind.  This is a strong, chilly wind that comes from the North-West and can gust up to 100kmh.  There seems to be no rhyme or reason for why it starts and every elderly resident here has a different theory on how long it will last (5 days is my longest experience) but one thing is for sure – it blows away any threatening looking clouds in the winter and makes the summer heat bearable.

Today is January 5^th and the sun has been shining all day and the sky is a brilliant blue. We have been for a long walk on an almost deserted beach, had lunch sitting outside at a restaurant, and relaxed on our terrace at home soaking up the afternoon sunshine. How is the weather with you.....?!