The weather was fantastic and the area was beautiful. However we had loads to do to make the house comfortable for Diane to live in for the rest of the year whilst I travelled back and forth to the UK to continue working until my retirement in January 2009.

Our neighbours were so welcoming and quickly became good friends and a great support to Di and later to me. I can’t thank them enough.

Gavin and I had 2 weeks to start work on the stabling and the work in the house to prepair a kitchen and improve the bath room.

The land required looking after as the hay was high and in need of cutting. Our close neighbour found a friend who spoke English and forced him into being a translator. He went and found the local farmer and a deal was struck for him to cut and bail the hay. He would have half and we would have the other half. As it worked out he had 90 percent of it as there were 200 large round bales. I only wanted 20 but stored about 70 for him!

There were no kitchen work tops or cupboards so improvising was the order of the day! The kitchen was very small and was like a scullery. In order to keep the dogs out drastic action was taken and Gavin cut the door in half!! It’s still like it today! The top half was re used as a support for (you may have guessed it!) a second door that now was a kitchen unit. yep it’s still there! We had no cooker so a large Microwave oven and a camping hob became the main method of cooking. Di even produced a 4 course meal for 8 from this combination!

Gavin and I set to, to design and build the new stable block. I knew what I wanted but didn”t know how to do it! We decided to start with clearing out one end of the largest barn and start planning the stalls.

I had my first introduction to the language at the builders merchants. I needed to buy sand, cement, a mixer and concrete blocks. Pointing worked well but I realised I needed to learn the language quickly.

All our small animals were split between the two. Two of the dogs were doped up as they didn’t travel well and here we were going 700 miles or more! The cat was making friends with the rabbit and the animals as well as embarking on 700 miles of yowling!!

Also in the load was the base for a green house consisting of kerb stones. There was a massive amount of tools and other hard wear for the new house.

We set off very early at about 4am to head across the Southwest of England to Dover. Our pace was very slow and traffic was awful. We could not make the ferry on time so had to book onto a later boat. We got to France and started the long journey south. Our furniture was ahead of us and would arrive before we did. At this time we had not actually signed for the house but the owners were happy for us to start moving in the day before signing.

The journey went on for ever! We navigated round Paris and on south. The day turned to evening and then on into the night. We finally arrived at 1 am Inflated air mattresses and crashed into bed. The furniture lorry was in the yard and they wanted to unload at 5 am in order to get back to the ferry.

Dawn break, the air mattress had gone down and everything was damp. Di felt for the first and last time “my god what have we done!”

The lorry was unloaded by 9 am and they were on their way. Now was the time to run round like kids and explore. Gavin had come with us to help us get started. This was his first visit and the first chance to see the work needed to convert barns to accommodation. The horses were still in england and stabling had to be built before they came over.

The grass in the fields was long and needed to be cut for hay and generally a lot of work was needed to get the house habitable for Di who had six months alone here with me visiting every 4 or 5 weeks.

Early evening on the first day saw us going with the estate agent to the solicitor’s office to sign for the house. La Bussiere Foret was finally officially ours and our new home.

Diane handed in her notice to leave the NHS. That wasnt too painful! We then started the business of sorting removal companies and how to move the horses. (there will be an extra page on this in the future.)

The removal company was a local company called Coleman’s Removals from Williton. They were fantastic and very helpful. Items in the house were disappearing into boxes at a great speed.

It was at this time that I approached a good friend to see if he would help construct the Gite and the construction of our stables. He was very keen to help in any he could. Gavin has been a god send and a fantastic teacher and guide. Without him the gite would not have been built. He sets himself a high standard and sticks to it. I found it hard to start with and now completely understand why.

April was upon us and the signing for the French property was looming. Di and I realised we had not seen the house for a number of months except a photo on the computer screen saver! We could not both go so our daughter Helen said she would come and have a look. We had three days so without a local airport at the time. (which has now changed with flights from Bristol to Limoges.) We decided to drive and so we did.

We left at 5am to drive to Dover and across the channel to Calais. The drive was long and hard but fantastic. We drove via Paris circling it to the east. We continued south until we came to the Auvergne and stayed with Adrian and Shamsiah. They invited us to supper which was out of this world and was a tremendous welcome to France for Helen. The following morning we headed for the house and were not disappointed in any way. Helen said that she now understood why we were leaving the U.K.

The following morning we headed back to England. We got a bit lost near Paris and ended up driving round the inner ring road!! This is not for the faint hearted!! Cars and motorcycles coming at you from all directions, it even felt like they were coming from above! I said I would never do that again but within a year we were back on the same ring road looking for the British Consulate. That is a completely different story.

We returned  to England and my spirits were high and I couldnt wait to retire! Diane was working hard getting ready to leave work, pack and many other things. She was going to live in the new house for the best part of a year in another country with another language and without friends by herself.

the house

The idea of selling a house was not good at this time. We were committed to a contract and had a target date to work to.

Northern rock had fallen on rocky times. Other financial institutions were feeling the pinch as were those with money invested in our wonderful banking system.

We wanted this house in France, so on we went. We went to a local estate agent on Exmoor, Big Black Hen. They must have got fed up with me being on the phone almost every day. They worked hard and got the viewings. We transformed our house to a show home. We still had horses and dogs to contend with and the associated dirt that comes with them. The viewers came through the door though regardless of the impending slump. Then the offers started coming in. We kept reviewing the price and watched the exchange rates. Our original costing for the house and Gite were in tatters but our spirits were high. A couple of sales came and went as people tried to keep forcing the price down.

Exchange dates in France started coming and going but the owners were happy to wait for us. Then came the break we needed. An offer came in to which we said no but these people wanted the house. June and Claire had fallen in love with it. The estate agent rang with a new price which we still said no. June then rang told me to put on the kettle she was coming round! We sat at the lounge table and sorted out a price followed by a glass of wine! Job done house sold the Gite was under way!