By the way, the campsite is superb but don’t tell too many of the English. They really let you down. There were two other English families there when we were. One spent most of the time sitting at his computer outside speaking for hours on ‘skype’ to friends back home. Not only could we hear every word he said we could also hear the friends from England! The other family took pride in NOT speaking French and complained about the French most of the time. It is at times like this that I pretend to be French (unfortunately the number plates give you away) I’d love a French set to stick over mine, but I suspect that is illegal!

Bon continuation mes amis.

I said that I would like that and also fit some shutters to complete the illusion I was in France. I went along to the bricolage place between St Cere and Bretoneux, but surprisingly they didn’t have the old type shutter fittings, only hideous modern crap.

I drove around and eventually came to the little dark untidy shop/bricolage place and asked the old chap if he had any really old type fittings; from ornate hinges to the old type locking rod fastener. He took me into the depths of the shed at the back and spent an hour poking around in all the used and new stuff and eventually came up with all the necessary bits.

When I asked how much he replied “Don’t know, come back in a few days when I’ve worked it out”. I turned to leave and he said “Don’t forget your stuff!” (in french of course). Just before I left to return to England I went back to pay him. “Haven’t worked it out yet, see me the next time you come to Glanes!”.

About six months later I walked into his shop. He looked at me and said “That will be €25 please”. Can you picture that happening in England?

Best story, however, was the time we bought a large screen TV an DVD player. We’d just received help from the shopkeeper to get them, with some difficulty, into the car. When we returned to the shop to pay, the machine spat out our credit card. We said no problem, we would go and get a cheque book to pay the 1,000 plus euros, but then we remembered the things were already in the car and it would be a real hassle to get them back out. The shopkeeper told us it wasn’t a problem, we should just take them. But we still felt uncomfortable about leaving the premises with all the goods in our car. So in an effort to convince the shopkeeper of our trustworthiness, Dear Husband said to shopkeeper – I’ll leave my wife here at the shop, so that you know I’ll come back.

Well… the shopkeeper took a look at me and said quickly, “No! No! Please, that’s not necessary. Take her with you. Come back any time with the cheque!”

I try to tell myself, that it’s because they are so wonderfully trusting here, that the shopkeeper let us go off together with the goods, but I’m still haunted by the sneaking suspicion that he would prefer to lose the money for the TV and DVD, rather than risk getting stuck with me!!!

Live in back of back of beyond. OH is off to a land we will not name and FT phone line goes down. They promise to get it repaired (their problem) last Friday as I am still on sick leave. Do they – do they heck. I still do not have an outgoing phone – I never thought that for one min. they would fix it. I cannot even phone them to shout at them.

Cannot use second vehicle as it was attacked by a hunting dog, OH being a kind and gentle soul turned sharply and did not know that there was a ditch with rocks where he was turning. Hound – 1, vehicle on back of truck to repair shop – 0.

Internet works when I do a set of strange sequences with FT and VOIP phone long enough for me to send mail and info like this.

One presumes all of this is normal in France. – Ah my allotted space for sending things has arrived. Have a good Bastille Day and as I will not be with you all give my regards to Henri, OH would have been there with me if he was en France.

FF

I got up one day and said – did you feel the earth move last night? As I was alone in the bedroom strange looks ensued and they put it down to my known insanity, mumble mumble silly woman earth quake.

Phone goes – Denmark, my friends mother in a tither. Worried to death that we might have succumbed to the earthquake. She heard it on the news. Di did but the rest of us thought she was having us on said Sue. I just think it is having lived in Chile and Mexico that does it – ups the earthquake radar. It turns out Portugal’s coastline near to Spain is at very great risk of a very nasty earthquake some time in the next millennium so they are taking steps. It is because they have built a huge town of apartments on the wetlands and salt plains. Killing the wildlife in the process – and so it goes on – well it has to as although some blocks are only 4 years old they are starting to fall down.

I don’t have much faith. Over the winter they built the sea front road(s) and they got washed back into the sea over the concrete protection. It was sort of a game. I build, God takes back.

What was normal was I became ill the minute I stepped of the plane in England but that is understandable. I had “falling over water syndrome” and was not allowed to take a drop of G&T or other wonder fluids. Walking upright returned as soon as I got back to the howling gale that was France. C’est normal.

Doncha Love it.

In the meantime, the grass grows whilst LRT slumbers.

I wonder if the U.S. Military still has some Agent Orange…