April spring well under way

Arrival April 2014

Wild flowers by Evie

The nightingales are back, so for the next few months they will sing all day and night, trying to attract a mate.  Last year we had six territories.  One just outside the bedroom window!  Spring is in full swing with a number of nest sites already in use.

Roses on Grange

This year April will mark our 10th anniversary when we moved to France.  We love it here, but have seen a number of changes.  Brexit made us expand the business to take more European guests, prior to Brexit most were from the UK.  Then coronavirus slowed the whole business down again.  It seems the UK and French governments have it in for gite owners, UK making it harder to travel, the French changing tax laws.  After 10 years we are in the process of selling La Bastide, we signed the compromise de vente this month and will complete mid June.  We are running the gites until the end of August, when we officially hand over to the new owners, Peter Escher and his wife Michaela, who are from Switzerland.   They have six horses and plan to run gites, riding holidays and are installing a conference centre for guests.  We will move locally as we love the French way of life.  We will miss the song of the nightingales, and the freedom we have had at La Bastide.  Time for me to finally retire, as I will be 67 this year!

I have just got the building certificate for the appartement (only five years late).  However, found out the pool installed in 2001, does not have a permit and is therefore illegal.   I checked our purchase agreement and the pool was not even mentioned!  The mayor knows about it and seems nonplussed.  However, it is something I will organise.

I am in the process of cleaning the pool and terraces, an annual event after the winter to remove dirt/soil/weeds from the tile surrounds.  Once done the terrace looks lighter and weed free. I also clean the pool furniture and treat the wooden tables to some linseed oil.  The pool has had a chlor choc and the robot is doing a great job, now it has a new pump, I am cleaning any over winter debris, I guess I should test it out with a first swim!  Evie and Charlie have both been in a few times, but at 19 degrees in April, they cant complain.

The cherry is in full bloom and judging by the number of flowers and bees we will have a bumper crop.  The fields are full of rape and garlic.  Winter wheat is growing fast and sweet corn and sunflowers will be planted soon.

Fibre pole and access

Trench for WIFI fibre

My local farmers have dug a 20cm deep trench and run in a 40mm plastic access pipe for the fibre, as it is installed, I booked Orange and they have installed the gite fibre, so we have upgraded WIFI in the farmhouse 300Mb and 50Mb in the Grange   Next I will book Orange to install my house.  Let's hope the dug area will grass over in two weeks (rain due all this week after a weekend at 28º).

Metal fence above apartment

Pool nearly ready

Jean-Phillipe and I have installed a new fence above the apartment, in typical French style we are adapting an old stair fence with a metal cutter/grinder and welding.  I have painted with hammerite green paint and it looks great, a vast improvement over the wooden fence that we first installed. 

Bookings this year are down on last year so far, as people are booking later.  I have also blocked out September for the Grange and Farmhouse, and the cottage for the whole season (last year twelve bookings) as the new owners will use as a base.  However, I have five groups of friends who may all visit, three have booked already.  They have all been before and love the French countryside, eating al fresco and visiting all the sites.  We are lucky to have Albi, a world heritage site, and Carcassonne citadel, that apparently inspired Walt Disney. There is also another French link to Disney, his ancestry has been traced to two Norman soldiers from Isigny-sur-Mer in Calvardos, who after William the Conqueror's invasion of 1066 stayed in England, where d'Isigny changed his name to Disney.  We also have a number of medieval and Bastide villages on the doorstep.  Even the Mediterranean sea is only two and a half hours away by car.  

A friend who owns the chateau in Puycalvel arrived for a brief visit.  I did the airport duty and he paid for lunch at Les Chevaliers and Le Jardin Du Clocher, both excellent choices for different reasons.  First hearty large portions and the Jardin, excellent food as always.  It's now the number one restaurant in Lautrec, according to Tripadvisor and well justified in my opinion.

First guests arrive in May which is always an exciting time at La Bastide.

Trench to Farmhouse being grassed