Interesting Places to Visit

Whilst we were down at the house this weekend, we went for a drive around lunchtime.  We had heard that there was a Christmas fair in a village Soussac, not far from Pellegrue.  We decided we would try going to Sauveterre de Guyenne for lunch, and then on to Soussac afterwards, going there cross country.  As it turned out, the fair at Soussac did not come to much - it might have been better later, but it looked as if we would have been the only visitors there, so we ducked that one!

Sauveterre has a charming square which is now a car park, but I imagine hosts a bustling market on Tuesdays.  Around the square are a number of shops, and we found a nice little restaurant for lunch - Les Arcades.  It was a bit basic, but the fixed price three course lunch with wine for €11.50 was not bad at all.

We then headed out on the road to Monségur, which we have been to before, and also has a charming square and nice cafés for lunch.  The map we were using had told us about a "village de charme" - Castelmoron d'Albret.  We parked up, and wandered around the village.  It had a feel just like villages in Provence - buildings and houses perched on the top of a hill, winding roads between the houses butting directly onto the roadway.  The buildings themselves were generally a bit run down, and a large number of them were for sale.  These would make ideal renovation projects if you wanted a village property.  There was a restaurant there - Chez Pierre, I think - which looked like a nice spot for lunch.  Next trip, I think!

The three locations - Sauveterre, Monségur with Castelmoron in between - make a nice little trip - perhaps on a Tuesday for the Sauveterre market or Friday for the Monségur one.

Visit in November

Just come back from a weekend - it is good to be over there.  We did have a few problems, though.  Going over in November, you really need to have the heating working ok.  However, when we got there, we had difficulty getting the boiler to work.  We finally worked out that the boiler had been on since the 22 of September, when the last people were there, and the shower upstairs had not been fully turned off.  As a result, it had been using up hot water continuously until the tank ran out of oil!

We had bought about 500 litres earlier this year - the previous 500 litres had lasted 2 years.  All gone!  Also no way of getting the tanker over to fill up.  There was a solution - we had a couple of 25 litre jerry cans which we took to the petrol station in Pellegrue.  We filled them up, and, not easily, transferred the contents into the tank.  A couple of attempts and the boiler started up.  After a while, we realised the heating wasn't working.......  A couple of blows to the pump with an Irish screwdriver, and we had hot radiators!

Ok - that was ok Saturday afternoon, but, Friday afternoon and evening, we were freeeeeezing!  The small electric radiators just aren't up to heating a big space - they're fine for the bedrooms we bought them for, but not the master bedroom or the downstairs living area.

On the way to the house from Bordeaux, we stopped at Leroy Merlin to decide on bathroom stuff, and we bought a grate for the fireplace.  That did make a difference, and both nights we were able to have a roaring fire, which made up for it a bit.

Bathroom planning is now well advanced - we are assured it will be ready by the time I go out at the end of March.  I have a list of improvements for when I'm out there - shutters for the bunk bedroom, skirting board and general tidying up around the landing, decorating in the bathroom...

New Bathroom

Plans for the bathroom have taken a bit of a knock back.  Mr Balthazart who does the garden and is a very good handyman does not have the time for this project.  This means a fall back on a builder who has proven to be a bit unreliable in the past, unless Mr Balthazart has a friend who can do it.


We'll have to see where this one goes.......

Painted Shutters!

Here we are - the "new" shutters for the downstairs double bedroom, finally painted.

September Visit

Well, we finally managed to get out to La Matha for a weekend.  This was the annual pilgrimage with Bill (of the fence building project), Shirley, Freddie and Ali, the precedent for which was set last year.  Slightly different route this time - Easyjet to Bordeaux and a Europcar rental.  I've decided now that, even if Europcar is the cheapest quote, I will go elsewhere: the Europcar desk was the only one with a queue, and that moved very slowly.

Anyway, Pip and I had a trip to Leroy Merlin to look at bathroom stuff for the en-suite whilst the others did provision shopping in Auchan at Bordeaux Lac.  We then headed straight to the house for a late lunch, followed later by dinner at La Terrasse.  Saturday was St Foy market to get fresh food for a BBQ in the evening, following which we just chilled out in the garden, by the pool, on the terrace..... The barbecue was fantastic - we had bought some meats from one of the butcher's stalls ready prepared - some duck kebabs which had duck liver on, as well as devils on horseback, and some butterflied and marinated chicken breasts..

I managed to get the shutters painted - they had held up remarkably well considering they were only undercoated.  Photos were taken and will be uploaded later.

On Sunday on the way back to Bordeaux, we stopped off in St Emilion to have lunch in Chai Pascal http://www.chai-pascal.com/, which was superb.  A really good Lalande Pomerol for €22 and some delicious veal as the plat du jour.

I suppose it sounds as though we were just eating all the time.  That's not quite true - we did drink copious amounts of wine as well!!!

Next time, I will NOT be the designated driver!

Here are some photos

Shutters

When we had the wall to the side of the house re-pointed, it really highlighted how rotten the shutters for the downstairs double bedroom had got.

Therefore, when I went over to La Matha in May with Bill, I took some tongue and groove wood, a skill saw and some other tools.  The wood was not as thick as the original but I ended up with something that worked.

The weather was so bad in the last few days I was there, I was not able to paint it outside - that meant I had to wait for one side to dry before painting the other side.  As a result, I ran out of time, with only two coats of undercoat on the wood.  I did ask a builder to pop over and paint it in the same colour as the shutter on the front, but.........  I will be painting it when we go over in September, provided the undercoat is still in good nick!  The other shutters will probably need replacing as well before too long.

The Next Project

When we bought the house, one big project that had not been completed was the en-suite bathroom for the main bedroom.  The door was there, and a large velux was in place, but no flooring, walls etc - bare roofspace.

There is a problem, though: the large beam that is visible in the first picture above is just a tad too close to the wall adjoining the bedroom for a shower to be fitted, and that's the only place for it.  The solution has to be to move the wall about 6 inches or so into the bedroom to create space for the shower.  A nice bath under the velux, and a stylish washbasin between the two.  Finish it off with the loo, some nice tiling, and we're in business!

There will of course be updates on this as it progresses!