tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-37477110864431401162024-02-07T03:37:40.526+00:00The View from VoutezacDave and Judy have moved from the Cotswolds to the depths of rural France - and this is what happens next......The Old Folkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09125887201188442375noreply@blogger.comBlogger76125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3747711086443140116.post-22252237678108552162020-01-03T18:58:00.000+00:002020-01-03T18:58:43.523+00:00<br />
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As we enter the year of
the optician (2020 – geddit?) I thought I had better get on with
ensuring my blog is up to date.</div>
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Well the summer
finished with a lot of hot days, so quite a few days out and picnics.
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One day we finished up
at the Taverne de Montbrun, a small restaurant opposite a stunning
chateau of the same name. It is near Chalus in the Haute Vienne,
where Richard the Lionheart met his fate. One story says he actually
died at Montbrun, and bits of him (!) are buried there. The
restaurant was nice, but to our surprise is actually run by Russians
– and the food wasn't up to much. I asked if they owned the chateau
as well, but the proprietors of that are currently Dutch.
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For another picnic I
looked on the map and found a nice looking lake, about an hours drive
away. Scenic for us and a good run for the dogs. Sadly by accident or
design a large hole had appeared at one end, and the lake had all
drained away.</div>
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Later we found some Roman remains nearby. We know how to live life in the fast lane. </div>
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Rather more successful
was a return trip the Chirac Museum, which holds many of the gifts
given to the now late ex president. The museum is not huge but is
quite interesting, and there was a small exhibition of presidential
cars. The display of carpets and rugs he had been given was rather
more reminiscent of a trip to Carpetright....</div>
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Medically all going
well – I knew you would want to know. A visit to the dentist to
repair a broken tooth was a lot of fun, and the visit to see Dr
Lefort about my high white blood count was actually fine – don't
have to go back for two years – by which time she will have retired.
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At the end of September
we celebrated our 10<sup>th</sup> anniversary in Voutezac! The time
seems to have just flown by, but we have never really regretted
making the move.
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My Ipad battery was
giving up the ghost, so I tried a few ot the more respeactable
looking computer repair shops in Brive. None of them would touch it,
as apparently you have to remove the screen to get inside. Eventually
I sent it to Apple France – quite expensive, but the price included
courier pick up and delivery, and it wasn't the actual battery anyway
but a controller. Away less than a week.
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More Poppy selling for
the British Legion. Three collecting tins out this year, and we
managed to raise 365 euros.</div>
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We switched the central
heatingback on in October, before it got properly cold. Good idea as
it didn't fire up. Called out an engineer who eventually got it
working, but methinks a service and flush after we turn it off.</div>
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Very happy to have a
couple of RAF friends, Pam and Kevin McCullough, come over to visit
us. We hope they enjoyed themselves – we certainly liked having
them.
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The wonderful American
“festival” of Haloween is now celebrated in France. Luckily we
had some sweets and chocolates in the house as we were visited a
couple of weeks early. It was very well organised with lots of
parents, and there was no suggestion of “Trick or Treat”! I think
Judy thought she was going to be mobbed!</div>
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My photography has
continued apace. When there has been a decent sunny day, I have tried
to find interesting villages to photograph. They are all on my
YouTube channel (CliftonDJ), and I am still puzzled why some
slideshows have had 8 views, and another 884!
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I was pursuing a SSAFA
case which was sadly cut short when the applicant passed away.
However thanks to the needs of Data Protection the system on which we
enter case information was deemed to be out of date, and I had a day
in Limoges learning about its replacement.
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From Limoges I
travelled to England to attend a School Reunion – just the 50 years
since we left! I always stress that the Royal Grammar School in
Guilfdord was a state school when we were there – it went fee
paying (again) in the 70s. My very good friends the Makepeaces put me
up for a couple of nights, and I even saw some of the sites of
Folkestone. The reunion was excellent, held in the Great Hall of the
Old Building. A very nice meal, lots of anecdotes swapped and a quick
visit to the school's famous chained library.
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The actual trip to and
from England was......interesting. I had to spend a night in Paris,
then caught the Eurostar, which does stop at Ashford on weekdays, but
not not for my return trip on the Sunday. Thanks again to David
Makepeace for chauffeuring duties, and for the excellent speech he
made at the reunion – just right!</div>
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As in many other places
the weather had been poor – does not seem to have stopped raining
for weeks.
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Decided I had to go on
a diet again, just before Christmas – good planning. I have lost a
few pounds so far, but our super Christmas Day dinner with our friend
Diane, </div>
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and the lovely Boxing Day lunch Judy prepared probably put some of them back on again.....My first New Year's resolution is....</div>
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<br />The Old Folkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09125887201188442375noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3747711086443140116.post-62987857249943065742019-08-18T14:34:00.000+01:002019-08-18T14:34:00.536+01:00<br />
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<span style="font-size: medium;">So what has been happening in the last 4 ½ months? </span>
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<span style="font-size: medium;">In April we flew to England to see family and friends.
Went with Easy Jet from Bordeaux to Southend, as obviously very
convenient for Nick in Leigh on Sea. OK flight, and great to see
everyone at the Essex branch. From there to Kingston for the South
London Cliftons (and Bourne). Next day to Marlborough to stay with
Dave Lockie, then Dorset with Posy Clayton, Fossebridge with Rennie
and Peter Thompson and finally North Leigh with Jim and Angela
Wiggle. We had a great time, and are very thankful to have such nice
friends and relations!</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: medium;">I'm still doing my before and after photography of local
villages – see</span></div>
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<a href="https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCZBhxMvmggatemcb9tN16sw"><span style="font-size: medium;">https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCZBhxMvmggatemcb9tN16sw</span></a><span style="font-size: medium;"><span lang="en-US">
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<span style="font-size: medium;">At a cattle show in Objat I took a picture of a little
girl sitting by the animals – it won a prize and was published in
the French Property News magazine!</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: medium;">Just a couple of kilometres from us is the hamlet of
Ceyrat. There is a large quarry there, and looking at the map I found
some ruins marked in the hills behind the quarry. The dogs and I went
to investigate and found “Les Ruines de Patel” - the remains of a
chapel built around</span><span style="font-size: medium;"> 800, and demolished in 1745.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: medium;">I had rather let our garden go – I say garden but when
I got a chap in to cut it all down I advised him to bring a machete!
It wasn't quite that bad – he did a good job and we can actually
see the garden now – pity it's still on a 30 degree slope....</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: medium;">Still going out for our picnics. One of the best places
we have found is above the Viaduc des Rochers – where an old train
line crossed a valley. The picnic tables are on platforms overlooking
the depths. Nearby is the Garden of Sothys – they are a big
cosmetics company and here they have herb and flower gardens and a
very nice looking restaurant – almost sorry we had had our picnic!</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: medium;">We got to see Rachel for the first time in almost two
years. She was with friends in San Sebastien just over the border in
Spain. We drove down, stayed in a nice hotel in a lovely Basque village on the French side then
picked her up. Great to see her – if only for a few days. She took us to our favourite chocolate shop and made drink their diet busting hot chocolate...</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: medium;">After finding the ancient chapel ruins near Ceyrat I had
another look at the map, and Finn and I found a menhir near the
village of Espartignac.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: medium;">At the start of July I had to travel to England again –
for the funeral of my cousin Linda. Thanks again to Dave Lockie for
putting me up for a couple of nights. I was glad that I could be
there for Keith, Lin's husband – just sorry we hadn't seen each
other for so long.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: medium;">I still play bowls every Wednesday, I'd like to say it
keeps me fit but that would be a bit of a fib. Anyway the couple who
mainly ran the club have sold there house and moved to Britanny –
so I was elected as the new club secretary – such an honour.
Actually I haven't had much to do yet – hope it stays that way!</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: medium;">I won't talk about the weather – we've had just about
everything! Love the sun – but 40 Celsius is just a tad too warm. </span>
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<span style="font-size: medium;">Another picnic day out took us to the hamlet of Sarran.
We found a nice picnic place on the top of a hill where three crosses
have been erected – a Calvary. In Sarran</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: medium;">itself is the museum containing all (?) the gifts given
to former President Chirac. It's a big place – didn't visit it this
time I'm afraid.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: medium;">A few days ago was our annual visit to the opera at the
Chateau du Saillant with Rhonda and David Lush. This year it was
Madam Butterfly, and it was excellent. A very enjoyable evening. </span>
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The Old Folkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09125887201188442375noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3747711086443140116.post-62635208531379639222019-03-29T14:57:00.000+00:002019-03-29T14:57:00.193+00:00<br />
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<span style="font-size: medium;">I found a couple more places
frequented by Brits where I could rattle my British Legion Poppy
collection tins, and this year we managed a very healthy 315 Euros. </span>
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<span style="font-size: medium;">We have carried on trying new
places to eat, and we found a lovely little restaurant in a village
about 30 minutes away over the border in the Dordogne. It's called
the Auberge de Tilleuls, and I think we'll be going there a few
times this summer. </span>
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<span style="font-size: medium;">This does not mean we have
neglected our culinary visits closer to home – heaven forbid!</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: medium;">On Christmas Day we had a superb
lunch at the Auberge in our village. Absolutely delicious. We had
friends over on Boxing Day for lunch too.</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj0Z-9CKc98DHW_krTFrc0aJjtTYnc-ian_Kq076hgQZwq8P0CeqOHjGkYld363TDj89vMVO3DQACHf1QKvD0SEmkNOjr0HxtAuX1Px3xohgoeD0THtyeJ6schoTlrDyIl-1Nw75zCtPW9y/s1600/IMG_1977.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1201" data-original-width="1600" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj0Z-9CKc98DHW_krTFrc0aJjtTYnc-ian_Kq076hgQZwq8P0CeqOHjGkYld363TDj89vMVO3DQACHf1QKvD0SEmkNOjr0HxtAuX1Px3xohgoeD0THtyeJ6schoTlrDyIl-1Nw75zCtPW9y/s320/IMG_1977.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-size: medium;">Christmas mostly involved the
swapping of Amazon vouchers with family. Why is it that when you have
a goodly sum of vouchers you can't think of anything to spend them
on, as soon as they are all gone you remember something you have
always wanted.......</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: medium;"><span lang="en-US">Just after
Christmas we were invited to a neighbor's house where we were
invited to share the </span>Galette de<span lang="en-US">s</span> Roi
with <span lang="en-US">them and some other neighbours. It celebrates
Epiphany, and deep in the cake is a small model of a king and whoever
finds has to wear a cardboard crown.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: medium;">I was asked to do some English
conversation classes in the village. These are not as easy as I
thought, and I ran out of inspiration after a couple of months. Pity
as they were good fun.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: medium;">Lots of days out as the weather
improved. The plan is usually to buy some sandwiches and drinks for a
picnic, and then hope that a tempting restaurant lures us
in....sometimes works.</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: medium;">We have had days out in the Dordognes, and in the last few week the Lot, which is the department south of us. On one trip to the town of Figeac we did succumb to the attractions of a very nice restaurant...</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: medium;">On other trips we have had lakeside picnics and the dogs have had a great time. We have seen chateaux, churches and lovely villages. It's a great area with so much to see. Finn even made a new friend.</span></div>
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Limeuil in the Dordogne</div>
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Judith Margaret in the Dordogne</div>
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Assier in the Lot</div>
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Fortified Church in Rudelle, Lot</div>
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Chateau near Gourdon</div>
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Picnic Time</div>
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Chateau near Concores, Lot</div>
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<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
Finn's new chum...</div>
</div>
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<br /></div>
<div align="LEFT" class="western" style="font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"><span lang="en-US">We have had
the </span>Gilets Jaunes <span lang="en-US">in our area as well. They
have been congregating near to motorway junctions, and we were
initially held up a few times. They are still around (end of March),
but don't seem to be stopping traffic any more. However the speed
cameras they torched are still a testament to the strong feelings
they have.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: medium;"><span lang="en-US"><br /></span></span>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-size: medium;"><span lang="en-US">We applied
for our </span>Cartes de Sejour <span lang="en-US">last August and we
were told that we would get a text message when they were ready. As
the end date of our receipts approached we asked a friend to contact
the Prefecture in January and chase them up. They assured him it was
all in hand and we would hear soon. A friend who had applied at the
same time as us asked someone from his Mairie who had contacts at the
Prefecture to try – and after some pushing we found all three cards
had been issued in October and were waiting for us. A couple of weeks
after we collected them I had a text message to say my card was ready
– with a totally different reference number....</span></span></div>
<div align="LEFT" class="western" style="font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div align="LEFT" class="western" style="font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"><span lang="en-US">We seem to
have had a pretty good winter – we had a </span>little bit of snow
<span lang="en-US">which cleared quickly and for the last few weeks
we have had a number of lovely sunny days. This encouraged me to do
some more of my “Then and Now” photography – results on my
YouTube Channel – just search for CliftonDJ. </span></span>
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;"><span lang="en-US"><br /></span></span>
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<span style="font-size: medium;"><span lang="en-US">At the end of
January we went to a </span>Burns Night, <span lang="en-US">held in
our village Auberge. A friend organised it and the great Fabio,
proprietor of the Cadran Solaire, learnt how to me a haggis – and
very nice it was. There was a god mix of expats, older French and a
a number of young French people, and everyone seemed to have a great
time. </span></span>
<br />
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<br /></div>
<div align="LEFT" class="western" style="font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"><span lang="en-US">Modern
technology is wonderful. I discovered I had mislaid my m</span>obile,
<span lang="en-US">then remembered I had installed a a “Find my
Mobile” app on my Ipad. Two minutes later I had the exact location
and could pick it up the next day. </span></span>
</div>
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<br /></div>
<div align="LEFT" class="western" style="font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"><span lang="en-US">A couple of
RAF Association events so far this year. Once again we attended the
memorial service in the village of </span>Grun Bordas <span lang="en-US">for
the RAF crew who crashed after dropping supplies to the Resistance.
As it was the 75</span><sup><span lang="en-US">th</span></sup><span lang="en-US">
anniversary it was very well attended, including Australian relatives
of one of the crew. </span></span>
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;"><span lang="en-US"><br /></span></span>
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<span style="font-size: medium;"><span lang="en-US"><br /></span></span></div>
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<span lang="en-US" style="font-size: medium;">A couple of
weeks later I went to the </span><span style="font-size: medium;">RAFA </span><span lang="en-US" style="font-size: medium;">SW France
</span><span style="font-size: medium;">AGM </span><span lang="en-US" style="font-size: medium;">in Bordeaux. Great meeting people and
much swapping of stories. The actual AGMs can always be a little dull
– and when everything is read out in English </span><span lang="en-US" style="font-size: medium;"><b>and
</b></span><span lang="en-US" style="font-size: medium;">French it can definitely drag. Great
meal afterwards though!</span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div align="LEFT" class="western" style="font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"><span lang="en-US">Now that
Spring is definitely here, and the central heating is about to be
switched off, I'll stop and get on with gathering some more stuff for
my next missive. </span></span>
</div>
<br />The Old Folkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09125887201188442375noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3747711086443140116.post-79962904782701205602018-11-01T09:30:00.000+00:002018-11-01T09:30:07.917+00:00<br />
<div align="CENTER" class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br />
</div>
<div align="LEFT" class="western" lang="zxx" style="font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: medium;">One of the few drawbacks to living here is the number,
and viciousness of the local mosquito population. To be fair I seem
to be particularly susceptible, and I have had a few visits to the
doctor when I have reacted badly. Luckily the mozzies like me much
more than Judy – so she has been fairly unharmed.</span></div>
<div align="LEFT" class="western" lang="zxx" style="font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br />
</div>
<div align="LEFT" class="western" lang="zxx" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: medium;">I have been keeping up my photography, both to make the
sliding then and now photos and slideshows. Good fun in the summer! I
have visited some lovely villages to do so. See my YouTube channel at
CliftonDJ.</span></div>
<div align="LEFT" class="western" lang="zxx" style="font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br />
</div>
<div align="LEFT" class="western" lang="zxx" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: medium;">Our new Renault is going well, there is plenty of room
for the dogs in the back, and it is a very pleasant car to drive.
All the modern features take a bit of getting used to – key-less door opening, automatic lights and wipers, but they do make life
easier. </span>
</div>
<div align="LEFT" class="western" lang="zxx" style="font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br />
</div>
<div align="LEFT" class="western" lang="zxx" style="font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: medium;">We found a real bargain in a local brocante, a French
school map of the UK. Always nice to know how others see us!</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div align="LEFT" class="western" lang="zxx" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: medium;">Healthwise, (apart from the French insects hatred of me),
we have both been pretty well. Judy had a cracked tooth, which has
been repaired with a crown. We also went to the optahlmologist –
Judy for her cataract operation to be declared fine, me just for a check
up. Very few opticians here give thorough eye checks, only ophthalmologists, who are very busy. </span>
</div>
<div align="LEFT" class="western" lang="zxx" style="font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br />
</div>
<div align="LEFT" class="western" lang="zxx" style="font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: medium;">We had a very enjoyable visit from Barrie and Leslie
Munday, old RAF friends. We showed them the delights of the Correze,
and they seemed to enjoy an evening at the Marche des Producteurs and
another at our village Peach Festival. Really nice to have such
enthusiastic visitors!</span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div align="LEFT" class="western" lang="zxx" style="font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: medium;">We decided it would be a good idea to apply for Cartes
de Sejour – basically French identity cards. Got all our paperwork
together, including the only translation we needed, of our marriage
certificate, and took it all to the Prefecture in Tulle. Two of the
things we had to prove were that we had been resident for over 5
years, and that we had sufficient income not to be a burden. We had
lots of photocopies of electricity and local tax bills, plus proof of
pension and bank statement. We also had our income tax bill to show
the address, and the (helpful) lady at Tulle pointed out that if we
brought her copies of the income figures on the back of the bill,
that would cover that aspect. Quick dash home, copies made and back
after lunch. Everything accepted, fingerprints taken and we were
given a receipt – just waiting for the actual cards. </span>
</div>
<div align="LEFT" class="western" lang="zxx" style="font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br />
</div>
<div align="LEFT" class="western" lang="zxx" style="font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: medium;">Being France everything is done differently in each
department. The Dordogne, which adjoins the Correze, only accepts
applications by appointment, and won't even make those at the moment.
In the Haute Vienne to the north of us you send off all you copies of
supporting evidence and if it is okay, they make an appointment to
speak to you. Guess we have been quite lucky!</span></div>
<div align="LEFT" class="western" lang="zxx" style="font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div>
<div align="LEFT" class="western" lang="zxx" style="font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: medium;">The weather has been pretty good over the summer and
autumn. Last Thursday we were in Brive and the temperature was 26
degrees. Since then we seem to have moved straight into early winter
– yesterday (October 29<sup>th</sup>) saw 3 degrees here, and snow
in other parts of the Correze. Today there is a severe snow warning
in place for the Correze – the department starts at less than 100
metres above sea level, and climbs to over 970 as you move towards
the Massif Central. Ar 214 I think we are safe for a bit!</span></div>
<div align="LEFT" class="western" lang="zxx" style="font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br />
</div>
<div align="LEFT" class="western" lang="zxx" style="font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: medium;">Just a quick moment to do the proud grandfather bit –
Jake has started at University of East Anglia reading history, and
Esme got 5 grade 7s, 4 grade 8s and a grade 9 in her GCSEs and has
moved to Grammar School for the sixth form. </span>
</div>
<div align="LEFT" class="western" lang="zxx" style="font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br />
</div>
<div align="LEFT" class="western" lang="zxx" style="font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: medium;">A few weeks ago we had an art exhibition which took over
much of the village. All the artists showed there work in the streets
and alleys of the old part of the own, and it was cleverly named
"Remp'arts". We had an artist outside our house, and he
made a delightful sketch of it, which we bought from him.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div align="LEFT" class="western" lang="zxx" style="font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: medium;">One weekend a year there is a Jour de Patrimoine, when
many historic places are open to the public which are shut or private
for the rest of the year. We went to Segur le Chateau, and joined a
guided tour, the highlight of which was a visit to the Chateau
itself. It is still in private hands, and the owner, who I understand
is a duke, showed us around. There is a lot of building work going on
to repair and stabilise the older parts, and we had a brife glimpse
inside the Chateau itself as we moved from one part of the grounds to
another. </span>
</div>
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<span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div>
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</div>
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<span style="font-size: medium;">The village has started English conversation classs once
a week, and I am doing my poor best to supply the English side. Much
harder than I thought!</span></div>
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<br />
</div>
<div align="LEFT" class="western" lang="zxx" style="font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: medium;">We have had several enjoyable picnic days out while the
weather was nice. Particularly memorable was a picnic overlooking the
lovely village of St Leon sur Vezere, after which we visited a wild
boar farm near the town of Le Bugue.</span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-size: medium;">The annual Levriers or running dog show came to
Pompadour again. I didn't show Finn, but we saw his breeder who said
he looked fine – but need a good brush. Very embarassing. </span>
</div>
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<br />
</div>
<div align="LEFT" class="western" lang="zxx" style="font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: medium;">We don't forget Icare – still "top dog"!</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-size: medium;">As always at this time of year I have been selling
poppies for the Royal British Legion. I have two tins, and have been
moving them around a bit, so I am quite optimistic this year!</span></div>
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<br />
</div>
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<span style="font-size: medium;">The History Society in our village have commemorated the
100<sup>th</sup> Anniversary of the end of the Great War with a
superb exhibition in our village hall. There are boards with the
names of all those who fought, details of the 88 who died, and many
mementoes provided by their relatives. I was asked to provide some
details of the history of the poppy, which I was very touched and
pleased to do. </span>
</div>
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<br />The Old Folkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09125887201188442375noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3747711086443140116.post-51119549651740032942018-06-10T17:45:00.000+01:002018-06-10T17:45:54.052+01:00<br />
<div align="LEFT" class="western" lang="en-GB" style="font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: medium;">Well it has been the wettest and
greyest winter since we arrived here – not so cold, but without
many sunny days rather more depressing. </span>
</div>
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<br /></div>
<div align="LEFT" class="western" lang="en-GB" style="font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: medium;">We've been taking Finn out as
much as possible to get him socialised, he's coming on pretty well.
One trip to Brive proved a little too much – it was the day that
the carnival came through town. Everyone throws confetti at all the
floats – a bit too exciting for an Irish Wolfhound Puppy. We found
some youngsters dressed up for the occasion – one of them as a
wolf. I think that he eventually understood my explanation of what a
wolfhound was bred for, but he refused to actually be hunted. Still
not totally sure he appreciated my sense of humour – not alone
there then!</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div>
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</div>
<div align="LEFT" class="western" lang="en-GB" style="font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: medium;">For Valentines day we had a
lovely dinner at the auberge, heart shaped dessert and all. We were
even given our engraved aperetif glasses as a souvenir!</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-size: medium;">On our travels we have now found
an American cafe in the small town of Excideuil, about an hour away.
Nice people running it and a welcome bit of variety.</span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div align="LEFT" class="western" lang="en-GB" style="font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: medium;">I spent a lot of time car
hunting, and could never find exactly what we wanted. And Finn kept
on growing....</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: medium;">Talking of Finn – to answer
the usual questions I am asked when I am out with him, I have had a
special sweatshirt printed – seems to help!</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: medium;">I have carried on with my
photography, and am now concentrating on creating pictures that have
the old and new views side by side, and you are able to slide between
them: </span><span style="color: black; font-size: 16pt;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;"><u><a href="https://tinyurl.com/Voutezac-One" style="font-size: 16pt;">https://tinyurl.com/Voutezac-One</a></u></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div>
<div align="LEFT" class="western" lang="en-GB" style="font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div align="LEFT" class="western" lang="en-GB" style="font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: medium;">I got in touch with a friend who
lives near St Emilion and has his own commercial vineyard to ask why
apple orchards were netted against hail, but vineyards aren't. Still
not sure of the reasons – but he told me that he was selling the
vineyard, and offered me a couple of boxes of wine for free. I had a
nice drive to see him, gratefully accepted the wine and bought a
couple more boxes – and very good it is too.</span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div align="LEFT" class="western" lang="en-GB" style="font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: medium;">When our friends the Makepeaces
were here at Easter I decided on a religiously themed day out – Mr
M is an ordained C of E vicar. First to the </span>
</div>
<div align="LEFT" class="western" lang="en-GB" style="font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: medium;">Grotte de St Antoine in Brive –
an ancient site of pilgrimage that is now also a Franciscan
monastery. A surprise less than a kilometre from the centre of Brive.
Then onto the lovely village of Aubazine with its beautiful abbey and
monastic buildings – which never seem to be open when we are there.
From there to much more ancient beliefs – in the hills above
Aubazine are a Dolmen or burial mound and a cromlech or stone circle.
Finally on to a very nice restaurant nearby – Le Passadou. I like
to think that we satsified the inner and outer person....</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: medium;">Judy and I then treated
ourselves to a short break in Venice to celebrate our 45<sup>th</sup>
wedding anniversary. We flew from Toulouse, and had five very
enjoyable nights. The B & B we stayed in is a lovely old house
dating from the 15<sup>th</sup> century and furnished with antiques
right on a bend in a canal. In fact it's name Ca Malcanton means the
palace on the dangerous bend!</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 16pt;">We walked around a lot, went to
lots of </span><span style="font-size: 21.3333px;">museums</span><span style="font-size: 16pt;"> and art galleries, took some trips around the lagoon
and generally had a wonderful time. Oh, and we ate far too much! One
surprising highlight was the cemetery island of San Michele – a
fascinating place to explore.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 16pt;">The </span><span style="font-size: 21.3333px;">inscription</span><span style="font-size: 16pt;"> reads ..."who left us in peace"......</span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div align="LEFT" class="western" lang="en-GB" style="font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: medium;">Back home and picked up the dogs
– as always when Debbie looks after them they seem to have had a
wonderful time!</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: medium;">Soon after we got back Finn
managed to damage the tip of his tail. I am not sure why a dog needs
blood vessels right at the end of his tail, but I can</span></div>
<div align="LEFT" class="western" lang="en-GB" style="font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: medium;">assure you that when he then
wags it, the house soon looks like a crime scene. Impossible to
bandage it, so we got some spray on bandage which seemed to work.
Apparently this is known as “Happy Tail”! Anyway we have managed
to teach him to sit....</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: medium;">We are still trying to get out
and explore the lovely area we live. We recently took a picnic to the
Lac de Vassiviere, about an hour north of us. A beautiful large lake,
which probably gets very busy in the tourist season. As there was a
bitter wind blowing we had an excellent lunch in a hotel looking out
over the water, and took the picnic home.</span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div align="LEFT" class="western" lang="en-GB" style="font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: medium;">I had a couple of nights away in
Bergerac for the AGM of SSAFA France and some training sessions. Very
enjoyable socially, and I did learn quite a lot, but the Data
Protection lectures were hard work!</span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div align="LEFT" class="western" lang="en-GB" style="font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: medium;">Judy got me up (comparatively)
early one morning as Finn had ripped up his bedding in cage and wound
it all round one hind leg. He then tried to get out of the cage
through the hinge side of the door. Bless him he kept very still
while we spent 15 minutes carefully cutting him free. He never
snarled or growled once . The cage is now in the cellar and he sleeps
on a single mattress we had spare!</span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div align="LEFT" class="western" lang="en-GB" style="font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: medium;">Fabio the chef at our village
Auberge likes to have themed evenings every so often. We gave the
Tete de Veau a miss, but the 7 hour cooked lamb sounded wonderful –
and it was. Only two slight reservations about the evening; it was
supposed to start at 20:00, we started at 21:30 so didn't finish
eating until 23:00. Then it was Fabio's birthday, so we all had to
have a piece of birthday cake and a glass of prosecco. We got to bed
about midnight and my digestive system protested a little!</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div align="LEFT" class="western" lang="en-GB" style="font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: medium;">With all the rain we have been
having, mixed with warm sunshine our garden is getting a little out
of hand. If I don't tackle it with strimmer very soon I'll have to
buy a machete...</span></div>
<div align="LEFT" class="western" lang="en-GB" style="font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div align="LEFT" class="western" lang="en-GB" style="font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: medium;">At last we've bought a new car –
new to us that is. It's a Renault Grand Espace and the dogs love it.
There is so much room in the back Finn doesn't lie down – he just
keeps on walking. It drives very well and has a few of those modern
touches such as automatic wipers and a built in Satnav. Bliss!</span></div>
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<br />The Old Folkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09125887201188442375noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3747711086443140116.post-33316562739337003592018-02-12T14:55:00.000+00:002018-02-12T14:55:05.564+00:00<div align="CENTER" class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div align="LEFT" class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<div align="LEFT" class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: medium;">I contacted Pascal Douis, Finn's breeder to ask a couple
of questions. He answered them, then asked if I had realised I had
forgotten to sign the cheque paying for him......We went to see him,
and he both approved of how Finn was looking and accepted our <i>signed</i>
cheque. Whoops..</span></div>
<div align="LEFT" class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div>
<div align="LEFT" class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: medium;">As you can see he has taken up his rightful place in the family right from the start!</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div>
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<br />
</div>
<div align="LEFT" class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: medium;">In November I sold poppies for the British Legion again.
Always a good response in a pretty small British community – able
to send in over 140€. </span>
</div>
<div align="LEFT" class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br />
</div>
<div align="LEFT" class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: medium;">As my friend David Lush had hurt his ankle, I took him
to Toulouse Airport to pick up his wife Rhonda on her return from
Texas. An easy run, and a very nice meal in the restaurant
overlooking the runway and the Airbus factory. Rhonda arrived on time
as well. </span>
</div>
<div align="LEFT" class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br />
</div>
<div align="LEFT" class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: medium;">We had a few problems with our waste water system, you
really don't need to know the details. The problem was in a long pipe
which descends through our garden, so we were lucky to be able to cut
this out and connect up to the new sewer that has just been laid in
our road. I say “we”, but some nice gentlemen did the work for
us, for a large, but not begrudged, sum of money.</span></div>
<div align="LEFT" class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br />
</div>
<div align="LEFT" class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: medium;">As the year drew to a close the mosquitoes didn't. I
still appear to be rather allergic to their bites, so I'll be trying
different sprays to see if anything puts them off. And no, they don't
bite Judy.</span></div>
<div align="LEFT" class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br />
</div>
<div align="LEFT" class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: medium;">On our way back from lunch in Pompadour we diverted to
look at the birthplace of Pope Innocent VI, who was pope when the
papacy was in Avignon in the 14<sup>th</sup> century. The site is now
a 19<sup>th</sup> century house and two huge blocks of stables – it
was connected to the National Stud in Pompadour. I fact I did a plan
of the whole thing several years ago. </span>
</div>
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<span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div align="LEFT" class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: medium;">I have been carrying on with my photo slideshow project
– showing our part of France in the past and today. I have actually
created a Facebook page :
<a href="https://www.facebook.com/slideshowthenandnow">https://www.facebook.com/slideshowthenandnow</a>.</span></div>
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<br />
</div>
<div align="LEFT" class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: medium;">For Christmas we decided to buy ourselves a new TV. Of
course one of the connections was a different type, so entailing
another trip to Brive to get one. Then I found one on Amazon for a
quarter of the price.....</span></div>
<div align="LEFT" class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br />
</div>
<div align="LEFT" class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: medium;">It really has not been the best of winters. We normally
expect bright and sunny and fairly cold. Well so far we have had a
bit of snow and lots of rain falling from a grey sky. As I write this
we have just had some snow which actually settled for a couple of
days – although it has all gone now. </span>
</div>
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<span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjXT20QFCAg1LlkJc8n-cKa2MlO1c0i6Usr9Qe6vaIYVl4LPlOU89BpM9Z-oBhBP86sYmu5Atv23gwumy2y2j-Enmv99Xi9oTk7Xserh6zBIL2yUqyfb7Oscd19WEFVHiXVu7tr0Z18-a14/s1600/P2100005.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjXT20QFCAg1LlkJc8n-cKa2MlO1c0i6Usr9Qe6vaIYVl4LPlOU89BpM9Z-oBhBP86sYmu5Atv23gwumy2y2j-Enmv99Xi9oTk7Xserh6zBIL2yUqyfb7Oscd19WEFVHiXVu7tr0Z18-a14/s320/P2100005.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-size: medium;">Interesting trip to the Saturday market in Brive just
before Christmas. It was absolutely packed, and lots of people were
buying their truffles!</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZHMsV3tY5J7_i_R3pJ5zPNW3oiBxioghcyEUaWICD4TLaOgz3BnBqOfprfjrPoS1baf7buIWDtNBwHXpz5uKBFkRxq6Jf3rVEIKegDPK-VJPjBDMRneMlUtiUbq31rnzu8ietw7R_PIlm/s1600/photo+1.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="968" data-original-width="1296" height="239" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZHMsV3tY5J7_i_R3pJ5zPNW3oiBxioghcyEUaWICD4TLaOgz3BnBqOfprfjrPoS1baf7buIWDtNBwHXpz5uKBFkRxq6Jf3rVEIKegDPK-VJPjBDMRneMlUtiUbq31rnzu8ietw7R_PIlm/s320/photo+1.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi4omkEOwsxOnll-vcJJBMkCLgGsmbVDM8ZbY1Uykti1H3vnM8YR-Aqd6wxKXgr3bhywQFZbNJGc_4Qf_Fob9mITcOv2UyPSV_f7BRJkfO9J0yaBEmu0ITGVhNJovncPL0uGeaRRfKyvAcS/s1600/photo+2.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="968" data-original-width="1296" height="239" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi4omkEOwsxOnll-vcJJBMkCLgGsmbVDM8ZbY1Uykti1H3vnM8YR-Aqd6wxKXgr3bhywQFZbNJGc_4Qf_Fob9mITcOv2UyPSV_f7BRJkfO9J0yaBEmu0ITGVhNJovncPL0uGeaRRfKyvAcS/s320/photo+2.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-size: medium;">We spent Christmas itself very quietly, just the two of
us, and had some friends for lunch on boxing day. We did have a tree though!</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgKLd2h6PXsgfVmdrHLQ591zMBfU5QIjgWgiL_3xInBVIY9s6xnL__ca07C0jAeXBlX2LI4rhOOluVutBEN3qt5jc8KaRXJIgGCqS2xxuxFrwWeYw0U6eKpKQDb7XGMHCmT8F-FWtVE36vX/s1600/IMG_1178.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgKLd2h6PXsgfVmdrHLQ591zMBfU5QIjgWgiL_3xInBVIY9s6xnL__ca07C0jAeXBlX2LI4rhOOluVutBEN3qt5jc8KaRXJIgGCqS2xxuxFrwWeYw0U6eKpKQDb7XGMHCmT8F-FWtVE36vX/s320/IMG_1178.JPG" width="240" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-size: medium;">Having pretty much retired from the exciting world of
floorplans, I was surprised when a former client asked me to do one
for her as a favour. She project manages and the job was a lovely and
very empty house near the village of St Cyprien in the Dordogne. In
fact the house is pretty nearly in the Dordogne – just 10 metres or
so from the river. As the house is being heavily refurbished, my plan
helps to decide where to put up / knock down walls etc. Judy came too
with the dogs and we had a nice lunch and gave the dogs a couple of
good runs.</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhmZmeyauFxV24UG44gtWPOzJkPNEjae6fHUYuVflDjr73OlF2vI9YD6uG5BZbmDDO5rxx6LjtMu7y4NzVmFXjdo_2U0bYDqJk8hxD4_-5f9sj-XlevUovmZ6h4oeWF5_dCi9MHsbxr5Dx3/s1600/P1110002.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhmZmeyauFxV24UG44gtWPOzJkPNEjae6fHUYuVflDjr73OlF2vI9YD6uG5BZbmDDO5rxx6LjtMu7y4NzVmFXjdo_2U0bYDqJk8hxD4_-5f9sj-XlevUovmZ6h4oeWF5_dCi9MHsbxr5Dx3/s320/P1110002.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-size: medium;">As I think we may need a slightly larger car, I have
been hunting for one for months. As soon as I decide on one model I
spot another one – so no great progress yet. Also, because in
France you only pay tax on a used car when you re-register it, the
frugal French keep their cars longer and second-hand prices are
markedley higher than in the UK. </span>
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<span style="font-size: medium;">We had a a very enjoyable meal out with friends for
Judy's birthday at the Table d'M in Uzerche. Highly recommended.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: medium;">To keep up his socialising we try to take Finn into
Brive. While Judy went shopping in the sales (her birthday present –
what a coincidence) Finn made lots of new friends. My comment that he
is only a puppy and just 7 months old are always received with
amazement!</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: medium;">Just in case you are worried he is growing quite nicely:</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjDSGq5ZaTeDtKrBhG7Tt2b6KAjuSCr2jkSSGZxUH3U472jVF_nHn_j1ED2wZTdcHxzLP0WGnAOLkPj4-n14XQTARD34WF53Gnk3eTxvUWFgGVT5y1tjCyYDHstxi93H64dJoeJMb5jtlE-/s1600/IMG_2887.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1196" data-original-width="1600" height="239" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjDSGq5ZaTeDtKrBhG7Tt2b6KAjuSCr2jkSSGZxUH3U472jVF_nHn_j1ED2wZTdcHxzLP0WGnAOLkPj4-n14XQTARD34WF53Gnk3eTxvUWFgGVT5y1tjCyYDHstxi93H64dJoeJMb5jtlE-/s320/IMG_2887.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjVsoZQWC5K9K9gcBJPkTOROeW_KORpZjBSCRchROF0dQEzeQH0pvg9gPcsaJmBt_wbUgPTIynwSaGGJV4mIfbqGKaJrwQUg37af2mlOCfFxqbMtBR6WnEZ_XTrf7sb15zaTZ2zfXkg08_9/s1600/Judy+and+dogs.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1197" data-original-width="1600" height="239" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjVsoZQWC5K9K9gcBJPkTOROeW_KORpZjBSCRchROF0dQEzeQH0pvg9gPcsaJmBt_wbUgPTIynwSaGGJV4mIfbqGKaJrwQUg37af2mlOCfFxqbMtBR6WnEZ_XTrf7sb15zaTZ2zfXkg08_9/s320/Judy+and+dogs.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjd5XolsO17uNZvzlf0wbJdaj69iosD7FTwPg-juKzA1pb1LpaQxWU8t-qgRW-jM58NQ4enzRNLoKFmwVp_sMxw1mokw8HBNPIqVyxsNWCPW50RTrhtlWk3bAf1ByvBrRmhSmv4s4u102Og/s1600/IMG_1185.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjd5XolsO17uNZvzlf0wbJdaj69iosD7FTwPg-juKzA1pb1LpaQxWU8t-qgRW-jM58NQ4enzRNLoKFmwVp_sMxw1mokw8HBNPIqVyxsNWCPW50RTrhtlWk3bAf1ByvBrRmhSmv4s4u102Og/s320/IMG_1185.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-size: medium;">A quiet few months – I'm sure we'll have a busier time
in the months to come.</span></div>
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The Old Folkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09125887201188442375noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3747711086443140116.post-79905951393918245502017-10-31T13:27:00.001+00:002017-10-31T13:27:42.953+00:00<div align="LEFT" class="western" lang="en-GB" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: medium;">We always mean to go to the Marche des Producteurs in Le
Saillant several times during July and August. This year only made it
once with Simon and Anna and their family – they have a holiday
cottage in the village.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: medium;">Bowls on a Wednesday carrys on as always – nice people
and all played for fun – no really. Of course we don't mind if we
win or lose......</span></div>
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<br />
</div>
<div align="LEFT" class="western" lang="en-GB" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: medium;">Very nice to see all the Makepeaces – met up a few
times and we were allowed to meet the lovely Audrey – the first
grand daughter. </span>
</div>
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<span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj2SLKBcg_Mb2HXkcPM-Aju5zyxLGO_Ghe-y5v6Yr7UPn5DcUi2gm0qucN7CoEs4C3vHC1PGMfV_oHjQEDUlKay5YpwJcBb6gxoBr5UX_qFKHhJoZiFLu2GgFCiglDvDdTH59HLyeCGSsW_/s1600/2017-08-10%25252013.40.05.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1196" data-original-width="1600" height="239" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj2SLKBcg_Mb2HXkcPM-Aju5zyxLGO_Ghe-y5v6Yr7UPn5DcUi2gm0qucN7CoEs4C3vHC1PGMfV_oHjQEDUlKay5YpwJcBb6gxoBr5UX_qFKHhJoZiFLu2GgFCiglDvDdTH59HLyeCGSsW_/s320/2017-08-10%25252013.40.05.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-size: medium;">This blog may possibly be considered to belong to Finn,
our new Irish Wolfhound puppy. We reserved him before he was born, so
we were able to visit him from a week old until we picked him up at 9
weeks.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgcJuqdu4jOLTQSk6XQB20ihLkqHpLygdxbKewcR4Gb6PKOEzxakMgIOgktx1-fG2sdE2RaFnuFHC2sZNmPHhx5hzBTkg5tU3geNePFW9bc5cNdKX57Pkecw-Xt0OXoPICE4udgj9ohoHrg/s1600/_DSC6121.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1063" data-original-width="1600" height="212" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgcJuqdu4jOLTQSk6XQB20ihLkqHpLygdxbKewcR4Gb6PKOEzxakMgIOgktx1-fG2sdE2RaFnuFHC2sZNmPHhx5hzBTkg5tU3geNePFW9bc5cNdKX57Pkecw-Xt0OXoPICE4udgj9ohoHrg/s320/_DSC6121.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: medium;">This year's opera presented by the Festival de la Vezere
at the Chateau du Saillant was La Boheme. As usual we went with the
Lushes, and had a very enjoyable evening.</span></div>
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<br />
</div>
<div align="LEFT" class="western" lang="en-GB" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: medium;">Before picking Finn up I went to the international dog
show in Brive. Finn's breeder, Pascal Douis, was there showing a
couple of dogs. The showing started at 09:00, the wolfhounds were
supposed to be on at 11:00, by which time everything was running an
hour late. </span>
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<span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhabo8ekYgfNh7lKNOPYTXHqxut26vK4a6lGVMm1Jx3nTMQffDoNbuFnyCyCi1lJ9IQUyYYf6MSecstXlXELr9YNxaYHRjfaKFBUTuACA6Iz0x53n4Z9VEvPEmNtkGSlgNshh0rEZnTxl_C/s1600/_DSC6177.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1063" data-original-width="1600" height="212" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhabo8ekYgfNh7lKNOPYTXHqxut26vK4a6lGVMm1Jx3nTMQffDoNbuFnyCyCi1lJ9IQUyYYf6MSecstXlXELr9YNxaYHRjfaKFBUTuACA6Iz0x53n4Z9VEvPEmNtkGSlgNshh0rEZnTxl_C/s320/_DSC6177.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-size: medium;">I've been taking more photos for my then and now
slideshows – it would be nice if you could believe the met man when
he says we are going to have a lovely sunny day Ah well, more
practice on photoshop! Next project St Yrieix!</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: medium;">Pretty nice weather – August very warm, and we have
had an “Indian Summer” in late October. </span>
</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJUpbtTZlGJrHC7WQybgGBcD7c7J6WH8kY1Xonf4OdMO3p_ybc7fYK9bnX-zNm7JYzlxki1T0E7DzQndQeCRtCUBf8XtJ6YZgr6As8EuZxJSt9Lcph6hfhwyawzEofvLJDYvNtewENt66B/s1600/IMG_2647.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1196" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJUpbtTZlGJrHC7WQybgGBcD7c7J6WH8kY1Xonf4OdMO3p_ybc7fYK9bnX-zNm7JYzlxki1T0E7DzQndQeCRtCUBf8XtJ6YZgr6As8EuZxJSt9Lcph6hfhwyawzEofvLJDYvNtewENt66B/s320/IMG_2647.JPG" width="239" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-size: medium;">One Wednesday as bowls were cancelled we went a little
further afield with the Lushes to the lovely village of Aubazine.
There is an impressive Abbey, where Coco Chanel was brought up in the
orphanage. We had lunch at Le Passadou, a lovely little restaurant
way off the beaten track. We also checked out a cromlech and a
dolmen! A cromlech is a stone circle, this one is deep in some wood
and quite atmospheric. The nearby dolmen is what remains of a ancient
burial mound.</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEivDMhuEAAu49JX-de1aKlxFR1G1OPVIb-mMk1dlYQKPy2EToToLOnMGnGB3HLvhKhl11d_pvXNkvmNfM-mOz91pC6AMCKOAtloYCdST8NS8pWViMCq6VkD7Bm9IuZT_q3Mja1Lz9B2LDJ7/s1600/photo+2.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="478" data-original-width="640" height="239" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEivDMhuEAAu49JX-de1aKlxFR1G1OPVIb-mMk1dlYQKPy2EToToLOnMGnGB3HLvhKhl11d_pvXNkvmNfM-mOz91pC6AMCKOAtloYCdST8NS8pWViMCq6VkD7Bm9IuZT_q3Mja1Lz9B2LDJ7/s320/photo+2.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-size: medium;">The next day was pretty well my perfect day. We went to
see how Finn was getting on at six weeks – jolly well being the
answer. Then to the Chateaux de Gateaux in St Yrieix for a full
English breakfast. A drive for a couple of hours, taking in the
chateau in Chalus where Richard the Lionheart received his fatal
wound. </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: medium;">Finally back to the C de G for a cream tea with the Makepeaces
– I could actually feel my arteries hardening...</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: medium;">Judy had her second cataract operation – went very
well and she will probably only need glasses to read very small print
or in poor light.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: medium;">We thought they had finished all the roadworks outside, but they came back and scraped off the black top surface to reveal this new surface below. We hope that's it!</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: medium;">Lots of mosquitoes this summer, and they love me. Sadly I
seem to be slightly allergic and the bites can be quite unpleasant. A
couple of years ago I was bitten on a finger and had to have my
wedding ring cut off. I also proved to be allergic to some crab
sticks I had for lunch! On the positive side my slight problem with a
high white cell count in my blood has stabilized, and I don't have to see the specialist for another two years.</span></div>
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<br />
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<span style="font-size: medium;">We were hoping to have a few visitors this year, but
they didn't really materialize. One couple came to stay one night on
their way south, and the second pair fell foul of Ryanair's appalling
cock up when their flight was cancelled. </span>
</div>
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<br />
</div>
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<span style="font-size: medium;">I eventually got the car repaired from the accident we
had in Suffolk in June. The old boy who did it has done a brilliant
job. </span>
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<span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: medium;">We did get to see Richard and Joyce, who stayed with us
last year. They spent 3 weeks in the Dordogne staying with our friend
Diane. We managed to meet up, and they brought their son Nick and his
wife Sarah to our place. Nick and Sarah were almose straned by
Ryanair, but managed to get another light home. </span>
</div>
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<br />
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<span style="font-size: medium;">On the 15<sup>th</sup> September we picked up Finn.
There were only two dogs in the litter, and the other one was also
being collected. We had a good trip back home, and he has got on
pretty well with Icare who is hardly jealous at all.......</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgCpiP03gJtoIzVr8Sq08deqHTh2_dsE3dFrN2LC_8L2ozCat1Pc0qVK2scea-UqxEtkotrxguzvVoD3OAdFEbHvgOiWFO5q9wQ9cHrYc2TrYscP2tzU2CZH3ZxZEVVoeYMoiHwnrCWO6pV/s1600/_DSC6339.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1063" data-original-width="1600" height="212" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgCpiP03gJtoIzVr8Sq08deqHTh2_dsE3dFrN2LC_8L2ozCat1Pc0qVK2scea-UqxEtkotrxguzvVoD3OAdFEbHvgOiWFO5q9wQ9cHrYc2TrYscP2tzU2CZH3ZxZEVVoeYMoiHwnrCWO6pV/s320/_DSC6339.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-size: medium;">Got lots of Amazon vouchers for my birthday – thanks
everyone. As always couldn't think of what to buy, but eventually got
loads of book.</span></div>
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<br />
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<span style="font-size: medium;">Their was an excellent dog show in Pompadour especially
for “Levriers “ or running dogs, so for everything from whippets
to Wolfhounds. Finn wasn't able to go as he had just had his
vaccination, but it was very interesting.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: medium;">As soon as Finn was able to go out we tried taking him
to Objat market to socialise him. He behaved very well indeed, and
was much admired. </span>
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<span style="font-size: medium;">We had an interesting visit to the Pans de Trevessac, an
old slate mine near Donzenac. Although the guided tour was a little
rapid for our French comprehension, it's an impressive place.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: medium;">Finn is now 4 months old and weighs well over 25kg. Well
he knows who's boss anyway......</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div>
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The Old Folkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09125887201188442375noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3747711086443140116.post-12802601203463882252017-07-29T14:49:00.000+01:002017-07-29T14:49:54.164+01:00<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
We've had a busy couple
of months, a trip to UK and the ongoing saga of the roadworks outside
our house, now hopefully all done.</div>
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To show that I do keep
busy I took a number of shots of our bird feeder, mainly to try and
catch the woodpecker that was getting a free lunch. Don't be under
the impression that I sat there for hours in a hide – I set my
camera to take a shot every few seconds and left it on a tripod to
it's own devices. Looking through 800 shots for anything interesting
is really quite boring, but we did get a few good pictures. The one
of the edible dormouse (seriously that's it's name) was take though
the window.<br />
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<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
On to the roadworks.
Madame la Maire had promised that it would look very nice when it was
finished – and it does. We were a bit worried at first as our
garage was left inaccessible, but they came back and sorted it out.
It's very nice to be able to park by our house again.</div>
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<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
I have carried on with
my photography and produced a couple more of my “Then and Now”
YouTube creations. It is amazing how much more of places I see doing
this. Search for cliftondj on YouTube. </div>
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<br /></div>
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A few weeks ago the
Circus came to town – at least to Vigeois, the village where I play
bowls. They camped in the car park of the hall we use, and I have to
say that Billy Smart really doesn't have to worry. The tent appears
to have room for about 30 customers, and the animal contingent
comprised a couple of goats tied up to graze around the hall, and a
llama left to wander around which wanted to join us inside.</div>
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<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
We had a very enjoyable
two week trip to UK, seeing family and friends without actually
driving all over England.
</div>
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We started off by
getting into the mood for the cuisine to come and had lunch at the
KFC at Chartres. Yum. Then to the Ibis in Sangatte, a room with the
dog, and a very short drive to the Tunnel in the morning and an
almost empty train.</div>
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Straight to Leigh on
Sea, where we saw Nick and family, and picked up Rachel who was over
from New York.</div>
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<br /></div>
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We had stayed in the
cottage on Orford last year, and it was as nice as we remembered it –
Rae stayed for four days and seemed to enjoy it too. Icare certainly
enjoyed all the walks he had by the sea. We had visits from Judy's
sister Carol and her partner Terry, Jim and Angela Wiggle (sorry
about the spare bedroom Ange) and our friend Posy.
</div>
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We also visited a
couple of old friends from our days in Norfolk – lovely to see
Jenny and Florence and to visit the Chequers again!</div>
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We tried not to drive
too far, but had a couple of trips to Southwold, to Lavenham and to
Clare, where my father and grandparents lived. We also visited Sutton
Hoo, the ancient ship burial site.</div>
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<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
A very strange place
was Shingle Street – a real end of the world settlement just up the
coast from Orford.</div>
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<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
In a part of the
country that had numerous airfields in it during the Second World War
it seemed natural to visit a couple of aircraft related museums. The
first was the Cold War Museum at RAF</div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
Bentwaters, which was
a USAF A10 base. Some good exhibitions and a long chat from a retired
US airman in the operations room – I tried to tell him that I was
doing much the same just up the road, but he wasn't really listening.
I was able to point out that a picture of an AEW Shackleton was
wrongly labelled – Judy pretended she wasn't with me. Strange to
see that they have a presentation to explain what the cold war was –
seemed so recent to me.
</div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
The Norfolk and Suffolk
Aviation Museum at Flixton was quite different – buildings full of
aviation memorabilia of all sorts – some interesting and some not
so. I turned a corner to find the very sad looking cockpit of Victor
K2 XL 160, an aircraft I flew in many times. Sad.
</div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
Icare had so many walks
that he was quite filthy, so we took him to be groomed. He looked
lovely, but next day had an upset stomach. Pharmacies in France stock
a number of products for animals, Boots in Woodbridge seemed rather
puzzled at being asked for something for canine constipation....</div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
One slight problem with
the cottage was that the house next door was being renovated, so
there was quite a bit of noise and dust. When they actually drilled
through the common wall I mentioned it to the agents, and to their
credit we got a 20% refund.
</div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
On our way back we had a reunion with some of the lads who used to work for me when I was an operations officer at RAF Honington - really great to see them all again. They tried to recreate a photo from my leaving do from all those years ago.....</div>
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<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
Via Nick's again,
nice barbecue and a sleepover! A gentle drive through Kent taking in a bit of tourism
in Canterbury and Rye and quite a lot of shopping and through the
tunnel again. Strange how the drive from Calais to home seems to get
longer and more tiring each time!</div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
When we got back the
roadworks had almost finished, but a day of tarmac laying prompted a
spontaneous day out in the Dordogne, with a very pleasant lunch out
and an afternoon in, then to Bergerac, where they were preparing for
the Tour de France. This is a statue of Cyrano de Bergerac, who actually has nothing to do with the town at all....<br />
<br />
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<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
A couple of weeks after
we visited him Nick and Kev came to see us – well mainly to watch a
day of the Tour de France between Perigueux and Bergerac. They seemed to have had a pretty good time.</div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
Judy had a check up at
the ophthalmologist and he says she has a cataract in her other eye,
it will be operated on at the end of August. Having had one done
already she is really quite comfortable with this, and is looking
forward to having really good vision. She already helps me out when I
don't have my glasses!</div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
We will have a new
addition to the household in about 7 weeks. Finn is an Irish
Wolfhound puppy, and when we saw him he was just a week old and his
eyes were still shut. Oh the fun to come!</div>
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One day he'll look like his dad...</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjSj8E0fx9cPN3JS2mdyvId7m_PFMul6cPOzxsHE5kgG1HqtyjtwFN0SmXFtEQBravibCpv9ob5x66SVgyc1kG-UzbvbDHG6Hx8AgnLYC4xRBwWDfBDIRAYcPcFwxbqmjbg-aIZqQg8lj_j/s1600/_DSC6117.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1063" data-original-width="1600" height="212" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjSj8E0fx9cPN3JS2mdyvId7m_PFMul6cPOzxsHE5kgG1HqtyjtwFN0SmXFtEQBravibCpv9ob5x66SVgyc1kG-UzbvbDHG6Hx8AgnLYC4xRBwWDfBDIRAYcPcFwxbqmjbg-aIZqQg8lj_j/s320/_DSC6117.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
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<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
We recently had a Quiz
and Fish and Chips night at Château Bellefond – seemed to go very
well with nearly 50 people attending. My quiz was generally thought
to be rather on the difficult side – much better than too easy!</div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
Voutezac had it's Peach
Festival last weekend. As always the evening repas was very
entertaining – first course served just after 9 and the dessert at
1130.</div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
The next morning we
drove to a RAFA Hog Roast near St Jean D'Angely in the Charente. A
very enjoyable evening. We stayed in a really nice B & B in the
town, dog friendly and lots of walks.</div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
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<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
In fact Icare has
recently stayed in several hotel and B & B rooms with us and
behaved very well, but this doesn't excuse his opening our bedroom
door several times last night and coming in to give my ear a friendly
lick! Little does he he know of the friend soon to be joining
him.....</div>
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<br /></div>
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The Old Folkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09125887201188442375noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3747711086443140116.post-40106392611563972252017-05-12T11:03:00.000+01:002017-05-12T11:03:30.763+01:00<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: medium;">We have
been very thankful for a comparatively mild winter this year,
although it has been a bit wetter than normal. Still we seem to go
through our central heating oil pretty rapidly – buying a new
tankful and paying for it all at once really squeezes the wallet!</span></div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: medium;">We bought
some tickets to watch Brive Rugby play – discounts for three games. We
chickened out for one game as it was a freezing cold night, but did
get to watch them play against Grenoble and Newport.</span></div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: medium;">For Judy's
birthday we had a very nice meal at the village auberge – special
birthday cake provided!</span><br />
<span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhTKlDLRtbz7EXIE9Fg-5VbsyVCh6JVY9lABLJeTUIYMChiKiafLXcpiUdCCe37rTAEKyehRjGvUdGejs4G-I4XkER_pAB9FxNAF0_Wy_ekkpfd0ZVOXfi52O-rRvU23sEhyphenhyphenuaFUiOGKmo2/s1600/2017-03-16+15.12.25.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="239" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhTKlDLRtbz7EXIE9Fg-5VbsyVCh6JVY9lABLJeTUIYMChiKiafLXcpiUdCCe37rTAEKyehRjGvUdGejs4G-I4XkER_pAB9FxNAF0_Wy_ekkpfd0ZVOXfi52O-rRvU23sEhyphenhyphenuaFUiOGKmo2/s320/2017-03-16+15.12.25.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<br /></div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: medium;">I suppose
being fairly rural we should expect a few power cuts, and with some
high winds we had a few this month – a pain as of course the
central heating stops as well.</span></div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: medium;">Went to
Brive to watch Lala Land, a very enjoyable film. Afterwards went for
an Indian meal in what I believe is Brive's only Indian restaurant.
Not a great success – our American friend Rhonda is not a fan of
Indian food and this didn't convert her!</span></div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: medium;">Since my
last effort I have been taking lots more photos to produce my short
then and now videos, plus I have updated some of the older ones. If you want to see any go to YouTube and search for cliftondj. </span></div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: medium;">Our new
windows were fitted in February (well almost all of them). Tim and
Barry started fitting them when we had a power cut which lasted
overnight. Luckily it came back the next morning, as we had planned to
take a short break and leave them to it!</span></div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: medium;">We headed
off south and found a very nice hotel to stay in near the town of
Mirepoix in the Ariege – we had been there several times before and
its a lovely area. The hotel has wonderful views of the Pyrenees from
our bedroom, and we had three very nice nights there.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span>
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<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
Mirepoix</div>
</div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: medium;">As well as
Mirepoix we visited a number of other places, including the
impressive town of Foix, and the breathtaking fortress of Montsegur.
Well it would have been breathtaking if we hadn't stayed at the
bottom...</span><br />
<span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhgAM3WUquYZAcdU_w-3ljC1ns-rqwzg3hs3-9RvLG5Clsf-G0T0B2wL31nQEhdGDwxdjPKx6jKIg7oI5H_1C-BxERX85vhE5Si5O6564BFVqG0gJfRdnBKoSW_IbrGrXipBQUVsq4Hdzu2/s1600/_DSC2442.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="212" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhgAM3WUquYZAcdU_w-3ljC1ns-rqwzg3hs3-9RvLG5Clsf-G0T0B2wL31nQEhdGDwxdjPKx6jKIg7oI5H_1C-BxERX85vhE5Si5O6564BFVqG0gJfRdnBKoSW_IbrGrXipBQUVsq4Hdzu2/s320/_DSC2442.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
<br /></div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: medium;">Another
interesting day out was to Carcassonne. Again a magnificent mediaeval
city, perhaps a little over restored, and very much a tourist magnet.
Still a must see though.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span>
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<br /></div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: medium;">On our
last night we met up with our friends the Nobles at their holiday
cottage in the delightful village of Esperaza. Nigel was in the RAF
with me many years ago! With them we visited the village of Rennes le
Chateau, famous in modern legend for tales of buried Templar treasure
– very Dan Brown!</span><br />
<span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span>
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The Nobles</div>
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
Esperaza</div>
</div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: medium;">Back home
to find all the windows bar one fitted – the house now seems very
quiet. This is quite lucky, as soon after we got back they started
digging up the road outside our house – work which is still ongoing
as I write this in May. First they laid a new water main, filled it
all in, then came back and dug it up for a new sewer. The road itself
is often shut without notice, which can be a real pain. Our Mayor
assures us it will all be worth it!</span><br />
<span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span>
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<span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: medium;">Shrove
Tuesday – Judy made some delicious pancakes, and I almost managed
to persuade a couple of friends in UK that as dedicated ex-pats we
ate them with Marmite!</span></div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: medium;">We have
tried to get out for our picnics as much as we can. One good day
ended up at the Gallo Roman site at Cars again – the 2,000 year old
picnic table! Occasionally we chickened out, as we did a couple of
weeks ago when we chose a very rainy day to venture out, and ended up
eating in a restaurant – we did have the picnic for supper at home.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span>
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<span style="font-size: medium;">Bent over
one day to put my socks on and my back “went”. Very painful for a
few days, but gradually cleared up by itself, and hasn't reappeared
thank goodness. </span>
</div>
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<span style="font-size: medium;">Our
Auberge has carried on with its special evenings – a Couscous Night
was very enjoyable!</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: medium;">For our
44<sup>th</sup> anniversary dinner we went to La Treille Muscate, a
restaurant and hotel in a very old building in the lovely town of
Uzerche.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: medium;">Our
village historical society had an evening meeting, at which I learned
I was a guest speaker. In fact we just showed my short video of
Voutezac then and now. It would have been rather more impressive if
there had been sound with it. The main talk was about the bridge in
Le Saillant, just down the hill from us. There were several
references to the various times Les Anglais and Le Prince Noir had
“visited” the area, and a few pointed (I hope humorous) glances
in my direction. Interestingly the current chatelaine of the Chateau
du Saillant, Madame Lasteyrie, was there. She is the sister of ex
President Giscard D'Estaing. The Lasteyrie family have owned the
chateau for over 600 years. Revolution? What revolution?</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: medium;">The couple
who run our lovely Auberge, Fabio and Marie, got married a few weeks
ago and very kindly invited Judy and me and Rhonda and David Lush to
the wedding(s). It's in the plural as here the only legal wedding is
that held in the Mairie before the mayor. The church service after is
presumably more a blessing. We were all asked to wear clothes from
between 1890 and 1950, and the groom wore a kilt! No I have no idea
why! During the ceremony at the Mairie the couples dog, a very laid
back golden retriever, wandered in and lay down under the mayor's
table – she never blinked! From there to the church to be met by
two highland pipers! After that the vin d'honneur back at the Mairie
– a great day. </span>
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<span style="font-size: medium;">One very
busy day to describe last week before I sign off. Had to wait in for
an oil delivery – when he came he couldn't use his normal spot
because of the roadworks, so he just parked in the centre of the road
and carried on. Then to check chez Makepeace at Malavaud and read the
meter. Almost sure I switched everything off....</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: medium;">From there
to lunch at le Tilleul de Sully in Montgibaud a lovely restaurant in
a tiny hamlet. Wonderful food. From there a walk around Uzerche –
very photogenic. Then to see Janie at Chateau Bellefond for high tea
– her welcome to all her friends on her return from the USA. Just
couldn't do it justice......</span><br />
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Uzerche</div>
<span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div>
The Old Folkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09125887201188442375noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3747711086443140116.post-18130402933916274782017-01-23T14:26:00.000+00:002017-01-23T14:26:48.528+00:00<div class="MsoNormal">
Running a bit late with the blog, unfortunately my PC
developed a nasty case of the blue screen of death, got to love Microsoft! Anyway,
I was able to find someone to rescue all my stuff, and it’s been transferred to
a nice new laptop. <o:p></o:p></div>
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Asked by the local RAF Association to attend another
ceremony in the Dordogne. It was in a hamlet called Beleymas, near Bergerac. It
was to celebrate the 75<sup>th</sup> anniversary of the first drop of Special
Operations Executive (SOE) agents and equipment into occupied France. We hadn’t realised quite what a big deal it
was – the two road blocks manned by gendarmes gave us our first hint. The French Veterans Minister attended the ceremony,
and there was a very good turnout.<o:p></o:p></div>
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Our village Auberge goes from strength to strength. We often
have our post bowls lunch there on a Wednesday, and several of our friends have
eaten there and approved. Fabio has had several special evenings – the Soiree Boeuf
Daube and the Italian evening were both memorable. A couple of days ago we had
an evening meal there for Judy’s birthday, and that was excellent too. <o:p></o:p></div>
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We have been selling poppies again this year for the British
Legion, and thanks to all our friends and acquaintances at Vignol Bowls Club
and the Connect 87group we raised the superb sum of 275€. When we attended the
11<sup>th</sup> November ceremony in our village we gave out a number of the
small poppy badges, which seemed to be much appreciated. We have also become
adept at explaining their significance, although many people here saw TV
reports of the display at the Tower of London. A chap in uniform standing with
our mayor spotted is wearing the poppies and asked to be introduced to us. He
turned out to be the Prefect of the Correze, someone jolly important. He asked
if we could let him have one of the small badges too!<o:p></o:p></div>
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I have been doing a lot more of my photography, trying to
match old photos of local places with how they look now. I have made some of
them into short(ish) animated sequences, and they can be viewed of YouTube. For
some reason, they haven’t quite gone viral yet.<o:p></o:p></div>
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I eventually sorted out my state pension. After filling out
a form listing everywhere I had ever lived and worked they graciously decided
to give it to me. Ah well, every little bit helps!<o:p></o:p></div>
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The last of the autumn weather was lovely, we took Icare out for a few nice walks.</div>
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We have finally got our act together and our new windows
will be fitted in February. As we are in a conservation area we had to submit a
load of forms to both the local planners and the historic buildings watchdog.
We got a letter back from the planners to say that we had made a mistake on the
form which would delay everything by a month. I wasn’t surprised, in fact I
would have been more astonished if we had got it right first time. However, I
was quite puzzled to find that my error had been not saying what village I had
been born in!</div>
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Went to the village of Aubazine to get some pictures, weather brightened up, so I got some
reasonable shots. After taking the photos we had a quick walk round a disused quarry, which
apparently had a cromlech near it. We couldn’t find it, but of course we had missed
it by about a hundred metres. Lunched at the Auberge le Passadou, which is very remote
but does an excellent and good value lunch, one to keep in mind when we go
cromlech hunting again (it’s a type of prehistoric structure of course). <o:p></o:p></div>
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Had a flu jab and promptly went down with a bout. I got over it after a week or so, but gave it to Judy
–the weather wasn’t great, so it was a good excuse to stay in.</div>
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<o:p></o:p></div>
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Did some more of my photography in the local village of Donzenac
– the first picture I took an elderly couple came out of their house, and asked
what I was doing. I explained and they showed me a copy of the postcard I was
using stuck to their mail box! <o:p></o:p></div>
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We got a note in the mailbox to say they had been unable to
deliver a registered letter. Went to post office (in the Mairie) today, picked
up letter which is from the Mairie and about our windows!! <o:p></o:p></div>
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Annual choir concert in the church - perhaps this year we can say that enthusiasm exceeded talent!</div>
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<o:p> </o:p>Christmas very quiet, although we still amazed the lady at
the post office with our 45 cards for UK. Really not the same in France. We
spent the day itself just the two of us, and had some friends around on boxing
day and the day after.</div>
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One sad task was when I was contacted by the RAF Association
and asked to buy some stuff and take it to an ex-RAF engineer in Brive
hospital/ We got the things to him, but unhappily he died a few days later.
Nice to know at least the RAFA had his back. <o:p></o:p></div>
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An enjoyable evening going to the cinema in St Yriex with
the Lushes to see Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them. Great fun. <o:p></o:p></div>
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On New Year’s Eve we had a little trip to Objat to see the
lights. Not quite Regents Street, but very pretty, and we also took some photos
of the ones in Voutezac. <o:p></o:p></div>
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<o:p> </o:p>We’ve just had a nasty cold spell, with the temperature
overnight dropping to minus 7. One Sunday our normal visit to the market was
cancelled as I discovered that the road outside our house was covered in black
ice, when I took the dog out and went base over apex. The day we had our oil
delivery, it snowed….</div>
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When we went to pick up my new laptop we also visited a
couple of nearby chateaux - Montbrun and
Brie. Obviously shut at this time of year, but very impressive. Montbrun (shown) for
sale at 15 million euros if you’re interested.<o:p></o:p></div>
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Brive did a deal for three New Year games at a reduced
price. We went with the Lushes to see Brive play Grenoble one cool Saturday
afternoon. Then they were playing Worcester in a European Challenge Cup game on
the following Saturday at 9pm. We had one look at the weather forecast and
wimped out. The next Saturday was another European game against Newport,
luckily on a lovely sunny and comparatively warm afternoon. Brive actually won
all three games.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhVhGLkZ6Ykd9Po4HK_XNzPL_J3PfB_ys0VYJrozJRWh7bihQK2J7h2424WS0EKAyO4eXkvtytZZQzyHf9oVrZBhx0e1xxWgCERdZQWu3mjwyqqhHTEwi65AvHPKfgsrkyv9mJTojRrbPOn/s1600/Photo+07-01-2017%252C+16+02+25.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="239" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhVhGLkZ6Ykd9Po4HK_XNzPL_J3PfB_ys0VYJrozJRWh7bihQK2J7h2424WS0EKAyO4eXkvtytZZQzyHf9oVrZBhx0e1xxWgCERdZQWu3mjwyqqhHTEwi65AvHPKfgsrkyv9mJTojRrbPOn/s320/Photo+07-01-2017%252C+16+02+25.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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We have a bird feeder on the balcony which is normally very
busy. However we had a new visitor recently a dormouse. We haven’t seen him for
a while so I guess he is back asleep again. <o:p></o:p></div>
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Just finished working on my photos of Allassac and uploading
the result to YouTube…it keeps me quiet.<o:p></o:p></div>
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Happy New Year!<o:p></o:p></div>
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The Old Folkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09125887201188442375noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3747711086443140116.post-51816808425849285692016-10-28T10:44:00.000+01:002016-10-28T10:44:00.242+01:00<br />
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We have finally decided to replace our windows, if we don’t
do it soon some of them will fall out! We got a number of quotes, and settled
on one. We live in a conservation area, and knew that we would have to get
permissions. I put in all the forms at the Mairie, and settled to wait. The
historic buildings people are happy, with some guidelines at their appearance.
The local planner sent a long letter saying that approval normally takes one
month, unless there is a problem with the paperwork. There was. I hadn’t filled
in the form correctly where it asked in which Commune and Department I was
born. Even the lady in the Mairie thought it was amusing…Just have to wait now.<o:p></o:p></div>
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The Vignols Short Mat Bowls Club continues to thrive, and
make for a very enjoyable Wednesday morning. We had our annual lunch at a local
restaurant, and I was astonished to be presented with a cup for the most
improved player! I don’t think I’ve ever won a cup before! OK, I was starting
from a very low base!<o:p></o:p></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh1YgClHfZ4yuPVFOy-JtFUWYUeVrodR5I4p8_Sfr_ZKSy7OAJ7Scz4YqBnuttjmdhT2SsMf_A7t6wJ7_wv-p7B82qQE2xyJhtqtT4SWyIu8J4cuVvK56QQfASOgSlEqvkgMBkVsdb5EIzu/s1600/Photo+30-08-2016%252C+16+31+08.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh1YgClHfZ4yuPVFOy-JtFUWYUeVrodR5I4p8_Sfr_ZKSy7OAJ7Scz4YqBnuttjmdhT2SsMf_A7t6wJ7_wv-p7B82qQE2xyJhtqtT4SWyIu8J4cuVvK56QQfASOgSlEqvkgMBkVsdb5EIzu/s320/Photo+30-08-2016%252C+16+31+08.jpg" width="240" /></a></div>
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We enjoyed a very pleasant visit from my cousin Joyce and her
husband Richard. They seemed to have a good time as well, probably because they
went out on their own a number of times and didn’t have to listen to me in tour
guide mode! They came with us to the Auberge for my birthday dinner, a really
nice meal and a lovely cake at the end with my name on it.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<o:p> </o:p>We have been to a couple more RAFA ceremonies. We were asked
to go to Grun Bordas again, as the niece of one of the Australians on the crew
was in Europe, and we were able to have a ceremony at the memorial they could
attend. As always the locals were in attendance, and it was very moving.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh1ZXMV_OS3JSkXjxGK_m-piAIqlLKdGGUFdvuN5pXN5BAXQW04rrWFxwwF9dp9K8KvaIAzGfWuQ92i_nYddKRj0qiLYQvhnFqFaZWFgorVf-xXn1N6_-1xw1G9W_shTA7XuiRnRTZkpv6C/s1600/P9100045.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh1ZXMV_OS3JSkXjxGK_m-piAIqlLKdGGUFdvuN5pXN5BAXQW04rrWFxwwF9dp9K8KvaIAzGfWuQ92i_nYddKRj0qiLYQvhnFqFaZWFgorVf-xXn1N6_-1xw1G9W_shTA7XuiRnRTZkpv6C/s320/P9100045.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
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Last week we went to another ceremony near the village of
Beleymas in the Dordogne. There is a memorial to the first air drop of agents
and equipment by SOE (Special Operations Executive) in 1941. A government minister from Paris attended, so
there was lots of security. Again a very moving occasion as there were many
people there related to people involved on the French side. I saw a report of
the flight from the RAF records – 10 hours in a Whitely!<o:p></o:p></div>
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We went on another picnic, visiting the very impressive Roman remains at Cars again. I think Icare looks very at home! We found a nice lake
to have our food beside – there are so many of these, as Correze is so far from
the sea they often have artificial beaches as well. <o:p></o:p></div>
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Pompadour hosted a dog show for les Levriers, that is
running dogs, everything from Whippets up to….let’s see…. Irish Wolfhounds. It was great to so many in one place!<o:p></o:p></div>
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Another picnic took us to the Dordogne and the chateau at Rastignac, which is apparently the building the White House is based on. Because it was used by the Resistance the Germans burnt it down, so it’s actually now a reproduction and is divided into apartments. <o:p></o:p></div>
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With Amazon vouchers I got for my birthday I bought a
machine to scan in lots of our old slides. Some really nice ones we hadn’t seen
for years! Lots of photos of family members in their youth. Watch this space
little brother.</div>
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The sign that winter is on it's way - the grues (cranes) flying south. There were hundreds that day, and you could hear them before they came in sight.</div>
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It's difficult to believe that we have now been here over seven
years! Still love it as much as ever!<o:p></o:p></div>
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<br />The Old Folkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09125887201188442375noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3747711086443140116.post-71639435104084598662016-09-08T16:51:00.001+01:002016-09-08T16:51:06.161+01:00<br />
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Best news lately is the reopening of our village auberge, the
Cadran Solaire. Our Mairie has realised that if the shop and the auberge were
allowed to shut, it would be a step towards the village slowly dying – as have
so many small villages, so they bought and refurbished both of them. We have eaten there several times and the food
is very good, and, at least in the summer, we can sit outside in the evening
and have a drink.<o:p></o:p></div>
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Judy’s sister Gill and her husband Phil came all the way
from Madeira for a visit. I hope they had a good time, because we really
enjoyed having them. I have to say that I haven’t done much bus-spotting
before, but it’s always interesting to scream to a stop in the car to view an
interesting example! We also had a trip on the steam train line at Martel –
that’s always lots of fun. Gill and Phil can reach anywhere in Madeira in 45
minutes, so I like to think they were at least impressed how big the Correze
is!<o:p></o:p></div>
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I have managed to get in touch with three chaps I knew from
my hall of residence in London during my too brief time at university. All
three now live in France and not just that – in chateaux!<o:p></o:p></div>
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Harry Bockmeulen and his wife Anna live in the Chateau Claude-Bellevue
near Bordeaux. There they have a commercial vineyard, and produce some
seriously good wine. While Harry works away most of the time, Anna runs a very
luxurious B & B – helped by her son who is a cordon bleu chef. We enjoyed
meeting up again and hope we can keep in touch!<o:p></o:p></div>
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John Bostock and his husband Chris have an even larger place
further south of us not far from Carcassonne. It’s an amazing place – a large
house, a guest house and a gite. They hope to plant vines soon too. We had a
great lunch a caught up – a very enjoyable day.</div>
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We were able to visit John and Chris because we had to go to
Toulouse airport. Our friend Brian – an ex-navigator of course – got his
airports a little confused. Anyway he stayed with us for almost a week, and he
caught the train back to Toulouse….One of the places we visited with him was
Gimel les Cascades, named after its famous waterfalls. Judy and I had been to
the village a few times, but never actually seen the cascades up close. They
are quite spectacular, but there are a huge number of steps to climb down….and
up. Glad there was a café for a drink afterwards.<o:p></o:p></div>
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We have another friend with a vineyard and chateau the other
side of Bordeaux – we should see him in the autumn.</div>
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Once again we enjoyed the village’s annual Peach Festival. We
had a really nice meal with our friends Rhonda and David, and the next day we
watched the inter village games, which seemed to be appreciated by everyone. <o:p></o:p></div>
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A couple of weeks later we went to a concert in Brive, one
of the music and art events organised by the Festival de la Vézère. We saw the
very talented opera singer from South Africa Pumeza Matshikiza, accompanied by
the Orchestra of the Republican Guard. A great evening.</div>
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A few weeks later we went to another festival event, the opera
Cosi fan Tutti, at the Chateau du Saillant. As last year a very well presented
occasion in a wonderful setting. <o:p></o:p></div>
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After a final visit to the ophthalmologists Judy’s cataract
operation has been declared a great success – I have even had to remind her to take
her glasses with her when we go out!<o:p></o:p></div>
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We went to a couple of the Marché des Producteurs in Le Saillant
this summer. Really nice to go with friends, meet others there and eat and
drink lots. Just like a huge picnic!<o:p></o:p></div>
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As the summer draws to a close we had one more visitor, Paul
Cannock popping in for the night on his way south. We took him to the Auberge
for an aperitif, and discovered that Paul, who speaks perfect Italian, and M
Ferrari the chef, (and very Italian), had both been on the same Italian air
base. A small world. <o:p></o:p></div>
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Enough for now. I will save the fun events at the Chateau de
Bellefond, our search for new windows and my winning a prize at bowlsl for next
time. Always keep them waiting for more……</div>
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The Old Folkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09125887201188442375noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3747711086443140116.post-72062698804995822872016-06-14T12:59:00.003+01:002016-06-14T12:59:41.851+01:00<br />
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Off for our holidays – two weeks in England.<o:p></o:p></div>
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Uneventful drive to Coquelles next to the Euro Tunnel. Having
Icare with us does mean we have to ensure we stop more often! We spent the
night in an Ibis, where dogs are allowed in the room for a few euros. Icare
behaved himself perfectly; Jude just says she now has to cope with stereo
snoring. The French riot police – the CRS – use the hotel car park as their
vehicle area, and also stay in the hotel itself. Really secure parking! <o:p></o:p></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhXHAOTmAxTcmHtzKErG0XnHAv6Mk8_JFTJv7but0RQhos6_wY9M0iTKk1We1ruXZjXDkIhcniGI5HUQil8z6Feyhk-_R2_Y2ApQa2BYVXnGyMsdVMv9RQFSjb4OQIgL3L-JOTUVFyty2fl/s1600/Photo+05-05-2016+19+41+39.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="239" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhXHAOTmAxTcmHtzKErG0XnHAv6Mk8_JFTJv7but0RQhos6_wY9M0iTKk1We1ruXZjXDkIhcniGI5HUQil8z6Feyhk-_R2_Y2ApQa2BYVXnGyMsdVMv9RQFSjb4OQIgL3L-JOTUVFyty2fl/s320/Photo+05-05-2016+19+41+39.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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The train trip was fine, just the normal culture shock to
drive in England again – there are so many cars! I am sure the SE of England is
full. We had a very nice lunch with my cousin Joyce and her husband Richard,
and managed to persuade them to visit us later this year.<o:p></o:p></div>
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We crossed through the Dartford tunnel (having remembered to
pay on line first of course) and so on to the cottage in Orford. We were very pleased with the cottage, it was
a perfect size for us and the quay is only a hundred yards away. Plenty of
lovely walks for the dog as well, and Orford itself is a very pretty village.
Also a pub 100 yards away!<o:p></o:p></div>
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No rest though as the next day we drove to Leigh on Sea to
see Nick and family, and it was lovely to see everyone too. The next day was
Esme’s 14<sup>th</sup> birthday and the day we were there she was having a
party for 40 + 14 year old girls. Sadly we had to leave before they
arrived…..Jake did door duty, and Nick and Lisa retired to their new
shed/workroom at the bottom of the garden. Just out of sight….<o:p></o:p></div>
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Back to Orford where the next day we had Sunday lunch with
Carol and Terry – great to see them both. <o:p></o:p></div>
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We had some very enjoyable days out from our cottage in the
surrounding area. We particularly enjoyed the complex at Snape Maltings, missed
the opera but some very nice shops and cafes. We also visited Aldeburgh and we had a proper
seaside day – horizontal rain!<o:p></o:p></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhFnvd1vwsnL8S254tzosoNZHMUBXci-51kWIC2-rl9wPwO4_3URr6j3Ezxr_RFg_4vYJ2zBEMjUMYVjiqngXWObeN8sw7aIYf7KUx4ha28ehuBF5e46uWt2Z0ITYwCls2hI3vXh8FveSv2/s1600/Photo+10-05-2016+15+34+56.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="239" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhFnvd1vwsnL8S254tzosoNZHMUBXci-51kWIC2-rl9wPwO4_3URr6j3Ezxr_RFg_4vYJ2zBEMjUMYVjiqngXWObeN8sw7aIYf7KUx4ha28ehuBF5e46uWt2Z0ITYwCls2hI3vXh8FveSv2/s320/Photo+10-05-2016+15+34+56.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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Another good place to visit was the village of Dunwich – or
rather looking out to sea, where most of the village disappeared under the
waves over 700 years ago.</div>
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We caught up with an old friend, Florence Gardener, in
Norfolk, and while discussing mutual acquaintances realised that another old
RAF chum lived virtually on the route back to Orford, so we descended with very
little warning on Adrian and Liz Richardson. <o:p></o:p></div>
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Back in Suffolk we found a lovely old ruined abbey at
Leiston, which we pretty much had to ourselves. We went on to Southwold,
another very attractive coastal town. <o:p></o:p></div>
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After a week in Suffolk we moved on to Gloucestershire,
where we stayed at Fossebridge with the Thompsons. Here we were able to catch
up with a lot of old friends – including the Titcheners, Romney Pargeter, the Ashforth-Smiths
and the Wiggles, as well as visiting our old haunts of Filkins, Burford, Stow etc.<o:p></o:p></div>
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We also ventured to Marlborough where we caught up with Dave
Lockie. We had lunch by the Kennet and Avon Canal and then Dave took us to the
modern long barrow where the ashes of his late and much-missed wife Juliette
are. A beautiful place.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<o:p> </o:p>We had another very enjoyable day out in Dorset to see Posy.
When we went to the local pub for lunch we were very surprised when someone
came in with a Clumber spaniel puppy – probably the only two in Dorset in the
same place!</div>
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Our last trip was to Newent in Gloucestershire the home of
the International Centre for Birds of Prey. It’s a very good day out, with a
large number of birds to see, an excellent series of flying demonstrations and
a very good café! I first went there in 1968 to help out when I slept in the summer
house – it has changed a bit!<o:p></o:p></div>
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On our last day we took the cross country route to
Folkestone and had lunch in the Crown Inn in Chiddingfold, the village in which
Judy lived as a girl. Back through the tunnel, another night at the Ibis and
the long drive home.</div>
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<o:p></o:p></div>
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The weather on the way home was hot and sunny – it has
pretty much rained ever since!<o:p></o:p></div>
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Judy’s eyes are still fine after the cataract operation. She
has had another check and a got a prescription for new glasses. They seem to be
very expensive here – opticians only sell glasses, they don’t do the eye tests.
Judy had one lens replaced and it was 140€, of which the state insurance paid
just over 4€. Luckily the rest was covered by our top up insurance.<o:p></o:p></div>
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Soon after we got back we had a visit from the McGahans,
Malcolm being an old friend from my police days. Sadly because of threatened
ATC strikes they had to leave early, so I hope they enjoyed their brief time
with us.<o:p></o:p></div>
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We had a nice day out in the Dordogne as I drew up a
floorplan of a large house for a friend who acts as a project manager. The
place needs a lot of work, but including outbuildings and attics over 13,000
square feet plus a fair bit of land, near a river, for 640,000€ seems like a
pretty good deal. Not surprising it was snapped up by a couple of London
lawyers!<o:p></o:p></div>
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Back to the normal routine - bowls and lunch out with the
Lushes – great!<o:p></o:p></div>
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The English Library had a social evening at the Chateau de
Bellefond a couple of days ago - a quiz night with fish and chips. It seemed to
go off pretty well – we had 22 keen quizzers. More social events to come as we
(hopefully) go into summer.<o:p></o:p></div>
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A brief rest for couple of days, then friends for dinner on
Friday and lunch on Sunday, followed by a visit from Judy’s sister Gill and her
husband. It’s all a bit like hard work….<o:p></o:p></div>
The Old Folkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09125887201188442375noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3747711086443140116.post-14673282193837707292016-05-04T16:17:00.000+01:002016-05-04T16:17:32.896+01:00<br />
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For a quiet period where we try to stay in out of the cold
and not do much – quite a lot has happened. <o:p></o:p></div>
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Rachel came to visit! We weren’t able to do a lot but we did
have a very nice afternoon tea in the café attached to the Lamy Chocolate shop
in Brive. Just feel those calories. </div>
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Sadly she could only stay a few days but it
was great to see her. <o:p></o:p></div>
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Our washing machine decided to finally pack up – tripping the circuit
breaker each time we (we? – Judy) started it. Our local electrical shop took it
away twice to try and fix it, loaning us a machine each time. It finally packed
up, and the shop offered us a new one with all we had paid for the repairs
deducted. Shop Local!<o:p></o:p></div>
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This year I was asked again to go to the village of Grun
Bordas in the Dordogne to lay a wreath at their war memorial to honour a
Stirling crew shot down over the village in 1944. Judy and I are always touched
how the locals still remember and honour these young men. <o:p></o:p></div>
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<o:p> </o:p>Judy had the operation on the cataract in her right eye on
Thursday 21<sup>st</sup> April. In for 1230, all done and out just after 2. Jude
will still need some assistance with her left eye, but now she spends most of
her time with no glasses at all. Brilliant!</div>
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A trip into Brive to the latest Coen brother’s film, Hail
Caesar, with George Clooney. In VO (Version Originale – i.e. English) of
course. We both really enjoyed it. <o:p></o:p></div>
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I found a couple from the Dordogne who do floorplans and
property photography, so as I have officially retired I offered them all my elevated
photography gear. It cost a fortune, but as the market for it in rural France
is somewhat limited I was glad to give it to a good home.<o:p></o:p></div>
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Talking of photography I am continuing with my “post card
project”, where I find an old postcard and then try to take a photo of the same
scene. Sometimes I can actually overlap them, but they also look great in a
slideshow fading from one to another.<o:p></o:p></div>
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I had my 18 month cancer check-up – no change, all very OK.
When the doctor asked me my weight I muttered it embarrassedly, but she said
that with such things it is always better to be over than underweight. <span lang="FR">Result! <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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Managed one of our picnic days out while it was still a
little wintery. Went to the village of Gimel les Cascades, then on to the
village of Correze. Had lunch on the Suc au May, the highest point in the
Correze. Still quite a lot of snow about – in mid March. Strangely nobody else
about.<o:p></o:p></div>
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In our village we have an organisation called “A.S.V.S”,
which both makes a record of the history of the village and the surrounding
area, but also ensures that the older parts are properly looked after and even
restored. I bought a copy of their history of Voutezac, and translated it for
my own use and that of friends. I sent a copy to the Society and so we were
invited to their meeting a couple of months ago. There was a video of the
village in the 1990s, and information on their work – for example this used to
be a wine growing area and they are saving the small stone huts which the
vineyard workers used. I have also translated a walking guide to the village,
to keep visitors busy. <o:p></o:p></div>
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<b><span lang="EN" style="color: #222222; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 20.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN;">VOUTEZAC<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<span lang="EN" style="color: #222222; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; mso-ansi-language: EN;"><br />
<b>(A C</b></span><b><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">hâtellenie</span></b><b><span lang="EN" style="color: #222222; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; mso-ansi-language: EN;"> (the property of the lord of the chateau) –
a Parish – a Commune)<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<span lang="EN" style="color: #222222; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; mso-ansi-language: EN;"><br />
<b>HISTORICAL BOOKLET<o:p></o:p></b></span></div>
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<b><span lang="EN" style="color: #222222; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; mso-ansi-language: EN;">(Third edition, revised and supplemented)<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<b><span lang="EN" style="color: #222222; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; mso-ansi-language: EN;">Translated by David Clifton<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<b><span lang="EN" style="color: #222222; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; mso-ansi-language: EN;"><br /></span></b></div>
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<span style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">This booklet has been prepared based on the following
works:</span></div>
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<span lang="EN" style="color: #222222; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; mso-ansi-language: EN;">
• A Dictionary of Parishes, by Father Jean Baptiste POULBRIERE<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN" style="color: #222222; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; mso-ansi-language: EN;">• A History of the Parish of Voutezac, by
Father Marius ECHAMEL<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN" style="color: #222222; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; mso-ansi-language: EN;">• A History of Limousin and the Marche, by
Joseph NOUAILLAC<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN" style="color: #222222; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; mso-ansi-language: EN;">• Corrèze <span class="hps">as the crow flies</span><span class="shorttext"> </span><span class="hps">and</span><span class="shorttext"> in a </span><span class="hps">zigzag</span> by L. Dautremen<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN" style="color: #222222; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; mso-ansi-language: EN;">• The Corrèze, by Abel HUGO<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN" style="color: #222222; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; mso-ansi-language: EN;">• Name places of the Corrèze, by Marcel
Villoutreix<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN" style="color: #222222; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; mso-ansi-language: EN;">• The Lemouzi review<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN" style="color: #222222; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; mso-ansi-language: EN;">• Original documents from the archives of
VOUTEZAC<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN" style="color: #222222; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; mso-ansi-language: EN;"><br />
Deliberately written without too much scholarship, it has been drawn up by the
ASVS (Association for the Protection of Voutezac and its sites) with the sole
intention of preserving the history of the inhabitants of the commune.</span></div>
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Invited by friends from our neighbouring village of Vignols
to a “Repas des Ouefs”, or a meal of eggs. The organisers go door to door
in Vignols and everyone donates fresh eggs. The first course was devilled eggs.
The second a nice plain omelette. Third a potato omelette. Followed by a
mushroom omelette, then a herb omelette…..Then some cheese with no
apparent egg connections, finishing with a crème caramel. Phew!<o:p></o:p></div>
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For our 43<sup>rd</sup> wedding anniversary we treated
ourselves to a meal at Brive’s only Michelin starred restaurant – Le Table D’Olivier.
As you would expect a memorable meal!<o:p></o:p></div>
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<o:p> </o:p>One Sunday a couple of weeks ago as we went to Objat for our
visit to the market, we came across the annual agricultural show. Here that
means cattle, and more specifically Limousin cattle. All very well behaved they
were too!</div>
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Also a couple of weeks ago was the SSAFA AGM and training
day. Great to meet other people from all over France working or the charity.
Learned a few things, and was updated on what they are doing at HQ in London! Went
to dinner with everyone in the evening, but had to get home and miss the second
training day as Jude had her op that day.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<span lang="EN">Summoned a few days ago by David and <a href="https://www.facebook.com/rgjacobs"><span style="color: #3b5998; text-decoration: none; text-underline: none;">Rhonda Lush</span></a> to take photos of a baby tawny
owl on their balcony. Used time lapse facility on camera and obtained some 250
shots of what appears to be an old sock. Forbidden to tap on the window or
throw anything at it...Eventually it deigned to stand up and look at the
camera, before going back to sleep.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN" style="line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">Off on our hols tomorrow! <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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The Old Folkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09125887201188442375noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3747711086443140116.post-86503270234491791842016-02-11T10:01:00.002+00:002016-02-11T10:01:15.242+00:00<br />
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Well it’s been quite a mild winter so far, touch wood! We
have had a couple of days of snow, some quite heavy, but it has never settled.
So much depends on where you live here, a few hundred metres in elevation can
make all the difference. We recently met an English couple who were
house-hunting, and they were quite surprised when I told them to invest in an
altimeter!<o:p></o:p></div>
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I finally sorted out where my sinus pain was coming from. Our
dentist got me to have an MRI scan (had to wait almost a week!), and eventually
decided it was “just” a bad tooth. Out it came, and no problems since. <o:p></o:p></div>
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We haven’t had too many days out – while the weather hasn’t
been too bad, it’s been quite grey and cold. We did have a very enjoyable day
in Perigueux, window shopping and having a nice lunch. <o:p></o:p></div>
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With the fall in the price of oil, the cost of diesel for the
car and heating oil have both fallen quite sharply. We topped up with heating
oil before Christmas, and while the price stayed low, we filled up last week.
Sadly the exchange rate has rather been against us – ah well its all swings and
roundabouts!<o:p></o:p></div>
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The old favourites continue – I still manage to get to our bowls
club most Wednesdays – followed by lunch out to undo any possible health
benefits. The library seems to be in the depths of hibernation – not sure if it
will actually wake up again!<o:p></o:p></div>
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Christmas itself was very quiet, just the two of us. We
treated ourselves to a really nice meal out as our present, went to 6’ieme Sens
in Brive. So many restaurants, so little time!<o:p></o:p></div>
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We recently discovered an ex pat organisation called Connect
87 which meets up in the town of St Yrieix, just over the border in the Haut
Vienne, only 40 minutes away. I had never heard of them, but went to one of
their monthly meetings to sell poppies for the British Legion for Remembrance
Day. We were astonished to find some 60 people there! It was actually founded
by some Dutch people, for English speakers. As well as the social meetings they
also have a theatre club, choir, book club, gardening club and other things.
Very sociable they are in Dept 87! Anyway they bought all my poppies.<o:p></o:p></div>
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I have carried on with my new hobby of finding old postcards
of local views, and taking a photo from the same place. Great fun and Jude says
it would keep me off the streets, except that is where the views are….<o:p></o:p></div>
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Our washing machine decided to trip all the electrics one
evening. Called at the electrical shop in Objat, they came out the same day,
took machine and lent and installed a temporary replacement. Two days later all
fixed and re installed. Great service, shop local!<o:p></o:p></div>
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Judy had a problem with what we thought was an eye
infection. Saw our doctor on a Tuesday, he tried to get an appointment with an
ophthalmologist, but as he couldn’t get one as quickly as he wanted he gave
Judy a note to take to A & E at Brive. Went next morning, seen very quickly
by duty doctor, who referred Judy to duty ophthalmologist. She did a number of
tests, and told Jude to go and see her boss at the hospital in Tulle that
afternoon. More tests and she told us that Judy has cataracts in both eyes, and
they have probably been present for over 10 years. She has referred her to
another hospital for an operation, just waiting for a date. Before the end of
the week Judy had also had a Doppler test on her carotid artery (went to
hospital, got appointment for following week – they called us back in on mobile
and did it same day) and blood tests. <o:p></o:p></div>
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Been for a few good walks, up to the other side of the dam
at Le Saillant – when it was first built it powered the trams in Limoges! Also
the standard walk around Lake Poncharal – Icare is definitely a water lover. <o:p></o:p></div>
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<o:p> </o:p>Played around with my camera – is one Judy enough?</div>
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Also used the facility to take photos at intervals
automatically, so took 300 of the bird feeder every 10 seconds:</div>
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The annual village report came out, the usual 64 pages of accounts and reports. The commune has an annual budget of over one million euros! Happy to find out that our Auberge, which shut about a year ago, has been bought by the commune who are now looking for a couple to run it - this certainly worked well with our boulangerie. Once again our house is on the front cover - no really, down there in the bottom right hand corner.
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We have a number of people coming to stay soon, and lots
more invited – just thought I’d give an idea of our accommodation in the
overflow block…..running water…what more could you want?<o:p></o:p></div>
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<o:p> </o:p>Just joking. Rachel our daughter is here at the moment – she’ll
probably need a whole blog just for her….</div>
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The Old Folkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09125887201188442375noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3747711086443140116.post-9813969484710367522015-11-17T09:19:00.000+00:002015-11-17T09:19:55.211+00:00<br />
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Although we haven’t had as many friends to stay as we
expected this year, for a variety of reasons, we have had some visitors and
also made some new acquaintances.<o:p></o:p></div>
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Towards the end of August we ventured into the high Correze
to visit Chris and Sue Simmons. It’s called the high Correze for a reason;
their lovely house and garden (including pitch and putt golf course) are at
some 580 metres above sea level – that’s over 1900 feet. No wonder their
winters are a bit tougher than ours. We are at about 130metres, or 430 feet. It
always amuses me when I read about people asking what the weather is like in
the Correze – it really does vary! Chris and Sue are ex-army, but are still
nice people. Ho, ho. Chris has had a few recent medical problems, but is
recovering well, and has nothing but praise for the French health service. A very enjoyable day out. <o:p></o:p></div>
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Still going to the bowls club every week, and even getting a
bit better. We had a club lunch at the house of Caro and Ron Caldicutt, who do
most of the running of the club. A very pleasant time was had by all. <o:p></o:p></div>
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We did have a few visitors – Paul and Nicky Cannock were on
their way from the UK to Provence (missing out their flat in Paris) and stayed
over for a night. Lots of chatting about the olden days in the RAF. Paul now works for the European Space Agency,
and gets a nice large Mercedes on diplomatic plates. How upset I was he almost
got the huge thing stuck in the underground car park in Brive. Of course as he
said, he could have just left it anywhere with the diplomatic plates!!<o:p></o:p></div>
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Another couple who were meant to come and see us, Mal and
Eileen McGahan, called us the day before they were due as Eileen had lost her
passport. Everyone’s nightmare at 8 in the evening the morning before a 0730
flight, and they never did find it. We hope they can reschedule next year. <o:p></o:p></div>
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I managed to track down a very old friend, John Bostock, who
I met during my brief spell at university. He had been lawyering in the oil
industry in Houston for many years, oddly the place two of our good friends
Rhonda (Texan) and David (Oil) met and lived. Anyway John and his husband Chris
have retired to near Carcassonne. They were on their way back to the UK, and
stopped overnight. Gave them a quick local tour, and we hope they can come
again. We pointed out to John that he was our daughter Rachel’s godfather, but
apparently you don’t have to pay in arrears. Told him that he’d done a rubbish
job spiritually….<o:p></o:p></div>
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Another old RAF friend, Brian, found himself at a loose end
between Thailand, Northumberland and Florida, so stayed for a very agreeable
few days. <o:p></o:p></div>
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A few days out – one good one was with Rhonda and David –
Auberzine, Argentat and back – nice picnic by a lake, and Judy’s favourite, ice
creams by the Dordogne in Argentat.<o:p></o:p></div>
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Still doing my photo project – trying to copy old post
cards. Given a few away to friends – must have a lot of damp patches on their
walls!<o:p></o:p></div>
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Has a few sinus / tooth problems. Had an x ray and an MRI
scan, but looks as if it’s just a tooth problem, so making an appointment to
have the damned thing out. Went to the
doctor one Monday morning and got a prescription for an x ray. To one of the
hospitals in Brive after lunch to make an appointment. Receptionist seemed very
puzzled – why did I want to make an appointment, wouldn’t I rather have it done
now? In and out with x rays in my hand in 30 minutes. Took them to the doctor
that evening – sinuses clear. <o:p></o:p></div>
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In the first part of November we had really great weather –
temperatures in the low 20s. too good to last of course – now it’s a proper
November – grey and cold. And the shops are all full of stuff for Christmas.
Saw a post online for a lunch for grumpy old men – sadly too far away…<o:p></o:p></div>
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A few months ago I decided that my floorplan was not exactly
thriving, so I officially gave up. Of course a few days later I was asked to
draw up a plan for a friend – so I did that, from sketches (the places were in
Southern Italy and my offers to measure up myself were not needed), plus
another in the Dordogne which I did for the petrol money. Makes a nice day out!
<o:p></o:p></div>
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Still getting to Objat market every Sunday. One week they
were making fresh apple juice, the old
fashioned way – and it was delicious. Last week took a few more pictures – the butcher’s
van actually only sells horse meat – odd that we Brits find that so difficult. <o:p></o:p></div>
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Again this year I have been a collector for the British
Legion Poppy Appeal. I shamed almost everyone at bowls into buying, then I
discovered that about 45 minutes away in the next department, Haute-Vienne, in
the lovely town of St Yrieix la Perche, there is an expat organisation called
Connect. They have a monthly coffee morning, book club, choir, quiz nights and
a theatre club! Went to the coffee morning and amazed to find some 50 or 60
people there! Sold out! And very nice people! Able to send over 100€ to the
Appeal. Of course we went to the Remembrance Service in our village on the 11<sup>th</sup>.
The children all singing the Marsellaise was very touching. <o:p></o:p></div>
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I have been “translating” a history of the village into
English. Well I scanned it, used Optical Character Recognition, copied it to
Word, and then used Google Translate. Simples! Actually, as we all know, Google
Translate does about 70% OK, some poor, and a lot of gibberish, so I have spent
a lot of time with my dictionary. Its worth it as its very interesting. Also
just re-read a book about Filkins, the village we lived in in England called
the Jubilee Boy. Written by George Swinford who was born in 1887 and died at
over 100. Fascinating to see how primitive life was in the 19<sup>th</sup> and
early 20<sup>th</sup> century in England! Highly recommended. <o:p></o:p></div>
The Old Folkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09125887201188442375noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3747711086443140116.post-50617840651608258822015-09-08T19:37:00.001+01:002015-09-08T19:37:26.211+01:00<br />
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On my regular visit to the doctor to pick up the
prescription for my blood pressure tablets (it’s the pace of life here!), he
told me that I had to go to see the cardiologist in Brive. He quickly explained
that this was just a check, he doesn’t have an ECG machine in his office. So
two visits, one for an ECG, one for a “stress test” on a fixed cycle machine.
All went swimmingly (and seen before the appointment time on each occasion),
back again in 10 years!<o:p></o:p></div>
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On one of our picnic sorties I aimed for a location in the
Dordogne which seemed to be interesting and have a picnic area, the Chateau
d’Herm. Found it, at least I thought we had. In fact I had pulled into the
car park of the Coteau d’Herm, which is a naturist camp site. Close but
no…..Found the Chateau a few kilometres on, and it was shut for June.
Eventually found another one (no shortage in the Dordogne) at Commarques, a
very impressive ruined fortress. Then tea overlooking the river in St Leon sur
Vezere, and home via Amand de Cole, with its huge church (defensive purposes
for the use of). A lovely, and interesting, day!<o:p></o:p></div>
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The English Library ticks over. We have decided to become an
“on-demand” library, as being open for only two hours on a Saturday won't suit
many people. Also we had so many surplus books that we have got over 700 in our
dining room, and have declared ourselves a branch library. Not exactly a rush
so far…</div>
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In mid-June our friends Ian and Di Harrop asked if would
like to meet up with them in the Loire valley, near the town of Sancerre for a
couple of days. They were having a wine-hunting trip; we just enjoyed a very
nice break. We stayed in a delightful hotel overlooking the Loire River, and
visited a number of beautiful towns and villages. We also had a couple of really
excellent dinners! A very pleasant break with great friends.<o:p></o:p></div>
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Being a nice friend myself I was happy to take our friend
Rhonda to pick up her husband, David, at Limoges airport. Nice run up the
motorway, shopping in the Asian Supermarket and lunch in the centre of Limoges.
Pick up David and home. I think it was mean of them to laugh so much when I got
the speeding ticket a couple of weeks later! It’s incredibly easy to pay on
line, and no further points on my licence. <o:p></o:p></div>
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I have got a new hobby. I found a site that has pictures of
old postcards and I have been selecting ones of our local villages, and trying
to take new photos from the same point. I have also tried “merging” them, with
mixed results! Very interesting…..<o:p></o:p></div>
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<o:p> </o:p>Once again we went to the Peach Festival in the village. The
high spot for us is the evening meal, served in the arcade by the Mairie by the
festival committee. For the first time we went with friends – David and Rhonda,
and they really enjoyed it. There was another group of our friends at another
table too. The food was booked to start at 8pm, so we got our first course at
9, and left before the coffee just after midnight. The music was great
(accordion and trumpet) and lots of enthusiastic dancing. The next night they
had a drum troop playing in the road by the church, and they were brilliant.</div>
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<o:p> </o:p>When we came to France I set up a small business doing floor
plans for estate agents under the scheme called Auto Entrepreneur – a very
simple regime where you declare your income every quarter, and they take about
28 per cent straight from your bank account. As I hadn’t done any business for
months I decided to cancel my registration, and with much trepidation went to
Tulle (the departmental capital) and the appropriate office. It was really
easy, I signed various bits of paper, paid 18€ and that was that. Of course
three weeks later one of my old clients contacted me and asked if I could draw
up a floorplan for her….</div>
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During July and August a number of local villages have a
weekly evening Marche des Producteurs – where a large number of tables and
benches are set out, barbecues lit and you can either take your own food or buy
it from a the stalls of local producers, meat, bread, fish, fruit, vegetables,
wine etc. Great fun with friends, especially if the weather is friendly!<o:p></o:p></div>
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Someone pointed out that I had a puncture on a rear tyre on
the Alfa, so I pumped it up and drove slowly to the local tyre depot. There the
receptionist first said they would repair the tyre, but I said that as the
other one was badly worn I would rather replace both. A bit surprised she
offered me a price for some Michelins in stock, which I was happy with. But no,
we can get you some cheaper ones! No problem and the price I worked out later was
virtually identical to that in the UK. <o:p></o:p></div>
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When we go out on our picnics we try to have somewhere to
aim for, even if we are diverted by sites en route. A few weeks ago we decided to
go to Perigueux, and find a C & A clothing store we had been to some years
ago. Sadly when we found it, it was full of the most awful tat. However we had
our picnic near a lovely little village called Ajat, which has a huge church,
chateau open if you ring the bell and a very attractive looking auberge. In
fact the auberge looked so good we went back the following week, and very good
it was too. <o:p></o:p></div>
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Found another clumber spaniel owner in Correze! Jenny and
Bob Arber live about 40 minutes away, and we dropped in for a coffee on one of
our picnic days. Bob was an RAF nav, so we had plenty to talk about. They have
a very old clumber bitch, who basically ignored Icare as he whizzed around. Off
from there to find apicic spot at one of
the highest points in the area – lovely views and we had it all to ourselves. <o:p></o:p></div>
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Talking of dogs there was the annual Brive Dog Show – the real
thing – hundreds of dogs of every breed imaginable and their owners – all taking
it very seriously. Saw some nice wolfhounds, but the clumbers had been judged and all gone home by the time I got there. <o:p></o:p></div>
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That evening Judy, David and Rhonda and I had an evening at
the opera. There is an arts festival in the area every year, held under the
name of the Vezere Festival, the Vezere being the river that runs through the
area. On this evening a performance of the Marriage of Figaro was held at the
Chateau de Saillant, a couple of miles from us and in our commune. The chateau
has been in the De Lasteyrie family since 1320 – what price the French
Revolution? The opera was held in a converted stable block, and was really
enjoyable. An Austrian composer, Italian librettist, French chateau and all sung
by an English company!</div>
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A few months ago I got back in touch with one of the lads
who worked for me when I was Operations officer at Honington. He lives in
Surrey, another of the boys (boys?) lives in Orlando Florida (working in
real-estate and as an Elvis impersonator) and another in Peterborough. The latter,
Nigel Noble, got in touch to say that he had
a place in France near Carcassonne, and would we like to meet up
halfway. We RV’d in the gorgeous hilltop village of Puycelci, an old favourite
of Judy and me. It was great fun to meet up with Nigel and his family and catch
up on old times. The boys are having a reunion next year, and I am invited as
long as I grow the moustache again!!<o:p></o:p></div>
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Enough for now – must try to enjoy the last of the hot
weather!<o:p></o:p></div>
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The Old Folkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09125887201188442375noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3747711086443140116.post-21045026635017001782015-06-08T17:11:00.000+01:002015-06-08T17:11:28.939+01:00<br />
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An American friend, Tom Burguieres, from my very distant
university days got in touch to say that he and his wife Janice were coming to
Paris for a few days and would we like to meet up for lunch? Only an
American…..Luckily Nichola and Paul Cannock, who live in the centre of Paris,
kindly agreed to put us up for a couple of days. So…dogs to kennels, on to
Limoges, train to Paris, metro to the Cannocks, a mere 6 hours plus door to
door. When I mentioned this to Tom he was amazed, he hadn’t thought anywhere
in France was more than two hours from Paris! Anyway we had a great time, a
lovely dinner and Tom and Janice were blown away by the Cannock’s flat and
Nichola’s hospitality. <o:p></o:p></div>
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Went out for lunch one day to St Yrieix la Perche, about an
hour from us. Had a look around an interesting china shop, apparently St Yrieix
was where they mined kaolin, used in porcelain made in nearby Limoges. Both the
restaurants we planned to go to were shut, so we tried one in the town itself.
You can get bad food, at least very average lukewarm food. Of course we are
English so didn’t complain, but we had Rhonda with us and she’s Texan, and also
shy apparently.</div>
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Rhonda and her husband David live in Vignols, the next
village to us to the northwest. Although the commune is only half the size of
ours, there are far more Brits living there. As far as I know in our commune
there are three permanent residents and one holiday family, but in Vignols
there are around 20 families, including permanent, semi-permanent and
holidayers. They have a boulangerie and that’s about it, nobody really knows
why it’s so popular, although it does make a great home for the bowls club.<o:p></o:p></div>
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The Rex Cinema in Brive always has a few films in VO
(version originale), and he we have been there a couple of times lately. First
we saw Birdman with Michael Keating, weird, but brilliantly filmed and acted.
Interesting to see from the French subtitles that French is apparently nowhere
near as rich in swear words as English is – “Merde” just about covered
everything. A few weeks later we saw The Second Best Exotic Marigold Hotel, good
fun. We were actually the only people in the cinema, and when it finished they
forgot to turn on the house lights – Judy got a bit lost in the dark.<o:p></o:p></div>
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Another good ay out was to watch Brive Rugby with David and
Rhonda Lush. As a Texan Rhonda had no idea what was going on, but the
atmosphere was certainly catching, and we all cheered and clapped with the best
of them. Brive won what was actually a pretty poor game, more importantly they
won the last game of the season and avoided relegation. <o:p></o:p></div>
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One of favourite local cheeses is called Salers, so called
from the village in the Auvergne and the breed of cattle. We had a very
enjoyable day out there – the village is very pretty and it was a lovely day
for mid-April. We had a delightful lunch outside a nice restaurant. A reminder
that the Auvergne is where the Massif Centrale really starts was the view of
snow on the nearby mountains, and a sign to warn that at least one pass was
still shut. <o:p></o:p></div>
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A slightly less exciting day out was to the Sorges truffle
museum, this being in a village just into the Dordogne. The museum was less
than fascinating, but the attached shop provided a source of gifts to take to
England. Most gastronomic offerings from this area are heavily duck influenced
– not always acceptable!<o:p></o:p></div>
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Very sadly just before we left for England we had to have Bertie
put to sleep. He was over 14, and was getting progressively more deaf and
blind. Unfortunately he was also getting rather aggressive, both with Icare our
other dog and with us He really didn’t realise he was doing it, but if you came
on him unexpectedly he was prone to bite – he had already bitten Judy once. Not
a nice day. <o:p></o:p></div>
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At the start of May we drove to the UK. We decided to
take the whole thing as easily as we
could, so after dropping Icare off in kennels, we spent our first night in
Chartres. We found a great hotel literally 100 metres from the famous
cathedral. And after dinner we went to see the light show projected onto to the
face of the cathedral, which was simply awesome.<o:p></o:p></div>
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Through the tunnel and after a visit to Rye, night stop with
my cousin Lin and her husband Keith in E Sussex. Really glad we came through
the tunnel, as the channel was pretty rough. On from there to Devon.
Apparently, as it was May 7<sup>th</sup> something was happening in UK, people
seemed a bit pre-occupied! Met up with an old school friend, John Willis and
his wife Jane, then a good night in a local pub.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<o:p> </o:p>On again to Cornwall. Stopped in Helston on the way to watch
the Flora dance, lots of couples in evening dress literally waltzing through
the town. </div>
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Our cottage in Helford was excellent, once you get used to driving
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At first we thought we should
totally relax, just take it easy and read or take short walks. Then we thought
that we take it easy most days in France, so we spent a fairly hectic but very
enjoyable week seeing Cornwall! We visited Truro, Penzance, Falmouth and St
Ives, lots of lovely villages and ports, the Minack Theatre, walked around the
famous Frenchman’s Creek, and went to the Eden Project, which was excellent.
Lots of nice meals out and met up with an old friend from university, all in
all a very enjoyable week.</div>
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One of the things that everyone notices on passing from
France to the UK is how busy the UK roads are. Cornwall to our next stop in
Essex was a less than pleasurable seven hour drive. You just have to love the
M25. Thus started our visit family and friends phase!</div>
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A couple of very
enjoyable days with Nick and family, then on to Kingston to stay with Martin
and Vicky, A quick detour to see an old friend from my police days, then two
nights with Jim and Ange in Oxfordshire.</div>
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Thanks for the drive in the Aston Jim, very exciting!</div>
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Pause for breath, off to Dorset, one
night with Posy, one with Trish and Diane, cousins I haven’t seen for 35 years. </div>
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Phew. Back to the tunnel, yup hello M25 again, then back to France and empty
roads. Great night stop at hotel in Normandy, pick up dog and home.</div>
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Icare has taken a it of time settling - over two weeks in kennels and then to find he is an only dog. is getting a lot happier now, now we just have to explain that he is adopted....</div>
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Back to the mad social whirl! Our Vignol’s Bowls Club had
their annual match against our rivals at St Robert. Sadly we lost, but everyone
had a good time and the barbecue was excellent. <o:p></o:p></div>
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A few days later our English Library had a quiz and curry
night at Janie’s chateau. It seemed to go very well, the food was delicious and
nobody killed the quizmaster – me. <o:p></o:p></div>
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Last weekend was mother’s day in France, and also the day
our local town Objat hold their Fete de Petit Pois. Lots of people buying last minute
flowers in the market, and watching the displays, from line dancing to folk
singing. <o:p></o:p></div>
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Things have now quietened
down a bit. Just to make us both very happy we had our annual dental check-up,
and our dentist says nothing to do and bye bye for a year. The weather has been
lovely for the last few weeks, temperatures varying from the mid thirties to a
more pleasant 30is, which we are enjoying now. Visitors expected this month,
plus a possible expedition to the Sancerre region to meet friends. Life is
tough!!<o:p></o:p></div>
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The Old Folkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09125887201188442375noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3747711086443140116.post-45416461280410806962015-03-25T19:40:00.003+00:002015-03-25T19:44:19.322+00:00<br />
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A fairly quiet time, we are saving all our energy for
travelling to the UK in May!<o:p></o:p></div>
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I decided to replace a gas cylinder which fuels a couple of
rings on our hob. We don’t use them often – this was only the third bottle
since we got here. I decided to carry them down to the cellar where they live
down some outside stairs, normally only used by the man who delivers our heating
oil. I managed to slip and land on my back across a couple of stone steps, and
it really hurt. Judy was a bit worried, but I don’t seem to have damaged
anything vital, although I still have some back pain a few weeks later. Also
had my bi-annual blood test and my cell count is holding pretty steady, so
nothing to worry about there. Jude continues to be disgustingly healthy.<o:p></o:p></div>
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Each year the commune produces a report to tell you what has been happening, what will be happening and how our taxes are spent. This year our house was on the front cover - well they do floodlight us at night!</div>
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<o:p> </o:p>While shopping in Brive with Judy and our friend Rhonda I
found an exhibition in a local galley which absolutely blew me away. The
gallery is an old church, and it was filled by a photo exhibition. The
photographer works for the phone company, and asked customers he visited to
pose for him in their homes holding their phones. It sounds a simple idea, but
the pictures were astonishing. The Correze is still one of the poorest areas in
France, and it was a salutary experience to see how some people still live,
especially the rural old. I don’t know if the French viewers were as astonished
as we were – we all went back to see it again later, perhaps the shock for them
was not so great.</div>
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Judy had a significant birthday in January, and to celebrate
we went out for a very enjoyable dinner with friends. It would probably have
been a more relaxed evening if I hadn’t had a senior moment and forgotten how
to find the restaurant. Anyway we all got there in the end and had a great
meal. <o:p></o:p></div>
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A few weeks later we went to another birthday party - our friend Patrick who was 101. As always he was on great form an thoroughly enjoyed all the attention, especially from the ladies!</div>
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<o:p> </o:p>Still picnicking when the weather is fine – had some very
nice days out – especially one where visited the Cascades de Murel, had lunch
(OK in a restaurant), drove along the banks of the Dordogne and finished up
having an ice cream in the lovely town of Argentat. One mistake we won’t make
again is going out on a very wet Monday. Everything shuts on Monday, and
drenched scenery really doesn't make up for it.</div>
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We are lucky to have a local airport at Brive, if only they
and the airlines could get their acts together. The airport website was months
out of date, and City Jet who fly from London City Airport, and who had two
flights a week, suddenly stopped, started again and have now stopped until the
summer. Their website carried on blithely saying that they had two flights a
week, and if you tried to book, you got a “computer problem come back later
message”. Rubbish. Ryanair will be flying in from Stansted again next month. We
investigated all this as I have a friend who is working in England, and getting
home for weekends has been a nightmare for him.</div>
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We had a smattering of snow over the winter, but nothing
settled. On one of the English-speaking websites I look at several people said
they were snowed in a few times. And this is still in the Correze! It’s a big
place, the nearest ski resort is less than two hours from us in the Masif
Centrale. The photo below was taken in mid-March about 40 minutes from home. <o:p></o:p></div>
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<o:p> </o:p>Poor old Bertie is much better, he was slowing down visibly
a few months ago, but he is more his old self – just a bit blinder and deafer.
Icare still bounces around the place, mainly off the walls!</div>
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<o:p> </o:p>In February I was asked by the RAF Association to go to Grun
Bordas, a small village in the Dordogne and lay a wreath on behalf of the RAF
at their war memorial. It was the 71<sup>st</sup> anniversary of the crash of
an RAF Stirling, which had been dropping supplies to the resistance further south,
with the loss of all the crew. The locals turned out in force, and we even met
an elderly lady who had actually heard the aircraft crash. A very poignant and
moving experience.</div>
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We have been showing our friend Rhonda some of the nice
places to visit – it’s her husband working in UK. So far we have been to Collonges
la Rouge, Turenne, Brantome and a few other places. I take good care to tell
her husband what a good time we had as he enjoys the pleasures of Woking.<o:p></o:p></div>
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A few weeks ago we ventured into Brive with friends to see “Birdman”
with Michael Keating, luckily in VO – version originale, i.e. in English with
French sub-titles. It was one of those films where you all walk out when it
finishes and eventually someone says “Um, what was that about?”, and the others
breathe a sigh of relief. We all enjoyed it, could see it was brilliantly
acted, but we could see why it was playing five times a day in a French art
cinema. By the way, going by what the actors said in English and the French
sub-titles, English is a much richer language for swearing in. <o:p></o:p></div>
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Two short stories to finish. We went out for lunch with our
friend Rhonda, and when we got home I opened our front door, to find a large
black dog standing inside looking at me. I shut it again, then slowly opened it
and the dog ran out. Apparently Judy had left the door open earlier, and he had
sneaked in. Luckily he hadn’t done any damage, and his owners apologised profusely.
Rhonda said my face was a sight to behold. Finally I went into Objat for a haircut,
and decided I would tell the barber about my haircut in New York, being offered
a whiskey or vodka etc. I looked up some words I didn’t know, and sat down to
have a jolly chat. Before I could say anything a friend of the barber’s came
in, and they chatted above my head (literally and figuratively) until I was
finished. Ah well..<o:p></o:p></div>
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The Old Folkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09125887201188442375noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3747711086443140116.post-38408106357246140592015-01-19T10:23:00.000+00:002015-01-19T10:23:51.250+00:00<br />
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Although Christmas takes up most of this missive, I mustn’t
forget the great victory of the Vignols bowls team v St Robert. Although the
teams comprise mainly ex pats, we have a number of French players. Last week we
had a young French lady play with us while her baby watched from his portable
play pen! Anyway we thrashed St Robert, and then all enjoyed a great lunch out
together at a local Auberge. <o:p></o:p></div>
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Knowing we were going to be away for Christmas made
preparing for it a lot easier, no decorations, no tree, no food to buy. We
bought everyone in the family Italian leather-bound notebooks with their names
embossed on them – it will be interesting to ask in a year or so what went in
them. <o:p></o:p></div>
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I currently have two SSAFA cases, where there are people
with military connections who may need some help. Obviously I cannot give any
details, but it is certainly very satisfying to be able to point people in the
right direction for assistance. <o:p></o:p></div>
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And so to the main event – Christmas in New York! I booked
the tickets from Toulouse via Madrid to JFK with Iberia. Paris is really too
far away and there was no point in going back to UK. One suggested flight was
with Turkish Airlines via Istanbul – seemed the long way, although as somebody
remarked you would get an extra meal! I also completed the visa waiver forms so
they would let us in.<o:p></o:p></div>
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After taking the dogs to their holiday accommodation the
previous day we left home at just after 5 for Toulouse. As always when you
leave plenty of time everything went totally smoothly and we had a 3 hour wait
at the airport. The link flight to Madrid was fine, and we changed terminals
and found the JFK flight without any problems. The flight was about 6 hours, as
boring as they always are, although the in-flight entertainment and food were
OK. <o:p></o:p></div>
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Rachel met us at the airport and had arranged for a car to
take us all to her apartment in Manhattan. It is a smashing flat, just the
right size for her, and very comfortable. It is very central and is only a 10
minute walk from her work. NY drivers, especially the cabbies, seem to have a
love affair with their horns. Not so bad during the day, but honestly at 2am?
One thing that did surprise me was that most of the cars were much smaller than
I had expected, and there were lots of Japanese models, Toyotas, Hondas etc,
even among the taxis. . Many of these are built in the USA, but maybe even the
Americans are looking for slightly better mileage!<o:p></o:p></div>
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We decided to do most of our exploring of Manhattan on foot,
normally ending up footsore and weary and taking a taxi back to Rachel’s. We
looked at Madison Avenue, where Rachel works, the Flatiron Building, Park
Avenue, Macy’s Store (great idea just before Christmas, not) and lots of other
sights. We walked around Greenwich Village, and visited the memorial site to
the Twin Towers victims. <o:p></o:p></div>
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Probably the high point in every sense was our visit to the
Empire State Building. I booked tickets on line, and as it was likely to be a
one-off, I got the Express tickets. These were BRILLIANT. We got there to find
long queues, but we were ushered past everyone and into an Express lift. OK the
viewing galleries on the 86<sup>th</sup> and 102<sup>nd</sup> floors were just
as crowded, but we got to see everything and take our photos. Worth every cent.
<o:p></o:p></div>
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One of the reasons we wanted to go up the Empire State was
that we could see it from Rachel’s bedroom. They change the colours in which t
is lit up for different occasions, we had Hanukkah, Christmas and the colours
of two college (American) football teams playing a semi-final in New York. <o:p></o:p></div>
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Another day Rae took us on the Staten Island Ferry –
excellent value as it is free. You get a fantastic view of the NY skyline, plus
you sail past the Statue of Liberty Island and you get a great view of that as
well. <o:p></o:p></div>
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Our big cultural expeditions were to the NY Public Library,
amazing building, where the original Winnie the Pooh Bear lives. The really big
day out was to the Metropolitan Museum of Art. We arrived too early so had a
very pleasant walk around the bit of Central park behind the gallery. There was
quite a queue but we got in very quickly, and Rachel had found us some
complementary tickets. The place was absolutely awesome, so many familiar
pictures and artists, you didn’t know where to start. Even though there were
large crowds it was big enough to absorb them, and we saw everything we wanted
to – although it would take far longer than we had to begin to do it justice.<o:p></o:p></div>
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Even having a haircut was something of an experience. Good
trim – check. Chat with barber – check. Hot towel – check. Even shoulder massage – check. Would I like a
glass of whiskey or vodka – er, pass! All for $20. <o:p></o:p></div>
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While Rachel cooked us a fantastic Christmas lunch with all
the trimmings, and lots of other nice meals, we also ate out a few times. As
Rachel had chosen them all the places were good – but we particularly liked the
brunches we had at the Lyric café – good food at great prices. <o:p></o:p></div>
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We were really lucky with the weather – we packed our
wellies and warm jumpers, but the temperature kept nicely well above zero
(centigrade). Just cold enough to keep us moving on our walks! Another great place was Grand Central Station - so impressive that you almost forget that there are actually trains leaving from there!<o:p></o:p></div>
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<o:p> </o:p>Even the best things have to come to an end, so on our last
day we had a final brunch and Rae waved us goodbye. The trip from JFK to Madrid
was long but bearable, we even landed early. This meant we only had 2 ½ hours
to wait for our connection in an empty Madrid airport at 5am! Anyway we recovered
the car from Toulouse and had a 2 hour drive home. By the time we got there we
decided to leave picking up the dogs until the next day.</div>
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<o:p></o:p></div>
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We missed seeing in the New Year by several hours as we had
been up some 26 hours. When we went to get the dogs they were very pleased to
see us, but they seem to have had a great time. Debbie who looked after them
has fallen for Icare, and he even got a Christmas present, which he is still
playing with (minus it’s stuffing).<o:p></o:p></div>
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Back now to the calm of the Correze. I managed to pick up a
bug on the way back, but am feeling much better now. There’s a lot to be said
for marrying a nurse with experience of tending to the elderly! Back too to the
round of bowls, eating out, markets etc – great!<o:p></o:p></div>
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The Old Folkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09125887201188442375noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3747711086443140116.post-23154947404806632052014-11-25T12:58:00.000+00:002014-11-25T12:58:29.857+00:00<br />
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OK winter is definitely here. I chickened out and put the
central heating on a few days ago, and we may even fit the electric blanket
soon. We have had a lot of rain recently, although with a few sunny days. We
haven’t managed a picnic for what seems like ages!<o:p></o:p></div>
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The library staggers on. We have collected a number of books
recently from kind donors, and Janie at the chateau tells me that we now have
enough, in fact more than enough. Just have to open a branch library!<o:p></o:p></div>
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We went to a garden party raising funds for Macmillan cancer
funds in September – a lovely sunny day and very enjoyable. Janie offered a
night’s B & B at the chateau as a raffle prize, and we raised a good sum
for this really good cause. <o:p></o:p></div>
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Saw my Consultant regarding my leukaemia – it is standing
still and she doesn’t want to see me for 18 months. Excellent news. <o:p></o:p></div>
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Our new Clumber puppy Icare is settling in very well, in
fact I am sure he now thinks he owns the place. We did library shift at the
chateau a few weeks ago, and left him to have a wander around the grounds.
After a few minutes he came trotting in with a pair of glasses carefully held
in his mouth. He presented these to me very proudly! They turned out to belong
to a previous guest at the chateau, who had look everywhere for them – he is
now the toast of Pennsylvania! He also watches TV, especially if there are
animals being shown, and he barks at other dogs that appear. <o:p></o:p></div>
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We have carried on with our picnic days out – had a very
nice day out near Tulle, and another near Rocamadour. On one of the days out I
was keen to find the Chateau de Buzaneix, having seen a picture of a lovely
little chateau surrounded by a moat. The description said it was not easy to
find. We actually found the sign to it, indicating it was down a fairly rough
track. We drove down this quite gingerly, to find that the place was very
firmly closed and marked as private. Also there was nowhere to turn around, so
we had to carry on down a track that degenerated even more. We emerged thankful
we still had an exhaust! <o:p></o:p></div>
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From there we went to the Chateau
de Val, and from the number of car parking places, in the summer this is very
popular, and with good reason. A lovely building on the edge of a beautiful
lake. We also found some wonderful views over the upper Dordogne valley. <o:p></o:p></div>
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A brief day out on my own was to meet up with someone
selling a Flymo lawn mower, near Limoges Airport. I hope that it will make it slightly easier to
curb our jungle, although it is still in our local garage being serviced. I was
also able to visit an Asian supermarket near the airport, to stock up on some
of the more exotic ingredients you can’t find in the local supermarkets. <o:p></o:p></div>
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Just when I thought I would forget about my tiny business, I
actually got a job. It was to do floorplans and photos for a large manoir just
south of Limoges. Good fun and it seemed to go OK. The strange thing was the
place was located only a kilometre or so from a breeder of Irish Wolfhound puppies
we had visited a couple of months earlier. Apparently my nearest and dearest
tell me that this is NOT a sign. But the pups are so cute….<o:p></o:p></div>
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Although we aren’t members of the Correze branch of the
Franco British Chamber of Commerce and Industry any more we were invited to an event
in Brive organised by the new person running it. We were to do some networking, socialise, eat and
watch Brive play Gloucester in the second tier European rugby competition. It
proved an interesting evening, held in a local sports centre. The networking
and socialising went well, the meal took a very long time to order and by the
time we finished eating, Brive were well on the way to losing by 55 points to
nil, so we didn’t stay too much longer. <o:p></o:p></div>
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Rachel very kindly gave me her old IPhone 4S, and it has
only taken 5 months to get it working! Unfortunately when she finished her
contract in UK it was locked, and apparently Orange is the most difficult
network to unlock. Of course Orange France couldn’t do it, and, amazingly,
neither could Orange UK. Eventually, with lots of help from Carol and Terry, I did
get a working mobile. I checked the tariffs here, and found that for the amount
I had been paying for my landline, internet and mobile – no calls included, I could
pay 4€ more each month and get loads of free landline calls and mobile internet
time. <o:p></o:p></div>
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Got stung by a mosquito or other unpleasant flying thing a
few weeks ago, and it had to be on the bottom joint of my ring finger. It
swelled up beautifully, so visit to the doctor who gave me a prescription for
loads of antibiotics and sent me straight to the jewellers to have my wedding
ring sawn off – and that was fun! All back to normal now, and the ring has been
repaired (slightly larger) and it is back in place.<o:p></o:p></div>
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We are getting quite excited about visiting Rachel in New
York over Christmas, more about all that next time!<o:p></o:p></div>
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The Old Folkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09125887201188442375noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3747711086443140116.post-91164391747234192952014-09-01T17:06:00.001+01:002014-09-01T17:58:22.084+01:00Summer!<br />
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According to the French tourist industry Summer is
officially open. We went out for a picnic yesterday – the last Saturday in
August – and many cafes, campsites and attractions seemed to have shut already.
I think that the coming Monday is the Rentré, or back to school day. Anyway we
had a very enjoyable picnic, topped off later with wonderful ice cream sundaes
at a café on the bank of the Dordogne in Argentat. We had the picnic in a small parking area which was at the start of a path leading to cave in the cliffs overlooking the Dordogne, and which had been a hideout for one of the earliest resistance groups. </div>
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Back to chronology.<o:p></o:p></div>
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First things first – Bertie is fine. He hasn’t looked back
since his operation, and seems to be in pretty good health. He also has some
competition, of which more later.<o:p></o:p></div>
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At the end of June we decided to take a short break, and had
a couple of nights in a really nice hotel on the Atlantic coast. We had a nice easy run down, stopping in the town of Cahors, where we visited the lovely bridge. </div>
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The hotel was
the Hype Hotel in Biscarosse, built and run by a French / Rhodesian couple to
their own specifications – highly recommended. Biscarosse is only a couple of
miles from the sea, but is on a large bay, and is, of course, the home of the
French seaplane. The villages on the coast south of Biscarosse itself were all
fairly well developed, all sand and surf. There aren’t any harbours on this
stretch, so no quaint undiscovered fishing villages. Arcachon to the north is
the large town and port, and reputedly very attractive. I say reputedly because
when we went there the holidays had obviously just started, and the place was
absolutely bursting at the seams.<o:p></o:p></div>
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On the way back we came through the small town of Eymet in
the Dordogne. At first glance this is a delightful bastide town, but it has the
reputation of being the most “Anglicized” town in the Dordogne. Some estimates
say up to a third of the residents are Brits, and certainly all the shops are
carefully bi-lingual. It gave the idea for a ghastly TV programme called
“Little England”, in which a plummy voiced presenter talked of “Blighty” and
introduced ex-pats who really, really missed their fish and chips and beer. Very
false, and we are well aware that the producers induced people to do and say
things that were for dramatic effect, not veracity. <o:p></o:p></div>
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Just got back in touch with two of my long lost cousins, Di
and Trish Hetherington, after over 30 years. They now live in Dorset, so we are
looking forward to meeting and catching up one day soon. <o:p></o:p></div>
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I have been keen on getting another dog, so we could
integrate it with us while Bertie was still around. We went to look at some
German Shepherd puppies, and they were really nice. However although I have
always liked this breed, I found that I was not really enthusiastic, so we
didn’t take it any further.<o:p></o:p><br />
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Sadly Judy’s Mum passed away in July, so we travelled to
England for the funeral. Obviously a very sad occasion, but at least closure
for the family as she had not recognised anyone for many years. Nice to see
people, we promised again to try and meet up in happier circumstances. We had some
time before our flight home so had a day out, visiting the Air Museum at
Duxford, the village of Clare where my father came from and up into Norfolk. We
dropped in on Florence Gardener, the widow of an RAF friend; it was really nice
to see her. On the way to Stansted we went via Cambridge. It’s a lovely city,
but we were glad we were there early, as we left at about 1130 it filled up rapidly and we passed loads of coaches bringing more visitors in. <o:p></o:p></div>
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One of our favourite walks is along a footpath above the
river Vezere in the local village of Le Saillant. It leads to a hydro-electric
dam and generating station, and until recently they were shut off for security
reasons. You can now cross over the river and return down the road on the other
bank. During July and August you can finish the walk in a little café, which
only opens for these two months. <o:p></o:p></div>
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We had another of our picnic days out and visited the very
interesting Gallic and Romano-Gallic site at Tintignac, about 30 minutes from
us. We had known about the site for some time, but it has only just been
properly opened to the public. It is very much a work in progress, although the
archaeologists have made some superb finds. There is a small amphitheatre which has yet to
be excavated, so it’s a place to return to. Looking for somewhere to have our
picnic we ended up at another Roman site at Cars. On the way back we found a
rather lonely looking Chateau at Mazeau, privately owned but easily accessible.<o:p></o:p></div>
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Voutezac had its annual peach festival, literally dampened
by a huge thunderstorm. Luckily it was all under cover, so we thoroughly
enjoyed ourselves as usual.<br />
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So no GSD puppy, what could I look at next? Yes, back to wolfhounds!
I found e very good breeder who has 4 or 5 litters of puppies a year, so as he
is just south of Limoges we went to visit him. Really nice dogs, he has about
10 adults and he had two litters as well. Judy and I really like the cream
wolfhounds, so asked when he might have any cream pups. He is expecting two of
his bitches to whelp in September, and they have cream puppies. So that would
be my Christmas present sorted! <o:p></o:p></div>
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Janie Busch held a Jazz evening at the Chateau where our
library is, and we all piled in to help out. Judy makes a great barmaid, and
says that she really appreciates it when all the drinks and food are all priced
at 1€. The music was very well appreciated, the only problem was that it was
planned to be outside, and an hour before the start the heavens opened.
Everything was moved inside; luckily Janie has a music room just off the
library! The evening broke even, which was a pretty good result.<o:p></o:p></div>
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We had planned for some friends to visit, but sadly one
couple had to be cancelled when we flew
to the UK. The other friend, Nick Edwards, was on a short cycle tour and stayed
with us for a couple of nights. He was head boy at my school, so I suppose that
swapping school stories was a change for Judy from RAF ones.</div>
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The cancelled couple were the Ayliffes, who were RAF
friends. Alex’s uncle had died in a Mosquito crash in 1944, and it was the 70<sup>th</sup>
anniversary. It all happened in a tiny hamlet some 3 hours south of us near
Agen. We thought it would be a quite low-key affair, although we knew that a
number of Alex’s family would be there. When we arrived in the hamlet just
after 10, we had missed the mass in the local church, but caught the ceremony
in the cemetery with the obligatory speeches. There were a large number of
locals in attendance, as they were also honouring the resistance fighters who
had rescued the Mosquito pilot and buried Alex’s uncle. Back to the church for a
brief speech, then everyone went to the local town, where there were lots more
speeches and wine and nibbles. We did manage to speak to Alex and his wife
Jilly, but they had to leave for the arranged lunch (for 120), so we set off
home again. A long day.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<o:p> </o:p>One Tuesday evening we went to the Le Saiilant marche des
producteurs with our friend David. His wife Rhonda is back in her home state of
Texas for family reasons, and we all miss her and make sure David is fed. He
claims to be fading away, but we aren’t so sure! Anyway the marche des
producteurs involves a large number of tables, lots of stalls selling bread,
meat, salads, cheese, wine, chips etc and a number of barbecues. You just turn
up, grab a space and buy and cook what you want. Being married to a Texan we
naturally let David do the barbecuing honours, and he did very well. A good
evening, although it would have been much better with Rhonda there.</div>
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<o:p> </o:p>Rachel was back in UK for a visit, and nipped over to France
to see us, which was very enjoyable, if too brief! We had a very good day at
Pech Merle the caves and grottos near Cahors. Judy and I have always been very
impressed by the cave paintings, and I think Rachel was too. We were also
invited to Dave Makepeace’s birthday party, and were delighted to meet up with
his daughters and their boyfriends.</div>
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After dropping Rachel off at Limoges airport for her trip
home, we continued on for a couple of hours to the Charente Maritime, near Cognac.
I had seen an advert in Leboncoin, a web site where almost everything, from cars,
to houses to pets can be advertised. It said that there was a Clumber Spaniel
puppy looking for a new home…..Say hello to Icare! His owner had changed jobs,
and could no longer look after him during the day. Icare (French for Icarus) is
10 months old and settled in with us and Bertie better than we could have
hoped. <o:p></o:p></div>
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Yesterday seemed to be the day for car rallies, there was a
steam of lovely cars going past over several hours. They varied from 1920s
models to modern Ferraris and Aston Martins. There were even some cars we have
owned ! Well a couple of 2CVs anyway!<o:p></o:p></div>
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So as summer is supposed to be over, the weather has improved
and the sun shines. Lots more fun to be had yet! <o:p></o:p></div>
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The Old Folkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09125887201188442375noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3747711086443140116.post-88714203562603654972014-06-18T17:03:00.002+01:002014-06-18T17:03:52.672+01:00<br />
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Spring is turning quickly into summer – as its too hot today
to do much else I’ll catch up on these words of wisdom….<o:p></o:p></div>
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On April 14<sup>th</sup> Judy and I celebrated our 41<sup>st</sup>
wedding anniversary – yes she really has put up with me for that long. It was a fairly low key celebration, as a few
days later we returned to UK. We were meeting with our niece Leslie from
California and her family – and it would be the first time we had met one of
her sons. It was family do at Langan’s Brasserie in Mayfair – and it was very
enjoyable. And yes, that was Michael Parkinson on the other table. <o:p></o:p></div>
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We had flown from Brive on the new Ryanair service. More
convenient for us, and they are actually getting slightly better to deal with.
Mind you Stansted will never be anyone’s destination of choice. Be nice when
it’s finished. As we landed quite late we found an excellent B & B a few
minutes from the airport, whose owners also own a pub just down the road.
Perfect.<o:p></o:p></div>
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We then stayed a couple of days with our friend Romney who
runs a fantastic B & B in Buscot in Oxfordshire. </div>
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We were able to meet up
with lots of old friends in the area too. From there to Shropshire where we
stayed with more old friends, Fred and Di. A lovely area and a very pleasant
visit. We also met up with Jane and David, more old friends who are (still)
renovating an old watermill near Welshpool – to be fair they have built a
lovely house next to it!<o:p></o:p></div>
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Cross country to Leigh on Sea and a night with Nick and his
family. Back to Stansted and home, not forgetting to pick up Bertie from the
kennels. We needed a rest to recover from the holiday!<o:p></o:p></div>
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As I mentioned in my last missive, we were swapping our UK
driving licences for French ones. We were given temporary French licences, and
I was hoping that we would get the new ones in the post before our trip to UK,
as I wasn’t sure if the hire car people would accept the temporary ones. In
fact there was no problem, and when we got back we went to the licensing office
in Brive, to ask where the licences were, and the answer was they were there
waiting for us all the time! Silly old me.<o:p></o:p></div>
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Our English Library continues to run fairly happily. I say
“fairly” as we had a couple of very ill-tempered resignations from our
committee, and to be honest we are still not sure what the kerfuffle was all
about. One thing it has reminded me is that it is not wise to send e mails when
you are really worked up – we decided not to respond and things appear to have
calmed down. We did have a fairly peaceful AGM, followed by a quiz night which
seemed to go very well. The pie and chips refreshments may have helped.<o:p></o:p></div>
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We saw an edition of "Country File" a few weeks ago that had a segment on dangerous cattle - and they said that the Limousin was one of the worst breeds for attacking people. it must be the English air, because here they are the gentlest cows I have ever encountered. at a recent cattle show in Objat they were all tied up and everyone just walked around them. Must be the French air...</div>
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We have had a couple of friends to visit – very nice to show
people around this area we love so much. Posy is an old friend from my (brief)
university days. She seemed to enjoy herself, and being a professional gardener
se was more interested in the flora than the architecture. She was staying a
further week with friends near Carcassonne, so we drove her down there and her
friends very kindly put us up for a couple of nights in the superb house they were renting. <o:p></o:p></div>
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<o:p> On our way back we stopped off for lunch in one of our favourite villages, Puycelsi in the Tarn department. Being on top of a hill the old village ha survived untouched - it's highly recommended.</o:p></div>
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Bertie came with us, but he hasn’t been too well lately. He
had a bad stomach upset, then managed to do something to his leg a few weeks
later. He was hopping around on three legs, so the vet gave him a couple of
injections and he was better that evening – I can’t believe he likes going to
the vet that much. <o:p></o:p></div>
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After Posy’s visit we had a couple of days before friends
from UK, the Hulses, came for lunch. They bring their caravan over to France
for a few weeks, and weren’t far away in the Dordogne. We then had an old RAF
friend stay, Terry Anning. He has a holiday place in Normandy, so it wasn’t
quite so far for him. He was telling us one evening about a distant relative,
Mary Anning, who was a very early archaeologist, recovering fossils from the
cliffs in Dorset. The next morning she was the Google anniversary person for
the day! <o:p></o:p></div>
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A couple of weekend ago our local town, Objat, had their
annual Fete de Petit Pois, Lots of folk dancing, displays, and yes, peas. On
market days Objat always has some music played over the speakers in the town
centre, so we had an interesting mix of Beatles from the speakers, folk singing
from one street and American line dancing music from another. Just had to sit and
have a coffee and let it wash over us! Each year some very tame oxen wander through with their owner as well.<o:p></o:p></div>
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Going out one morning I discovered that the car had a puncture. I drove very slowly
down to my local garagiste, the sainted Jean-Louis. Nobody there so I left the
car and called him later in the morning, to be told that he was already
repairing it – it was all done by lunchtime. That day we went out for our post-
bowls lunch, and it was our turn to choose. The café we chose is in a small
village near Objat, and we found that the dish of the day was tete de veau, yes
veal head. Not quite as bad as I thought, but not voted a success!<o:p></o:p></div>
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Had another good day out, visited a Papeterie – a paper
factory at Vaux about 30 minutes from us. It is a fascinating place that used
water power to run a continuous process to make paper from straw, and was in
use from 1861 to 1968. Sadly it doesn’t
run any more, but all the plant is still there and the staff do show how paper
is made. <o:p></o:p></div>
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As I said above Bertie has been very unwell recently – not
eating, which is not spaniel like behaviour. The vets investigated yesterday and
removed a large tumour, and he seems a lot happier and his appetite and energy
are returning. We thought we were going to lose him, so are really hopeful
about him making a good recovery. <o:p></o:p></div>
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Ah well, back to World Cup…….<o:p></o:p></div>
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The Old Folkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09125887201188442375noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3747711086443140116.post-58514071303071966042014-04-09T08:09:00.001+01:002014-04-09T08:09:31.099+01:00<br />
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Spring seems to be coming, more nice days than grotty ones
and the temperature is slowly rising. We have even taken the electric blanket
off the bed. Cue a second ice age.<o:p></o:p></div>
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We have been eating out a fair bit recently. On Wednesday mornings
we meet a couple of friends from a local village, David and Rhonda, and play
indoor bowls at the hall in their village with some other expats and French
sportsmen and women of a certain age. I bet you don’t know whether to be
surprised that I am playing bowls or just that I am taking part in any sport at
all! Anyway, in order to negate any positive affects our exercise might have,
we then retire to have lunch somewhere. We are slowly trying all the little
auberges and restaurants in the area, comparing their 4 and 5 course lunches. We
also went to a local restaurant for an Alsace evening - apparently the people
of Alsace eat huge amounts of pork in various forms with choucroute
(sauerkraut). We chose a great evening as England lost to France in the Six
Nations as we ate. Our fellow diners were quite nice about it really…<o:p></o:p></div>
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Our policy of going out for picnics whenever the sun shines
continues. We have had a number of excellent days out, normally aiming for a
lake or a chateau. We have seen a number of very interesting places and Bertie
loves coming along for the ride. </div>
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<b>Savignac Ledrier</b></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjWidJITcrfmTZVuzziMTGlz6zNMjpIQ7sD_Wxqf6mQWJF1W_4u8bj_iHClvWwmGWCO4KI7B0l0n_fK3Xl5BPbxKpM8PtYllk3DtEp4ycFVI2hbY8O7BuEIDhsXCgWmJCxsp8dKsBl9NlXO/s1600/_DSC5492.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjWidJITcrfmTZVuzziMTGlz6zNMjpIQ7sD_Wxqf6mQWJF1W_4u8bj_iHClvWwmGWCO4KI7B0l0n_fK3Xl5BPbxKpM8PtYllk3DtEp4ycFVI2hbY8O7BuEIDhsXCgWmJCxsp8dKsBl9NlXO/s1600/_DSC5492.JPG" height="212" width="320" /></a></div>
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<b>Chalucet</b></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjrmH_eDhhvMyFh7EpLWihglSVGdvYMlln5AbvHzRtUuF25ZHq9UifgiGbKvFH3RUvl-HOl4HuNdFH9wvT4H0SjjMdawt4VAw9ewqGoXsFjppcuJi7Ek-AVTtF8BAWMoueMifqXTGbz1b7n/s1600/Panorama+1.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjrmH_eDhhvMyFh7EpLWihglSVGdvYMlln5AbvHzRtUuF25ZHq9UifgiGbKvFH3RUvl-HOl4HuNdFH9wvT4H0SjjMdawt4VAw9ewqGoXsFjppcuJi7Ek-AVTtF8BAWMoueMifqXTGbz1b7n/s1600/Panorama+1.JPG" height="163" width="320" /></a></div>
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We had often meant to look at the chateau in Chalus, where Richard the Lionheart met his end. It is actually privately owned, and indeed is for sale (with a large house and lots of land). Just 2.5million €. This is the nearest we got.</div>
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On one day out we came through the “Cité de
Clairvivre” which was built in the 30s I believe as a place for TB sufferers to
enjoy the bracing country air. It is now used by the French Health Service for
a number of purposes, but it still has a wonderful Art Deco air. It also has a
large hotel, and we shouldn’t forget that the French Health Service can
prescribe spa treatments on prescription, so I guess that the guests are
probably recuperating.<o:p></o:p></div>
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Reading the 24 Squadron Association magazine (the Hercules
squadron I served on) I saw a note from the RAF Museum asking for any photos or
other memorabilia about the RAF’s C130s. I remembered the DVD I had created
from the videos that my crew shot when we did our 4 months in the Falklands in
1988/89. I looked for my copy, couldn’t find it, looked on my PC, disappeared!
Luckily I had sent our loadmistress, the lovely Pam a copy, so she sent it back
to me and I copied it. I also sent a copy of the Marham News I produced after
the Falklands Conflict, and the two copies of the MAD (Marham Ascension Digest)
I produced on Ascension Island during and just after the conflict. On a Roneo
machine, if you can remember what that was. <o:p></o:p></div>
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I had my first SSAFA job for some time. It was to help out
an ex wartime RAF veteran, who now lives with his daughter in the South of the
Correze. He had his 100<sup>th</sup> birthday a couple of weeks ago, and I was
able to present him with a card and a bottle of champagne from SSAFA. This had
pride of place until he opened his card from the Queen!<o:p></o:p></div>
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After a visit to our library a few weeks ago, I decided to
come back home the slightly quicker way. Unfortunately this was the road on
which the gendarmes had set up their speed radar! 45€ fine, plus one point on
my licence. As I didn’t have a French driving licence, this accelerated our
decision to swap UK for French. Obviously we didn’t manage to take the right
paperwork to the sub-prefecture first go, but it’s all in hand now. <o:p></o:p></div>
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Actually went out in the evening to the cinema in Brive,
where we saw “the Grand Budapest Hotel”. A really enjoyable film, shown in VO
(Version Originale – or English). Dinner out afterwards at a local oriental
restaurant buffet not such a success. It’s very good at lunchtime, not enough
turnover to keep everything fresh in the evening. Our epicurean researches will
continue – there are now two Japanese places in Brive to try. <o:p></o:p></div>
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Our last big day out was to the market at the nearby town of
Terrason with friends. The market wasn’t that great, but the town is rather
nice, with the river Vezere running through it and an attractive old quarter.
And we had a very nice lunch! <o:p></o:p></div>
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We continue our wildlife spotting from the balcony. Judy noticed
this woodpecker from there, and I am quite pleased with the picture I got with
a telephoto lens. </div>
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The Old Folkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09125887201188442375noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3747711086443140116.post-21635738613466777562014-02-01T10:27:00.005+00:002014-02-01T11:25:56.005+00:00<br />
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Not a great deal since my last missive, at this time of year
we tend to try to hibernate until the weather improves. Actually so far the
weather hasn’t been too bad, no snow on our part of France and temperatures
above freezing Famous last words….. In my
study we had a wood burner which we had never had fitted (very expensive), so
we bought a simple fire grate instead. We thought we’d use this occasionally to
heat the study and adjacent sitting room. The fireplace is huge, as is the
chimney which is normally sealed off with wooden boards. Removing these, and
checking the chimney was completely clear I lit a log fire. When, literally,
the smoke had cleared it became apparent that the smoke was not going up the
huge chimney, but had decided to investigate all our rooms instead. I can still
detect a whiff….I’ll try again one day.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjifDJeV-YdOW7gZ4xLqhbjbFvOEXCMqP3R9x3uNigjeojuS4oPEHTKefjJp0U6LVGHxjn6LMUPiuKuhzmOOgDGIdPRpGW2XgZR5_1vLdmss2vGNo2a1g-SOia-DOgrAu0CVp7ai5waRumZ/s1600/Fire.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjifDJeV-YdOW7gZ4xLqhbjbFvOEXCMqP3R9x3uNigjeojuS4oPEHTKefjJp0U6LVGHxjn6LMUPiuKuhzmOOgDGIdPRpGW2XgZR5_1vLdmss2vGNo2a1g-SOia-DOgrAu0CVp7ai5waRumZ/s1600/Fire.jpg" height="212" width="320" /></a></div>
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I believe I mentioned that our boulangerie had shut, but
that our Mayor considered this unacceptable. Well after months of building work
we have a new shop, with re-equipped bakery and refurbished living
accommodation. The bread is delicious and the cakes are pretty good too.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgDQZriOfX1EUEiYko3ha4T-jCKlAJ_9pzFQRfzxuWy1VzTMgIw4tWRKaaiS2EuZ-LHZQpLRZC9KSwabdlQ9lWn58LtHOOVwxnT7LWLU_F2hD3EyBVG6h08RsyLR6M1Ikb8hRVKPXtdrYZ_/s1600/Boulangerie.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgDQZriOfX1EUEiYko3ha4T-jCKlAJ_9pzFQRfzxuWy1VzTMgIw4tWRKaaiS2EuZ-LHZQpLRZC9KSwabdlQ9lWn58LtHOOVwxnT7LWLU_F2hD3EyBVG6h08RsyLR6M1Ikb8hRVKPXtdrYZ_/s1600/Boulangerie.jpg" height="212" width="320" /></a></div>
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We had a very nice day out driving down to the Dordogne to
visit another English library. The couple who run it have it in a building
which was supposed to be a garage for their new house! It is very well
organised, but of course doesn’t come with the cachet of being housed in a
chateau!</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJijY68qj6dkoUSeMxC9iD9INKRXcXvobjd5q7Aabxag5d8WkqGuwBp-IgNzdbJndbHU3hcNSzF68D1Fu9MFpQjjH-RfWdiTkjzYYxFIJFzju-o_zKzu1TSjs-dsHBs4vdA-60StlZTtxb/s1600/Dordogne+Library.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJijY68qj6dkoUSeMxC9iD9INKRXcXvobjd5q7Aabxag5d8WkqGuwBp-IgNzdbJndbHU3hcNSzF68D1Fu9MFpQjjH-RfWdiTkjzYYxFIJFzju-o_zKzu1TSjs-dsHBs4vdA-60StlZTtxb/s1600/Dordogne+Library.jpg" height="240" width="320" /></a></div>
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As usual on November 11<sup>th</sup> we attended the service
at the village’s war memorial. This year I was able to get some poppies from
the British Legion which I was able to sell to some library members.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjoCd11wH7nIC19IOx3DSkLtwRz5eEDrJjaw1drsOWJTU7ucQZZXwpEVoTICH8tAjNlpvoYYssaomEbym4cMUvZC6bSzdOA1pxPvi8mC9MtZl6NE8tdu9RBibAxnN_WBZPItInky_Rf58w8/s1600/Panorama+1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjoCd11wH7nIC19IOx3DSkLtwRz5eEDrJjaw1drsOWJTU7ucQZZXwpEVoTICH8tAjNlpvoYYssaomEbym4cMUvZC6bSzdOA1pxPvi8mC9MtZl6NE8tdu9RBibAxnN_WBZPItInky_Rf58w8/s1600/Panorama+1.jpg" height="166" width="400" /></a></div>
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<span id="goog_2063885058"></span><span id="goog_2063885059"></span><o:p><br /></o:p></div>
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Speaking of our library we had a very enjoyable quiz night
in the chateau at the end of November. More than 30 people came, and we filled
them up with bacon rolls. The quiz (prepared i.e. downloaded by me) went down
very well and the winning team got a case of Beaujolais Nouveau.</div>
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We had a very enjoyable drive to the little village of Gimel-les-Cascades,
where we duly admired the waterfalls (from a distance) and I was unwise enough
to point out a craft shop where they made and sold enamel jewellery. Well that
too care of Christmas! The weather was mild enough for us to stop by a small
lake and have a picnic. I even got some photos of a heron and a kingfisher (use
your imagination on that one).<o:p></o:p></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgKcnZKCxxAyXTlXG3Bp_ZDeY1FtV3MdhO4i_VdcaBSMiol9HiKFANpQ-MrxGYACRBG5dLEanJzxh8Ojg3ghQg1f4-1pMwOt3ISa1ZqTB4N-82DN292jny66lFxCeminuEYdKf1Vd8o4zg5/s1600/Stork+2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgKcnZKCxxAyXTlXG3Bp_ZDeY1FtV3MdhO4i_VdcaBSMiol9HiKFANpQ-MrxGYACRBG5dLEanJzxh8Ojg3ghQg1f4-1pMwOt3ISa1ZqTB4N-82DN292jny66lFxCeminuEYdKf1Vd8o4zg5/s1600/Stork+2.jpg" height="191" width="320" /></a></div>
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We had a second day out a few weeks later. I was trying to
find a small country restaurant which was highly recommended on Trip Advisor. We
eventually found it, but of course it was firmly shut (for lunch?). Luckily we
had a backup picnic and we ate that overlooking Segur-le-Chateau, one of
favourite villages. <o:p></o:p></div>
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Just before Christmas we went to the carol concert in our
local church. Two choirs, one from our village and one from Varetz about 15km
away. Very enjoyable, although a bit chilly. Not any noticeable religious
slant, last year when it poured with rain everyone put their wet umbrellas in
the font.<o:p></o:p></div>
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Christmas
itself was very quiet. Our daughter Rachel usually comes over, but she was in
the throes of being interviewed for a job in New York, which she got. She has now moved there, so all holiday plans
will be up in the air for a while. <o:p></o:p></div>
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I
actually do a bit of high-tech plane-spotting. Using an app on my iPad I can
see what aircraft are passing by, where they came from and where they are
bound. Mostly quite boring, but I do like to think of the Virgin Atlantic
Airbus which passes over at 11.30 every on its way to Cape Town, as I am safely
tucked up in bed. I even managed to get a shot of the “Beluga”, a much adapted
Airbus used to ferry very large parts to the assembly halls in Toulouse. <o:p></o:p></div>
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Both of
us got bad colds after Christmas, and this time we couldn’t blame Rachel for
bringing nasty bugs from London. Mine got a bit worse and eventually Judy made
me go to the doctor, who diagnosed bronchitis. A course of drugs soon sorted it
out, and we are both back to top form now.<o:p></o:p></div>
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Judy
bought a lovely cake from the boulangerie, and we realised that it was a <span class="st1"><span style="color: #444444;">galette des rois, or special cake to
celebrate epiphany after Christmas. We had vaguely heard that there was a
special ritual attached to these cakes, and when I nearly lost a tooth on what
proved to be a tiny model of the Virgin Mary we looked it up. Apparently if you
are lucky (!) enough to find the hidden treasure you wear a paper crown and are
king or queen for the day.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span class="st1"><span style="color: #444444; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">For Judy’s birthday she hit the local sales a couple of times,
and we had an excellent lunch at a restaurant in Brive. She also got lots of
Amazon vouchers, flowers from America and a fantastic book on chutneys and
preserves. Who would have thought our son could be so thoughtful? (Thanks
Lisa). <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span class="st1"><span style="color: #444444; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Last year we intended to go a Truffle Fair advertised in the
local village of Yssandon, but it snowed heavily on the day. This year was much
better so we drove up there. Somewhat disappointing, one stall selling truffles
(600€ per kilo last time I looked), and a few others selling local produce.
Looking at all the tables set out in the local village hall the important thing
was going to be the lunch!<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span class="st1"><span style="color: #444444; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Just to show we do know how to have a good time we had a very
busy Wednesday a couple of days ago. Morning, indoor bowls with some other
Brits and French in a nearby village hall, lunch at the all you can eat Chinese
restaurant in Brive and then shopping at the Brive Carrefour Hypermarket. Don’t
say I don’t know how to show a girl a good time….<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
The Old Folkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09125887201188442375noreply@blogger.com0