The weather here has been improving slowly, and some days we have had temperatures above 16 degrees. In fact according to the readings on our mini weather station, we should have opened the windows as it was warmer outside than inside the house. However when we do get bad weather it does come in large sizes. We had a thunderstorm the other night, and neither of us has ever heard thunder just keep on echoing around the hills for so long before.

Last week we went to a memorial ceremony for a number of resistance fighters shot by the Nazis in February 1944. 34 young men were captured and shot near an old mill some miles west of Pompadour. About a dozen were sent to concentration camps, seven of whom died, and three escaped. It was a very moving ceremony, attended by several hundred locals. The mill is now a small museum to commemorate the event.

The next day we decided to visit Brive, and ended up in the middle of a rather damp Carnival. It was in fact a Carnival week in Malemort-sur-Correze, a village that is now really a suburb of eastern Brive. The floats process from there to the centre of Brive where everyone apparently eats snacks and throws confetti. Despite the weather everyone seemed to be having a good time.

I should have my very own website soon, advertising my little business. I was doing some marketing with local agents, but have paused until the site is up and running.

We should know which airline(s) will fly into the new Brive-Souillac airport soon. The airport is planned to open at the end of June, and is forecast to bring in more visitors and raise the profile of the Correze as a whole. Just bought a new sofa-bed for those awkward extra guests! Looks pretty comfortable, and certainly big enough for two.

As the weather has been so nice we have taken the opportunity to drive around the area, our excuse being that we are scouting out sights to show visitors. One of my favourite views is the valley of the Vezere river, where it is overlooked by the Chateau of Comborn. This was once the home of one of the local counts and his family had control over a large area. Today it is mostly in ruins, and there is supposed to be a restaurant there. It was actually for sale a few years ago, and we went to have a look. We discovered that for a few euros the owner gave guided tours, so were able to look without making any offer!

Yesterday we went again to Uzerche, another lovely town high up overlooking the Vezere again. More wonderful views!

Not a lot to report since my last dispatch from the front. The weather has continued pretty cold with a bit of snow, so we have mostly stayed in and read or watched TV. We are saving our next lot of real exploring until we can share it with our visitors.
I have got my Siret or registration number for my small business, looking at creating a website and I am contacting prospective clients.

The French lessons are going well, we will practice a lot more when we go out more and there are a few of our neighbours actually outdoors as well.

We have had a few interesting experiences with the post – one parcel of books from Amazon was returned to them and the order cancelled as they couldn’t find our address. I re-ordered and they arrived in about 4 days. Other items have taken weeks, some just a couple of days.

Playing around with the panorama maker software I tried it indoors – so you can actually see a whole room. This is the dining room, very bare and empty at the moment and awaiting the input and inspiration of our interior designer (also known as Lisa our daughter-in-law).

We started our French lessons on the 22nd – beginning right at the beginning! Our teacher is French, but lived in UK for 21 years, and we get on very well with her. We are having a lesson every week, so we hope to get more confident soon.

On the Saturday we drove to Brantome, just over an hour away in the Dordogne. There was an exhibition of English speaking businesses, and I wanted to see if I could make any contacts there for my own business of property photography and floorplans. It turned out to be very small scale, although I was able to leave info with a few people. It’s always a delight to visit Brantome anyway – we have stayed there a couple of times.

The Sunday 24th was Judy’s birthday, so we went out for lunch. Research on the net found us at the Relais du Bas Limousin, which is a very friendly hotel and restaurant with excellent food – a very enjoyable meal.
http://www.relaisbaslimousin.fr/accueil.html

Talking of Judy’s birthday, the postal system here is not the fastest in the world. As I write she is still waiting for two lots of presents, and one of her cards only arrived yesterday.

I mentioned starting my own business – well “Imagerie de La Proprieté” has now been set up as a company under the recent “Auto Entrepeneur” regime. This is specifically for very small businesses, and means I only pay tax and social charges on anything I actually earn. I am waiting for my Siret or registration number, but I have started marketing, and hope to get a website going soon.

A couple of interesting car related incidents. We went out for a drive last Tuesday, and in the depths of the countryside discovered we had a puncture. I crept into the nearest town – Pompadour, and the garage repaired if for me for €15. While we were waiting for it to be done, we investigated a new restaurant we had heard was being opened by an English family. They told us there opening night was on Saturday, so we booked a table – got to support each other!

http://www.7bedandbreakfast.com/

By the time we were due back in Pompadour for our French lesson on the Friday, the snows had returned. I thought if were careful and stuck too the main roads, we should have no problem getting there. Halfway there we turned a corner on a road leading downhill, to find a surface covered in ice, and a large white can with its nose in the ditch and the rest of it occupying all our side of the road, and a fair bit of the other side too. I braked as gently as I could and tried to steer around it, and as we gently, and inexorably, slid towards the van, I may have uttered a prayer or two. In the event we just clipped bumpers, and knocked back our wing mirror – no damage to either party. I stopped to see if I could help, but the van driver needed a tractor or similar to pull him out. We pushed on, and weren’t even late for our lessons.

Unfortunately the snow still hasn’t fully cleared even by today, so our visit to the new restaurant in Pompadour had to be postponed, as the roads get very icy at night. A treat to come!

Ah yes, I have worked out how to use the panorama making programme on the computer!