The quiet before the storm
The view from the front of the rental house in Solomiac France
July in the South of France has been a surprise to say the least… Cloudy, rainy, and chilly. We have made a move from Carcassonne to the small village of Solomiac France five minutes away from our future home. I say future because although we have signed the purchase contract, the owners have put the closing of the sale off until the 31st of August. The quiet before the storm is how I describe the tranquil French countryside that we find ourselves in. Let’s call this a true test of country living. We are in a converted barn, again (LOL), surrounded by rolling fields of wheat and sunflowers that are about to burst into a sea of yellow! Pack your easels, tubes of paint, your brushes, and your Beret… It’s Bob Ross time - paint!
Life here is incredibly quiet (truthfully, too quiet!) and I find myself constantly wanting to get out and explore the countryside. We have discovered the magic of Brocantes, Antique stores, and vide greniers (Local “empty the attics” flea markets). Some of these places are packed with ancient treasures of Frances past, stacked floor to ceiling and wall to wall.
We have had our first visitor from the States, Michael Chapman a very old friend (LOL) came to stay with us for ten days and we managed to come out of our pandemic shells and start to discover our new surroundings and what France has to offer. Life has definitely opened up again and we both are, thankfully, fully vaccinated! I could go on for pages about the vaccine issue, anti vaxxers and those who simply will not get the jab, I might even throw a little flat earther in there just for fun…but I won’t… all I will say is… take off your tinfoil hat and get @#%!*&!! vaccinated!
One of the drinks of the Gers, a sparkling wine with a touch of orange liqueur - Delicious!!
A Pigeonnier or Dovecote right next to the farm house.
Miles of Sunflowers preparing to bloom!
In further news… We are attempting to make appointments with the Mairie of Avensac (the Mayor) and the Architectes Batiments de France (the branch of the French government in charge of historic monuments). As Avensac is such a small village the Mairies office is only open on Wednesday mornings, and with next Wednesday being a national holiday we have to wait another week to meet the Mayor. We have been told that the Mayor has great influence over what will be allowed and what will not, I am thinking we should show up with gifts! The Architectes Batiments de France is another situation altogether. As our Château is listed monument there are rules and regulations that we must follow. We will need permission for everything that is to be done to the exterior of the Château from cleaning the facades and restoring and painting the shutters to adding lighting and putting in a pool. I was informed today that although the interiors are not included in the historic listing, they of course want to know what we want to do and will put their two cents in. The Architectes Batiments de France is demanding that we hire an Architect and like everyone else requesting that we meet at the property to discuss any proposed ideas and plans. We need to make that appointment so that we can begin the restoration as soon as we have keys, we can’t make an appointment because we can’t get access to the property. Insert crabby face emoji here!
So what are we doing in the mean time you may ask? Trying not to think about a very cold winter with little to no heat and going shopping instead!
You just gotta love a Tesla in the ruins! And in case you are wondering, there are plenty of charging stations in France and quite a few of them are free. There is even a Tesla Super Charging station not too far away. Although there are many topics of discussion regarding electric cars and their batteries, it feels nice to have at least done something in the save the environment direction. We will have our truck (Betty) and we will probably find an old beater van at some point to haul crap around, so we felt we needed something a bit nicer to pick you up at the airport or the train station in Toulouse! LOL!!
We will keep you posted of any developments as they unfold. France apparently shuts down for the month of August so I am not holding my breath! I hope everyones summer is going great and those on the west coast of the US are staying cool and hydrated.