Bienvenue.

Bienvenue from Outpost Plazac. Where to start on a blog when you have so many tales to tell?
Mmmm, errrr, ummmm ……. Ok, I have it. A short note on how we came to be living in France and the briefest of introductions into our world.  Then, start at the very beginning so you can enjoy all the trials, tribulations and triumphs we have encountered along the way.

If you are interested in village life, french culture, history, caving, wildlife, markets, food (growing it and eating it), wine or a general ‘joie de vie,’ you should find, at some point, something in this blog of interest.

So, if you are ready, let’s start with a short note and briefest of introductions ………..
 
For a day out, Inmate 1 and I (Inmate 2) went to the French Exhibition that they have every year at Olympia in London. We had no thought of moving to France. Who could have guessed a day out would have been so life changing? From a getting in the car to go to places, to a jumping on the tractor and heading into the woods with a chainsaw kind of lifestyle change.
Visit the exhibition yourselves but be warned, you may find yourselves heading over the channel for a new life. We did, and neither of us remembers a conversation specifically about moving to France.

We started looking in the Charente region, rented a property in the Loire and bought a property in the Dordogne. A surprise to all and an even bigger surprise to us.

Having lived in a semi-detached house with a small garden, we now find ourselves with 16 acres of woodland and meadow. A gite and a house, both of which tested our patience when it came to renovation.

We are learning new skills all the time. Learning to drive a tractor at the age of 55 wasn’t actually on my bucket list but it’s fun. I would have learnt to drive the sit on mower too but my legs aren’t long enough to reach the pedals. That’s my story and I am sticking to it. That joy now falls to Inmate 1. I have however, laid rights to be in charge of the hydraulic log splitter. We are heading towards self-sufficiency but unlike Tom and Barbara in the UK sitcom ‘The Good Life’, we are not adding pigs or cows to the mix.

We now work harder than we ever did in our 9 to 5 jobs but it’s so much more pleasurable. You could of course come and see for yourselves by booking into Maison d’Amis and discover the delights of the area we now call home.

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Inmates 1 and 2!