A la Recherche du Pain Perdu

Our flat-hunting trip to Valenciennes last week proved interesting. This time we drove to Dover, took the ferry to Dunkirk and drove from there, nine hours door-to-door.

We liked the first flat we saw (right size, good situation, light, parking, "cave" for the bikes, near market, butcher, baker and candlestick-maker) but visited a couple of others just to make sure. Following food and reflection in various places we decided to go ahead with the first.

I will avoid potential international conflict by just saying that Japan-France-UK meetings on Tuesday and Wednesday may go some way to explaining why the Japanese spend a lot of time meditating. I'm sure all the Europeans did their own version and headed straight for alcohol at the first opportunity.

Our stress relief was in the form of a night at the local jazz club, which is organised by our barge-living host. The jazz was pretty mainstream but the food and the beer were good, so that's on the Tuesday night diary for the future.

Back home again on Wednesday, well fed at a motorway service station (3 course meal for £12 including tomato salad, steak and chips (steak so big it hung off the edge of the plate), fruit tart, bottle of water and a coffee) and not hampered by the later midweek traffic.

Th excitement continued on Friday when the landlord wanted a definite yes/no by the end of the day, rather than next Wednesday as agreed. Japan was already enjoying the weekend and I considered tidying the drinks cupboard. All sorted in the end, though, despite the email I sent to the wrong person which expressed my extreme exasperation in no uncertain terms.

So, all appears to be settled, apart from final removal details and the task of sorting out how to hire a hoist in France as it's not permissible to move the furniture via lift and stairs.

I'm slightly superstitious about showing too many pictures as we haven't yet had confirmation that the lease has been signed but I know that people will want a sneak peek so I reckon these will have to do:

 The flat has a lot of sockets

 and cupboards.

Au revoir!

At last!

After ten months of suspense, we finally have a date for Wilf to start working in France so we'll be off at the beginning of May or thereabouts. The first eight days of the month are complicated by three holidays in France (two Sundays and a Thursday), one here (Monday) and the fact that HGVs aren't allowed to travel on holdays in France.

We'll be living in Valenciennes, a small town about 30 miles SE of Lille. People have a vision of "living in France" which usually includes sunshine, olive groves, wine, rolling hills and sunshine. Valenciennes is near the area of Somme, so think flat land and First World War history. We visited the area a few years ago at easter and the land was waterlogged in a lot of places. It wasn't difficult to imagine life in the trenches. On a brighter note, it's quite close to Belgium, so I'm hoping that the local specialities will include beer and chocolate.

The next task is to find a place to live. We found a lovely b and b when we went in November so that's a treat: a room in a barge on the canal..  Not only do we have a contact over there before we start but a night out planned as the owner is a jazz musician.

Au revoir!