It's been 15 years since we began our French love affair. A few low points, the damned lost registration document for the trusty Toyota, the bad condition of the roof we cannot afford to have redone, my leaky kitchen for the same reason...but, oh the standout wonders of our time here! The location is in the very heart of agriculture France, the waving fields of wheat and colza, sunflowers and poppies, the sweetest people make up our local population, the contents of ANY grocery store. Yes it is a very wonderful place that suits us so very well. Our friends here are wonderful to be with and are ever so helpful no matter the project, and...they are good cooks too! How many more years can we make the trek from California to the Heart of France I can only guess but it isn't forever. In our hearts maybe, but not in reality. The trip here this time took no less than 34 hours from getting up at 7am on Tuesday til we unlocked the door Wednesday evening at 7:50pm. I will review my posting the contents of an email I sent the next morning to our expansive family:
Heroics! That’s what got us here! Heroes we are! 34 hours
from awake til at our door in Lignieres! Yes awake the whole damned time! Two
GIGANTIC traffic jams that lasted (for us) 2 hours EACH! What caused them, who
knows but there were cops, cop cars, fire engines, ambulances all trying to get
thru the backed up mess on a three lane freeway jammed with semis, vans, cars,
motorcycles and angry, angry, frustrated people. Even the detour which took the
Cal-Trans like Krew 1.5 hours to invent on a 1 lane road going the wrong way
entered yet another traffic marmalade thicker and more fucked up than that of
which we had left just 15 minutes before! Cars going in every direction on tiny
1 car width lanes with the ocassional 80,000 lb semi load of Chinese fine 40”
LED Tv’s lumbering along! A-fuckin’-mazing!
Do NOT EVER rent a car from EuroCar at CDG! NEVER EuroCar
ever...anywhere! They are INCOMPETENT. AVIS IS THE ANSWER to the question!
Renault Clio 4 dr with ancient Nav mapped GPS was the 2 day rental we used to
make the monumental “journey”. A bit noisy, a bit under-powered for normal
traffic but for our jams and jellies it was enough to move the car 10 ft. every
few minutes. A horse and buggy would have been as appropriate...with stops for
hay quite often.
Home: Quick looks, then bed at 8pm. This morning, awake at
3am...back to sleep at 4am. Up at 10am to view the fine French world outside.
Open a few curtains, inspect the ceilings for indications of leaks above, none.
Open all doors, close all open water drains (many), close all faucets, turn on
H20 at the main under the stairs. Turn on lights as necessary. Inspect for
water damage anywhere or (worse) puddles! It’s raining outside time for a peek
at the attic and to turn on the Hot Water heater. Attic dry, no puddles. Check
World-Of_Weeds outside, ce normale...weeds aplenty! Through the layer of gravel
and tarps, weeds endure quite well. Open barn doors, no damage and surprisingly
dry. Trustee ol’ Toyota dirty as heck but standing. Connect battery post to
positive terminal. Check oil, add a qt. Top off radiator coolant. Crank...
runs! Back slowly out, allow to run a few minutes, then off. 11am: wake Ms.
Lute from her slumbers. Ready coffee. Check out PC’s, turn on both and boot to
Win 10 version “Hell Knows”, whatever was extant on 9 August of last year. Sit
and chat a while. Go to Proxy, greet owner and shake hands, chat about trip
and weather here, get eggs, bread, rillets and milk. Make sandwiches for
breakfast at 11:30. Eat with my Ducky in the Dining Room after opening the
shutters to allow for LIGHT! French filtered-through-clouds sunlight! Beautiful
place that it is! Nice to be in our French home again!
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