I ran upstairs and was sick when I got home on Saturday the 15 November 2003. I'd just got back from helping Jon plasterboard his ceiling and walls. It wasn't sudden...I felt ill as soon as I arrived there.
I stayed in bed the next day (Sunday) and In the evening Bev drove me to the Flinns to sleep over ready for the drive to Portsmouth. The hope was that I'd improve but I got progressively worse and feared I'd have to pull out of the visit altogether.
I woke up feeling marginally better but on the journey got worse again. We caught the ferry with just minutes to spare and although the ship was fairly luxurious and the crossing calm, it was a gruelling 10 hours spent curled up on the floor thinking my life was about to end. The Flinns photographed the event...it's what friends are for!
Another 2 hours drive to Gary's just about saw me off. A quick call to Bev and I crawled up those dusty old steps thinking I would die in bed. Threw up and spent most of the night coughing.
The Next day (Tue) was my 4th day unable to face food. We arrived in Josselin (via Bel-Air) about 10:15. David & Eileen went into the bank while I stood outside in a daze.
We arrived at the Notaire's offfice with 10 minutes to spare to wait for Trudie. She arrived late thinking we were to have met at her place first.
The notaire thought we hadn't paid his fees and local taxes but after he agreed we had, the papers were duly signed in his office (etude).
It's important to point out here that between the preliminary contract... the signing of the final deed (acte authentique) and the final act of sale (acte de vente) you should thoroughly check the property out and mention at the signing anything that doesn't match what you think you are buying, because at this point the notaire can withhold funds from the vendor to pay for replacements and repairs. After the signing it's too late because it's sold subject to the condition its in at the time of completion.
I mention this because we later found out that although there was electriciy, water and septic tank...as outlined in the house sale leaflet, they were only nearby and certainly not connected.
To connect and comply with regulations was an extremely unpleasant and expensive shock.
It was true that there were pipes leading to where a toilet should be installed (which we did, and used it for about a year), and it was also true that a septic tank was in the garden. But there were no pipes leading from the house to the septic tank or filtration pipes from the tank underground.
We laugh about it now, but at the time, our garden resembled First World War trenches as we installed the filtration that we thought was already there. And guess who had to rake a years worth of excrement from the end of the open pipe 30 feet short of it's destination?
We used candles for light for a long, long time and David eventually (some years later) created from nothing an outside solar panel shower and modesty screen for when we weren't staying at Gary's. But I'm getting ahead of myself. Such luxuries were way ahead in the future.
Getting back to the present, the signing was completed...what we thought we had and what we actually had was legally ours.
It was back to Bel-Air with the keys then off to Lorient via a brief visit to Les Riviers.
I almost passed out in Brico Depot. Home at last (Les Riviers), phoned Bev, threw up.
I woke up after having about 2 hours sleep and felt strangely a lot better so decided to chance some soup. The rest of the holiday (if you can call it that) saw me much improved in health and we made good progress with clearing overhanging branches, brambles and weeds, clearing gulleys for drainage, buying and setting up a temporary bathroom, measuring for cables...miles and miles of them and pipes, buying a large water heater and other electrical bits...tons of sockets, removing old beams from David & Eileen's place, and a host of other things including me catching fire from a candle I forgot was near me.
I think the hectic work schedule set the tone for all future visits.
Our next visit to Bel-Air was the 14th Feb 2004, two and a half months down the road. Can't wait!
The power shower...once, on Monday the 30th April 2007 after a hot day, I thought the water would be hot and it was dark as Bev lit the way with a torch. The water was freezing and she caught me by torch-light dancing and hopping trying to scurry back indoors to dry in front of a roaring fire followed by a mug of hot chocolate. The evening was finished off by writing my journal by candlelight.
The bare facts of renovation in rural France. No it isn't real...other than the shower. That's me at the sink, Ash on the loo and David taking a shower.