French Adventure :
Cafe and Cabin Update May / June 2003
The Sky Over Limousin
The original plan for the May / June visit was to spend a fortnight in France investigating the problems associated with the properties and doing them both up a bit. The previous visits had given me a good idea of the work that was needed but now a more detailed inspection was required, especially of the problems with the ceiling at the cafe. A number of people offered to come over and help / visit (thanks to everyone who did, you are not off the hook; I'm going over again in September and you might yet get the call !) but it was obvious that this was going to be a very "bitty" visit with the need for lots of fluidity in ideas / planning etc. and lots of short notice changes. As a consequence, I decided to go on my own as this gave me more flexibility, fuelled my egocentric existence (!!) whilst allowing me to drift along "doing the right thing". It was good fortnight and sets things up very well for the next visit.
Initially I was going to be in Limoges for about 4 days and then at the cafe for the remaining 10. However, it eventually worked out the other way round with the stay in Limoges eventually stretching to 10 days as various problems changed plans on an almost daily basis. This was not least because of numerous bank holidays which occurred whilst I was away. Nice to have a peaceful day, just a bit surprising to find everything closed if you are not expecting it ! The extra days reflected the more religious leaning of the French people and a bank holiday in France is like a UK Sunday 20 years ago - everything closes and families get together to talk and catch up on life rather than to do the DIY ! Worried me slightly as there were various adverts for the "Fete de Maman" which I took to be Mother's Day and, if it was that festival, I'd forgotten to leave anything for my Mum in my absence (thankfully Mother's Day had already gone in the UK and I had successfully fulfilled my filial duty by supplying chocolate !).
Work at The Cabin
The most obvious thing to greet me on my arrival was that much of the area that I had cleared during my last visit was still free from brambles. The bad news was that now the area was full of stinging nettles ! Slightly easier to clear than brambles but I didn't much appreciate the various stings I got over the week. As I got further down the site the nettles gave way to the ferns which had first attracted me to the area and I remembered why I liked this area so much; Limousin really is a beautifully peaceful area. Down by the river there were numerous damsel / dragon flys buzzing about and the colours were spectacular. One species was an intense metallic blue whilst others were emerald green, yellow or robin's egg blue; very beautiful to see them flying around. Less welcome insects were the very small ticks (~ 1mm in size) that decided to make an expedition up my front, eventually finishing on the north face of my stomach. Must have been a big adventure for them (I've got a 34" inside leg and so they must have crawled a very long way in comparison to their size) but it was a big shock for me when I first found them when I'd returned to Limoges ! Very difficult to remove and very difficult to kill - trust me that next time I'll be prepared for them. Good news though was that, apart from these ticks, there was very few midges / flying-bitey things about (even without insect repellent) to worry about. Overall it was only the ticks and the nettles that bothered me during the week (well, those and my lack of refinement in language skills !)
A Couple of Pictures of Areas Not Previously Photographed
These photos show a couple of different views of the site which I hadn't photographed before. They were taken on the way walking towards the bridge from the far (stile) boundary. They form a sort of small mossy archipelago bordered by streams of differing intensities on three sides and are very pretty. Just behind this area I came across my first series of fresh animal tracks which I think might have been from a fox or similar sized animal. Following them along into the undergrowth helped to map out some of the more inaccessible areas of the site and (yet another) stream has now been discovered ! It looks like the whole area is a lot wetter than given in the first impressions but the water courses are very well defined (ie no flooding to worry about). There is a still a large area of overgrown land on the roadside edge to be investigated and this is possibly the most inaccessible part of the retreat (and hopefully home to some sort of wild life).
In readiness for a visit from my friend Jo Anne (Belton, from Central French Property Associates - see French Estate Agents Page for details) I walked the perimeter and found that one area of boggy ground was going to be a bit difficult to negotiate. A previous walker had put a series of irregularly shaped wood blocks into the mud and, by taking a bit of a run up, it had been possible to cover the 10 feet of mud without sinking too deeply into the morass. However, presumably due to other visitors walking alongside the river, these blocks had now all but disappeared and the mud was a good, soft consistency, perfect for pulling off Wellington boots or trapping unwary feet. Although Jo Anne is very feminine, she is by no means "girly" and so would have likely have had a go at the "running jump" method of clearing this area if I'd asked (but without the decidedly unmacho "whooooo" I uttered when I almost fell in the river trying the same thing ! Balance never was one of my fortes !). However, to make safe passage more predictable, a bridge slowly took shape. I christened it the "midge bridge" as once completed it seemed to have a great fascination for this particular insect (and the French equivalent "pont moucheron" didn't have the cache of rhyming !). Not quite sure how long it will last as much of the wood was in a semi rotten state when I set it down but I can always replace it if needs be. The riverside walk does seem to be fairly well used and I met a number of fishermen during my visit. During our chat in my best broken French, they did tell me what fish were in the river but I had to admit defeat at this point as (not surprisingly) my phrase book didn't go into the details of the various different fish types (truite (trout) was one of them but I knew that they were in the river already as there is a sign that says so). At least I got a bit further in the conversation than my usual policy of doing a big smile, saying "Bonjour" and then making up words as I go along ! They were all very nice people. Next time I go over the plan is to visit the Mairie of the commune to talk about putting in my electricity generator so maybe I'll find out more about fishing rights etc then.
"Midge Bridge"
On the perimeter walk various other bits of flora / fauna turned up. The area has quite diverse habitats, from pools to dry areas with both good and poor soils of either sandy or rocky consistency (and some clay). As a consequence, there is the potential for a wide range of possible animals / plants to survive. Up by the cabin lives a beautiful green and blue lizard (~6" long) who poked its head out next to the front steps most mornings which apparently is where he (she ?) lives. I've named it Gregor and I did try to get a picture. Sadly my camera was not good enough (and I wasn't quick enough !) to get a picture but it is a lovely looking creature and quite friendly. Gregor turned up most mornings and seemed very interested in my renovations / new visitors. He even came out to see Jo Anne when she visited and the three of us sat and looked out over the forest and talked about the lack of Taoist planning involved with the project (although it must be pointed out that most of the conversation was done by Jo and me ! Gregor must have been a victim of the language barrier !).
Slightly less friendly (at least between themselves) were the smaller brown lizards who always seemed to be fighting for territory. There I'ld be, fixing up a series of panels relaxing whilst listening to the birdsong and the moment would be interrupted by this almighty rustling as two of these brownies chased each other down the steps. Actually, it was rather cute to see them - quite amazing creatures and hopefully they will survive till my next visit. I have the same lizards living in the end walls of the cafe and they seem to grow to about 4" maximum length.
A bat turned up in the toilet on a couple of nights but I think the smell of either the new wood or the painting eventually frightened it off (or maybe it was the large sweaty man who kept popping in to peer at it that did it !). Too small for photos but a little marvel of nature (as were the little brown frogs, various iridescent beetles, fluffy catapillers etc). Disappointingly, there was no sign of the edible dormice that I saw on my very first visit. These animals are really really cute and very friendly and it would be nice to have them in or around the house somewhere. Hopefully next time.
A couple of different aquilega were on the site as well as a lovely yellow water iris and I got pictures of these. However, much of the flora is the "small delicate" type and so again, my camera wasn't well suited to capturing the images (and yes, next time I'll try to take better photos)
Mixed Flora
As for the cabin itself, things were pretty much how I'd left them in January. The only change was that part of the front balustrade had fallen away. This wasn't too much of a surprise as it had been rotten last time I went over and I had also suspended a large mass of cut brambles over it to ensure that they didn't root anywhere. The balustrade would have had to have been replaced at some point anyway so losing it was no hardship. Still haven't quite decided on whether to extend a decking area beyond this balustrade limit to give more space for people to sit or not. Jo Anne suggested that if the main area was cleared properly that this would be more than enough for most people. Think I'll have a chat to the mairie about it next time and see if I need planning permission or not to put it up. If permission isn't needed, I might do it but as a longer term project. There are more important things to be done first (eg putting in electricity, finding the water source, putting in a wood burner for heating (possibly - might not do this, depends on regulations), put up greenhouse (want to grow some organic food for visitors) and putting in a table tennis table (I love this game). For those who are obsessed with practising martial arts type stuff (eg kicking, punching etc) whilst they are on holiday I've cleared an area at the front of the cabin where they can do this. I'll put up some pads, striking areas, bags etc on the various trees and set up a knife throwing range at the back of the cabin (I'll possibly extend this to be a low power ballistic weapons (eg crossbow / catapult etc) range but depends on how easy / safe this could be achieved). Parallel beams don't take up much room, nor rope swings and balance beams so there can be some of those too (and these are much more fun to play with for non-martial artists (or artists who don't take it all so seriously !)). Other bits to build are seats at the various areas that feel good for meditation and maybe a few isolation cells for the real deep thinkers. Add a couple of hammocks in a sheltered area and what else could anyone want (and whoever it is who suggests a pool, there's a river at the bottom of the garden, the water is (fairly) clean and not a drop of chlorine is needed !).
During the 10 days at the cabin, I cleared the amiante (asbestos) loaded lino from in the main room in readiness for putting down a new floor (the old one was lino over wood and had rotted away) and started to take down the bits of water damaged ceiling. The new floor is going to be stained pine over an polystyrene base and the walls replaced with the same pine cladding. Didn't get quite as far with this as I'd hoped with either the floor or the walls (ran out of time and wood) but it looks like it will be a good effect once finished.
Part of the Floor in the Main Room (It is Not as Dark As This in Reality)
Prior to doing the floor, I'd been up on the roof putting a tarpaulin over the whole area to make it watertight and start to let things dry out. It's an interesting experience trying to unfold an 8m x 5m cover whilst lying flat on your front (so as to not fall through the roof panels); not as easy as you might think. However, the good things that came from it was that there appears to be only one hole in the roof and my vertigo seemed to have disappeared ! This second one appears to be an unexpected (but welcome) side effect of my Taoist trip as prior to this any ladder work etc was always a nightmare for me. The one hole that is there in the roof is due to a tree that fell onto the cabin some time over the last 20 years. This is one problem with the site of the retreat as the soil level is comparatively shallow and runs down to fairly lose rocks. Because of this, trees can't root very deeply and so at some time, it is inevitable that another one will fall. If it falls on the cabin, that will be bad luck but the concrete structure should (!) be able to take the hit. Just hope I never need to prove this particular point ! Next visit the idea is to replace the one broken roofing panel but the tarpaulin should keep the area dry in the short term. That said though, Jo Anne did point out that the use of tarpaulins in France can be a bit of a mixed blessing. The wind can be so strong that they get blown away and the amount of damage they do to roofs etc when they fly away can be worse than what they are covering ! Hopefully by sorting this out in September I will be able to avoid the worst of the Winter weather.
One of the other jobs completed during the visit was painting two of the exterior walls and adding some pine cladding to make it more "pretty". The idea of removing and replacing all the exterior boards was scuppered when I found how well they were attached to the main structure. However, if it ain't broke, there's no need to fix it! As the wood was still pretty good, there seemed no point increasing costs unneccessarily.
The original colour scheme had the boards as red / brown with a oak coloured stained pine running down the side. The top sections would remain dark brown as again it was too difficult to change these without levering them off. After painting the main panels in brown, I found it gave a better "teak" coloured effect if you then used the oak stain over the top so that was the final effect. Sadly, my photo of this didn't come out so you'll have to wait till next time to see it (but trust me, it looks good !). Allied to this, I started construction of a long planter to go under the front window. It was originally square but looking at it from the front path, it didn't seem right (very feng shui !) and so it ended up with a triangular section. The plan is to plant a virginia creeper to spread out over all the walls. I love this kind of red/ green leaf effect and it will help the cabin blend into the landscape (as if it needed it ! Even at the moment it is nyon impossible to find unless you know where to look !).
First Coat of Wood Preservative To Front and Side
Overall, didn't complete quite as much done as I'd hoped during the visit but I'm very well placed to get on with it quickly next time. Think it will take about 2 weeks to get it to a standard that is "better than camping" but most likely a lead time of up to 6 - 12 months will be needed before everything is totally complete (with the main delay being the sourcing and installation of the electricity generator).
The last thing that I did do before leaving the site was to walk a short way along the river towards the picnic area. A don't own this part of the land but it starts on the other side of the bridge from the cabin, is very, very pretty and shows the type of walks that are available to visitors etc. I'm told that the fishing is also very good on this stretch of the river but just to sit and watch the river go by is very calming so why bother the fish ! Limousin is very much this kind of leafy, green and generally unspoiled (but well kept) areas and there are supposed to be many, many kilometres of walks to choose from.
Photos of Riverside Walk Away From Cabin
Work at the Cafe
I arrived at the cafe late on Saturday night and, after finding where the electricity mains switch was, was glad to find that the lights and sockets worked OK (or at least they worked OK where they hadn't been removed to leave the bare wires !). As it was late, sleeping on the floor seemed like a good idea so I settled down in the main bedroom (or more exactingly on the deeds this is detailed as a "salle a manger" so it is actually the living room and there are only 3 bedrooms). I'd bought a duvet to act as a mattress and pillow / blankets from Limoges and the room was dry and warm. Always a bit strange planning to wake up in a different location but I put everything (water, torch, clothes, knife etc) within arms reach in readiness for any emergency and settled down.
Now, it's been a long time since I "roughed it" and waking the next morning with a stiff neck and carpet imprint on my cheek (I'd rolled off my pillow) reminded me why I'd decided that once was enough the first time. By default the first construction job was identified as the need to build a bed ! This project eventually produced what may turn out to be the world's largest ever futon (but sadly, although being better than on the floor, it was not the World's most comfortable !). No, it is not possible to get it out of the door without taking it to bits and the end space will eventually be enclosed and used for storage. The main reason why it was uncomfortable was that one of the cross spars aligned exactly with my hip bone an done with my knee cap. As a consequence, everytime I turned over, I was reminded of just how much pain the human body can endure ! Next time might do a redesign (or just buy a mattress).
Possibly The World's Largest But Least Comfortable Futon ?
The night had highlighted a couple of things that I'd not considered when I bought the property. Firstly, the 13th century church which is one street down from the cafe has an interesting chiming sequence. Before arriving I didn't know it chimed at all but the tower actually chimes twice on each hour (once on the hour and once as a repeater 5 minutes after). Don't know whether this is usual or not but it wasn't in the Limousin guide book (though to be fair, neither was the village ! Told you it was small). It took the first night to get used to the noise of the bells in this generally quiet place but after that I hardly noticed it. The bell does have a nice tone / timbre and does add a lot of charm to the village once you've got used to it.
The second thing I wasn't expecting was that the village (of which the cafe is on the main street) is on a route of a cut through for lorries presumably going West / East to and from Geuret. I'd seen a couple of lorries during the day but not really paid much attention. However, at night they are very noisy and there were 6-7 in that first night. This type of night time noise took much longer to get used to than the chiming, not least because it lasted a lot longer, wasn't very musical and was at a much higher volume. However, after the third day, this didn't bother me either and I got my first good night of sleep just before I had to come back to the UK (!). C'est la vie, je pense !
Anyway, coming back to the first day. After my night on the floor it was a beautiful Sunday morning and very, very quiet. I got up at about 09:00 and went in search of the stop cock for the water supply and, after much searching (which incidentally sorted out my neck pain !), I found that the water wasn't actually switched on at the mains. Ummm, bit of a problem. I had bottled water to drink (a choice of Badoit and Perrier dependent on the social situation !) but no water meant no cleaning and no concreting and without water I might as well return to Limoges. Time to go searching for a supply so, with bucket in hand, I set off down the main street. After wandering up to the town square, I found a handpump opposite the post office and it looked like it was in working order. It was well painted and greased in what looked like all the right places (me, technical ? Sometimes !). However, after a few strokes of its well oiled pump, a seed of doubt came into my mind. What if this was just an ornamental pump like in a French version of "Olde Worldy England" ? I really didn't want the first impression that the locals would get of their new Englishman was of him pumping furiously on the local historical monument whilst they worked out how to break the news to me that it was only for decoration ! Looking around, there didn't seem to be anyone who had seen me so I picked up my (still empty) bucket and sidled away down towards the hotel. Thankfully for me, Sundays in France are like UK ones 20 years ago - it is a day for resting and so there is no rush to do anything. As a consequence, no one was even thinking of being up and about at 10:00 so my blushes were saved ! After about another 10 minutes of wandering, I at last met an old couple who were just opening their shutters to air their house with the fresh morning air. Time to see if all that French practise was going to pay off. Big smile, confident posture and a big "Bonjour Monsieur" came out. "Bonjour" came the reply and things had started well. Sadly, this was the good bit and things started to go a bit awry after that. Now, the good news was that this couple (who obviously did want to help me) didn't work out that I was English from my accent until they explicitally asked me my nationality; the bad news was that we couldn't understand much of what each other was trying to say either ! This did hinge a bit on a problem I have with pronouncing the word "l'eau" (eg when asking for a drink) and this time was no exception. As it was rather critical term in all of my sentences, I was cursing not practising it a bit more (I always cop out when asking for a drink and say "Badoit" (which is a brandname similar to Perrier) instead). After much pointing / discussion, the description of my predicament (although making perfect sense to me) just lead to a lot of blank looks between the three of us. Eventually it dawned on me why this was so difficult. 90% of the misunderstanding was down to my bad French but 10% was that the people of Limousin have a strong regional accent and my ears weren't attuned to it at all. Just as I was going to go into "Merci beaucoup, au revoir" and try to find someone else, a very very cute miniature sausage dog ran across the road and started barking. Animals and me often have more of a rapport than me and other people (at least at first, I generally grow on people!) and me and the little sausage dog made friends. It transpired that the dog's name was "Obi" (rhyming with "Dobi" the name of the large Doberman who was his brother) and his owner was an English speaking lady called Christelle. Talk about better to be lucky than rich ! Christelle turned out to be a real star and although not speaking much English, my French and her English worked well together. She said that I could use her water supply in her cellar whenever I wanted to and if I needed a bath after finishing my cleaning just to knock on the door ! I was quite taken aback by this; this French lifestyle is so much better than the English one I'm used to. How often would an English person invite a total stranger (and a foreigner at that) to enter their property, take whatever they needed and then come back to use the facilities ? In the end I didn't take up the option of the bath but what a nice offer to receive when feeling a bit isolated in a foreign country. Just goes to show what we have lost in the UK. Christelle was very helpful throughout the week and we had a number of chats (though strangely during these I spoke mainly French and she spoke mainly English ! We were both obviously in need of practise !). I hope to meet her, her boyfriend and her family (2 children, very nice kids) again next time I go over. Hopefully the "thank you" bottle of wine and box of chocolates that I bought for them all (and "Smackos" for Obi / Dobi !) didn't highlight that I had no understanding of the finer things in French culture !
Christelle's friendly nature was actually very indicative of many people in the village as everyone I met were helpful and friendly. My next door neighbour, Andre struggled gallantly against any confusion caused by my strong English accent until on day 3 we were swapping stories on the differences between UK and French TV and the diverse nature of the French cuisine experience ! (Andre and his wife (whose name I couldn't catch but she was very nice) are retired and offered to keep an eye on the cafe whilst I wasn't there). The people at the mairie were also great fun (and were gracious enough to compliment me on my language skills even though I think they were just being polite !). A good indicator of whether you are talking rubbish in any language is when you tell a joke and nobody laughs. Thankfully there was lots of mutual joke telling at the Mairie's office (and a lot of laughing !) an it was a good first experience with French "officialdom". Although it is true that there is a lot of bureaucracy in France (need a permit for everything), dealing with these particular officials seemed to be nothing like it is in the UK. Everyone had a "can do" attitude and just seems to want to help. Might be because I was foreign but they just seemed very happy doing whatever they were doing.
One of the slightly strange things to come from various conversations in the village was that a number of the locals asked if the cafe was going to open as a Bistro. I obviously replied "I don't know" (very Taoist !) and then said that I might open it for music / dancing depending on what the Mairie wanted the property to be used for. Couldn't quite get to whether the village was especially keen to have a bistro or not but they didn't seem unhappy with the dancing idea. Have to wait and see what the Mairie (M Jolicard) wants when I get to see him next time I visit (he was on holiday this time but I saw his deputy, M.Gagnepain). M.Jolicard has plans to rejuvenate the village, possibly aiming to encourage tourism. If so, my not fully formed but just a pipe dream "dance hall and local music venue doubling as a Kung Fu training hall and computer training centre with English tuition if needs be whilst looking after various Taoist ideals / practises as a route to instructing Chinese medicine, thought and philosophy" idea might just fit in with his plans. Never let it be said that I stay focussed on any one idea for too long as, once things happen, they will be the right thing anyway !
One thing that I did have to do for the mairie was ask for a permit to sort out the outer walls (eg by painting / rendering etc). After much discussion with the mairie staff it turned out that they got to decide the wall colour (in my case one a bit like pale Yorkstone called MK02) but I could have any colour for doors / windows / shutters etc that I wanted. As support for the application I digitised some photos and marked them up with the new colour schemes. For those of you with an artistic bent (and a desire to read bad French !), I've zipped my supporting letter so feel free to download it if you want. Not quite sure if I got the right word for "rendering" but my dictionary suggested "traduction" (but this also means "translation" so there might be some very confused faces when I go back to collect my signed permit !). ZIPPED FILE
The big concern about the cafe when I bought it was the state of the roof over the cafe area. It was fairly obvious that there was a problem as the ceiling had been taken down by Jo Anne and her team of estate agents and had exposed a couple of beams that were sagging under serious wet rot damage. During my buying trip it had not been possible to check the loft (no ladder) and so I bought it "at risk". My initial idea was that the water was getting in because the exterior doorway to the loft area was open (and so rain could be blowing in at any time). You can see this in the photo where only one of the roof windows is boarded up.
However, although the "water through the window" idea seemed a viable proposition, after much wasted time trying to buy and deliver a ladder, I eventually got up into the loft and found that there was another, more peculiar explanation. Essentially, the loft over the cafe is actually split into two separate areas, separated by a wall. This was good as I know that the far end of the loft has various hornets / bees / lizards nesting within it (they go in through the wall) so I was not too keen on meeting them face to face. This end of the loft was filled with loose hay which was bone dry so wind blowing in through the window would have been quite a minor contribution to the rot (it turned out that the hay filled 20 - 30 bags - Oh the fun I had trying to clear this without failing through the roof and not choking on the copious amounts of dust !) Good news was that there was also no large single great hole in the roof but there were a small series of little ones where a number of tiles had broken. The previous owner had obviously noticed the slight leak and, to stop it dripping onto the ceiling, had strategically placed a dustbin to catch any rain that came in. In the short time, it's a great idea. In the longer term the dustbin fills with water, weighs a tonne (literally), overflows and presses down on the wet floor boards. No wonder they were starting to give way !
So, expanding polystyrene foam in hand, I set to work on the various areas of leakage whilst hanging precariously form the cross beams. Not quite as as easy as you might think as you have to hold the can upsidedown to get it to work an once started, you can't stop. OK, so some of the foam expansion went out onto the exterior surface of the main roof and I now have some green globules poking through but this is a small price to pay (and in years to come, might even become attractive !).
In addition to these small leaks, it is evident that the roof has shifted at some time in the past leading to distortion within the lathes. It has also lead to one of the bracing beams pulling itself out from the main strut. Both of these sound really bad but they also form part of the basis of the character of French houses with their uneven roofs and tiles. I'm hoping that strengthening a few cross beams with braces / spurs will safeguard things for the future and that is one of the big jobs for next time.
Checking in the main roof of the house, it turned out to be very sound but sadly the attic didn't hold any hidden art treasures to finance my new lifestyle (an previously undiscovered Monet wouldn't have been to much to ask would it ?) . The attic is possibly large enough to make into another room but, as with all attics in France I've ever been in, it is incredibly warm. Not too bad in the Winter but stifling in the Summer. Next time I'll go up and tidy away the cobwebs (Just as an aside, did you know they had spiders that bite in France ? No, I didn't know either. When Jo Anne showed me her house she pointed some out (before she killed them in a (rather uncharacteristically girly) arachnaphobic fit using the previous owner's name plate to crush them!). They are typically 15-20mm in body with leg span of 50-60mm, black, mean looking and they build a funnel shaped web. The bite is not usually fatal but is painful and can swell up to a rather uncomfortable size / pressure. It is characterised by two puncture marks. Oh and yes, I had them in the cafe, the house and the workshop but only felt the need to kill the two of them who wanted to claim my bedroom for themselves).
And with that, my time was over. Back to Limoges for one day to have a shower and get ready to travel to the airport early next morning. A celebratory Chinese meal (as a change fro duck I had beef sauteed with onions mixed with chop suey - very nice) marked my last day in the country. Looking back it has given me come nice memories and I met some really nice people again. The cafe is no longer the "poor relation" compared to the cabin (my first love) even though when I first arrived at the cafe, there was a very strong pang to have stayed at the cabin and finish off that work. It is so peaceful in the woods and I felt very happy there and being at the cafe was a bit of an unknown. However, even with all of the dust / dirt / problems etc in the end I was sad to leave the cafe and my new friends behind (not least Obi !) and wished I'd had a few more days to meet more of the local people. During the next visit I'm expecting things to develop at the cafe very quickly as a few coats of paint, replacement of rotten wood and interior decorating should make it part of a "Changing Rooms" type experience. Same with the cabin as it is quickly taking shape and the French pipedream might just start making sense to everyone else and not just me ! Will be good to bring them both back to their past glory and hopefully next year friends / students / family might take the chance to visit. Until then, hope this "site report" has given you a flavour of the experience.