It has been quite warm recently for a Scot in France. My natural pale blue body colour is changing rapidly. I suppose that I shouldn’t be surprised having moved to the South of France but it’s a bit of a shock to the system nonetheless.
Happily, I love running the site. Every day is a bit different and its great meeting new people. In the past week, I’ve been a plumber, joiner, swimming pool fixer, ditch digger, painter, cleaner, gardener, accountant and designer. It’s all happening. Admittedly I’m counting down the days till Fiona arrives as I’m certain that she’s desperate to take over toilet cleaning duties.
With all this hard work, there has been limited time for socialising but I’ve still managed a little bit. My brother and sister in law came to visit and like other friends and family did a huge amount of work while they were here. Thanks to them we have tidy gardens at the gites, lovely new curtains and our own plum jam! We did have a couple of meals at the local restaurants in Castelnau D’Auzan (there’s one beside the lake and one in the centre of the village) and were really impressed.
We’ve been delighted to welcome a number of Le Poteau’s loyal customers back to the site. It’s always a bit strange when somewhere you know and love changes hands so we’re delighted that they’ve decided to return. We’ve had great reviews in Cool Camping and Pitchup.com; let’s hope for many more.
I am constantly amazed by the volume and variety of wildlife that visits Le Poteau. Just this weekend I have seen wild pig, red squirrels, lizards, deer, 2 types of woodpecker, 2 types of owl, hoopoe, jay and several other birds which I have no idea the name of. I think that it’s the variety of terrain and availability of fruit, nuts and small animals that attracts them.
I mentioned an invite to a communal meal in our last blog. It was actually and epic communal lunch last Saturday. It was great to meet so may people from the farms and houses around us. Everyone was so welcoming and kind although eating and drinking at lunch time is more exhausting than digging ditches (I know that this isn’t going to gain me much sympathy). I vaguely remember volunteering with fellow Scottish neighbours to organise a community ceilidh for later this year. Oh well – these things happen. Any ceilidh bands fancy a trip to France?
I will have completed the renovation of our gites by the end of this week. They have received a full makeover with new furniture and bedding, a new bedroom fitted and fully decorated. I’ll be putting photographs on the website soon, but here’s some that a long-term visitor to Le Poteau, Peter took when he and his wife Wil visited in June.
