Living In France, again

My humblest apologies to folowers of this blog, this was Thursday post which for some reason did not publish! so today you get a double dose!

Neil Humphreys weekend starts on a Thursday – official. He is invited to play tennis on a Friday but declines because he is not available at the weekend! One wonders when his week starts? Wednesday? Clearly when he works (which as previously discussed is not often) he must work at the same intensity as I do, enabling a weeks worth of work to be completed in a few hours!

Home sweet home, after 3 hours of delays due to volcanoes, I hear from Dave the fade about golf this weekend.  He refers to my blog requesting “balance” in future reporting.  I point out that there has been no balance so far, and I do not intend there to ever to be!  “Church” this morning  at Cafe Latin beckons, if I have time before tennis.  It is an informal meeting of local luminaries and media types to drink coffee and eat croissants in the sunshine.  It is normally a source of much material for this blog, but I have noticed people have become a lot more circumspect (no Paul, that doesn’t mean jewish) when speaking to me recently and have no idea why that can be.  Tennis will take place today before the inevitable lunch at Auberge St Donat  after the morning worship.  I eschew an invitation to the wingco’s to watch the  election last night, frankly a week back in the old country drinking, working and socialising has left me a little jaded and has been quite  enough, and I have no wish to see more of it until the summer when I intend to walk one of the nicest parts, the North Devon Coastal Path.  I am berated from time to time by my antipathy for dear old England.  It is not that I don’t love aspects of the old country, it’s just that it is not the place I used to know and where I grew up and I get angry and frustrated when I see the erosion of old English values by political correctness and overcrowding and the consequent dilution of “Englishness”.  The french seem to enjoy their “Frenchness” whereas it seems to me the modern english attitude tends towards denial of traditional values.  Blimey, I have just read that back, and it sounds like it could have been written Brigadier Angry from Tonbridge Wells and sounds like a pompous old git, but if the cap fits….I think I could settle into that role rather easily! Of course the main reason I originally left was the diabolical weather, but I suspect there are more aspects that would weigh   if I lived there now and was contemplating moving to France.

Mark Gurdon, paying his respects to my Chablis

My picture today shows one of my tennis foe, Mark Gurdon, enjoying a glass of wine at mine last evening before going on to mop up the wine stocks of the wingco. I must change some more pounds into euros today, so if you click on the highlighted link you can see quickly what the rates are doing, it will be volatile! and for that reason alone I wanted an outright winner in the election, but as I speak a hung parliament looks inevitable.

chris France

buying a house in France, moving money? www.currenciesdirect.net/chrisfrance

Latest local news? http://www.fr2day.com/

Best Estate Agency in Valbonne? http://www.rivierarealty.net/

Best French Riviera Property Agent?  

http://www.afa-international.com/

http://frenchriviera-properties.com/

rent my house in summer? http://www.holiday-rentals.co.uk/p412514

Best on line resource in Valbonne? http://www.valbonneonline.com/

Secret supper club http://www.red-radish.com/

Wedding reception? http://www.bastidestmathieu.com/

Valbonne Tourist Office http://www.tourisme-valbonne.com

Top quality interior designer? http://www.marineguigue.com/