Je t'aime Bellac

When we came out after skiing we cracked on with the outside of the house so that the neighbours were happy.  Annie, next door down was especially anxious that we paint the wall between her house and ours at the back because it's a bit of a barn and it belongs to us but looks like it's hers!!  But not this time. This time we painted the windows, rubbed down and varnished the shutters and made the front look nice.

The view off the balcony - to die for!

We mowed the grass, which was more weeds than grass and tidied up the whole area out the back.

 This little courtyard was full of weeds and totally overgrown, it was soon sorted out with some liner and stone.

 Wow what a difference

 this is the beautiful view of the old town from the garden

Rampe Du Gaz

Well, After 4 months of agonising and waiting we finally had the call to send off our money and by Friday the house in France should be ours!

Firstly lets not run away with the idea that this house in France is some kind of Chateau or a Chalet. It is a lovely old tall thin French Town House built over 200 years ago and is exactly what we were looking for. Shutters on the windows, a little balcony on the back. Not big, not too small because our birds are on the edge of the nest and getting ready to fly! Chris has already jumped as he is in University having the time of his life and Ffi, she's poised but restrained by her age and having to study. So this will be a family place to start with but I can see Mike and I spending a lot of time there together!

Bellac itself is a beautiful medieval rural town. It has shops, bars and cafes. A lovely place.

We have laughed at the name of the street. You've heard all the lovely French names that roll off the tongue or remind you of the ancient places in France, history or just plain frenchness! Well our street is called Rampe Du Gaz, yes, in English, you guessed it, 'The Gas Slope'. Apparently there used to be a Gas works at the end of the street but it's gone now and has been replaced by beautiful parkland along the river Vincou.

This is the view off the little balcony at the back of the livingroom