A Cariad Life

So…on day 2, we slept in until 10:30 am. I took a long stretch in our guest room bed and thought of the great coffee I would make in my new kitchen downstairs. A few minutes later, Darrell poked his head into the bathroom and flicked the light switch, causing no change. “Well,” he said, “it looks like we don’t have power or heat” (and, I thought, no coffee). My resourceful husband quickly got online with utilities and was able to sign the contracts we couldn’t sign while out of France, and we were promised electricity by 2pm.

With that sorted, at 12:30 pm we decided to head out to the local Bar du Midi in the village for a late breakfast/lunch. I have to tell you that the coffee and the subsequent jambon and fromage omelette with a side of fresh salad greens and endive tossed with a French vinaigrette might be one of the best things I had ever eaten–of course, it was late and it was the first real food I had eaten in over 24 hours. To top it off, our server encouraged us to try a slice of cheesecake (perfectly sweet and creamy)–best of all, our lunch was only 24 euros (incredible!) Fully satiated, we made our way back to our new home.

It turns out that with power, the gas radiators also began working–ah, heat! It’s amazing how much more energized you feel once you have been caffeinated, fed, and can work in a warm, lit space! First, I decided to tackle the five boxes we sent to France. When we mailed these boxes from the US, they were perfectly square, 20X20X20. I’ve added a picture below of how they arrived:) All of the contents seemed to make it–though I did lose one high heeled shoe somewhere across the pond to France. We have one more box on it’s way–we’ll see.

Meanwhile, Darrell was working on getting us internet, which required ordering a “livebox” to be sent to a local store where we would pick it up. It finally arrived on Saturday night, and we are now connected (which is why I didn’t blog until Sunday:)

We spent the next few days working through every room, closet, cabinet, and drawer to figure what we had, what we could reuse, and what we would need to buy. Thankfully, as we expected, we had everything from a household standpoint needed to run the actual Bed & Breakfast, but there were other items we needed to make it into a home for us. Some of those things were minor home decor and cooking items–although we have pots and pans and other essentials, there were no cooking ingredients (including spices). It is hard knowing I left all of those things behind, and now I need to start over. Well–at least all my spices and ingredients will be fresh! We made a trip to IKEA in Bordeaux on Saturday, where even the show rooms have a French flair to say nothing of the French fashion I saw in my fellow IKEA shoppers (no sweats for them!) We also bought a bed for our owner’s suite, which will be delivered on Wednesday.

So now, four days later, we have reorganized the rooms in a way that works for us, reflects our style, and feels like home–first using what we have and only if we really need it, buying it. I’ve included a few pictures below of our reorganized dining and living rooms and kitchen. I will share guest room pictures soon. Paul and Lesley, the previous owners, came over yesterday to get the website and booking site turned over to us, and they were so impressed with the “refresh.” It felt so good to say, “all of these items were yours; I just rearranged them a bit.” I think they appreciated that we honored their items and tried to keep the French feel.

The one exception was “Betty;” some of you have heard me share about the mannequin that the former owners had in the foyer. She was an antique and they would buy outfits for her. She held a place of honor at the front of the foyer, greeting guests. Yesterday, I shared with them, “I’m sorry, I had to move Betty–she was scaring me!” I didn’t mention that I have moved her to the third floor attic (which might be more scary if someone stumbled upon her up there!) Now, I am kind of scared of the attic, but at least I don’t see her everyday.

Anyway, each day our house is starting to feel a bit more like home–though at this point it is a bit of a refuge from having to try to speak French in the outside world. Darrell and I get the temptation to stay in our comfort zone and not leave the house, so we force ourselves each day to go out, interact, and connect with people–as hard as it is right now. We did not come all this way to live “safe”–we have to take risks. I’ll tell you more in my next post what we have learned so far about French culture (by the way, I really like the people we’ve met–they are kind, real, and helpful).

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