The French Connection

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Well aren’t we the lucky ones. We did not know where Vintagecru was ,only that it was in a little village near Roanne. It seems that if we have landed in a little bit of Paradise. Briennon is a small village dating back to 14^thcentury. It is in the middle of a great touring area in the Loire Valley. Surrounded by beautiful scenery, good towns nearby with great shopping, also it is the middle of the summer sales so everything is even cheaper than normal. Sometimes cheaper than Asia, beer is only 30 cents a can. Wine, wine , wine everywhere, no need for Dan Murphys, spoilt for choice at very cheap prices.



We have been overwhelmed by how friendly and helpful the local people in Briennon (none of whom speak English) have been to us. After a week we have resident’s certificates, a bank account and are just about to buy a vehicle.



We arrived after a long flight from langkawi, good flights with three different airlines. Our bags got lost and did not arrive with us, nobody could tell us where they were, cest la vie. They arrived 3 days later all smashed up.



We picked amigo up from the cattery at Paris airport and headed south through the worst traffic we can remember. Making up for lost time doing 160 kph on the motorway we arrive just before the broker and owner were about to leave, A very quick tour round the boat decided it was not fit to stay on without bedding etc, the lady who runs the Port de Plaisance suggested a bed and breakfast in a Chambre Dohte. They cam e and picked us up and took us to the b& B. Well if there ever was a 5 star B& B this was it, absolutely stunning scenery, beautiful room, great hosts with six cats and two dogs, all of who befriended us. Fantastic French cooking for our evening meal.

Reluctantly the next day we went to the boat, dug Amigo out of the bilges and set about listing what we needed. Basically we needed everything; anything that had been left on board for the last couple of years was not worth keeping.

It has been great shopping until we dropped, thank god for credit cards,

cleaning and fixing lot of leaks in pipes and windows have taken up a lot of time, so has choosing which wine, cheese, pastry, baguette etc also takes some time. Just starting with a clean slate has been great, deciding on what colors for cutlery, dishes, bedding etc has been lots of fun..

Language problems have been entertaining, driving our little hire car still provokes screams of horror, mostly when we get in the wrong side and find someone has stolen the steering wheel. Learning when you have no alternatives is essential so even Amigo now has a smattering of French.



So far it is everything we looked forward too since we were last here 15 years ago, just being cool after Asia has made it worthwhile, the food is far better than anything we had in Asia, eating out costs a bit more but what a choice! The food in the supermarkets and stalls is just yummie; Peter nearly got arrested for drooling in the cheese department of a supermarket. It is difficult restraining ourselves from overindulging as this is not just a brief holiday but our new life.





Peter, Margaret and amigo, LIL

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Comments

[Don and Gera Fussell]

Well done. Love your plans. Hope you didn't take the mast out of Swara this time before you left it. Did you leave your car in the carpark at Langkawi, and if so is the key still in it?