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Our adventures in the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus continue....
I will be setting up the new website a.s.a.p but it will take a little time as I have to register the new address, which will be www.frankandjoan.fr then design a front page that will allow a choice of destinations, Old Cyprus or New France. Please be patient if you are interested, but in the meantime I will keep this going and then paste everything over to the new. We had decided that despite the fact that we have a rental contract on this farmhouse, we really prefer the idea of our own place, were we can do as we please with decor etc. With this in mind we had been looking at something on the Anglo/Info website, that looked quite interesting. it was a farmhouse with 1600 sq meters of garden, an attached barn which could be developed into a huge lounge dining area with possibly a mezzanine to use as an office area, add to this 94 sq meters in the roof area and you could add at least 3 en-suite bedrooms to the existing. When we looked at it this afternoon, there was far too much extra work to be done and the roof was a worry, so that quickly became a no-no. Anyway we had prior to this had a lunch with Stewart and Barbara which was very enjoyable, in the restaurant were we had been for Barbara's birthday last year. Joan and I went down to Eymet to get Joan's bank cards and register for on-line banking etc as all this needs setting up. We then went in to one of the recommended Estate Agents and set up some viewings for later in the week. After this it was some essential shopping to see us through the week. It is going to take some time to find a suitable place we think, but we have a roof over our heads and enough basic furniture to see us through, so no panic. We also heard yesterday that Gerry, our landlord, his wife and daughter, are all heading for the UK at the end of August, so we will have the whole place to ourselves. in the meantime Joan's friends are still here and still enjoy more carrots. We understand that they will all be going during August, to new homes. On Monday we had gone back to Duras, a market town that we knew from previous visits and had set up appointments to view on five properties, with an estate agent there. The first two of these were ruled out quickly as they were very, very tired looking and needed far too much TLC. The third one was an older style property which had 4,000 sq meters of garden, which would have given me the excuse to buy a sit-on mower. The views from this place were absolutely wonderful and the whole needed updating to our taste, but had a glorious big lounge with a new wood burner. Strong possibilities, but many more to see yet. The fourth was French owned and very old and very scruffy. The last one we saw on this day was more modern, situated on a quiet road which lead only to the farm and farm hamlet beyond. This one had 2,100 sq meters of mature garden with lots of lovely trees and shrubs. There are three double bedrooms, a separate lounge and dining room, a big square kitchen that needs an update and separate utility. A strong possibility that we will probably go back to next week, when we have to go back to Duras. Went out with a lady called Cathy today to look at some more properties. There was really only one we liked and this had 7,000 Sq Meters of land and I would definitely need a tractor mower for this lot. It was in a lovely setting and only about 5 minutes from the Bastid town of Eymet, were there are lots of activities all year round. We liked the house but decided that we would definitely need to extend over the garage so would need to get a lot off the price to justify this. Maybe, when we have spent another week or so looking around it might be time to make a stupid offer as we believe it has been on the market for some time.
The weather is quite glorious now, after the cold and wet start in France. Today, being Sunday, we decided to go Lauzun, which is about 15 kilometers away and were there was annual summer fair planned. This was really the Boot Fair to end all boot fairs as it filled the whole of the centre of the town. During our 3 hour walk around we managed to spend 1 euro on a rather nice looking jigsaw, that should give us some winter entertainment. But isn't it a small world. We saw one of the estate agent ladies, Beatrice, who we are seeing again on Monday, running a stall with a friend. She said would you believe that I was talking to another friend yesterday evening and he told me he is selling his father's old house here in Lauzun. So we agreed to go back later and take a look. We met the guy who owns it now, as father unfortunately died, and he took us on an inspection trip. It was a really nice property and worthy of consideration. We stopped in the square and had chicken and chips off the rotisserie stall, very nice too and an extremely cheap lunch. As we were leaving Lauzun, Joan pulled this well stuffed farmer on an old tractor. After the boot fair we discovered that at the Hippodrome, in a town very near to us, there were trotting races. We collected a couple of folding stools from home, paid our 5 euro entrance fee and enjoyed watching the horses around the track. It is the first time either of us had seen this sort of racing live. the drivers, or should they still be called jockeys, need good control as they race very quickly and very close together. One of the last races was for amateur riders and this time they were still trotting but actually on horse back. At the beginning of this race one of the riders was thrown and the ambulance had to be brought on.
Yesterday afternoon we saw two more properties, one was an old farmhouse which was really far too remote and some work had been done which didn't look too clever. We will give it a miss. However the second one was a maybe. A 1970s bungalow on 2,400 sq meters of land. It was on an estate but very few properties and very quiet. The place had been lived in by an old lady last and needs lots of TLC but has very strong possibilities. The house has a very large kitchen, a utility room, big lounge/diner, two double bedrooms a bathroom and loo downstairs. There are stairs out of the lounge which go up to a huge space in the roof area, which if it was ours we would convert in to a master bedroom, dressing room, en-suite, with still space for an office type room and just as much again for the storage of suitcases and other stuff. The land backs on to farmland and from the back of the garden you can see the two garages under the slopping roof. The estate is within walking distance of the local village, which has a few day to day shops and a very good restaurant attached to a hotel. We will go back to this one later in the week. Lots of phone calls and e-mails between Euromed and us about the arrival of our container. We managed to get the driver in to a lay-by north of Eymet last night and I went up to meet him at 8 o'clock this morning and there met the local guys who are doing the off-loading for us. the container was big so there was no way we could have got up the road to Stewart and Barbara's, were we have arranged to store in their big garage until we have found exactly what we want. The local company, Mercury Movers, brought their Mercedes truck and transferred in to that and did three trips to Stewart's place. They were quite disgusted at the packing which had taken place in Cyprus, with heavy stuff on the top etc, that they considered us to be very lucky that the only thing that appears to be broken is one of the glass doors on a display cabinet. But of course we have yet to unpack the rest. Anyway I feel an e-mail to Fushion Freight coming on!
I know, there has been a deathly silence for a few days. Well in that time, Joan and i have been over to Basingstoke, collected a new car and driven back here. We drove to Bordeaux airport on Tuesday, parked the Saab on the 5 day car park and flew to Gatwick. Our friend Bob collected us there and we spent the night with him and Gitta. We all went out to the Crown Inn for an evening meal. After breakfast on Wednesday, Bob took us to the LHD Place in Basingstoke, were we had done a deal to trade in the Saab, which Joan cannot drive, for a diesel Alfa Romeo saloon and a Peugeot 206 convertible for Joan. The idea is to drive the Alfa back now, take it with us to Spain next week and then go back in September with the Saab and collect Joan's car then. Complicated I know, but the problem is that it is a very long drive for one person, so we did not fancy doing the whole trip in one go. We left Basingstoke after the lunch period and Joan and I drove down to Dover, stopping at Sainsburys in Ashford to pick up a few things that we needed here. We got the 8 o'clock ferry, had some dinner on board and then found a hotel for the night near Calais. On Thursday morning we set off to go to Bordeaux airport again to collect the Saab. It is one hell of a long way round, a total of 963 kilometers back to Ferrensac, but we made it by 10.30 at night. A couple of very stiff drinks were then needed and so to bed. For anybody contemplating journeys like this in France, you need to consider the pay motorways, which save lots of time, but the cost is high, almost £50.00 for us just one way.
Since getting back from the UK we have had the pleasure of watching Gerry and his family prepare for their move to UK. This involved moving their four donkeys to new homes near here. Two of them went yesterday to one home and the remaining two were to go today. A lady friend turned up with a horse box lorry and then the fun started. it was a sort of sort of push me pull me effort, with Gerry doing the pulling and coaxing and his brother in law pushing gently from behind. Then we got as far as the horse box, the brakes went on and a sort of me go in there look, came over their faces. These two had obviously watched the two from yesterday go in the horse box and not come back , so were most reluctant to be coaxed. Apples, carrots, horse nuts, hay, nothing worked, but eventually with a big push from the back they were in and of on the final journey to their new home. Entertaining stuff! Gerry has driven over in a van, with his father-in-law and is heading off tomorrow morning with the winter needs for the three of them, as he needs to be back at work in UK, on Monday. Sarah is heading off on Thursday with Poppy and by that time we will be in Spain so will not see them again.
We left quite early this morning to head off to the Alicante area of Spain. The idea is to visit both Mick and Pam Sahota, my old business partner and his wife, who moved there 6 years ago and opened up restaurants. Also we have Carl and Nikki living in a place called El Capello, on the outskirts of Alicante. Carl and I worked in ICL Dataskill together when I was based in Amsterdam. It is 15 years since we saw them last so it will be good to catch up. Mick and Pam have organised an apartment for us, so we will head off there first. We decided as we were in no real rush, that we would spend a night in Valencia. We found an Ibis hotel on the outskirts and spent a comfortable night there and the restaurant was really good. No rush we thought as we were quite close to Alicante area. Not quite right, as Mick and Pam live in Los Alcazares, which is 1.5 hours beyond Alicante. But no real problem as we got there early afternoon and Mick took us out to the apartment, which is on one of the golf complexes, about 20 minutes away. Very comfortable and a fridge full of goodies awaited us. The view from our apartment was superb and in fact when we finally got back to bed we left all the lounge windows open so that the frogs, coots and ducks could lull us to sleep with their night calls. This is going to be a very restful place. In the evening we headed back to were they have there restaurants and met up with Pam again. Tears all round especially from her and Joan. An emotional time as we calculated that it was 10 years since we had all been together. TRNC meant it was too difficult to get together and they were incredibly busy with their new restaurant ventures. Great to see them again. A bit of a late night last night as you might expect. Joan and I ate at their Route 66 restaurant and then when Mick came back from their restaurant out of town we all went down to the Orange Sports Bar to have a couple of drinks and to catch up on things. We also met up with both of their sons who are here with them and they have sure grown a lot since we last saw them.. We eventually made our way back down to the town and met up with them on the beach.. The temperature is in the low 30s so nice warm water to swim in, but apparently that is the norm here. Joan and I took a bit of a look around some of the estate agents but are put off by everybody telling us to hide everything away in the car boot and finding that all the properties have bars on the windows for security. We sort of imagine that it would be like living inside a prison, not for us we think, but apparently the norm here that is accepted by everybody. We came back down to Route 66 again for dinner but have a feeling that this is going to be a little embarrassing as we are unable to pay for our food and drink. When we took it up with Pam she said, you are not going to expect me to pay for my food when I come to visit, are you? Fair comment I suppose. We drove over to El Campello this morning to meet up with Carl and Nikki. Thanks to madam and her GPS voice we managed to find their place quite easily. Again we came across these huge metal gates leading in to the compound where their house is, another metal gate, triple locked in to their garden area and the whole surrounded by metal fences with spikes on the top + a couple of yappy dogs to deter unwanted visitors. A real put off for us so we are now firmly convinced that, whilst Spain may have the better weather, we could not live like that. It was great to see these two after what Nikki convinced us was 15 years, so we had lots to talk about. We all four went out to a nearby restaurant which was Italian style, run by Belgians. A super meal was had, which lasted through until about 4 p.m., then back for coffee, before Joan and I set off again back to the golf complex. The drive took about 1 hour 15 minutes on motorway, so don’t think we will be just dropping in for coffee again this trip. Joan and I planned to have a quiet day on our own as we had originally thought we might stop over at Carl’s place. We drove out to another beach area we had identified on the map, but it turned out to be incredibly crowded and everybody comes to the beach with their own chairs and sun-umbrellas, so if you haven'y got these you get no shade. At least doing this we were able at the end of the day, to buy our own dinner and enjoy a drink with Pam later. A bit of a special day for us, our wedding anniversary, but we kept it quiet as we fully realised that if we had let the cat out of the bag we would have ended up with an enforced celebration over at one of the restaurants. We managed to use the excuse of the holiday weekend for everybody, which would mean all the restaurants being very, very busy, before everybody heads off back to work and school again. We had heard about a place called Capa Del Passo, near Le Manga golf course, which still had the fishing village atmosphere and a famous Sunday market, so we headed off there. The market was indeed huge and we spent a good couple of hours wandering around and even managed to buy one or two little bits. After that we went down to the harbour area which is full of seafood restaurants and all the locals eat there. It was nice to just sit in the sun and we had an absolutely lovely, leisurely, meal, to celebrate our anniversary and the sauntered back to our apartment, sat out in the warm evening with a bottle of good white. Anyway the whole idea is to have a joint celebration over in Bergerac, with Bob and Gitta, as we can combine it with Gitta’s 65th birthday, shortly after we get back next week. Managed to get hold of a so called Internet card from the site here, which should allow me to pick up our e-mails and maybe do some website updates. But having spent 7 Euros and when logging on getting masses if security warnings about the connection, I decided that this was not a good idea, hence the huge delay in updates. We have found out that it is now mostly the banks that own all the so called development sites around here, as the bubble has completely burst. You can buy villas and apartments for half their original off-plan prices and many sites will never get completed. We have spoken to people who bought 3/4 years ago and now just cannot afford to sell up and go back to UK. The weather is still very nice and warm, so we went back down town, to go to the beach. On the way down Joan had spotted the LA Golf Shop, so this lucky guy got a new pair of golf shoes as an anniversary present. I had already bought some jewellery for Joan before we left TRNC and had managed to keep it hidden until now. |
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