On 22nd November 2010 we finally left England to move to France.  We left the flat at Marina View at 06:30 having managed to squeeze all our belongings into Jen's Audi A2, having removed the rear seats and left them at our friends John and Kathy's the previous day,  and caught the 08:10 Ferry to France.  Arriving on time we made our way to Gerry and Vicky's place at Ize where we were treated to a first class meal and excellent hospitality.  The next day we made our way to our B&B at Asnois, just a few miles from our new home at Bonnifont, 86250, Chatain, France. 

 

22nd November  The evening menu for new expats at Veronique, provided by our first class hosts Gerry and Vicki	23rd November Midnight, CET, at our B&B after another meal from our hosts Heather and Geoff at Asnois	7 minutes after the previous picture. What a couple of days!	24th November Midday. Just having a quick look at the house before we sign the paperwork at the Notaires in Rufec and I drop the car in the ditch !!!
25th November 10:10 and we move in.  10:41 and all our belongings arrive	Some of this stuff has been in storage for nearly three years Nice bit of reversing too, I couldn't have done it	After fixing up the kettle the next job is something to sit on	Nice big kitchen
But soon the boxes start to come off of the lorry	and when those guys start	they just keep going	and going
until they've finished.  13:42 and off they go	Kitchen table next	and start to pre sort where each box should go	26th November 09:00 and we've lost the sunshine
Kitchen operational	Time for a stroll around the acreage. This is the side of the house that fronts the road (chemin)	Front of house with garage and main entrance on right hand side	Jen surveying our lower field across the road from the house
The back of the house with old summer kitchen and back gates	Same pic but from further down the Chemin	Then pan right showing new summer kitchen	and continue right showing top of upper field
and further right to end of field	Now down into the lower field	One of Jen's favourites, Stubby (who has to go)	View of house from lower field
The kitchen now in full swing	Managed to segregate some of my stuff from the house boxes	and move them out to the workshop/future radio room	Even a home for Jen's car
27th November 09:28 where did this lot come from?	Not much really but unheard of around here until January at the earliest
Really important stuff now, decanting the virgin oil	But at least it's starting to feel like home	28th November Thank you IKEA. Bed and wardrobe 1 operational	and even the mezzanine is starting to turn into a study
The bed settee we slept on for the first few nights also on the mezzanine	Boxes everywhere you turn	How did we manage to get all this lot into Lindenlee?	The white splodge on the table is Jen's hot water bottle
Wardrobe 2 assembly	and one end of the bedroom complete	3rd December BLOODY HELL!! Not again	But it did look very picturesque
5th December OK, we've been here over a week now and still no internet :-((	7th December The internet satellite kit arrives. It's 2 degrees outside but so what - get on with it!!	OK That's better - INTERNET  :-))	This came out of boxes
and here they are in the garage	25th December Happy Christmas - we made it	27th December 2010 Guest Room 1	4th January 2011 Guest Room 1
With all those boxes in the garage the living room is starting to look like home as well	BUT...not for long.  More IKEA,  this time display cabinets	nice	They don't stay empty for long
but over the last month this must be the hardest bit of all	and book shelves for the study	even found the coffee table	16th January and both reading 16 degrees due to the sun heating up the paving slabs
Have we done the right thing?  Just look at that view. Of course we have - NO DOUBT AT ALL	18th January and the TV satellite dish is ready for the Australian Open Tennis to complete the home comforts