Community

One of the things I felt slightly worried about before we moved to France was whether we would be accepted by others - I guess mostly the French.

I needn't have worried at all - a fact that was re-enforced when Richard told me about his trip to Castillonnes earlier.

He was gone ages and I wondered what had happened to him - he must have been having difficulties!  Not a bit of it - he had just slipped into the French lifestyle.

Okay - I gave him a list of what I needed - bread (and croissants for breakfast), I needed a letter to be posted, some fuel for the car and I needed something to unblock my nose - yes, I've had a cold!

This is what he did:

He drove out of Fon du Bourg and immediately met up with the local Maire.  Of course, he just had to have a conversation about our ditches - all in French - so that took a few minutes.

He went to La Poste and posted my letter.  He also bought some stamps so we have them ready for next time.  Whilst there an antique tractor drove past ready for the Fetes Agricole which was happening the next day - so naturally he asked the lady who helped him whether she would be at the show.  She said she was going and was very much looking forward to it.

Next he went to the Pharmacie where he had a more challenging conversation; he had to explain that I had a cold and that my nose was blocked and then ask if they had anything I could take.  He must have done okay because he brought home (eventually) some nasal spray that worked a treat!

It was the boulangerie next - and disaster - they had bread but no croissants.  But not to worry, he bought the bread and went to the next boulangerie up the road and got the croissants there.

Finally he went to the Intermarche for fuel - the bit he enjoyed least because the petrol station is entirely self-service and there was no-one to speak to...

And this is the man who used to go to Tescos and complain if there was one person in the queue in front of him and certainly would not engage anyone in conversation because it might slow the process down!

Oh, how our lives have changed.

A final note about the Fetes Agricole:

It was fantastic; a real rural show with brand new, state of the art tractors on sale for 500,000 Euros, livestock being judged and sold, horse rides for children, a mobile wine bar (no, really) and a parade of ancient tractors around the Bastide.

Our friend Gordon was part of the parade - see my blog about his Little Red Tractor for more info!

There's a new Salon du The and Cafe in town, too, so I had a piece of cake just so I can report back to you: it was very good!