The Old Hack

I'm not a great believer in love at first sight.  Far too sensible for things like that.  So when we were offered a winter let on a house in Monmorillon in the department of Vienne, we did not commit on the strength of one recommendation and a quick look at a website.  We would decide where to stay when we had looked around the area and others.

On our way through various small villages between Tours, where we had stayed the previous night, and the village where we have been holed up for a couple of days, we met with a detour with major roadworks in progress around an entire village.

The detour took us past the biggest and scariest nuclear power plant I have ever seen.  "Right", we agreed. "There's no way we're going to live within twenty miles of this!"

We spent our first evening working out the excuse we would use for declining the very good offer.  The second day we saw the house.  Hmmm - now how dangerous can it really be living near a nuclear plant?  I mean France relies on nuclear power for over half its electricity supply.  People in the villages live well into their nineties.  We haven't seen any two-headed cats or dogs.....

To cut to the chase, the house is beautiful.  There's no other way to describe it.  Tucked away in the mediaeval part of the town, it boasts enough bedrooms to accommodate our large family at Christmas, together with three bathrooms and a heated swimming pool!

Love at first sight ?  Well as I said, I'm not big on love at first sight - and I'm certainly not big on huge, scary nuclear facilities...

Unfortunately I am not yet in a position to set up my permanent equipment, so cannot yet show you any images of the house.  Thanks to Chris Manning, local British estate agent, for the use of his office where I am writing this blog while Chris is out visiting a client.

We're off to the South - Minervois and Languedoc Rousillon for the next week, to catch the last of the year's warmth.  Hopefully I can blog from somewhere there (if I can work out a connection for my laptop)  In the meantime I shall make the most of my 'downtime' with some more of the excellent wine, ambiance and general experience...