OH DEAR!

I can hardly believe we have been in France for a week already.  The weather has been mostly very good after a showery start.  The village and surroundings have been a riot of red, white and blue as everyone (apart from us, it seems) embraced the concept of football fever.

On the night when France qualified for the quarter-finals, celebrations could be heard drifting up from the village square late into the night.  It had been a hot, sunny day, was a warm, sultry night and the mood was joyful indeed.

Temperatures and excitement rose as the quarter-finals approached.  The typical weather pattern seemed to be shaping up – increasingly hotter days and sweltering nights building up to a massive thunderstorm.

We wandered down to the PreHisto early evening yesterday to find the place full of hopeful football fans.

Germany scored just as the thunderstorm arrived.  Forlorn faces watched the TV in dismay as the rain poured down outside.  We drifted back up the hill to chez nous between the heavy showers and the sky cleared enough for us to eat outdoors on the terrace as usual.  The village square was eerily silent by 9pm.

We have spent the week cleaning and tidying the little cottage and making endless lists of houses we would like to see.  I had an overwhelming desire to be clean and uncluttered for the first time in months before I could contemplate looking at other people’s houses (and their mess).  Sweeping away my old life perhaps?

The search begins in earnest this coming week, although we have already seen one which is a strong possibility – the wild card, we think.  Unfortunately English weather seems to be very much on the cards for the next few days!