Our car leather seats will do Carl ! Sorry, I’ve been a bit traumatiSed by the lost of my 20 year old brother, in a motorbike accident 
I know could happened just crossing the road, or disease or whatever else … Just can’t reason myself 
Where in France are you moving to, will you renovate your future house ? You might be very busy for a few years there ! 
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that’s what B’ says I need Stella 
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I’m enjoying the memories Carl, great offroading on the Yam when I lived in Portugal, heaps of dirt roads, in beautiful countryside 
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Sorry to read of your loss Elizabeth - that is too traumatic to overcome I know. I have lost a few friends over the years from riding bikes… I will remember them always.
As to the house, it is in Carmaux in the Tarn just north of Albi. It is my mother-in-law’s house (my wife is French) and, other than updating, it needs nothing doing to it really. We would like to replace the kitchen and create a ‘proper’ library in the current study and finish the rooms in the attic to be two guest rooms with ensuites - the house was built for the family in 1973 and has not really changed since then. It has a huge semi-basement garage that I will convert to a workshop for my model engineering and a more luxurious home for the bikes and the Daimler.
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Great to have a good workshop ! To convert the attic is still a bit of work, isn’t it 
I loved it when we renovated our barn with Bill, just grown arround us. But I’m not sure I would still have the same energy to do it again ! In anycase, it’s lovely to have project. And I’m not confortable to see Bill on a motorbike, but he’s welcome to have as much model boat as he wants in the house, as long I’m not in charge with the dusting 
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Ha ha!! My boats live in cases when they are not sailing…no dust!!! Just a wipe over the top of the case 
As for the attic, it is partly converted already. The dormer windows are fitted, the pipework for the radiators is in and the walls and doors are erected. There is a proper staircase leading up to it as well - currently used as a larder as it is the coolest place in the house! We have a friend near Hamburg who is a Master Carpenter - he is a real craftsman when it comes to creating furniture out of wood and it is he who will create our kitchen, library and guest rooms. He will have five years in which to complete the task 
so no real hurry!
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Seems like you don’t need to have work done in the garden too ! And by the way, how is life like with a french wife ? Do you notice a cultural difference, just for a matter of interest
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Nope! Mother-in-Law pays for a gardener to come in once a month or so to do the larger things (tree trimming and hedge cutting) and Father-in-Law spends the day on his ‘Ferrari’ (as he calls it) driving around cutting the grass. As they will be moving to a retirement home very close by, they have said that they will carry on with this until we move out there ourselves - which is very kind of them.
As for living with a French wife? Wonderful… really! Flo and I met when we were teenagers whilst on holiday in Austria in 1977 and the two families kept in touch ever since. We two lost touch in the late eighties but ‘found’ each other again in 2005 after living separate lives. We married in 2007 - in Austria - and have been happy ever since. She has a deep love of the ‘traditional’ English history (Shakespeare, the English countryside etc.) but there are many things she finds frustrating or annoying here - like the lack of choice in supermarkets. For me, I love her ‘French-ness’; style, accent, outlook. We both ‘dig’ at each other about our culture and stereotypes. I accuse her of being a barbarian - cutting off folks heads etc., when we watch a documentary about anything to do with the wars between France and England she always gets huffy and says she no longer enjoys the programme - because invariably the English beat the French. All of this is always in jest and is frequent between us. Cultural differences? Not really noticeable… Mealtimes are probably the most noticeable. She likes to eat at regular times in the day and not too late and disdains greasy foods like fish and chips. I think our biggest difference of opinion comes with education and the importance that the French seem to put on higher qualifications and ‘good’ institutions. For her, attending a top university after good schools is the be-all and end-all of obtaining a good career, whereas I - who never went to uni and only had a Comprehensive education - believe that perseverance, persistence and hard work will reward, It has for me at least with a career I have held since leaving school and am now a Director within a thriving construction company. Either way, there isnt much difference between the French and the Brits in the long run - we all have to get through life one way or another - it is just that some can take their trait to extremes and those that want to denigrate the other will always have their say and push the stereotype to the fore.
Flo and I? We get along great… Just done mention Napoleon or guillotines…
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See what you mean Carl, Babeth and I don’t discuss, ‘The Battle of Hastings’ often, especially, as I am a WILLIAM 
, meeting Her, 10yrs ago, is the best thing that’s happened to me 
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Likewise Bill - the last 10 years have been the best for me and I feel very lucky to be spending the rest of my days with my Flo.
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Hi Carol,
There’s a ukelele club in Lyon, and one in Montpellier…
My hobby is playing french horn…
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Would love to play an instrument Mary, had a notion to try the violin when about 12, but no enthusiasm from my folks
Babeth plays the piano, love listening to Her, but She says She needs lessons, we haven’t organized that yet.
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My hobby now is trying to get the French to laugh more. I got pissed off this week listening to the dreadful shouty music waiting to talk to Orange so when I finally got through to a very pleasant woman and after she’d dealt with my issue I said ‘Before you go, when you see your PDG, will you tell him that even if he’s still sleeping with that singer, it’s time to change the music.’
She fell about. It wasn’t that funny but I was glad to have made her laugh.
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Nice Motor Guy
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