Nearly There

What a week it has been.

When I returned to France and found out that Chris had booked a trip to the States - not for the two weeks we had discussed, but for four weeks up to the 19th December - it took me a day or so to work out the full implications of the work still to be done and the work that would be needed to be done when he came back. When the subject was raised, I thought for a while that we were about to fall out about it, but we didn't, and Chris understood my concerns about the timing so fully that the last week has been the most intense period of work we have undertaken here.

We have just finished eight days in a row working an average of twelve hours a day - Chris cramming into that period two bathroom fits, one kitchen fit, some shelving, a lot of tiling, two door frames and a host of general electrics and other work and me painting rooms as he went along to enable final finishing as well as general rubbish clearance, materials buying, work for a critical stage of product development in London and, very importantly, making coffee at a very constant rate all through the day.

At this very moment, late on a Monday evening, I can honestly say we are both very proud of what we have achieved in the last week and are both totally knackered. Chris is probably a bit worse for wear than I am because he has done more of the work - but as he rightly pointed out, I am paying him to do it and he will be sat on his arse for a while in the States whilst I still have a massive amount of painting to do between now and Christmas. Oh joy.

It is so difficult to put into words the genuine excitement I am feeling - the end really is in sight. Every day sees another completed bit of work, another sink in place, another wall painted, another room nearly done. I have now packed up the tile cutters and moved them into the cellar for storage - there is no more tiling or tile cutting to be done (the neighbours will be pleased - actually one of my neighbours moved out this weekend and I did speculate if she had had enough of the noise from downstairs and how ironic it was that she moved on the day the tiling was complete) .

All the old offcut tiles have been thrown out as well as a host of other stuff that we have been hanging onto 'just in case' it might be needed. Even now, I am still deliberating between putting odd bits of plasterboard or chipboard in the cellar or the bin. Put them in the bin for God's sake.

I still have a couple of tonnes of rubble down in the disused room on the ground floor, which nobody has complained about so far but is probably only a matter of time. I decided today, whilst in rubbish removal mode, to take a few bits out and so deposited a toilet and a couple of bags of concrete in the local bins this afternoon. I figure that a couple of bags a day should get rid of it in about six months, give or take.

Earlier on this evening, the doorbell rang and I was faced with two guys wearing flourescent yellow coats with the SITA logo emblazoned across the front and back. SITA is the local sub-contracted rubbish removal / dustmen company who do a fabulous job of emptying the bins three times a day seven days a week. I prepared myself for a question about broken tiles, plaster or rogue toilets - but actually just got a request for the Christmas fund. When they discovered I was English they turned tail and fled which was a shame, because if there is any group of workers in France who deserve a Christmas tip from me it is they, for they have hauled an awful lot of my building crap away over the year and nothing seems to faze them - I must try harder!

Naturally, life would not be complete without some last minute crises to keep everyone on their toes. Late on Saturday I had to dash to the specialist tile shop for another bag of tile adhesive which I managed with about five minutes to spare and late this afternoon I had to dash to the DIY store for some more grout for said tiles, which I also managed through the rush hour (rush 20 minutes) traffic.

And, Chris is due to leave tomorrow evening on a train to Paris to pick up his flight to the US. Which is all well and good, except that the 'lazy French fuckers' (my wife's description) who operate the French railway have been on strike for 5 days and show no signs of getting back to work anytime soon - and all because they think it is reasonable to retain the right to retire on full pay at age 50. Ahh - this is France - if they had got wind of our working hours over the last week there would probably be a protest outside the appartment demanding that we slow down a bit and stop for lunch.

Oh well, what will happen tomorrow - Chris has a last few jobs to finish - he may or may not get his train to Paris and therefore his flight to the US - he may have to hire a car and drive - who knows. It will probably all work out in the end - it usually does.

Nearly there.