Back to the Future

I was once asked what was the French for 'deja vu' - er, that would be deja vu.

I mention that because, having moved onto the management of our two holiday apartments, the project for Denis is bringing back both good and bad memories of the months of renovation that occupied my last two years here.

This afternoon, Chris and I went to Tridome and spent a good deal of money on fixings and mastic and tools and tried to hire the 'petit camion' to get the plasterboard and wood and the toilet and the shower base back in one go. As you would expect, it isn't going to be as simple as that - oh no - the van is booked up for tomorrow and Friday and Thursday is the first of May, which is a national holiday - so Saturday is the earliest we could have the van, but only between 1pm and 4pm and with guest arrivals and Debrah coming over and market shopping, it's going to be a bit busy.

So the Audi may be pressed back into its role as a builders van for a day or two as we really need to get the material into Denis' apartment as soon as possible, and as Chris starts to rip the place apart it has become increasingly difficult for him to stay there - so this evening he moved out into shared accomodation with Susan, the barmaid of the now defunct Irish bar and soon to be the manageress of the new improved Irish bar.

One part of the return to renovation that I'm not looking forward to is the extra flight of stairs up to the second floor - it is steep and winding and adds a lot of extra effort required just to get things in and out - but it may help to get rid of my recently returned gut, the result of too much 'client entertaining'.

This morning something happened that I didn't expect and took me completely by surprise. One of my French neighbours that lives in an apartment above mine told me that the father of her child, whom I had met many times when he borrowed ladders and other equipment from me, was dead. I was completely taken aback and my lack of French language skills came to the fore - I didn't know what to say and so don't know what happened - but it was terrible news and is still difficult to take in because I don't know the facts. He was much younger than me and always had a smile on his face - it is hard to believe, so much so that I still keep questioning whether I understood her correctly, but I'm sure I did.

It sounds callous, I know, but Magali said to me that life goes on and it does. Two new guests, from Belgium, arrived this evening having driven all day to get here - a couple of lovely boys - they seem very sophisticated and were very complimentary and enthusiastic about the apartment - bless.