Renovation project - Huelgoat market, Brittany

Renovation project - Huelgoat market, Brittany

We have a weekly market in Huelgoat, every Thursday, it is not the biggest market but there are some very nice stalls and as the summer arrives you can see the market growing until it expands along the lake. The market consists mainly of vegetable stalls, clothes, Breton goods (such as ornaments, beer and food) we even have an oriental food stall, for those Chinese dishes you may really miss

The stall that always gets my attention is the porc roti stall, now you can buy roast pork on many markets, but here there is a full pig laid out on the counter top and the meat is sliced freshly for you, I have not bought any yet, as I can feel the eyes looking at me and just feel too guilty, I am not a vegetarian, but I have never been able to eat food that is looking at me!

The market is always at its best during April/May as this is when the blossom is in full bloom, and if the sun is shining it really is a pleasant way to spend an hour.

The bars and cafes have started to put their seating areas outside and the town takes on a really lively feeling.

It is also interesting to hear just how many English speakers are in the area, as there must be as many English speakers as French on market day; I have no idea where all these people are on the other days of the week!

But today I have a special reason to visit the market, I am going to buy some plants for the garden (that is a very loose term, as our outdoor space is still a very large pile of rubble) but if I buy the plants now, at least there will be a possibility of having them in bloom for summer when hopefully we will have a garden.

I buy so many, and just pray they will survive until summer, as I am not the best gardener, but luckily Sheila came with me and the stall holder speaks both English and French and helped me choose plants that require little maintenance and are difficult to kill.

I am still not sure about the wisteria that I bought, and John doesn’t help when he accuses me spending 20 Euros on a dead twig! but on a positive note, the old cauldron in the garden will look amazing when the camellia tree grows .

The wisteria is the twig behind the camellia

But time will tell and now all we have to do is make a garden.    

Renovation project - Dot and Dab system of plaster boarding

Renovation project - Dot and Dab system of plaster boarding

The ceiling and walls in the living room are plastered and look so much better; we now have to decide what we are doing with the chimney in the living room.

The sides of the chimney breast are not at all equal; this was not that obvious until we made the room look better.

One side is more shaped than the other, to make them equal it would almost have to be square and this would not look right. John decides to bring one side out a little more, it will not be equal but it will not be as noticeable. Also the concrete render is cracked and uneven.

The easiest solution is to use plaster board. John makes sure that there are no lose bits, by scraping and chipping off where the cracks are and then builds one side out a bit with some batoning and the plaster board is attached. The front of the chimney is plaster boarded using the dot and dab system. Plasterboard adhesive is used in big dobs and the plasterboard is attached and once dried is very secure. This is a great method to use for instances like this where walls are dry and tight, with no flaking. If you have damp or any other problems make sure you deal with these first.

The only problem now is that the corners do not look good, as there is so much wood in the room, the best solution is to add some wooden coving, it will cover the corners and will disappear once painted.

The room is given a coat of paint once everything is dried and we can now see just how good it is going to look, it is amazing the difference a coat of paint can make.

The room is given a coat of paint once everything is dried and we can now see just how good it is going to look, it is amazing the difference a coat of paint can make.

Renovation project - French plaster boarding and joint filling

Renovation project - French plaster boarding and joint filling

Now that we have no more guests we can continue on the living room ceiling, this is the same as the kitchen; John is going to plaster board in between the beams.

This means that we will have full insulation without losing the beams.

And because we have done this once before we know the best way to do it, rather than have the full size plaster boards, we buy the smaller size which are easier to cut and means a lot less waste.

Once they are all in place the joints need to be filled, so while he is on plastering duties the walls at the side of the fireplace get a coat as well, these were really rough, but not in a “in keeping with the age of the house” kind of way, just in a really crappy kind of way.

It’s also really nice to see John plastering without all the cursing he used to do, it’s only taken a few years but he is now used to the French plaster.

The best joint filler John has found is in the picture below, this is relatively easy to use and sands well. Some that he used were to hard, some to soft (wow I sound like Goldilocks and the 3 bears porridge!) some also shrunk. But he was really happy with this one. we bought it at Brico depot.

It is getting really exciting now the house is finally coming together and starting to feel quite cosy

Renovation project - fitting plug sockets in France

Renovation project - fitting plug sockets in France

It is time to get back to work. It is at that situation where we need to look at what jobs need doing the most. We need to finish off the living room, but there are lots of little jobs needed in the kitchen.

As the living room is reasonably liveable, the kitchen wins.

We have our normal argument about plug sockets, I want plenty (but not to be seen) and John wants less. We come to a compromise and now just have to choose where they are going.

We need to put the new fridge socket in place, here in France all the major appliances in the kitchen must have their own lead and breaker, make sure that you buy the right ampage for each appliance.

We are still able to hide all of the wires with the new boxing in.

We have 2 more sockets hidden next to the work top and then John continues with the sockets in the living room.

This is not an easy job as the walls are made of stone and we do not want to see the plastic trunking around the walls.

If you pay a professional to do your re wiring, make sure you stipulate that you do not want to see the trunking around the walls as this is common practice.

Here is an example of a re wire with trunking (this was completed by a professional) which is why it is important to stipulate you want the wires burying, rather than surface mounted.

Within a couple of days all the sockets are in place and we are both happy

Renovation project - Does saying goodbye ever get easy?

Renovation project - Does saying goodbye ever get easy?

I wake this morning to a quiet and empty house, my little granddaughter is not stood at the bedroom door asking for her breakfast and to jump on granddad to wake him up!

saying goodbye yesterday

My walks around the lake are not as exciting, definitely a little quicker, as we no longer have to get a collection of stones to throw in to the water and explore every square inch.

I don’t think I will ever get used to the quiet once family have left, and the heartbreak of waving my daughter and granddaughter off on the plane will never get any easier, even the tears have not diminished over the last few years, yes I know I will see them again soon but it is the little things that you miss, such as the breakfast (with the TV on!!!!!) and the watching the excitement of everyday things that become almost invisible at my age, but are seen for the first time by a toddler.

It is time to get back to work. But somehow today I just can’t do anything other than send a thousand messages to my daughter and look at all the photos of the past week.

So tonight it is a nice meal, a nice bottle of wine, an early night and the intention to get up again tomorrow with renewed vigour for our renovation.

Just a quick question to anybody who has moved to another country, does it ever get any easier waving goodbye to your family?

McDonalds fast food, France

McDonalds fast food, France

Our last day is here, I can’t believe my daughter and granddaughter are leaving; this has been the quickest and best week ever.

We have a 2 and a half hour drive to the airport, and one of the highlights is McDonald’s, now I am not a fan of fast food outlets but McDonald’s in France can be a life saver for a number of reasons.

If you are holidaying or have just moved to France, find your nearest McDonald’s. The main reason is the WIFI, every outlet has free WIFI and it is fast.

You can find your nearest hotel or keep in touch with family and friends, for this reason alone it makes it a must have.

But for us, at this moment, we have a very active toddler on a long drive to an airport with few amenities. So stopping at McDonald’s on the way is great, every store we have been to in Brittany has a children’s play area, all we have seen have been in good condition and clean. So spending half an hour here on a long journey, means that even the most active toddler can let off steam.

The food options for children are also reasonably healthy, with organic fruit juices and yoghurts and fruit bags.

Food for adults is the same as most countries, the only main difference we have found is that you can have a glass of beer instead of a fizzy drink! (But not whilst driving obviously!)

The other difference is that hot drinks are not included in the meal deals, so if you have a coffee this is added to the price.

Ordering food is very easy, once you know how. You do not order at the counter, there are machines in the store. The machines give a variety of languages to choose from including English.

So you choose your language, then you go through the menus, to order a meal deal, it is called a McDonald’s menu.

Once you have input your order you can choose to pay by card or cash, a ticket is then issued that you take to the counter, if there is a queue you can state where you are sat and the food is brought to you.

As I said we are not big fast food fans, but McDonald’s is good for so many reasons and very easy to use when your language skills are not up to scratch and you are only visiting or want to tire your kids.

Renovation project - Carantec Beach, Finistere, Brittany

Renovation project - Carantec Beach, Finistere, Brittany

We are going to visit the seaside today, the weather is not fantastic, but at least it is not raining. The closest beach to Huelgoat is Carantec; this is approx 40 minutes away.

Carantec beach is a beautiful area, it is not at all commercialised and is a real Breton beach side town. the town centre is a vigorous walk (not suitable for people with walking difficulties) there is a car park at the beach.

The beach is large and sandy, but towards the sea it becomes very stony. There are large boulders at the end and a stone Jetty, there is also a diving board, but the weather would need to be a lot warmer before we could brave that!

The most fantastic part of this beach is the 3 restaurants that are along the front, each has glass panels so that the food and view can be enjoyed in any weather. We choose the Chez Gaby Les Retrouvailles, we know the crepes are amazing here. 

We choose a savoury and my daughter goes for the heart attack on a plate sweet version, banana, chocolate and cream.

This creperie also caters for children with child size seats.

After a good walk on the beach we head back to the car park, this is large and does not charge (this is a regular thing in Brittany, free car parks even in tourist areas)

As we head back to the car we stop at the little carousel. This is the oldest and not in an antique way, carousel we have ever seen! it really is just very dilapidated, we find a carriage for my granddaughter that does not have gaffer tape or pieces missing.

It is not the best but at only 2 Euros a go, and her excited face it is fine. There is also a small beachside stall selling buckets and spades etc.

There is a small park area with a good selection of equipment that is secure with a fence all around and a small gate entrance.

Carantec is a great place for young families or adults; we have been many times on our own and just sat with a coffee overlooking the fantastic view

Renovation project - Dora the Explorer in France

Renovation project - Dora the Explorer in France

The excitement of Paris is over and it is now time to enjoy our beautiful village with my daughter and granddaughter.

As most people who have any contact with 3 year olds will know, Dora the Explorer is a hero, and what better way to spend a sunny afternoon than going on a treasure hunt around a lake and a forest?

This is also one of the cheapest days out we are going to have (after 3 days in Paris!)

I have made a map, from our driving atlas, I don’t think we are visiting Slovakia any time soon, so we will not miss this page.

We set off from the house, and walk to the lake, then it is over the bridge and past the big dog, I think he really enjoyed being part of it, as this dog guards a work shop and doesn’t have much interaction.

Back to the lake and we pass the swans and find the park where I have managed to hide the treasure.

It is a great afternoon, and the sun is shining, you really do not need to spend a fortune here to entertain kids, unfortunately I forgot that little legs get tired, we didn’t make it in to the forest today, but we can always go tomorrow, it is just so hard to believe our holiday is rapidly coming to an end.

On the way home we pass the old lavoir, there are 2 of these in Huelgoat, the other  is near the centre of town, we had thought that these were just preserved as tourist attractions until we actually saw someone bent down scrubbing work clothes!

If you enjoy walking or have small children Huelgoat really is one of the best places for a holiday or even a day trip if you are in the area.

Euro Disney, Paris

Euro Disney, Paris

The big day is here, we are off to Euro Disney, I don’t know who is more excited me, my daughter or my granddaughter.

The hotel we are staying at provides a free bus shuttle to the park so getting there is nice and easy, it takes approximately 10 minutes to get there and as we pass each poster, my little granddaughter gets more and more excited.

There really is nothing better than seeing life through the eyes of a 3 year old, everything is so new and exciting

There are 2 shuttle bus car parks (which explains why we couldn’t find the bus when we arrived. There are moving walkways so the walk to the park isn’t so bad.

When you arrive you have to queue to get in, this involves going through security scanners similar to the airport, all bags have to go through luggage scanners also.

There are security personnel all around here, some with machine guns and some with muzzled dogs, again, this does detract from the fun atmosphere, but some people feel safer. I guess it just comes down to personal preference.

We had not bought tickets in advance which meant a queue at the ticket booth of approx 30 minutes. It also meant the tickets were more expensive; if possible always buy in advance. There are many different types of tickets and concessions, but on the door it is 89 Euros for adults and 79 Euros for children over 3 years of age for just one park.

You also have to choose if you want one park or two parks, we choose one and didn’t have time to see and do all we wanted (but we did leave at 6 pm)

The weather was reasonable and only rained lightly.

We did not take a picnic with us and the food selection in the main street is quite limited, hotdogs, chips etc but there are different restaurants located in the different sections selling a better variety of food.

The only real downside for us was the lack of Characters that walk around; they are not available for long and only at specific times.

The shows are fantastic and we saw each one, having a toddler the shows were more important than the rides.

We went in April and the average waiting time for a ride was 40 minutes, with the park not looking too crowded.

Overall the park was wonderful (pricey, but definitely worth it) here is a photo diary of the day.

Renovation project - A day in Paris, France

Renovation project - A day in Paris, France

On the Euro Disney train station we look at booking tickets back into Paris centre. There are ticket machines available and you can choose your language, we bought 2 tickets to zone 1 (Paris centre) Euro Disney is zone 5. (These are approx 7 Euros one way, you can buy a day pass, that are different prices for the different zones, but approx 25 Euros for all zones all day)

once we have our tickets we go for a sandwich, there is a sandwich shop called Relay and we both highly recommend the pastrami, it is the nicest sandwich we have eaten and head back to the platform.

The RER trains are very different as they are double decker trains and nowhere near as nice, but they are taking us to Paris!

We have no idea which station to get off on and we have had enough of trains so get off at Gare de Lyon in Zone 1. This station is fantastic, once outside the sun is shining and we are here!

Gare de Lyon, Paris France

Looking out from the Gare de Lyon train station in Paris

Looking out from the Gare de Lyon train station in Paris

We now have no idea where to go so start to walk in what we hope is the right direction. Our first stop is the Bastille, we know the Eiffel Tower is on the seine and we can see it, but don't know how to get to it, we buy a map and realise we got off a few stops too soon, but decide to walk anyway.

If you do this trip, I highly recommend the walk as you get to see so much, but make sure you wear comfy shoes as we ended up walking for a number of miles.

We followed the Seine and stopped off at Notre Dame, we walked past all of the little stalls along the seine. These generally sell pictures, tat and souvenirs.

Notre dame Paris

Notre dame Paris

Notre dame Paris

stalls along the Seine Paris

We stopped off for a drink at a pavement cafe by the Musee d'Orsay and the Place des Invalides before continuing with our walk to the tower.

Every so often we caught sight of the tower and luckily it was getting larger each time, but it is hard to describe how magnificent it really is once you get there.

We sat and ate ice cream by the tower and watched just how many security personnel were wandering around with machine guns. This is a strange experience as to be honest it did not make me feel any safer and I really thought it took something away from the experience, though my daughter thought it made her feel safer.

Whilst eating the ice cream I needed to pop to the toilet, I could not see any so asked at one of the cashiers, apparently they are on the main road and turn left, there was a public toilet with a bigger queue than the Eiffel tower, so if you are going to visit make sure you go to the toilet first!

The weather was starting to get really cold and we wanted to visit the Champs Elysees, so we say our good byes and head across the river, first stopping for a ride on the carousel. We have no option but to buy the 10 euro photo that they took (how can you go on a carousel and not buy the baby's photo?) I then stop to buy my tat from one of the make shift stalls, 5 Eiffel Tower key rings for a euro (in the stalls and souvenir shops they are at least 3 Euros each), I don't feel so bad about the photo now.

As we are walking my granddaughter falls asleep and the weather really takes a turn for the worst, she is exhausted in the pram.

We head over to the arc de triumph and spend the next 10 minutes just watching the traffic. There is no way to describe the complete bedlam at this roundabout, but I have added it to my bucket list, I really want to attempt a drive there. Cars were kriss crossing all over; you couldn't work out which direction they had come from or where they were going to, but it was great fun to watch.

The rain really starts to come down now so we have no option but to call it a day. We head to a station on the Champs Elysees and are faced with the biggest crowd imaginable. We have no option but to try to board with the pram, this is not easy and I am sure there were some bruised legs, but people still tried to get on behind us, I have never been on such a busy train, there wasn't even standing room left, every inch was crammed with bodies. Try not to get the train (not sure if it is a subway or not) in the centre of Paris at rush hour!

By the time we get to our stop the train is almost empty, we disembark absolutely knackered but so happy, now we just have to find the connector bus shuttle! (Which we don't and give up and grab a cab to the hotel)