Signing Our Lives Away Part Deux.

We left home around 9am this morning, bound for Villebois Lavalette, that lovely small town in the north of the Perigord Nord (Dordogne/Charente border) with it's 11th Century Chateau silhouetted, on the hill, against a gorgeous blue sky, today.  (This photo is historic, but exactly what we see when we stop for Diesel at the SuperU station.)

We stopped for Diesel at the SuperU supermarche and for some gifts to take back to both the USA and NZ. We also needed more bleach for the moss and mold on the concrete at the house. This accomplished, we then headed for the Brico (hardware) store just outside of the village. Waz found a couple of items he was looking for...mainly to fix the fence so that the wind doesn't blow it over in our absence.
Onwards to our 11am appointment at the Notaire's office to sign...Drum-roll please...The Acte de Vente...the final signature on the papers to say we now OWN our house. YAYAY! We were lead to believe this was a 'formal' occasion, but it wasn't. Hmm...A tad disappointed that someone didnt pop a bottle of Champagne to mark the occasion, but we had to go somewhere for lunch instead.

House purchase all signed and sealed, our wills signed and sealed and all monies paid to the various parties, and we were out of there at 5 mins to 12 noon and headed to Verteillac for our lunch of Fish and Chips and mushy peas, at the British owned Pub, Le Calice. A treat Waz has been waiting for:) This is such a pretty town and especially on a fine day with no wind. The views on all sides, from this lofty town, are simply stunning.

We were warmly greeted by Bex the owner, who was pretty excited that we had just signed for the house, finally. She has been most encouraging in our wait for the house, car and banking too. We celebrated with a Grand Crème, though she offered us a glass of house wine on the house. We would have if we didnt have to drive home!...Home, home.

It was such a glorious warm day, today, and we delighted in the glorious clear skies, the bright greens, and most of all the contrasts of the green and yellow fields, everywhere we looked. Sheer magnificence.  I had to stop and take photos, on the way. You will see them shortly!
In the meantime, we headed back to the House Sit to complete the lock down and read the electric meter. All has been cleaned, put away and shuttered now. We missed the neighbors arrival by a couple of hours, but will catch up with them when we return.

You cant help but be mesmerized by the views in this area. Pull up a chair and enjoy.
These wide open vistas are between the towns of Verteillac and the turn-off on N10, to Gouts Rossignol. We dont know what the yellow crop is, but it is blooming right now in the patchwork between the Winter Wheat and open fields ready for planting. Yellow, brown and bright green. The hills are peppered with Hamlets, farm houses with orange tile roofs and white Charentais limestone walls.

 Some fields are actually dandelions in bloom, so they aren't a crop at all. They are the more mottled looking ones, like the field to the left of this farmhouse.

 The old church  at Gouts Rossignol stands out from the orange tile roofs.

 Large irrigators stand waiting for the summer heat.

 Outside the house-sit the trees now have pretty new, bright green leaves. The world has taken on a different color today. Rain tomorrow though, we are told :(

 Just down the road at the hamlet, this mill (for sale, BTW) has a plethora of Tulips coming into bloom. Stunning! (there's that word again, sorry! lol)

Having finished up at the house sit, we headed for HOME.

The Fairy Tale Chateau in the distance is apparently owned by a Canadian, but we didnt ever go down that road to find out if the gossip is true. Maybe another time. It has 'stunning' views over this countryside.

 It appears to be the centerpiece of a working farm.

We had a couple of things to do before we arrived Home.
First up, we could now visit the Mairie and introduce ourselves to the person (s) in charge. This is usually the Clerk, in the absence of the Mayor. The two highly efficient ladies we met there were very helpful...especially in giving us the yellow recycling bags (plastic) and telling us when to put our normal trash at the gate (black plastic bags).
I might have missed some things in translation, but they were welcoming and of course already knew who we were, as they had supplied information to the Notaire about the property, as is normal in the case of a property sale.
We parked outside our favorite bar...well, there is only one, but they  (Benjamin and Celine) make an excellent and hot Grand Crème, and Alongee. We thought to walk to the Hotel de Ville (Town Hall), which we had previously driven to, to find out the opening hours. Being a small center, they are limited.
I turned to my left, after exiting the vehicle, and admired not just the gates, but the lovely renovation job on this Maison Maitre, on the main street, which just happens to be cobbled. The town Boucherie is that door on the right, opposite the bar/restaurant and Epicerie.

 Walking through the town was something we hadn't done before. Usually it is raining when we come through here, but today was a golden opportunity to do that.

 This church, the Eglise de Notre Dame was originally built in the 12th century, but only small parts of the original church remain, with additions having been made over the following centuries.

 Looking back towards the main road through the middle of the town.

 Turn around, and this pretty scene greets you. That small building is indeed the 'littlest room'...Public bathrooms.
We followed the paved road around towards...

 Oh look! A fragrant garden that appears to be public!  It is indeed! How beautifully cared for this is, and the plants are generally healthy and interesting....onwards, however.

 Whats this?

 Voila! It is part of the Moat of the Chateau that is the Hotel de Ville. A handsome building from the 17th century. This town was apparently founded on the Linen trade, and grew Flax everywhere. Some can still be found in the ditch on the opposite side of this road.

 Above, looking back from whence we came. There was a white swan...swanning along, of course....but by the time I arrived to take the photo, it had gone around the bend up ahead. hmm...

In the meantime, we happened upon the Lavoir (built in 1852), where the women of the town would come to do their Laundry. It was rediscovered in 1999, and thanks to the town's people it was restored . This is all on public land that is very well cared for. The park just above Waz's head is quite delightful.

 Turn around, and you can look over the top of that lovely garden next door, towards the old church.

 The pump still works!

 We still had to get to the Mairie, down the end there and turn left at the bridge.

 The willows all have their new leaves, and these two drip over into the Lavoir, now behind us.

 They obviously dont want anyone entering the Chateau grounds when the gates are locked. Some pretty mean looking spikes there.

 A very handsome building.

 The sound of falling water beckoned...This sluice-gate at the edge of the moat.

and we turned back to see this view of the Chateau/Hotel de Ville.

 More of those spiky things to stop you climbing around the gates and onto the bridge.

After our brief meeting with the keepers of the yellow plastic bags (you get a whole year's worth!) we walked back to the car. Waz had now peeled off some of his layers, as it felt like around 17/18C, and we were hot, out of any breeze.

We checked with our driver for Saturday's journey to Bordeaux to pick up the rental car...All Go! Yay!  No car available for one -way rental in Angouleme, so we have to go all the way to Bordeaux Airport.
Home to the new house, and it all feels a bit unreal. Finding our own place after being essentially homeless folks, for the past 5 years, is a wonderful feeling. Living on the boat has been a home of sorts, but also felt very transient. In retrospect, that wasn't a bad thing, as life's journeys happen in different forms, very often. We had to go through that to realize we wanted this!

The rest of the day was spent sorting, cleaning, sweeping (not the same as cleaning...where DID you get that idea? lol) and picking up ...mostly broken things on the front entry deck, like terracotta pot parts. We seem to have black trash bags everywhere, and we need to find where the Dechetterie is (the Tip) in these parts. We know where one or two are in neighboring towns, but not locally.

Dinner was omelet with the last of the rotisserie chicken and potatoes. The fridge is almost bare, with just two meals left to eat.
The Car was washed and put away, and we are almost packed for our next journey.

Saturday Morning:
What a night! Not in a good way. Waz is nursing a sore left arm, and I'm nursing a sore right shoulder, still. It was hot in the bedroom and the wind came up and howled around the house. It also rained! After such a glorious day, this was a bit surprising, and not welcome. Shutters banged somewhere, and other noises crept into the subconscious. We both got up around 2.50am (we know this time because one of Waz's digital clocks with blue light sits on the dresser next to me!) to sort things out, before finally sleeping. Sore bodies this morning tell us that it wasn't a restful night. Oh dear...getting old isnt for sissies!

I did talk to my lovely almost 90 yr old mum, last night. So  wonderful to hear her voice loud and clear, and we cant wait to see each other. Now that we have a Land Line in the house, we get International calling to other land lines, and it means we can keep in touch with the Mother, sisters and Child units better. I think Skype is still the best for talking to the kids, as most of them dont have land lines.

France hasn't kept up with the rest of the world in so many respects, but this is one of the things that is also attractive about it. Life in these small towns is calmer, more respectful, and if 'old-fashioned' is still a 'thing', then bring it on.
Modern farm equipment surrounds us, but in the context of the time honored traditions of raising animals, crops and vines. Having been brought up in rural areas of New Zealand, we feel most at home when we see a tractor driving through the main street, and love the connection to the land we feel.
While blue ocean might be Waz's first choice of a location, we aren't that far away (1.6 hours drive west) that we cant still enjoy that. We look forward to those discovery days, in the future.

For now, we are getting ready to depart in order to ship all our goods here from half way around the world.

Our house sitters will appear later in the day, and we get to enjoy their company for a few hours.
A Bientot.