Living in Brittany

To give the man his due he isn't a hypocrite whereas previous presidents have had affairs and the strict privacy laws stops it going in the tabloids and Mitterrand even had a daughter by his mistress and it wasn't reported until he died. So he's not a hypocrite but whether its seemly for a president to date a singer/model with a very impressive CV of male celebs its very interesting. I have never heard the French mock their president as much as the present one.
At last I have finished the roof it will be nice working with both feet at the same level another month and the make over for Les Etables will be completed. Max has his interview on Thursday for French nationality there are certain jobs which are restricted to French nationals such as fonctioners ( civil servants ) which probably accounts for half the jobs in France. Paulien visited the CAF (they are occupied with family allowance and family support ) to get yet another form for his visit to the Prefecture and was told that he is entitled to a student allowance of 150€ a month which would pay for half his flat rental.
The system in France taxes the population more but then gives lots of benefits back very socialist and doesn't really encourage initiative and for people to work hard. Whereas the Anglo system ,less tax but more borrowings and less job security makes people work harder. I don't who's got it right

A few weeks ago we had some bad storms and half a dozen containers were swept up on the Brittany coast including a shipment of pineapples destined for Tesco. However they arrived on the beaches between Plestin and Perros and recently there has been a glut of people making pineapple jam and tarts. Further west about half a ton of tobacco was washed up mostly Golden Virgina which even tempted Paulien to go for a walk on the beach the customs were soon on site declaring it was illegal to take it away.
Christmas has been very quiet with a couple of families staying on site French/English + the dog and goat of Karen and Kas who have gone to Holland for the festive period so its a happy new year to my 2 regular readers Jonnie and Peter and any one else who stumbles across this blog. Bloavez matt as they say in Breton

The funeral went quite well a lovely sunny day well attended and the band played much better than the previous night we were half way through the piece before Monsieur Echo had got his instrument warmed up enough to get it squeak out of it so he didn't completely ruin it as usual. I quite enjoyed the service it being catholic and is more ritualistic than the C of E I was brought up on not that I am a regular visiter. Jean Kerbaol the deceased had arranged 5 years ago which music he wanted for the occasion. Since my time in the band we have done 4 funerals of ex members church and civic, I find the church ones more satisfying as its a formal ritual whereas the civic ones are too casual just turning up at the cemetery playing a tune then retiring to the bar for a drink afterwards. I calculated during the service there could be 2 or 3 more this year as we have a few ex members in terminal conditions. I asked a few of players in the bar afterwards if they had chosen their music for their departure but they said they weren't in a hurry. Anthony the Irish ex guards ,ex colonel's trumpeter ( so very good player ) said he definitely didn't want us playing as we weren't good enough, after the others had gone he insisted on another beer ( the Irish in him ) he was giving me lots of useful information ( ? ) on crematoriums as he visited a lot during his time in the forces such as differing burn times for differing bodies according to their condition , fat etc , how the ashes were collected, collection of metal fillings and joints and finally that the Germans made the best ovens. I had to change the subject after that.

The latest hassle with bureaucracy is Max has to join his own mutual for health assurance its called SMEBA and its for students , fair enough but then they have asked for his birth certificate to be translated into French which is lunacy as most of the information is digits and translating 6th November to 6 Novembre is pretty dumb but if thats what they want will have to do it . Will now have to go back to my cupboard where I'm hiding for the duration of the WC after last nights shambles .

It was a poor weekend for the Celtic fringes on site with most of them losing their matches and South Africa looking ominously good it looks as if I'll have to swap the rose for "le coq " as the French team are looking on form. I am almost worried that England might have difficulty beating Samoa in Nantes the match I have a ticket for in 3 weeks time. Paulien's friend Inika has visited again from Holland with her 2 daughters which was fun and different as we are very much a male dominated household with 3 boys. The funniest highlight last week was Inika's daughter Rose sparring with Eileen wearing boxing gloves and chasing her around the gites one evening.
Our hot water heater packed up this week so have had to change it the plumber we use is a brilliant guy he actually rings back the same day and will visit promptly ( not sure if he's really French ) lets me do most of the grunt work then inspects. A unique French worker, the irony is I buy the heaters in the UK its a German make but the price is about £200 cheaper than in France and is actually cheaper than the plumber can buy it for. He can install for me but can't buy in the UK as it has a GB sticker in it and he can only buy and install heaters with a F sticker although the heaters are identical. Vive le Marche

We had a client leave on Sunday in a bit of a rush the previous night I had been helping him attach his bike rack which had been damaged when he drove into a height restricted car park so we fixed it up (not very well ) the night before in the dark.So late Sunday afternoon he telephoned me to say the rack had fallen off en route to the ferry (actually he didn't make Plestin ) and he had abandoned the 4 bikes in a field outside Plestin so we have retrieved them and put them in store if he wants to collect them some time.
Yann has been having a tough time as our local vet did a poor job of stitching him up ( or stapling on Monday ) and the Friday she put in a couple stitches but next day he was worse so we took him to another vet who did major surgery on his leg and redid all the stitching. The first vet not only missed one hole in the leg which was festering she hadn't cleaned out the wound properly so it had gone gangrenous and smelly which needed to be cut out. So now Yann looks like a patchwork of steaks stitched together but is much happier and after showing him to the neighbours whose dog caused the damage they agreed to pay using their insurance.

Yann our ageing dog has had a bad week first he had a one sided altercation with the neighbour's dog ( he must had said something about her mother ) which resulted in a visit to the vet only 50€ for a quick rough shave and for the cuts she used a staple gun and then a few jabs not even a local anaesthetic, a hard woman.So he has been mopping around the visiters for sympathy and any spare sausages that are going then today I reversed into him ( better me than a client ) and although he's OK the staples loosened up so back to the vet for a couple stitches and another jab.A cheaper visit only 15€ this time.Our vet is from Belgium so we speak a mixture of French ,English and Dutch.
Xav has opened an ice cream shop and is making a fortune every time I take one its a minimum of at least 1€ and when we mention rental,electricity,storage costs and protection money his eyes glaze over and he changes the subject.
In August about 80% of the clients are repeaters so life is less stressful we have to organise the annual pool competition which is sponsored by the CMB (local Bank) and N Power and is contested fiercely.The winners (junior and seniors ) receive much coveted cups and various prizes

I think the polyclinic are beginning to recognise Xav with his regular visits. This time its a cracked toe or a metatarsal which he got by using a skimboard on the waves it a short board you jump on with a few inches of water under it and it skids on the water only he kicked it with his foot cracking the middle toe so its a few weeks on crutches. We told the staff we should have a loyalty card so his next visit is free.
The French holiday season has started this weekend with the Sunday market in Plestin packed out and we could actually sit on the terrace outside the PMU bar for the first time in a month, everyone is moaning that business is down in June our strawberry friends reckon that they were 70% down on the previous year due to the rain.
There has been no news on the kayak front the police just gave us a form and the insurance company said everything outside isn't insured but they might give us a goodwill jest. They might just lose our business as we pay them 3 and a half thousand € a year I sometimes wonder whether it would be better to insure just the minimum and put the rest into a contingency fund as I think we have only made about 2 minor claims in 15years
It looks like Sarko is reneging on all his free market ideas and turning into a typical Gaullist politician,protectionist and managed markets it shows you should never believe a politician as you are always going to be disappointed.

The last weeks weather has been atrocious throughout France I don't think there will be any water restrictions this year even in the south. Paulien has taken the boys to England for 5 days to sea her mum and they have taken their boards to do some surfing at Bude. The ferry was quite a reasonable price for Brittany ferries £210 for 4 people in a minibus ( that's with the reduction we get using the magic ref number ) but the price would have been at least another £100 for the first week in July. We have our Irish friends staying and they gave me an Irish rugby shirt which I have to wear while they are here and even worse a dvd of the Coke park match!
We had our last gig of the summer with the jazz fanfare it was the "fete de petite couchon " at Vieux Marche about 20 minutes from Plestin. It was fun the Saturday night it didn't rain so we played in the square after a local band played red neck american country music and then the inevitable breton music. The Sunday was all indoor as it tipped down with rain, there was a very interesting ensemble of bizarre folk instruments and then a total mad workshop/fanfare where some French guys have about 50 old brass band instruments and gives a quick initiation to the beginners and then they perform. It was hilarious I tried an old trombone which I have played before but then I wore short trousers so it was a long time ago.
My optimism is unfounded as since I started writing the blue sky has disappeared and we have just had a quick shower but the forecast is to get better this week the pool cover has been brilliant this year hardly anyone would have used the pool without it whereas it keeps the water at a constant temperature and stops you getting wet from the rain when swimming!