As you may know, next door is being renivated right now, and it’s coming along very nicely indeed.
This afternoon we were slightly alarmed though when we saw the JCB, which has now become very much a piece of the landscape round here, approaching out house with Bob the Builder Claude le Constructeur in the scoop. Slightly worried that they had been on the pineau at lunch and were about to start attacking the wrong house, we rushed outside.
Turns out that the nice chaps had spotted some loose tiles on our roof while they were up on next-door’s roof and were setting about fixing them for us. For nothing. I know, it just wouldn’t have happened in England.
Note the usual high-priority given to health & safety concerns here…Yes, they are electricity cables overhead. No, he’s not wearing a hard-hat or a harness. Yes there is a small child playing underneath… 
Isn’t it great?
The big news in Foussais this week is the impending retirement of Michel the baker. Yes, even though he must be only in his 40s, Michel’s time as Mr Boulangere is coming to an end on 4th July. We had a visit on Friday from him to give us the news and to introduce the new man on the job, Phillipe Grelier. This is sad in one way, as I think Michel has been the local baker for a long time and is very much a part of the village, but it is good for us as it means that he will soon be moving in next door.
Now, maybe he knows something we don’t about the speed of French builders, but it is certainly hard to imagine him actually moving in at any point in July. His house is still a total shell, with big holes in the walls and roof, very little in the way of floors, no windows or interior finishing to speak of. It’s quite a big ask to get it all finished in 6 weeks, but who knows? Maybe it will work.
We are really looking forward to having him and his wife next-door. It will make such a difference to us having someone close-by that we can chat to. We have neighbours across the square from us, but they are only here on and off (they have a house in the USA and one in Italy as well…alright for some…!), so having Michel there full-time will be lovely.
The only down-side to this is the new baker being called Philipe. You see, I have a favourite joke that is just about the only one I can ever remember and now I’m going to be constantly thinking of it when I dash out for my pain et croissants in a morning. It goes:
What do you call a French sandal-maker? Philipe Flop!
I know, I’m sorry… 
** Update**
Apparently he’s not actually retiring. He has developed an allergy to flour! Bit of a problem for a baker, I suggested. So he’s taking some time off, hopefully to work on the house
Our rural idyll has had it’s peace shattered somewhat at the moment. Our future neighbour, Michel “la boulonger”, is renovating the house next door for his retirement. This means, sadly, that our beautiful little hamlet now resounds to the sound of JCBs, cement mixers and sledgehammers most of the day.
We will let him off though, as he is a nice man and he bakes very nice bread - my thrice-weekly french lessons with him as he hands over le pain et les croissants is always very welcome!
I am tempted to borrow the JCB one night to dig over our planned vegetable-plot :o)
