A tale of two “cities”

“It was the best of times, it was the worst of times”

An appropriate quote from A Tale of Two Cities, by Charles Dickens, as we swapped Hong Kong for Parisot, a village of 600 (+2) people in South West France 12 months ago today. This time last year we said our goodbyes to our dearest friends in our local pub in Mui Wo with the promise of French holidays and the hope of being closer to our old friends and family in the UK and France. We all thought Covid was going to be long gone by now…….

As we look back on the last 12 months it’s hard not to feel lucky at the accidental good fortune of having decided to leave when we did, and sadness at what we have still to do, to justify starting a new life in deepest France, or “la France profonde”. But we are getting there……and green shoots are appearing.  

Having chosen our village much by accident, as you will know, we upped sticks from Beziers (where the accent was just too much, even for me to handle) and settled at Coutillard with our now friends Nick and Pippa. We lived in a wonderful little cabin on their estate and held out for “le confinement” as best we could, with no access to bars, restaurants or any other establishments that we may have been known to frequent.

We had our moments. Nicola and I had been used to being apart for work, business trips and different social circles. We did 3 months together 24/7, to such an extent that the best idea we had between us, would be to go shopping separately……simply to give us something to talk about when the other got in, a couple of hours later. Still, as a couple we thrived and came out so much stronger as a unit. Something which we both take pride in.

Moving into the house in February was amazing. And a huge learning curve to say the least. It occupied us no end and the sense of ownership and delight at building our “forever home” made us forget many of the challenges of the Covid world. We were busy again, and had a lot of work on our hands as it hadn’t been lived in for over 2 years. With a little help from our friends, we were well on the way to setting up our home.

I was quick to offer free labour out, learning very early on that I knew nothing about the new skills I would be required to have to maintain the house. Those that accepted soon learnt that the free labour would come with 0% knowledge or benefits other than shifting piles of stuff from one place to another. I have, however, been party to building a swimming pool, a car jack for a garage, a petanque court (boules) and waterproofing the walls of a house redecoration. I also now know how to make cement, shoulder a piece of wood, house a screw and foot a ladder…….! Albeit, my biggest skill seems to be moving 5 tonnes of gravel from A to B……but I’m slowly up-skilling.

Since “le deconfinement”, life has got better and better. We’ve been able to explore some of the amazing countryside around us, on the boarder of l’Aveyron, Tarn et Garonne and the Lot. We’ve managed to see one of my favourite French singers in concert in Nimes, Francis Cabrel, and got as far as Bordeaux to buy some wine from a vineyard. We also took an amazing drive to my family home in Burgundy via the A75 (the world’s arguably most beautiful motorway!). I’ve also got a firm grasp on “adult” French and can now deal with adult things like car insurance and health care….! Nicola’s French is extraordinary and continues to astound me at the speed with which she has picked it up. If I’m not in earshot, she will make calls to order all sorts of parcels to be delivered and I’m continually impressed by how many of those online goods she knows the words for! She’s also mastered the art of getting close enough to “le peage” to put the ticket and money in without getting out of the car.

That said, we’ve had difficult times, and had to make some journeys we wish we hadn’t had to make. Nicola, not least for the passing of her step-mother and a return trip to Scotland. It’s amazing to think that we moved here to be much closer to friends and family, but that Covid has added so many layers that make it almost harder to see these people. I was fortunate to get Mum out to see us, after almost 3 years of not having done so…..spurred on by our friend Nick letting us know that his Mum was doing the trip. Mum had a lovely time and it was great have her see the house. and catch up. I too, did get to see my Dad for his 70^th, with all of my brothers together, for the first time in over 10 years……and enjoy a go-karting session where I proudly came last. Speed isn’t everything!

With the visit of great friends Guy & Vic, the stay of a colleague and the overnight trip of an old HK friend on the way back from Portugal, the world seems to feel like it’s crawling back to an old-normal. We have to show our passe sanitaire to go into restaurants and bars, cinemas and museums, but we can do it. We are free to turn off a Departmental and explore a new village or make a plan to eat out. Summer hasn’t threatened us much this year but we’ve enjoyed many an apero in our garden looking out on to our village from below. I’ve even got involved with the local business community, as chief translator (unless they use big words!)

One year in, I suppose we thought that we would have welcomed more of our friends & family from across the world. It’s the reason why we did this, after all. We wanted to be the stop-off for all of you reading this, in France. We wanted to catch up with all those of you who have been out of our lives, since moving abroad. We wanted to host, entertain, welcome and offer our home to you for holidays (in your private quarters, no-less). But we are not there yet……although we firmly believe it is on the way. And the offer still stands!! It’s also given me the chance to get on top of the garden, which appears to grow its own variety of rocks and stones as well as more brambles than I wish to see this time next year.

We’ve been so lucky, however, to have found our friendship circle here. Some wonderful people, who, as our expat-Hong Kong life taught us, look after each other through thick and thin. Our work-life is going well and we are loving our home. http://www.yourboard.co is growing and opening up new offices across the world and Nicola is involved with some fantastic companies advising on leadership development. The next 12 months offer us some hope of seeing more of you and welcoming our families here to Belvert. We also look forward to Christmas in Scotland, that little bit closer than a flight from Hong Kong.

And meanwhile, whilst waiting for you to get to us, I’ll keep going in making my bench. A personal mission to teach myself woodwork. I’ve got a very nicely sanded plain of oak…..but I’m still a long way from figuring out how to put the legs and back-rest on it. I will, however, have done so for the glass of wine we look forward to sharing with you soon, but the joints might not be shouldered, as a HK friend might have intimated. It’s bloody strong stuff.

Adieu et a bientot.