Bonjour France, I'm

Here we go.....

Home Again

And so it begins! Pour me a glass of wine!

Third time lucky?

Part three or is it four?

No clue!

The only thing I do know is, that this time, I won’t leave until I have the 'forever home' in my sights! I know, I will regret that statement at some stage!

Can’t quite believe it! We are actually back in France, full time finally and mainly because this rental suddenly became available at the right time!

Serendipity?

Who knows but we are glad of the opportunity.

The journey here was pretty yuck really, I mean there’s nothing worse than getting up and showering at 1 am is there? I don’t think so, unless of course you are five and being carried to the car in your PJ’s, still fast asleep!

The tunnel was painless really, but then we slowly dragged the trailer all those miles, through all kind of weird weather. The sun didn’t really didn’t shine until we got near to our temporary residence, but it did shine and has done ever since.

We also got here rather later than expected, after a couple of short stops and one long one for his conference call. I wandered around a supermarket whilst he blabbed on and I’m really glad I did, as it was all so very familiar, a reminder that we have done this all before and we know exactly what to do!

Of course our dear Queen passed away on the afternoon we were packing the trailer, which made us both feel very sombre and was a significant reminder to us, to get the job done and enjoy every minute. The Queen had a really good innings and was singularly the most dedicated person we have both grown up with. Her devotion to family and country was her focus until her final hours and I suspect even with her last breaths, she would be concerned for others, her family and her subjects. She will be sorely missed and I really don’t believe you have to be a royalist to be sad at her passing. As I watched her age, I really wished she would retire and enjoy life more, but I suspect her job was her life and she enjoyed all the bits in between very much anyway.

Mostly, I have read positive tributes to her and our new King, but I’ve also read the most horrifying, evil comments online and they scares me. It’s high time these idiots were taken to task for their hate speech, frankly. The British press is the worst! It’s truly made up nonsense and very divisive. I’m all for free speech, but not for made up hateful speech!

I’m so utterly disgusted with the British press and their harassment of Meghan. This negative narrative needs changing and I’m really hoping our King and the Prince of Wales can find a roaming role for them and soon. None of us want to see a war within the heart of the monarchy and I can only believe it will damage the succession in the long run.

Meghan and Harry need an anchor and that anchor is their family. Harry was born a Prince and is Son to the King, brother to the future King and that will never change. He absolutely should have a place in the Royal family. We all know it wont be full time, but he could easily represent the Royal family abroad and return regularly for the charities and events he so loved. The world has moved on and we don’t really want to see the stiff upper lip anymore. I really felt uncomfortable at their treatment during the jubilee, I'm sure you did too? There are a lot of non working royals still in the family fold, its ridiculous to treat Harry and Meghan like outsiders! What I want to see, is a family that can patch up its differences and move on.

I do believe the monarchy needs to modernise and definitely needs to be more diverse to survive. I hope they do survive and thrive, but I also hope as time goes by, they take less of the public purse and stand on their own two feet with their great collective wealth. I feel that in times of hardship, the British public might not welcome such a show of wealth and privilege.

I’m a Diana girl! I grew up with her as my icon and I loved her dearly. I never really wanted to see Charles crowned and certainly didn’t want Camilla as my Queen. However, I have grown up and for all their faults, I understand his love for her and hers for him. What will be will be, but I will always have my very own Queen Of Hearts, Diana. I’m sure William and Harry will miss her now more than ever and I hope they come together to ensure her legacy goes on.

I’m very aware of all the good Charles has done to date and I now very much admire him and wish him well in his new role. I’m sure he will do his mother the Queen and us, proud. I doubt our future Kings, Charles, William or George won't have an easy rules, as the world is changing dramatically year on year and there will be pressure for them to change with it. However, I do feel that King Charles is very aware of the environment and climate change, which is very much needed. He has his part to play, but it will be tough balancing a 'quiet rule' with his want to have a say and influence the outcome.

Anyway, the next few months will be very much about the Queens legacy and the Kings coronation and we are so good at the pomp and ceremony in the UK, it’s our USP. The world will have its eyes on us, as we wheel out our finest colours to parade again.

I hope that our new Prime Minister gets a grip, but I’m already feeling the hopelessness of another tory government out of touch with the people. They are too frightened to tax the big winners of our society and it will be their downfall. Making ordinary, hard working folks, pay for the energy crisis for the next 20 years is a big mistake indeed. They have two years left and I predict there will never be another tory rule as long as I live.

There’s no doubt that we’ve had it all thrown at us, BREXIT, pandemic, drought, famine, energy crisis, cost of living crisis and now we’ve lost our beloved Queen. It’s one blow after the other. Our rulers need to remember what happens to those at the top, when they pay little heed to the needs of the people and soon, otherwise we will enter a new age of discontent, strikes and riots. History will repeat itself because the lessons learnt are ignored.

I for one am glad to live in France where the government has capped the cost of living rise with a real cap not a pretend one! We have already noticed the difference when filling up the car here and food shopping certainly felt more reasonable, cost wise.

So, our French adventure begins again! It’s three years in January since we returned from Canada, vowing to make it work! It didn’t works sadly, but something inside us keeps trying. We lost two years to COVID, I know and we weren’t the only ones. I guess now we are more flexible and not putting ourselves under too much pressure.

However, the Wreck renovation is at a standstill again, until we can find a reliable carpenter and a plasterer. What will be will be. I know it will be finished eventually, when that will be is a complete mystery at the moment.

Our new rental is very sparsely furnished and so we will be bring a lot of our own stuff here, which I really wanted to avoid for such a short rental. Saying that, the house has a great vibe and we will be comfortable here whist we wait our turn. The village is very peaceful, the weather is beautiful, so what more could we want?

We are determined to relax for a few weeks before heading back to the UK again to get the dogs and start the move proper. I detest packing and moving, so I’m opting out of a lot of this one and instead protecting my health this time. He can insist on using his lorry to move if he likes, but he will have to get help this time, no negotiating this time.

I’m home and I’m happy, so is he. It turns out that we are both nicer people in France.

He's shouting at Alexa whilst trying to set her up, so I best go and make a cup of coffee with an extra shot of Gumption!

D x