Vikki woke early, nervous and excited. Today was the big day. In a few hours we would driving down South, on our way to sign the contract. By lunchtime the French house would be hers.
Running downstairs she encountered the strange sensation of water underfoot. Weird. It didn't rain last night. Hang on, this can't be a rain leak, there is too much water, the whole lounge floor is wet underfoot! Where is it coming from? Switch the light on. It appears to be coming from the bathroom.
Since arriving in France at Vikki's parents house we had been washing clothes on a daily basis. Last night was the final wash of a few last minute things. The washing machine pipe appeared to have come lose somewhere, splurging water all over the bathroom floor and into the lounge.
Operation WIPE UP began as soon as the leak was discovered. I came downstairs to help mop the bathroom and lounge floors dry. It was not the start to the day we had expected. After doing our best to correct the damage that had been done in the night there was barely time to have a cup of tea and pack our bags. We had to leave as soon as possible if we wanted to be there on time.
Undeterred by the latest crisis, we pressed on and began loading our final bags into the car. Bags and boxes had to be removed so that I could crawl over into the very back seat with one of the dogs. There was barely room to breath. I built a wall of defensive boxes around 'Biscuit' and myself and hoped they wouldn't come tumbling down to crush us if we swerved or braked too hard. If I sat at an angle there was just about enough room to squeeze my legs in with a dog wedged on top of me. Oliver took the second dog, Poppy and a few final bags were rammed into the boot. It didn't look like the back door would shut but we just kept on pushing and squeezing and slamming the car boot door until it finally submitted.
Vikki was keen to drive and get rid of some of her nervous energy. We set off in the early, cold, damp hours of dawn. Disaster had struck again, first the vomiting bug for Oliver, then the Audi, now the washing machine, but we were finally on our way.
Alexander chose us a podcast lecture to listen to on the journey. So far we had listened to the reason the American measuring system will never change despite the rest of the world going metric. We had learnt about the invention of women's Sports bras. I can't remember what the particular choice of talk for this significant day was. We were just under 2 hours into the journey and I was battling boxes, trying to ignore cramped legs and knees and fighting to create a little more breathing space in the back.
As I watched huge freighter lorries roaring down the highway the thought did cross my mind that if anything hit us, the dog and I would be mincemeat. Not because of the impact from outside, but from the huge pile of luggage and boxes around us that would crush us. I sent up a little prayer.
"Thank-you for watching over us Lord and keeping us safe."
Literally minutes later there was a clunk, it sounded like something had snapped and got caught in the rear wheel arch. Vikki braked and pulled off the highway. This wasn't an oil light that could be ignored. It sounded like something had broken under the car. Alexander distributed fluorescent visability safety jackets, carefully placed the warning triangle behind the car and ushered everyone including the dogs away from the road and over into the ditch. Huge lorries were flying past at high speed and it was beginning to drizzle. Fortunately we had pulled over very close to an emergency phone. Someone made a call and let the French road authorities know we had broken down. Alexander went to take a closer look under the car and call the RAC.
The reality began to dawn on us. We were going no-where. How would we get to the Notaires office now? If only we had the 2 cars, the Audi could carry us to the contract signing. Should we call the house removals truck that was already on its way from England and ask them to pick us up? Maybe the RAC would send out a man and it would all be fixed in an hour?
Standing at the side of the road I looked up at the clouds and thought, at least it isn't raining. But then it began to rain!! What more could possibly go wrong? Had the whole effort been in vain, were we about to lose the house? Cold and wet, standing miserably at the side of a busy highway I realised that actually a lot more could go wrong and this time it might be very serious. I imagined the next thing would be one of the dogs running out into the road and getting hit. Or a truck could veer off the road and run us all down. Someone could actually get very seriously injured out here.
Something that Jesus said was riding around in my mind ... The thief comes to rob, to steal and to destroy.
But I have come to give you life, and life in abundance. John 10:10
It came to me that we were not experiencing life in abundance but rather a long line of things going wrong and it was time that this onslaught was brought to a halt. Something was messing around with us and I was not going to let circumstances take one more strike at us because next time it might really hurt! I took Samuel's hand and told him to speak to the rain and tell it to stop, which he did to amuse me. But it worked. Then I gathered everyone together and asked if I could pray, I asked God to keep us safe, to turn this situation around and help us resolve the situation we now found ourselves in.
A few minutes later the French road authorities arrived and not much later a huge tow truck. They would take us to the nearest garage. The estate agent had been informed that we had broken down. The removals truck on its way from England was informed but had not offered to pick us up. The RAC were not interested in helping as technically we weren't returning to England any time soon and had broken free from Angleterre's grip. The French were much more helpful, our car was quickly placed on the back of the tow truck (leaving the dogs inside which was slightly worrying as they might panic and throw themselves out the window or throw up or poo everywhere!)
But despite being shaken and sad, we were safe and dry, sitting comfortably in the drivers cabin and were quickly delivered to a garage about 15 minutes down the road.
After some negotiations in Franglais, the car was checked in and we were informed it would take a few days to fix. The mechanic came out from under the car with a broken coil. We appeared to have overloaded the car and broken the suspension! The garage offered to rent us a car to get us down to the Notaries' office. We grabbed a few basic items and transferred them to the new vehicle forgetting the cool box which we later realised would be gently heating up and the contents fermenting whilst it sat at the garage for the next few days. Ironically all the essential stuff we had stuffed into the car was now not needed. We left behind the kettle, the football goal posts, the hoover and mop amongst other things.
(The broken suspension coil)
Looking at the clock we realised that we would never make it to the Notaires on time. Another phone call to an angry Dutch estate agent. No, they couldn't delay the meeting until later. The Notaire was busy. How about Friday? Yes, we could reschedule for Friday. What about the removals truck with all the stuff from the house? Could it offload all the furniture or would they be turned around and sent back to England without being able to deliver? The estate agent said she would let them in to unload but under no circumstances were we allowed to stay in the house tonight! The owners had been homeless for more than 3 months. W would have to suffer the same condition for one night.
Which is how we ended up staying for the night in a pilgrims hostel in the hillside town of Montcuq on 'the Camino de Santiago Pilgrims trail.' We needed a cheap place that would allow us to stay with 2 dogs for one night and we wanted to be in the town where we would be signing the contract in the morning.
Maria the owner kindly took us in, offering us one room with 5 beds. Since many pilgrims like to journey with their dogs, it was also agreed that we could bring our two indoors. A brave move by Maria since our English dogs immediately cornered her French cat in the kitchen and proceeded to torment the cat until it retired into the garden.
I sat drinking water and lemon juice with 3 pilgrims who had just walked all day on the trail. I wondered how far they were aiming to walk. There are trails all through France, from the Alps at one end, through Paris and down into the Pyrenees and over the border into Spain. I think the Camino trail finishes at a coastal city in Northern Spain where the bones of Jesus' disciple James are buried in the Cathedral. The trail is marked with a shell symbol, where you see the shell you know there is a welcome to pilgrims. I was too tired to fumble through my French repertoire to engage in real conversation. I just sat drinking my water and listening as they chattered away in French. I caught the occasional word. It seemed to be a conversation about the weather and where to eat later on.
Photo credit Mel Soriano - Let all who are thirsty come : Pilgrims blog ( click on photo above for the post on 'walking in the kingdom of heaven.' )
After such a traumatic day I joined the cat outside, sitting on some stone steps that led down into the garden. I closed my eyes and enjoyed the late afternoon noise of birds chattering and insects humming, catching the last rays of sunshine and basking in the warm fragrant currents of air. I was sitting under a grape vine that proceeded to drip sweet sticky water onto my head which I concluded was due to the fact that Spring had really fully arrived and the sap was currently rising in all the trees and vines. I took it as a sign of blessing. A sprinkling of happiness from a flourishing life giving vine. I looked out over the valley. It was too good an afternoon to waste hiding inside.
Dinner was served at 7pm, Maria and a weather worn but handsome pilgrim joined us. He had walked for 3 months last year, hiking all the way from Paris to the Pyrenees. Now he was returning to see the most beautiful part of the route in Spring. He chatted with Maria about life in Paris where she had also lived. She said it is a city for the young or the old and wealthy. You could stay up all night if you knew where all the best bars and parties were. She said she preferred Toulouse where the people were more normal. Not so arrogant or proud. She had also lived in Montpellier, but her favourite place to live was here. She said the further North you went, the more uptight the people became.
We had soup and bread followed by chicken. For beverages there was a jug of red wine and a jug of water. Oliver was feeling sick and was offered a crushed painkiller stuffed into a chocolate eclair. Samuel tried out his French on Maria and the pilgrim, the pilgrim politely tried out his English. A salad of plain lettuce was served at the end of the meal which I found very unusual.
It was all very strange but it felt like we were finally at the end of our pilgrimage. Just one night to sleep off the exhaustion of the past week and then to the Notaires office in the morning.
After dinner I took the dogs for a walk and felt the peace of the place. It was wonderful. The hills around me seemed more like the foothills of the Alps.
(Montcuq - where we spent the night in the hostel)
Vikki spent our last night sleeping on the sofa to keep the dogs from scratching at our door. It was not ideal but we had made it! We left the hostel thanking Maria for her kindness. In town we sat outside eating 'pain au chocolat' at a local bakery, drinking coffee and watching the waitress flirt with the young man working on the recycling truck. Alexander and Vikki headed off to the Notaires while I walked around a local lake with Oliver and Samuel and the dogs.
(Breakfast outside the bakery in Montcuq)
(Exploring the lake while Aly & Vikki sign the contract)
Quietly and easily it was finalised. Just before mid-day the lengthy contract was signed and sealed. We headed over to the new house jubilant, opened the cranky gate and then the kitchen door. We flung open the doors and opened every shutter to let in light and air. We brushed out thousands of dead flies and ladybirds. We were stunned, happy and exhausted and it was finally time to sit down and open that bottle of bubbly!
FIN