BEAUREGARD…The Blog
….France,Family,Friends….Beware of Ryanair!
I booked the tickets for our out-bound journey through Ryanair today and although the flights have gone up and then down to a very reasonable price, I can’t help feeling a little hood-winked!
The online order form is such that if you don’t want insurance, you are told to select from the drop-down menu. The drop-down menu is not easy to find! I then found it and chose the appropriate ‘no insurance required’ choice and clicked. Only when I get to the end and have completed, do I find that I needed to do that with each person….seems pretty obvious now, but it is not at all clear on the form. It would appear that there is no way of going back to amend choices made earlier on, unless I am really stupid and missing something , somewhere. So, Diddy and myself now have insurance, whether we want it or not!
I am also smarting at the baggage selection, even without baggage, I am charged £2 for ‘priority’ boarding…there seemed to be no other option. So now The Boy can go on before me and Diddy to select our seats.
I am especially annoyed as I have been through this before and vowed I would double check everything first, but even with prior knowledge, it is a process that seems to be deliberately complicated and misleading.
The flights may be cheap but the add-ons just keep rising!
Here is a breakdown of the flight expenses:
- £29.97 Flights (cheap as chips!)
- £80.20 Taxes, fees and charges…including credit card fee
- £11.40 Aviation/WCHR levy…whatever that is!
- £10 Insurance
- £131.57 Total paid
See what I mean…hoodwinked!
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Wobbly moment number 2
I had wobbly moment number 2 today….handing in aforementioned letter to the school secretary!
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My first wobbly moment!
I knew it had to happen eventually, but I had my first wobbly moment last week.
With a firm date in mind now, I thought it would be a good idea to start some draft letters. I began with Mr Filby, the flute teacher, moved onto Gwendoline from French club, next onto Brown Owl and was doing really well. But not long into the letter for school, I could feel prickles in my eyes and a lump in my throat. I had to walk away from it for a few hours!
Just putting into words the definate date of departure was bad enough…it’s been a long time coming; but then writing my thanks and appreciation was just too much! I realised what a great little school we have been part of for 3 years. I found it a really difficult letter to write in fact.
I shall really miss the teachers, I shall miss the mums, I shall miss the children that I have seen grow up over the years, I shall miss the social events, such as the Christmas Fayre, the Summer Fete etc and the little extras that come with a lovely pro-active school.
But, all in all, I can’t/mustn’t dwell…..decisions have been made and life moves on. I am moving onto another chapter that will be our future memories. But I am grateful for the memories that we will have from this school.
I’ll be off again in a minute if I keep this up!
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Back in Business
Ok, I’m back now, ready to roll! Lots has happened, so bear with me as I update you all!
We had a great time in the Lakes. Diddy and The Boy spent a few days with Daddy in Cheshire, which meant I managed to grab a few lie-ins! Yep, in bed until 9:30 one morning! Elsie Marley…eat your heart out!
There has been dissapointment however with the house sale. Our buyer, who is a cash buyer, has had her buyer drop out, which means the house of cards has collapsed. So after surveys and searches we are back to square one. The agent has suggested we just re-market the property and not hang around for her. So I have spent today clearing up again. We will all have to start being clean and tidy again….never easy with two kids…not mine anyway!
But the good news is that we are going anyway. We figured that even though a buyer wouldn’t be difficult to find, the paraphernalia that goes with it will maybe put completion back until September. Not ideal when there are children to start at school and settle in.
Billy Jenkins has been booked for the 4th July, 4 weeks tomorrow and we will more than likely fly out, either the Thursday or a few days later….yikes!! Better get my act together!
Plum and Peter go on Friday but had a shock when the gearbox went on the car…..£1,600 worth of gearbox! Must have been all the rip-snorting I’ve been doing in it around Barnet!
Good thing is that I am now over my rabbit-in-the-head- lights blip and have started on my lists again. Hoorah!
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Chillin’ in Ulverston
Please do not abandon hope! I am not ignoring you, I have not given up totally on Beauregard The Blog…I’m just, well, away!
Yep, we are away for a week in the Lake District for half-term. Lots of fresh air and sheep and so far, no rain! What more could we want?!
See you soon…..I shall leave you with the view from my bedroom.
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Let’s hear it for lists…..
It has been a while since I wrote anything in Beauregard the Blog and for that I apologise! I seem to have dried up. I can’t really blame it on a hectic week as it’s been fairly quiet here….boring and pedestrian almost. Maybe that’s the problem….
Actually, one problem has been WordPress. I seem to have a bug which, when I go to save my post, deletes it. Very annoying the first time it happens, infuriating when it happens again and again…….
A few things of note have happened.
Plum has now officially finished work and is currently on a three week countdown on leaving for France. It must be very strange for her, she has worked within the same industry for 20 odd years….since she left school in fact. I don’t think the full impact has hit her yet….it will!
The house was surveyed a week ago and we are awaiting further news. This house selling is an odd phenomenon…it’s all go one minute and things happen at the speed of light, it then grinds to a halt and there’s nothing can be done! It’s quite frustrating as I am unable to plan much until I have the completion date. Seeing as contracts haven’t yet been exchanged, I have no idea when that may be.
Still, at least I am now able to start writing lists….even that eluded me for a while. I have lists for everything, even list ideas for more lists! Is list making a woman-thing? Or is it just me? I can’t deny, it does help. I have even tried MindMaps…..I’ll give most things a go, but I always come back to my scraps of paper in the end. There’s something very comforting and steadying about a list in the midst of turmoil and chaos! And you can’t beat the feeling when you get to cross something off….lovely!
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There but for the grace of God…
There are times when I worry about our future in France (quite a few times, as it happens!) Our adventure is not for the faint hearted. Will I make a success of the gite business? Will I make enough money to live on? Will we starve? Will my children be walking barefoot to school in Winter?
Here though, is an article packed with relevant information on advertising and marketing that I may find useful in the future.
Mental note: Remember to keep hold of the cardboard packing boxes as valuable advertising space. Could be useful in the future…..
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Feeling Thirsty?
Take a look at this chaps…..there’s progress for you!
Is that bright red and turquoise water specimen for real?
No wonder the Chinese River dolphin is now thought to be extinct…
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The best-laid plans of mice and men….
I had a bit of a panic on a few weeks ago. It involves the lovely view that you can see above and plans for a golf course.
Mum bumped into friends, who live in the commune, in Shopi and was asked if she had heard the news. ‘What news?’, she asked, ‘The plans to build a huge golf course at Beauregard’, came the reply.
Well, we hadn’t heard the news, as it happened! Could this be the best or the worst thing to happen to us?!
We knew that the farm opposite was for sale and of course, my imagination went into overdrive. I had images of electric golf carts, a hotel and country club on our doorstep, with car-parks left, right and center, flying golf balls and a 12 foot fence. This is after 4 years of landscaping and general mayhem.
Not exactly the rural idyll that we are so fond of.
I know there are worse things that can be plonked on your doorstep, like a pig farm or abattoir, for instance, but I must admit to being a bit, well, concerned, to say the least.
However, after a quick chat in the local village bar with Mums friend, it would appear that there are plans for a golf course, only it’s closer to the leisure lake and the village and won’t impinge on our hill-top solitude.
Phew!
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Keeping in Touch
One of the reasons for writing a blog, is to keep in touch with family and friends in the UK.
With this in mind I have downloaded Skype, which enables free ‘phone’ calls via the Internet…very handy! I have also registered with Meebo, which allows messaging.
However, I am unable to place the Skype button that I want onto my sidebar, due to WP not supporting java-script. I have managed to put a different button on , but I’m not sure if it even connects.
And as for Meebo…I have all but given up! After repeated attempts, going back a long time now, I am simply unable to log-on, which is vital to do any messaging. I have registered and have even managed to place the conversation box in the side-bar, but it really is useless. I shall leave it there in the hope that I can sort out the problem…but it is so frustrating!!
Plus, I seem to be having problems with WP too. If I forget to save a new post almost immediately, which is easy to do, when I do try to save it, it disappears….aargh!!
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