Living the cliche..............

Or 'A Year in Provence'....!

Now I understand. Sorry I missed the joke! I'm in a miserable mood this week!

Oh what I wouldn't give to be "living the cliche" greatnan.

Sounds like a lovely life to me.

No problem, Charlotta
Not everybody shares my ironical sense of humour but I wonder what it is about my clicheed afternoon that you would not enjoy
The sun, the lovely views, the wine? Or my choice of TV programme.

Sounds absolutely perfect Greatnan, cannot think of a better way to spend an afternoon.

I'm coming to have a look at that cliché!

I hope the weather is as good as it has been this week, Annobel!

It appears to be improving here, Greatnan. If the jetstream really is moving north, perhaps that augurs well for the Alps also.

It's not improving on the Fens. Deluge all afternoon. Looking after two GSs from tomorrow and was hoping to get them gardening now that they're turning into strapping lads but no doubt they'll arrive with all their electronic gadgetry and plug themselves in for the day.

Oh! Dammit! I'm heading for the Suffolk coast at the weekend with the family and their caravan. Oh well, at least it's only for a week. Like yours, my GC have their electronic entertainment. And I have my Kindle.

It's supposed to improve next week Annobel so hope you enjoy the Suffolk coast. I love Southwold and Walberswick.

I used to love bank holiday weekends in Suffolk when we lived in King's Lynn, long ago. We used to go to a small caravan site and do a lot of cycling in and around the Deben Valley.

How lovely it sounds greatnan these are the only times that I miss about living in Spain for all those years,but I am very happy where we live now and I am glad we had the experience, at least we won't get to later in life and say to ourselves "if only" will we.

Yes and these programmes always always always have someone who says, 'it ticks all the boxes' and 'wow' and 'that view!'.

When my DH says to me 'would you like a glass of wine on the terrace dear' I reply 'eff off'.

Panic set in in my specki world last week when I heard that a member of my choir was being followed by a film crew who are filming the next series of 'Little England' (an excruciatingly nasty mickey take of ex-pat life). Luckily they didn't turn up at our rehearsal and so we were spared.

Fortunately, I appear to be the only English person in my area, so I am not embarrassed by the types that appeared in Little England!
I believe in the saying 'Take what you want, and pay for it'.
The price I pay for living in such beautiful surroundings is almost total isolation and I doubt if it would suit most people for longer than a week or two. It suits me, though.

How far away is civilization, Greatnan? What do you doing about shopping etc? We are two miles from the nearest village and I have to get the pesky car out nearly every day.

I am only 2 kms from my little village which has a small supermarket, a hairdressers, bakery (of course!), two restaurants, a library, church, tourist office, mairie, junior school and post office. I can walk down to the village but it is a very steep walk back if I have shopping. The next village, about 6 kms away, has a pharmacy,banks, a market, another small Spar supermarket. There are large supermarkets within about 16 kms and I do a big shop in one of these about once a week.
There are hotels and restaurants at the ski stations, about 3 kms away.
There are four blocks of flats, each block designed to look like a large chalet - I hate those modern ski resorts with high rise concrete blocks.
I can get to several larger towns, such as Thonon, Annemasse and Evian les Bains within 20 minutes and there they have all the large retail parks for clothes and furniture (and Decathlon!) The ferries run across Lake Geneva to Lausanne in Switzerland.
There is no public transport past the flats,just the school bus, so a car is absolutely essential. I have the smallest 4 x 4, a Fiat Panda, to deal with the roads in winter.
There are lovely walks in every direction straight from the flat - some up the ski slopes, which at the moment are covered in wild flowers, some through the forests and by the rivers.
I managed to get a few photos on my profile but for several months I have not been able to upload any and the tech people don't seem able to fix it.
I am very excited because Annobel is coming to stay with me in September - my first visit from a member, apart from Juragran, but I am sure she won't be the last!

I am living the same life I would have been living if I had stayed in the UK but because of selling a house in an attractive village there and buying one in an atractive village here I am left with money to invest and help to boost my income which apart from this is the state pension.

The weather is a great deal better here. The rainfall is much like in the UK but it seems to be got over in a massive downpour much more often than not and days of drizzle are infrequent.

When I walk almost each day with good friend we often don't see a sole. That is a real plus versus the UK.

As for living the dream/cliche...............

Same with me, flowerfriend. I just couldn't afford anything half decent in a lovely area of the UK. I am always amazed when I watch programmes like 'Escape to the Country' and they show a tiny two-bedroomed stone cottage in the Yorkshire Dales, say, and the price is £250,000.

Meant to put soul.