Derniere journee en Provence - faire le menage!

Today we had to get the house to rights for Christine's and Lucien's retour. Their housekeeper, Catherine, was due in in the afternoon to clean the downstairs area (sleeping area including en-suite bathroom suite! (Our bags are not heavy enough but Jim does not have shopping on the agenda so I may have to seriously consider  the duty free). We were quite happy to have the chores halved and so I packed and Jim weighed and, other than last minute stuff, we were sorted. All that remained was upstairs (kitchen, dining room and living area) for tidying, dusting, vacuuming and washing - no bother to Jim! Actually I would take personal responsibility for the kitchen area as I have found in the past that Jim has developed a blindness for anything that is behind doors -cupboards, oven, microwave, fridge, dishwasher etc.

As the car is parked a bit from the house, we set off to put 2 of the cases in the car and met the old gentleman from across the way (who had said "La, la" the day we arrived, pointing to the house) and he was very surprised that we were leaving. We had a long conversation and I understood most of what he was saying despite his very definite Provencal accent. Earlier, Jim had had a conversation with Geoff. He had no difficulty in understanding as Geoff and his wife Pauline are both from England and have lived here for 10 years  Then, as we closed the boot of the car, one of the women who says "bonsoir" to us most evenings as we park and head home, wondered if we were leaving. I explained that we were going tomorrow but were trying to get organised. She told us that she is going to Paris at the end of the week. She and her husband spend 6 months in La Motte and 6 months in Paris.

Later, Jim was returning from Vival, the local supermarket, with the baguette for lunch (Boulangerie is closed on Monday) and the Franco-Brazilian neighbour, whom we have bonjoured and waved to over the weeks, tried to make conversation with him. Fionnuala to the rescue! To be told that Catherine est malade and cannot come to faire the menage aujourd'hui. I said,, "Pas de probleme, moi je ferai le menage!". Silently I was thinking, "Merde, c'est moi qui dois faire le menage!". And so, apart from some of it, Jim has to faire le menage!

Anyway, all is sorted. Jim is in his working clothes and I have put the finishing touches to the list of all that has to be done before we leave. At least it keeps Jim from wondering where the boarding passes are and where he put his passport! As for me, I have a book to finish!

The sun has gone down on our  Provencal trip and we have a full moon promising further new  and exciting journeys!