Maison à vendre

Five years after first spotting the house, a lots of adventures, its time to sell L'Abeille.

Contact us directly or visit the agent we have chosen to go with.

Click the link to find out more.

http://www.frenchpropertylinks.com/frenchpropertyextradetails.asp?property=CA198000E&site=rel

Motor Bikes drive up Avenue de Narbonne

Alan plays in Montouliers

House For Sale - Cruzy

A collection of snaps of the inside our lovely home.

What do you do if you find a horse?

Tonight, we were getting ready for bed when Alan saw a horse trot by the house. Nothing odd in that, but this was 11pm and the horse was all alone.

We popped outside to have a look.

Click on the video to see what happened next.

What do you do if you find a horse?

Later, and many video clips later, the horse is tied up, then  snaps the rope, then runs off. Just when we thought it was gone for good, another larger horse comes running up the road.

Eventually, half the neighbours are out and the firemen too.

It was all like a scene from Little House on the Prairie!

Well, off to bed.

Auchan and Catherine Deneuve

 

I spent almost an hour in traffic around Beziers today. There is a lot of road building going on and many drivers do not seem to have seen the large signs pointing out the disruption. My journey would not have taken 15 minutes but the number of cars bumping into each other was amazing.  So, I pulled off and visited a number of shops with nothing in mind to buy. I picked up two large bottles of mango iced-tea in Casino but after standing in a queue for 5 minutes, I put them down and moved onto Auchan

(Auchan Website - showing off this weeks bargans!!!)

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Last time we were in there, we had to go to customer services as we had been overcharged. This time, it happened again. I had a buy-one-get-one-free pudding and I was charged for both. I queued behind two very angry men who too had been overcharged. Turns out all our products were on offer but their tills were not registering the discounts. So, 100s of people were shopping in the store and being overcharged. Oh well… guess it’s back to Carrefour in Narbonne…. where they overcharge us too.

CarreFour - Largest Supermarket Chain ... after Wallmart... but they were first

I got home and just could not think what to watch. I wanted something new. So, I put on the Catherine Deneuve film, 8 Femmes. I have actually seen the film before, but not with English subtitles. Boy was it a different experience. There are a few nice songs to help fill the time. Here are two clips, one with Catherine Deneuve singing along, and one of her singing all on her own. I

if you would like to sing along, buy the DVD as the words appear along the bottom when the subtitles are up… its just like karaoke.

  Lets start with the rather Boppie  T’es Plus Dans Le Coup Papa

and now for the slower one.

Catherine Deneuve signing  Toi Jamais

Dates for your diary

 

During the Bank Holiday, lets pop along to Bize for the first Vied-Grenier on the 1st May.

 
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Now for those who like comics (it’s an acceptable hobby in France), there are two days of exhibitions, talks, films and of course, comics,

2nd and 3rd May in Gruissan. No idea where but the poster shows the old tower… so try the centre of the old town first.

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Well its open season here in France. The restaurants are opening, the ice-cream parlours polishing up the machines and the tourist shops are stocking their shelves.

16th May in Ginestas they are participating in the Féte du Pays.

18:00 sees the fanfares begin with the tango.

19:30 aperitifs are on offer at the Vins du Café de Marcelin.

22:00 here is a concert by Les Barbeaux Truités

http://www.payscorbieresminervois.fr/ for more information (note: the site is difficult to navigate).

 

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Houses in Cruzy For Sale

Well there are quite a few properties for sale in the village at the moment. Renting is available too for a few others, including a large place right in the heart of the village which we watched being refurbished over the winter.

Click on the photo which takes you to the estate agents site with prices, interior photos etc.

Now this four bedroom house is on the main road into the village and has a huge underground garage, a large terrace and and courtyard. You need to drive though the courtyard to get your car into the garage. The views must be spectacular as the terrace and the rear of the house face the hills and vineyards with very little in the way.

 

This property is on the small square at the back of the village and used to belong to the church here in Cruzy. The house was being used for choir practices and meetings. The grounds are secluded and green. There is plenty of parking in the square, and if you like parades and commemorative ceremonies, the house is ideally placed as the war memorial is just outside the front door. Alan thought the house was lovely, but he did not get to look around as he was there to play a little jazz.

 

This large four bedroom house is on for 183,000 Euros but if you look around, you can get it for slightly MORE at 195,000 Euros!

This is a large three bedroom house and one of the first as you entre Cruzy. The front of the house is always in sun and the front has a nice garden, a few outbuildings and plenty of parking behind the gates. The back of the house has a small garden with mature trees and an assortment of garden fixtures… including a well (we think).

These three properties are available from the same site, but please search around before contacting an agent. Prices vary from agent to agent as can be demonstrated with the last house.

CruzyHouse.com is not affiliated in any way to any estate agent. The information is purely for content and of interest.

Magazines and Coffee

Well our bar closed down just after Christmas. It reopened in October last year having been closed for a few months.

Then, this month, the newsagent closed down… but…

It reopened inside the Bar, and now its possible to buy a newspaper, a coffee and a lottery ticket all at the same time. We planned to buy a coffee once a week from the bar when we buy our local newspaper. Of course, you have to talk though the bar to buy your newspaper or lottery ticket,  so if the place is full it can make the trip a little daunting.

So far, so good.

The building has a great array of advertising including - Tobac, Chez David (former owner) Bar du Doux Mondes (the name of the bar) Midi Libre (the l0cal paper) and Lotto all over the doors.

Diggers

They arrived early one morning. The sounds travelled up from the bridge crossing the rather full and dirty river.

Diggers, trucks and men with spades. They began to dig up the pavements (I mean to say, a mixture of pavement, private paths, gravel and the odd slab of concrete), and across neighbours’ drives they came. We thought a first it was new water as a chap knocked on the door asking to know the location of our water meter (just inside the front door should you need to know) and off he went. Turns out it is new cabling bringing taking the telephone wires that straggle the village underground, and boosting out broadband connection. Unlike some villages though, Cruzy have let them install the cables first, and then, joy of all joys, we will be getting new pavements and new tar on our roads. We drive though Ouveillan with envy as they have nice pavements, lots of parking and smooth roads.

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Cruzy to Ouveillan

We have been told it will take 8 months, so we shall live though another summer of drilling and trucks… just like our first when our neighbours' builders drilled and played loud music, and trucks re-doing the road from St Chinian to St Pons thundered though all day. We shall be at the beach if you need us.

Update Continued

Well, the rain continues to fall from the sky and from our neigbour's roof (they don't have guttering) and our little courtyard and drains have been unable to cope. Our bathroom and hallway have been taking in water at an alarming rate. Every hour we had to mop the bathroom; If we forgot, we ended up mopping the hallway too.

The rain has brought with it wind and hale. The nice thing is the car looks clean.

Mum and Dad joined us for Easter Sunday in Cruzy and thanks to their gifts, and a wonderful food parcel from Bob and Barbara (of Cadbury's chocolates including Crunchies) we had a great day...


Our friend Mike joined the choir in Capestang, which recently changed it name from the Alley Cats to La Chorale Internationale du Capestang (in a bid to be more inclusive). The concert was held in the large church that dominates the town and it was our first visit. The concert was very pleasant and we met up with a lot of people we have come to know during our adventures in the region.

Alan joined Monique and two singers (Renée and Sheila) to perform an Easter concert (Pergolesi's Stabat Mater) in the tiny village of La Cornette, which is very close to the medieval village of Minerve. Afterwards the village hosted a mini feast for the participants and audience. It was a lovely night; the wine flowed as the food was delivered in stages throughout the evening,and the company (including two new friends from the village) was great fun.

Catching Up

Just the other day we went cycling off into the fields round Cruzy and discovered this old stone sign on the side of the road under a tree. Apparently it was erected in 1884, just one year after our house was built in Cruzy.

In March we spent a great deal of time in Montpellier. One night we ate at a lovely restaurant in the heart of the old town. Bistrot d'Alco. For desert I treated myself to desert consisting of a small coffee, a crème brûlée, a vanilla fairy cake, and chocolate muffin. I asked for the coffee to be a Grande Crème (Coffee with milk) and I got a large cup of whipped cream!

The first Veid-Greniers/Brocante in the village was planned for the 14th March. We have boxes of stuff that could easily be sold on at one of these car-boot events. Unfortunately, the first one was not for us as we were both away. I heard it was a good gathering and lots was sold.

I love looking at old road signs and old adverts that cover the length and breadth of France. I have been building a small collection of photos and this Total advert is in Montady, but advertising the Total petrol station in Capestang, some 7km away. The station is now run by Intermarche, the supermarket chain.

Valentine weekend we drove though Maureilhan and just had to stop the car. There on the side of the road was a camel. There was nothing for it but to take a snap and wonder about its future... the zebra crossing was about a mile further back!

A full month after the storms that his the area, we went for a stroll along the Canal du Midi close to Cruzy and were surprised to see so many trees down, many blocking the canal itself.

Time for Spring Cleaning and we began by allowing Spring to see our courtyard. Our friend Roger came round with his very long ladder and chainsaw and he promptly took the tops off the trees... about 10 foot for each tree. The wood was then chopped into smaller logs that will keep us warm for months.

Along came February and I managed to get a stiff neck... old age! Anyway, we drove to the doctor in Cressan, who was very kind, and she suggested a little physiotherapy. She recommended a guy in Puisserguier. Well he pulled and pushed and even cricked my neck. Well, if I had not laughed, I am sure I would have cried. In the end, we spent 45 Euros on pills and cream. Ibrobruphen tables of 1000mg - that's the equivalent of 5 tablets from Boots.

There is nothing like a good Christmas Concert in a church... in the middle of January. Alan played along with violin, Monique tinkled on the piano and the Cruzy Choir (Les Cigalous) sang beautifully. Afterwards everyone was invited into the home of one of the singers were we all enjoyed a little Muscat and home baked cakes.

Driving from Cruzy to Argelliers I had to stop the car as a huge flock of birds flew around the car. There were thousands of the little dark birds and eventually I had to hoot the horn to create a route though.

In January the sun came out and we headed for the beach. The sky was a lovely blue and the beach was covered in debris. Mainly bamboo and wood, so we packed the car with as much as we could carry and spent the next month using it a kindle for the fire.

Update

We have been busy having adventures and will update the blog as the photos download.

The Post Office

The future of the small post office in Cruzy has been a constant source of conversation here in the village.

The word on the street was that the service would come to  an end and we would all be forced to travel to Quarante for our stamps.

With the threat looming, the village and the Mayor mobilised, and at the end of March we all stood around in the cold in the Village Square to celebrate the saving of the Post Office (albeit with reduced opening hours). There were speeches from trade unions, the Mairie (town hall) and campaigners who told us how disgraceful the closing of the post office would have been, and that similar closures nearby were contributing to the death of rural France.

Anyway, for those who stayed the course, there was a celebratory drink and nibbles, and a chance to admire the new post-box…

And The Winds Came

On Saturday the 24th January 2009, we woke to the wind blowing. The wind was still blowing 2 hours later when we left the house for a trip to Montpellier, a little over 100km away. We planned to join friends in Agde, and travel in together by train.
Our journey was hampered by falling branches, fallen trees, and the wind that seemed to get stronger and stronger, but for some reason, we ignored the evidence, and continued on regardless.


We parked at the railway station in Agde (under trees!) and made our way to Montpellier, catching the train with one whole minute to spare. After a nice day in the city, we returned to Montpellier station for our journey home. We were informed by staff that all trains and buses out of the city had been cancelled. No refunds or advice were on offer. We left the station and tried to find a hotel for the night. All the hotels near the station were booked, but fortunately, we managed to secure 2 rooms in the Ibis Hotel in the heart of the city. This unplanned stay in the city allowed us to wonder around and discover new places. We ate at the Bistro d'Alco which is now our favorite eatery in the city... only 17 Euros for three courses.


The following day we decided to find out about trains and arrived in time to board the only train that morning, with the following train 4 hours away, if at all. The weather was fantastic when we returned to Agde and we were pleased to see our car in one piece. We popped into Marseillan for breakfast where the temperature was 21 degrees.

After breakfast the trip to Cruzy took quite a while. A large sign in the road informed us that roads ahead were closed. We followed other routes and kept coming across trees over the roads.

Eventually we entered the village by driving thought the vineyards only to discover the village was without power for the 2nd day... and bits of render from our house had fallen into the road.
We got the candles out and lit the fire.

Lucky we had experienced a number of blackouts in Cruzy in our first year, so we have liquid fuel heaters, a gas cooker, and torches in every room.

Of course, our fridge was reliant on electricity and when the power returned close to 10pm, our food was defrosted and had to be binned. The guy across the road said he had purchased a freezer that guaranteed 24 hours before the food would begin to thaw. We went for the one that looked nice.

Christmas is over

December

We popped over to the UK to collect some old books and records from an attic. We drove back from the UK and crossed using the overnight ferry from Portsmouth landing at La Harve. We arrived to rain and hale. The windows of the car jamed open, so we got a little wet but 2 hours after landing, we were still less than 10km from the ferry. Eventually we got the windows to work and began our trip south though France...

We stopped for lunch in Chatres to enjoy the old city and then drove on, only to meet a wall of fog 20 minutes later.

We stopped at Oreleans (the home of Joan of Arc) and had a lovely night exploring the city in the fog.

Millau bridge at night.

We returned to find that the villiage have been clearing the banks of the river. They chopped down all the trees which may be a good thing, but not if your a bird.

We returned to find our home all decked out in Christmas colours and two christmas trees attached, one to the street lamp and the other to the downpipe. It was lovely and really set us up for our first Christmas in Cruzy, and our first without family for 10 years.

We stopped at Volvic on route for a bite to eat and a refreshing bottle of water. The signs all say the village is only 5km from the motorway. They are lying. Its a good 15 and its all uphill. The village was closed. We did eventually find the only bar open and had a toasted sandwich each and a Coke... followed by a bottle of Volvic for the drive home... which took us another 6 hours as we had to drive though Cleremont Feraund and the snow covered mountains that seperate the northern pains from the coast.

Our adventure began at 8am and we arrived in Cruzy at 8pm the following day.

TV

Two year later, and the time has come to tackle the kitchen. When we first bought the house, the kitchen was rather stuffed and rather a mess... see below... and the room changed very little, except it is now our stuff we use for cooking, washing and brewing tea.

We began by removing all the units and stripping the walls. The wallpapers that covered the walls were fantastic. They span about 50 years and we have kept bits from each.

This paper has a very 50s pattern and we found it difficult to rip off... more to do with the glue than our desire to keep the paper. After the paper, came the tiles, which only came off with the aid of power tools.

Once the paper was off, the walls looked rather intresting. We thought about using the colours and textures as a feature of the new kitchen. We did not paint the wall for ages, but eventually, Alan got up the scafolding and began to paint.

We went thought a few tubs of paint that seemed to do nothing before we discovered a 60 Euro tub that did wonders. The kitchen was a no go area for days and we turned the dining room into a tempary kitchen. It actually worked out as a nice space and if we could have plumbed in water and drainage, we would have made the room the permenant space for the kitchen.

Last year we had the kitchen chimney cleaned. This year it needed to be done again, but this time we got a great guy in who cleaned and sorted out the living-room and main bedroom chimneys too. The dining-room chimmey was harder to sort out. There were some metal pipes trapped and they needed to be removed before cleaning could comence. Alan got to work using the angle-grinder. The noise was impresive, but not nearly as impressive as the firework display. The snap below gives you a sense of the display (if a little blurred).

We hear that the bar in Cruzy will close at the end of the year. This is a real shame. Apparently the rugby team, who were the key patrons of the bar, have a new place to hang out. The venue is only open to its members... the rest of the village now have to travel to neighboring villages for a drink or stay home.

We were very excited about the bar when it first re-opened but opening hours were rather hard to keep a track of. Some nights the place would be heaving, others, like valentines, would find it closed. Rumours are rife in the village as to the fate of the bar, or more importantly, the licence. Once a licence leaves a village, it is very difficult for the village to get a new one.

With all that gloom, came a ray of sunshine.

The Terminus, the restaurant en route to Quarante has just re-opended. Again the rumour mill inform us that the owneres run a popular restaurant in Capestang. We look forward to eating within the village again.

The biggest news item this month for us has to be the arrival of television to the house. The satelite intaller came with his ladder and 3 hours later, we had a dish on the roof, cabeling down the side of the house and access to 300 channels. We have lived on a diet of DVDs and radio podcasts for two years which has been nice, but we always felt a little left behind when our friends talked about X-Factor, Desperate Housewives and CSI Miami. Well now we have them all... dubed into French. Our first night was spent watching a 3 hour verson of Fame Accademy, called Star Accademy here. Lots of song were sang and many comments were made, but best of all, the results were swift and the person we thought would win, did. Now all the channels are on French but some offer English subtitles and we have 4 English speaking news channels. Well worth the 22 Euros a month.

Halloween

We met a lovely family over from California and not only did they pop in to say hello, they came bearing gifts. Baklava. So after a pleasant visit we tucked in and boy were they tasty. We combined the Lebanese delight with a Moroccan mint tea. We look forward to seeing them again and treating them to tea next time they visit Cruzy… Alan seems to think they need not come bearing gifts, Kieran thinks otherwise.

Last Halloween we were not really sure what to expect, so we bought sweets and treats to fend off about 20 ghastly gules. 3 teenagers in jeans and old sweatshirts knocked at the door. We were rather underwhelmed. The following day we caught a 5 year old witch and insisted she take some of the haul from us otherwise we'd have to eat it all. It took until Christmas to eat the rest of the sweet so this year, we scaled down our basket. Kinder Surprises were available to anyone who knocked and the ghosts and ghouls we expected last year came knocking this year. The surprises were a great success... and I believe we may have to buy in bulk for next year.

Travel

We had some dear friends visit from us from the UK and rather than take them to Carcassonne agian we decided to drive a little further south. Spain.

We began our adventure in Fugeras as our friends were keen to see the Dali museum and it had been on our hit list for many months. The museum was packed. Far more people than the place was designed to hold and most were there as part of a guided trip. Many just walked passed the art, taking the odd snap and then down to the gift shop and outside in to the sun. I think they believe the quanitiy of visitors outweighs the quality of visitor. The museum is housed in an old theatre and it is lovely, but each room you visit needs to be entred and exited a small door.... Oh... I am going on. Basically nice art, crappy layout, rude staff and overpriced postcards but worth the visit. http://www.salvador-dali.org/museus/figueres/en_index.html

After lunch in a local square where we ate well, we all played in the local park. Alan had great fun slipping and sliding but he was in his element swinging.

The harvest has come to an end and land owners are now either digging up thier vines or buring the fields... I have no idea why, but the south of France seems to be alight. We went for a ride up into the hills and discovered this old Peugot motobike at the side of the road. It's more of a bike with an engine. We could not find the owner but as the hunting season is in full swing, we did not think to touch the thing.

Recenly we discovered this old sign on the side of a house in our street and wished we had the same sign on our house. Within days were were at an antiques fair in Pezenas and someone was selling the identical sign. Refurbing our kitchen was cheaper that buying the sign, so we left it for someone else to snap up. If we ever want to see the sign, we just need to walk up the hill for 30 seconds.