Look, Ma, it's internet!

And it was relatively simple! We have a "Livebox" from Orange which will allow us to use WiFi (should we decide to do this) and digital TV (except it's not available in this area), and the speed looks pretty good. We'll see how stable it is over the next weeks.

Tuesday morning we finished off loading up the van, ate lunch, and got off about 14.00. Rather than staying at the minimalist Formula 1 motel, we treated ourselves to a night at Hotel Mercure and enjoyed the comfy bed, individual pillows, and adjoining shower. We went to bed early, slept relatively well, and got off about 9.00 Wednesday, arriving home (!), after a stop for provisions at our local Spar grocery in Montemboeuf, about 16.30. We unloaded a minimum of stuff, suitcases and food, did a bit of cleaning, walked around the garden, made dinner, had a walk around the neighborhood, and went to bed early.

Our rent-a-van has had a hard life. The sliding door is a bit sprung, and you can see sky on that side through the join between the roof and the side panel. As a result, things in that area were a bit damp (no damage), since it rained a bit on Tuesday evening.

Thursday we unloaded everything from the van, stacked shelving along the living room walls, and piled boxes in vaguely related stacks. Then dinner, another neighborhood walk, and off to bed.

This morning (Friday) we had a visit from our insurance agent, and it sounds like they will pay a good deal of the repair from the leaking roof, including a new fioul heater. The estimate for the wall and ceiling repair and painting was about €1800; we will get a price for a new heater when we return. Now our insurance will be adjusted (cheaper!) for our being permanent residents. Le expert will call in the first week we're here permanently to make an appointment for his estimate that will determine the payment.

For lunch today, we took ourselves to our local restaurant, La Bellone in St. Adjutory, and had the menu du jour, a 4-course meal with starter (melon slices, a dab of rillettes on a bit of toast, and a slice of sausage), fish with a nice sauce as main, cheese, and then dessert for only €11 each. A nice treat.

The glass brick window looks fantastic -- there's such a change in the room. It even gets light from the west in the late afternoon.

Progress on refinishing the flooring on the mezzanine is slow. The small bedroom should be finished, but the surface is bumpy and tacky, rather than being smooth. They will try to get the entire thing finished while we are away next week, but we rather doubt it can get done that quickly.

The bees in the bedroom are gone, but my what a mess they made. There is still quite a bit of clean-up to do, bee poop (?), wax, and honey all over and around the windows -- all three windows, not just the shuttered ones. We've mostly left this until we return.

We've also got big, ugly hornets up under the peak of the old stable roof. We left the small window open the first night, only to wake up with four of them buzzing around, somewhat lethargically perhaps, but still unwanted. We bottled two of them, swatted the others and escorted them from the room. Sally got us some spray poison (the beekeeper said to spray them at night), but since the spot is so high and out of range of the spray, we think we will arrange for the pompiers (firemen) to take care of them. It will cost a bit of money, but better than climbing up a long, rented ladder to spray them.

We haven't taken pictures yet. Thursday afternoon, Ed couldn't find the camera, even through it was right where Kaye said it was. Later today we might record our stacks of boxes and shelving .

This visit is kind of a transition visit, changing from Amstelveen as the center of our life to Condadeuil. A bit of a strange sensation, and it has struck each of us several times that We're here at last! We've lived on Fideliolaan for 14 years (the longest Kaye has ever lived in a single house); while it feels strange to be leaving, it's also the start of a new adventure. We hope we'll enjoy at least 14 more years here!

This evening at dinner time, if we feel like eating any more, we'll have our usual lunch and crossword puzzle. Tomorrow, we'll try to get on the road early, spend the night at our cheapo Formula 1, and get back to Amstelveen Sunday afternoon. What a change -- no need to clean the house or defrost the refrigerator before we go. And back in Amstelveen, it will be a bit like staying at a hotel, with no cooking facilities beyond a hot water kettle.