I know people who dream of moving to a pretty village in France with character, ancient walls and customs, a cafe, a market and a peaceful river trickling through this idyllic scene and there are thousands of villages just like that. Unfortunately my village has none of the above and has been described as the ugliest village in France.
There is a river a kilometre away and it did flood last June racing across the fields and filling the street with about a foot of water so for one day at least you could say we had a river running through the village. We did have a cafe/bar but that closed as did the butcher, the baker, the post office, and surprisingly the funeral parlour, and even when they were open the setting was pretty dire. Even the church caught fire and has remained closed for 2 or 3 years. There is a supermarket, which stocks out of date goods, fly covered fruit and pretty awful bottles of wine run by a lady who just wants to sell it and retire somewhere more pleasant.
So imagine my surprise when needing some cooking chocolate urgently I peddled furiously along to the little supermarket before it closed and discovered that during my sojourn in the UK she had sold it. In her place is a young couple with a really cute baby surrounded by beautiful fresh fruit and vegetables, even fresh milk, a rare sight in France. The shop has been tarted up, new stock brought in and a feeling of hope pervades. Mind you we had that same hope when a young couple took over the bakers until the wife ran off with one of the customers but we must remain optimistic. Things are looking up. It won't change the fact that I live in the ugliest village in France but at least I don't have to drive 15 kilometres to the shops anymore.
There is a river a kilometre away and it did flood last June racing across the fields and filling the street with about a foot of water so for one day at least you could say we had a river running through the village. We did have a cafe/bar but that closed as did the butcher, the baker, the post office, and surprisingly the funeral parlour, and even when they were open the setting was pretty dire. Even the church caught fire and has remained closed for 2 or 3 years. There is a supermarket, which stocks out of date goods, fly covered fruit and pretty awful bottles of wine run by a lady who just wants to sell it and retire somewhere more pleasant.
So imagine my surprise when needing some cooking chocolate urgently I peddled furiously along to the little supermarket before it closed and discovered that during my sojourn in the UK she had sold it. In her place is a young couple with a really cute baby surrounded by beautiful fresh fruit and vegetables, even fresh milk, a rare sight in France. The shop has been tarted up, new stock brought in and a feeling of hope pervades. Mind you we had that same hope when a young couple took over the bakers until the wife ran off with one of the customers but we must remain optimistic. Things are looking up. It won't change the fact that I live in the ugliest village in France but at least I don't have to drive 15 kilometres to the shops anymore.
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