Cessenon-sur-Orb

There has been a strong wind blowing in the region and the beaches have been sand-blasters, so I did not linger long in the Languedoc and have now arrived at my second workaway in the little Herault village of Cessenon - sur -Orb (AOC St Chinian,) about half an hour North of Beziers.

Francoise Escobar was the first person to contact me after I joined WorkAway and posted a profile so I felt I should spend a little time helping her. She is building her house alone and raising a 17 year old boy at the same time so I should imagine needs all the help she can get.

My directions are simple. About a couple of clicks out of town there is a pile of old stones and a cross, (the remains of the C XIIth Chappelle de St Anne:) turn right onto the track and follow the road: the house is the bulding under construction on the left.
Miraculously, I found the cross, took the correct road at a junction and stopped outside the correct house.

It appears that the electricity company have cut the supply to this house because it has been a building site for too long, 7 years in fact. A special junction box had been installed for the worksite but now the place must be signed-off by an electricity inspector and a proper connection made to the grid. I have appeared a couple of hours before the inspector is due and Francoise is in a bit of tizz. Given the state of French regulations, I am not surprised as the compliance codes change all the time.

In the event, the inspector only found one earth wire to connect and failed a lamp in the bathroom because the particular (older) model installed did not carry the correct stamp of approval, as this years virtually identical model does. He kindly agreed to pass the house if these were fixed before he left the premises, so of course I connected the missing wire and ripped the light out. He okayed it, extracting a promise from Francoise to fix the problem later and casually mentioning that, had he inspected the house 2 years ago he would have passed the fitting. My betting is that some ignorant WorkAway will reconnect the existing lamp and F will have to put its replacement on the list of things to do. At the bottom.Läs mer