The landlords arrive and the temperature drops

We had a busy week with Emma Lou and Johnny in residence. There was plenty of culinary delights eminatiing from the 'old kitchen' and numerous onsite meetings with Patrick, the carpenter who will be constructing the kitchen cabinets, and also removing the old kitchen at the end of Le Projet, and turning it into a new double bedroom.

We arranged the Whybot app for 'roger the robot' pool cleaner and there was plenty of pool testing to getvthe best clarity and sparkleness, with the least amount of chemicals.

And sadly on Tuesday afternoon we heard the news that Roger's Mum, Zena had passed away at midnight on 29th June. She had had a fall in her home 6 days earlier, which resulted in a broken hip and although she got through the operation OK, her condition deteriorated a few days later as old age finally caught up with her. She was 98 and kept her marbles right to the end, as we had a lovely video call with her the previous day. She enjoyed a lovely mango mousse for dinner that night, and announced to Jenny and Michael that she felt she would sleep very well that night. And there the story ends.

Every year we visited, prior to leaving for Europe, she reminded us 'dont come back if I die', and she was adamant that given her children had not followed her strong Catholic faith, she did not want any religious ceremony, but rather a large farewell party in her home.

So Jenny has taken charge of that and this Friday, the family and friends are all gathering to honour her wishes. We will join in from Paris, before heading out to have lunch with some good Cairns friends, and raise a glass or two to Nana.

The temperature had dropped this week, which cooled everything off, but the builders were absent which was disappointing. Le Projet is looking like taking the projected 6 months or more at this point, because in August, the long summer holidays begin and everyone, builders, tradies etc go away.

On Friday we depart LPR to leave Johnny and Emma Lou to host friends and family, and we head up the A10 towards our Paris cat sit that commences in a week. With 6 nights to fill, I randomly pick a little quaint apartment in the village of Barbizon, which sits on the edge of the Fontainebleau Forest. What we find is just another reminder of why we still enjoy this nomad life of travelling - the element of surprise around every corner.Læs mere