French Farmer says bonjour to all

[Frenchfarmer]

Hi I should have done this Etc. Etc.
I live in France, North Limousin right on the border with Poitou Charente (where the Cajuns came from). I've got a 2.8 TDI ,dark green, that I spent three years negotiating over with my neighbour while it sat in his barn and we sat in his kitchen drinking Pastis ( Pernod to you ). Unfortunately he eventually sold it to me so now I have to buy my own Pastis and the old scrote comes round to drink mine and ask how it is coming on. I eventually got rid of the mice but not until I had removed the heater matrix and got rid of the nests, they used to run around laughing at me while I was getting it ready for the " Controle Technique " ( MOT, to all of you out there on the Island ).
My wife and I have 180 acres of farm that used to belong to the Chateau down the road. It is just far enough away for us to be private yet we get to look at all the towers etc. without having to pay the rates on it. The farm buildings used to be behind the chateau but in the 1880s the count's wife decided she didn't like the smell and all the dirty workers so he got it dismantled and rebuilt 500 metres up the road, ( How many rich Chelsea Ferrari owning kids these days could afford that ) so our farm dates from 1880 but nearly all the timbers in the roof and door stones are recycled.
We have:
350 pure bred Poll Dorset sheep
2 sheep dogs ( female, rescued, but now happy working dogs )
4 horses ( well 3 1/2 'cos 1 is a mini Shetland )
1 female Donkey ( Old bat who thinks we are her servants )
15 neutered cats ( but no rats )
2 Gloucester Old Spot female piglets ( just arrived )
1 Yamaha 350 Big Bear ( the wife's )
2 Fiat Someca 780s
1 JD 350 bulldozer ( with digger on back )
2 Ford Transits ( circa 1990:1993 )
1 Frontera 2.8 LWB ( on axle stands in a friends barn )
and a whole heap of farm equipment and strimmers and stuff.

We've been in France since 1992 and now speak like local french people but the " Parisiennes " who descend on us in summer find it easier to speak a mix of french and english and buy loads of lamb 'cos it's Organic .

We used to be Sound Engineers ( her out front and me onstage ) but " DIGITAL " came along and we ran away. The idea was to buy a ruin, do it up and then go back and just be engineers, let the bands worry about equipment, but after three years and a whole lot of stonework we thought F. the rat race let's keep sheep. So we sold the house and bought a ruined farm cleared the land bit by bit as the flock grew and then found we had more customers than we could supply so sold up and moved to this one which was the same price but three times bigger. Same story back to living in a work in progress. We scratch a living, as we always have, but enjoy ourselves knowing that we can eventually sell, or rent the land, and retire. Yup this is the other side of Capitalism where you do without the showy stuff and slowly build something that is worth something by sharing and swapping with friends and each helping one and another along the way.
Funnily enough this is the only site I have found that seems to go along with this ideal.

Tips for learning french:
French is badly pronounced English.
They cheat because they don't pronounce the last letter of any word unless it is followed by a, e, i, o, u, or anything that sounds like a vowel. So Noble becomes Nob with a sort of swallowed "l" at the end.
See; you always wondered where "one for his Nob" came from; well your sleepless nights are over on that one.

Road signs will point you in the right direction ( even if it means going round a town in the least obvious direction ) until you have to turn off. If you don't see the road you want, follow "Toutes Directions" until the one you want.
Better still use the road number.
Things like "Paris Bis" mean that this is the scenic/no tolls route. ( Less tolls but more speed cops and cameras as the toll roads are private and they don't really want the Gendarmes mucking up their cash flow.)
Be polite to the Gendarmes as they are not really Police but a civil extension of the army and are actually there to protect the people and, if it comes to it, will go against the government. However "Police Municipal" are employed by the local Mayor and are allowed to carry guns but don't have the strict military training so it's a matter of luck on that one.
Any other questions PM me.
Lots of lanes and a hundred ways to get from the pub to home.

Anyway Hi to all in the family. When full mobile phone coverage eventually gets here I will let one of the Admin have my number and if you get in trouble I can translate for you.
If you want to move here don't go to an agent I can show you how to talk directly to the owner.
We are half way from anywhere in France so if you want to stop off I've got mates nearby who have a B&B/bar and real beer on tap http://www.maisondelaroseblanche.co.uk/

[Alfie]

Hey sounds like a great lifestyle.Would have loved to to somthing like that when I was a bit younger.
Welcome to the Gang

[Adam]

Umm you don't have any old stationary engines hidden in your barns.

Seems your living a wonderfull life

[Frenchfarmer]

[andysd1]

hi and welcome, hahaha

you up for a visit in the late summer, now that would be nice, how many can you put up, fog travels to france

[Frenchfarmer]

Camping? Or B&B? We have a big house but it is only really Kitchen Lounge & Bedroom with a loo and shower where the back porch used to be. The rest is granary One of these days we might get our head around how to put rooms upstairs but it would mean moving the stairs and losing the wonderful A frames in the granary and we'd have to refloor it.

B&B here:- http://www.maisondelaroseblanche.co.uk/

[horses45]

welcome to fog

[Frenchfarmer]

[Roo]

& To The World Of FOG!

Enjoy

[horses45]

welcome to the forum

[Drift]

We have a plan on doing something similar but in North Wales, we call it the ten year plan.
We will get a cottage let it out and have a few cheap holidays then when the time comes, move into it.
Should be able to get a small mortgage in 5 years and have it paid in another 5 years if all goes well and there are no nasty surprises.

Sounds a great life you have going there