IACTA EST ALEA ….. 

As the bard said – 

No, he didn’t! 

Who did, then? 

Julius Caesar. 

Who asked you, anyway? And when did you wake up – I thought you were hibernating. 

Gar nicht! Ich habe schon alles gehört. 

Oh, dear …. 

Macht nichts … 

De quoi s’agit-il ? What are you all on about ? What is this ALEA and who IACTA-d it? 

It means ‘the die is cast’ – 

And Julius Caesar said it when he crossed the Rubicon. 

Did what? 

Never mind! It just means we’ve taken an irreversible step – you were there, little one! – Parked outside, anyway. 

Ah, Ça alors! Tell everyone ! 

 I was doing till you two started …. Never mind! Friday 3^rd August was a big day – 

Not for me! I never moved. 

For all of us! We went to the lawyer’s office and signed the compromis de vente – that’s a bit like exchanging contracts in the UK, but an entirely different procedure. Everyone is there – buyer, seller, agent, lawyer (or in this case lawyer’s clerc, his brother) and the lawyer goes through the contract page by page, which is then initialled or signed page by page and some declarations copied out by hand before signing. Very thorough, very time consuming, especially if some paragraphs have to be repeated in English so that foreign purchasers (us) can fully understand what they are signing. 

Afterwards we went down to Quillan – there was a bit more business that we needed the agent’s help with, to do with the French bank account, – and then we went to that restaurant on the square where the patron had introduced us to Nathalie, the agent who did find the ‘right’ house in the end. He was delighted with the news and gave us each a free glass of Blanquette (bubbles!) as an appéritif. As I said before, it’s good buying houses round here!

Less good is trying to get a driving licence! Carol’s UK licence expires next week (x0th birthday, you know!) and we can’t renew it in the UK because we don’t have an address, we’re not UK residents. But we can’t have a French one till we can prove that we’ve been resident in France for six months! So far, we’ve not found a way round this.  

Meanwhile, we’ve had another terrific thunderstorm – an all night jobbie, hammering on Harry’s roof – 

Tell me about it! 

But otherwise days merge into each other with shopping trips, picnics, and swims in the lake. Going through Chalabre and on past the house, the next village – the first in Ariège – is a delightful little spot called Camon, with a lovely village shop, a bar-café and this magnificent former railway viaduct across the Hers with a lovely picnic spot beneath. The only drawback is that bathing is not allowed because of the unpredictability of release of water from the lake (Montbel), which produces a little electricity , causing sudden changes in depth and flow. 

Today we have been very pleased to receive a visit from Gwyneth and Barrie from Sournia, whose house we visited a bit back. (See post dated July 223rd.) We prepared a seafood platter and salad for lunch, which Carol followed with pancakes for dessert, then Barrie drove us all out past the house and on to Camon, before we all jumped in the lake on return.

Carol and I then had supper at the café at the gate …..which was quite busy tonight, not as on the photo. 

Just to clarify for those unfamiliar with French procedures: having signed the compromis, we have seven days (from last Friday) to withdraw from the sale, should we wish to, whereas the vendors may not withdraw. We’ve no intention of withdrawing – as we say at the top, joking aside, iacta est alea.