Читать книгу Our House is Certainly Not in Paris - Susan Cutsforth - Страница 8

Eight weeks before leaving, we book our train tickets from Gare d’Austerlitz to Brive-la-Gaillarde. It is always a source of amazement to me that we can print our tickets at home, all the way across the other side of the world. It is at this point each year that the countdown starts to become very real. I triumphantly email Jean-Claude to let him know our arrival time and hope that he will be able to pick us up. Meanwhile, Stuart has also been emailing him to sort out a better mobile phone deal. The year before, as we had not used our mobile throughout the previous twelve-month period, the number had lapsed. This caused huge dramas and dilemmas immediately upon our arrival, when we missed the train by a matter of a few minutes. With the disconnection of our number, we had no way of contacting Jean-Claude to let him know of our late arrival. As with many other French matters, we are determined to make our journey and arrival as smooth as they can possibly be this time.

It is only through the serendipity of our friendships and email communications that we are able to find out many things that would otherwise be virtually impossible. So it is that Jean-Claude had told us about a new portable phone deal that he had organised for Françoise rather than the outrageously très cher plan she had been on. He and Stuart exchange emails to sort a new Sim card and subsequent new number that will now be our permanent French contact. Voila, another piece of the jigsaw puzzle that is our French life, will soon be in place. Once again, it is merci beaucoup to Jean-Claude. However, things do not quite go to plan...

As seems to be inevitable, when it comes to us and mobiles, whichever country we are in, our attempts to set up a new plan, are not only complex but we seem to be thwarted at every turn...

It all started with Jean-Claude letting us know that he had found a fabulous deal with Free. Like Stuart, he too loves to shop around and get the best value for his euro. We could only agree that two euro a month was an extremely attractive option. All we had to do was let him know our bank account details and he would go ahead and sort it out for us. This way, he would send us a new SIM card, and voila, we would be able to contact everyone immediately on arrival. If this time something went awry and we missed a connection – like the train literally disappearing along the tracks before our very eyes like last year – we would at least be able to call him. Many emails later, we did get a new Sim but it was a very convoluted and protracted procedure. It involved Brigitte and Eric, friends from our first trip to France, entering the picture yet at the same time, leaving Jean-Claude partially in the dark about the problems we had encountered. We did not want to hurt his feelings, for he is always there to help us in any way possible, and yet, the arrangement was not going quite as smoothly as hoped.

The Sim card Jean-Claude sent us, had not been activated. It now had to be posted back to France, this time to our technologically savvy friends, Brigitte and Erick to activate. By the time Brigitte and Erick received it, the period to activate it had elapsed. With much stealth, we had to convey this to Jean-Claude without him being aware that we had to seek further assistance. In return, he gave us the privileged access to his email account. The only way to get a new password was to do so in his name as he had bought the Sim. His curiosity was certainly aroused, so I just pleaded my usual technological ignorance, which all who know me well, perfectly understand. Getting the new password involved Stuart navigating his way through the portable site in French. Meanwhile, all this had to be conveyed to Brigitte and Erick. This would be complex at the best of times, let alone trying to convey it simply for friends in a foreign country. After its third voyage across the oceans, our Sim card is definitely very well travelled.

I suppose however, it is a minor matter this year, compared to the significant role he assumed the previous year in buying our car by email and then the part he played when our long distance piscine was put in. Such is Jean-Claude’s attention to detail, that when he replies after I let him know our arrival time, he tells me he will take us to Carrefour supermarché to buy some essential supplies on our way to Cuzance. He also lets me know that he has attempted to check the pipes in our cellar, as since the winter was so severe, many people have had serious problems with frozen pipes. Unfortunately he can’t seem to find the right key, so it will be with a sense of trepidation, that we venture into the cellar ourselves to check on our first night. Will there be a flood or frozen wasteland? We already know that this year there will need to be a serious outlay of euro on the nasty septique problem as the smell is becoming ever-pervasive.