Foreign Perspectives

One of the hassles of buying a house in France is that the previous occupants almost always strip the house of lighting fixtures which is, on the whole, a pretty daft thing for them to do as the old ones hardly seem likely to fit the new house.

Anyway, since we think that we may finally have found a buyer for the accommodation business it looks like we’ll really have to get going and do something about all the empty light sockets dotted around the house. Thus far we’ve basically ignored the issue in that we’re mostly in the other side of the building and can get away with using standalone lamps for the places where we really do need the light. However, that’s not going to work too well if we’re going to be living full-time in that part of the house.

Oh well, ’tis off to see about a whole house full of lights…

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It looks like we’re going to find ourselves in the unusual position of getting going on redoing two bathrooms and two kitchens.

Sounds like a bit of a nightmare I’m sure but it’s even worse than that as one set is in the UK and the other is in what seems likely to become our holiday home in France in the next month or two. Unfortunately, it means trawling round two sets of places to find all the stuff to do the work as it’s not really a runner to buy it all in one and ship it to the other.

Since we’re looking to decorate both places in a similar manner we’re currently trying to find a ceramic tile design that’s available in both sides of the water but, of course, that’s not as simple as you would think.

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One of the big surprises in many ways is just how fast formerly eastern block countries are moving into the first world.

For example, not so many years ago the thought of a  luxury golf property in Bulgaria would have been laughed at. No longer though for the likes of Tharacian Cliffs, starting from scratch, seems likely to become one of the top golf courses in the world according to Gary Player.

The reason is simple of course: they’re able to start from a blank sheet and have lots of cheap land and labour to construct the courses. For the rest of us there are increasing numbers of cheap flights available to get us to the area.

Overall, a win-win situation for everyone apparently.

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