Yesterday was supposed to be the business day: set up a bank account, buy some insurance, check out the local tennis club, meet the mayor…. but, you know, it’s France.
Started off early working and blogging. Drinking coffee and making sauteed veggies and jambon cru for breakfast. And the sun came out for the first time in 6 days so we sat outside and basked in the warmth that occasionally got past the great swaths of cumulus clouds.
At 10:30 we set off for Feniers to meet the mayor. We had looked online the night before to double check hours and confirmed that on Mondays the office was open from 8:30 to noon. So we got there at 10:45 and walked into the mayor’s office: a really beautiful stone building at the western edge of town.
I have to admit I was a little nervous– and I wanted to make a good impression. When we walked into the office there were a couple of very pleasant ladies working on some paperwork at a conference table. Neither one of them were the mayor, but they pointed around the corner. So we went around the corner and there was another very pleasant lady there chatting on the phone. We waited. She wasn’t the mayor either. The mayor was due back between 11:15 and 11:30.
Ok then. We had 45 minutes to blow. What should we do? The local cemetery of course! I know it sounds a little sadistic, but I love old European cemeteries. I particularly like the headstones with photos of the deceased in them– and often times I find myself trying to gauge their personalities from their photos. I will say that there were a lot of happy, smiling Memere’s here and that made me happy.
The cemetery was pretty small, though, so we decided to go for a quick ride afterwards. On the way we stumbled into a sign for the source of the Creuse river. So we bumped the Peugot down a deeply rutted farm road until we got to a turn off. We parked the car and walked the rest of the way to this innocuous little wood and bubbling up from the earth was a crystal clear spring. Very much like the one I used to spend hours around in the woods behind my home in Dover. It’s amazing that that tiny little pool turns into a massive 164 mile river. It was great to see it.
We finally got back to the mayor’s office at 11:45 and they were totally waiting for us. I wonder how much they already know about us? I’m sure the town has been buzzing with rumors about Americans buying the hotel. It’s that kind of place.
Anyhow, it was a great meeting. All smiles and handshakes and pleasantries. But the mayor doesn’t speak any English at all. I was hoping she did. Nevertheless, I promised to come back and clean the place sometime this year. Madame Peyrat liked that.
Noonish we set off for the 30 minute trip to the Ussel BNB Paribas. We figured it made the most sense because we have a BnP Paribas account in Oregon (Bank of the West). Plus I like the fact that the company is a huge supporter of tennis. When we got to Ussel, and got to the bank, it just didn’t look or feel right. Crappy neighborhood. No parking. The place looked dreary– and knowing that you have to spend a lot more time dealing with banks here in France, we passed.
So we decided to grab some lunch instead and wandered into the heart of Ussel at a restaurant called La Troubadour and it was SUPER friendly. A croque monsieur and Touluse sausage later and we were back in the car and on our way back to Felletin to find a bank.
At Felletin we went to Groupama. It was closed for a week. Something about commercial equipment.
Then we decided to go check out the tennis club up the street. It was locked and closed. Not open on Mondays,
Next we went to Aubusson to the BNP Paribas there. Closed on Monday.
So we said screw it and went for a walk around town. Although my first impression when we went to the tapestry museum hadn’t been that great, the center of town really turned me around. It was beautiful and there was a great mix of shops, restaurants and cafes. We checked out this one brocante that I’m sure we will revisit. It was loaded up with linens and silverware and porcelain. Beautiful old furniture, too. And the prices were very reasonable.
By then it was 5:30 and we were tired. So we sat down and had a beer at a busy little cafe with a bunch of local workers. Perfection!
Around 6:00, not ready to go home, we decided to make the trip to Lac de Vassivierre. It is beautiful, a lot like Haag Lake actually, and Beth took lots of photos. I watched a guy fish on the bridge. Very calm and relaxing.
Got home around 8:00, ate some frozen moussaka and goat cheese lasagna, drank an amazing little Pomerol that we picked up at the Carrefour for $5, watched the end of a Netflix series and hit the hay around midnight.
Today we are going to try this bank/tennis thing again. Then we are going to see Madame Regoudie to see if she will give us the keys to the house so we can video it and create a schematic. At 7:30 we just got invited for an apero at Dominique and Nicole’s house. Can’t wait!
A demain.
Hotel Féniers 
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