life changes

Been a while since I updated this blog.  And a lot has happened.  Mainly that once again the Charles family is on the move.  Or rather has been on the move and is now somewhere else. Knowing that The GK was up for sale and no longer the passion it once was, Gregoire found himself being offered a lovely job as Executive Head Chef in the Ibis Hotel in Pornichet on the Loire Atlantic coast.  It was too good an opportunity to say no, so I resigned and we made arrangements to move our life somewhere else.  Leaving the cote d'azur was possibly one of the hardest departures we have ever done....maybe on a par with our departure from London.  We made such good friends, had such a  beautiful house, such a good life...but we like a challenge, so G left at the end of January and my scheduled departure date of 1st March arrived quicker than  seemed possible.
Just as the last week on the CA loomed closer, a severe weather alert was issued and snow began to fall. Les Demenageurs Bretons, in the guise of 3 very burly Russians, came and emptied our house,  fearless and hardy in the face of snowdrifts and black ice. My last day at work was cut short by wild snow storms and drifts and a Sophia Antipolis brought to a standstill mid morning by accidents, black ice and thick snow. So I left just like that, not really packing up my desk, only saying good bye to the few brave hearted who were left.  A last evening with Dee and a perfect English roast dinner and the morning of the 1st March arrived.  We woke to the sound of nothing.  That muffled silence that only happens in very very thick snow.

We had to be in Pornichet by 6pm.  Normally a 10 hour drive, we had given ourselves a 2 hour margin.  This was now looking rather ambitious.  After 40 minutes of cursing and measured rage, Gregoire finally got the snoow tyres on, we said goodbye to a concerned-looking Dee, loaded the dog, a few bags and ourselves into the Duster, hit the 4-wheel drive button and set off.  The A8 motorway was where we were heading.  15 minutes from the Jansen's. One hour later we were not even a kilometer away. Fallen trees, abandoned cars, skidding vehicles combined to make the journey nerve wracking and tense. Finally we arrived on the A8 only to learn that most our "route" north west was impassable.  Almost all of the major motorway axes were closed or blocked by 50 km tailbacks, jackknifed lorries, pile ups...and the corresponding secondary roads were not driveable.
So we rerouted the SatNav crossed our fingers and drove the most complicated, lengthy route possible.  We added 400 km to our journey, and hours and hours.  Finally, at about 9pm, we arrived, exhausted  in Pornichet,

Fabrouk stood on the beach in the dark, we marvelled at the lack of snow, headed for the hotel, and hit the sack.
We had done it.  But only just! 
Now our new life could begin.