Introducing Sue

There were just two small items of business we had deal with. Our friend Wendy had introduced us to Sue, another English woman who lived in the area. We had approached her with a view to her checking the house from time to time, particularly after visitors had left. We wanted to make sure it would be clean and tidy for the next visitors. Sue wanted to see the house before committing herself and she was due to come while Emmanuel and Philippe were creating their own particular brand of chaos. As Mrs S and I sat in the courtyard to wait for Sue, we were amazed to see that, whenever a new tool or roll of cable was needed, one of the electricians would run – yes, run – from the house into the courtyard and back again. The French must have a different method of training electricians from the one we employ in England.

Despite all the chaos, Sue agreed to our proposal: I think it was the green gates that persuaded her.