OUR KIDS LIFE IN FRANCE, AND OURS - everything must go

Plan B came in the form of my parents-in-law, and my mum. My mum had since moved to the Vendee on the west coast of France. I had worked near there many years ago but other than that we weren't very familiar with that area. We had helped mum move, (we actually closed the shop for the first time, by this time I didn't much care!), as she was all by herself, and found the area quite pleasant. The children all loved it, very green and clean and there were COWS...something of a rarity in the very barren south of France! My husband's parents were looking to invest some money in property in France and very kindly came up with a solution for us all. We would buy a house together that could generate an income, something we could renovate and hopefully, later on, make a profit on. What a brilliant idea, we thought. We decided on the Vendee, firstly because we liked it, secondly because property is cheaper up there and thirdly we could be near to mum, although she insisted she didn't need looking out for. I suspected this was true, but preferred to be close by, just in case. Mum said we could stay at her house while we house hunted, so it was a pretty good plan.

We still had a bit of time before signing the final contract, and this was spent packing up all our stuff, and trying to clear the stock from the shelves, selling most of it off cheaply. The kids helped when they weren't at school, mainly with the sweet things which mysteriously disappeared one by one, or three by three whichever way you look at it!

The shop looked very sad once all the stock was finally cleared. Mind you, it didn't look much better before with the little trade we had left! We finally closed down, and it was a terrific relief.......I felt like the world had been lifted off my shoulders. We still had more to sell. As the new owner was creating a whole new business he wasn't interested in the equipment we had, so we had to leave the shop entirely empty. This was good for us as it meant more money, provided we could sell it all. 2 four meter long cold cabinets, 2 industrial freezers, a 6m2 cold room, (buyer dismantles), cash register, cold meat cabinet, meat slicer , vegetable stand etc.. Not to mention 120m2 of shop shelving. Little by little everything went. The kids thought it was a hoot, they got their bikes and rode round and round the empty shop. Well I promised them a garden, didn't I!!........