Blog 8 / March 2016
The Dumper
has developed an oil leak so Mike went on line and found the main dealers for
his Hatz engine in Germany. The web site was all in English and Mike was
delighted that he could buy all his spares through the Hatz, Classic department,
and put in his order for everything he needed.
Within a
few hours of the order to Germany we got an e-mail to say that the request had
been passed onto the Hatz France dealer
……OH NO.
We waited
for four days and then mailed Germany again to say that we wanted to buy the
parts and not have to wait an age before the French dealer got into gear. We received
a cc’d message to the French dealer from the German head office asking them to
please contact us and a quote came
through the next day…. A five day late, Hooray. I called the French dealer near Caen, whose
business looked like a cleaning machine distributor and questioned who they
were, and where they were, and were the parts we needed in Stock. Oh No, said the French dealer, we need to
order them from Germany. You need to
send us a cheque, he crooned, then when it is cleared I will order the
parts…..how long I asked ….2 weeks in all, I expect, he said. Mike got back in contact with Germany and
requested that we should be able …please, to order directly because we are
already 6 days down the process. I then got
a call from the head of Hatz France based in Lyon at eight thirty in the
morning, who wanted to know what had
gone wrong, so…. I let him have it, with all the frustrations and
disappointments. He agreed it was a poor show and promised to send me an e-mail
that day with a solution so we could have the parts in the next few days. It is now
mid-evening and we have heard nothing so we are now giving up and will have to
pretend to be German or get the supplier in the UK to send the parts in the
post………I so wish I could understand why customer services and a robust
commercial approach to people who are not in business was a way of life here.
…….but, the wine is great and the cheese is delicious so it is not all bad
except for the oil leak that we have still not mended.
We were at
a vide grenier last week and I came across this knitting of power cable for all
the appliances we have ever owned in our lives.
I was in
thoughtful mood and wondered just how many kilometres of discarded cable there
must be in a years’ worth of Vide grenier in France alone …… to Mars and back I
shouldn’t wonder.
We had a
birthday in the family this week, our middle grandson in Australia turned 11 and
although we are unable to hug, kiss and share we are at least able to see that
what we did send was appreciated. Life in France is all about finding ways to
deal with the loss of family contact and even after 10 years away in different
corners of the world it is the birthdays and Christmas’s that are tough for us to
deal with, Happy Birthday Blake xx
We did our
weekly car boot sale, vide grenier to us, and Mike saw a drone on a family
stall with the Mum and son and a collection of smaller children all with their
wares waiting for the right person to take the bait. It is fair to say that
Mike fell for the Son’s drone, hook line and sinker and after we were given a jaw
dropping demo in the middle of the cattle market in St Mere Eglise we parted
with 35 Euro, and rushed home to see if it was going to do everything we hoped
it would. 
Our
weekly outing with Graham and Ann took us to Dead Man’s Corner Museum. We decided to give their latest attraction a
visit and were not at all disappointed. This Museum just outside Carentan has
installed a C47 simulator which just blew my mind. We were taken from a very plausible
briefing into the aircraft that took off with all the sounds and movement you
would expect. The view out of the windows was extremely life like and the whole
effect very convincing. The Plane got shot down and crash landed in a field and
there was fire outside and smoke in the cabin and I declared a little too
true to life, ‘the plane is on fire we need to get out’. The other
tourists on the flight were a little baffled at my role play antics but
actually I meant it and can’t wait for a chance to go again.....
We were invited out for a 40’s night in with a boiled beef and carrots supper followed by the best bread and butter pudding I have ever eaten.
Our Hosts
Carol and Trevor run a successful vintage clothing company here in Normandy and
showed us how it is done, right down to the food and music ….. When we were
dishing up the meal the plaintive cry of …there is a war on you know’ just made
me chuckle because in reality each of our portions on our 40’s night out would
have had to last at least a week in the
rationed 1940’s.......
And lastly
I wanted to mention my 40’s dress, which is itself, not genuine but passes as
OK. The collar however came out of a box of bits I got from my Mum and is very
old. I like to think that my Mum may
have even used it herself to spruce up her genuine 40s frock 72 years ago when
she was liberated in Brussels. What a
shame she is not here to see what we are up to, and I know she would have found
it a total hoot to see us dressing up in theme to celebrate and remember an
historic period that I know for her, and my Dad was a life changing experience.
xx
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