Home made cake is not such a great idea.

We now have a huge project under way and we even have a folder called “Cabins 2011” to gather all the goings on and to stash away the leaflets and web pages of information we are going to need to complete our mobile homes in the park.  Mike is taking the lead in all of this and I am just talking when we need to speak French and so far it has not been too challenging.  Dr Groundworks came over to discuss our requirement for a new cess pit and over coffee he gently broke the news  that you can’t just dig a hole and plonk a cess pit in. Mike had read this, but as always it is not evident where you start the process of regulations, re-design and ridicule.  So with heads up on the process I called the EF Etude office for La Manche and was promised a form in the post that needed to be completed in nightmare French building speak and in a few weeks time we would get an official visit to test the soil and to evaluate the  possibility of sinking a cess pit in our garden. This process and  a  document costing three hundred and fifty Euros sent alarm bells ringing for Mike and he decided we should go to St Mere Eglise to visit the office and fully understand the process and other costs we could expect, and,  just how long will this all take.  The address is 16 bis Rue General De Gaulle and we always contemplate just how many roads, streets and town squares are named after the famous Charles. The building was a D-day memorabilia shop, shut for the winter and our hearts sank that we were perhaps entering a dark and mysterious quango style organization that tell you what to do with no logic or fairness in the decisions and regulations you are expected to fulfil. We feared a situation much like DRIRE where the officials are locked away out of the public gaze and are only accessible by phone and fax. We found our way around the back of the shop and came across a shabby little office occupied by a friendly and enthusiastic university graduate who was delighted to see us and only too happy to go through our plans and even threw in a smattering of English. When he had heard of the intention of mobile homes and family coming to stay and people enjoying our garden he decided we would come over tomorrow at 14:00 hours to take a soil sample and document all the information he needed to draw up a plan for our builder, whom we will name, Mike. He also explained the costs and the purpose of the final  certificate of conformance  that will ensure we have no problems with the installation and future existence of a spanking new cess pit. I came out of the office and punched the air in glee and we both felt we had achieved, having said chappy coming to us within 48 hours of an enquiry is a result. I called my friend Ann and she explained that he was called Jerome, and was great.  Jerome apparently gets all your paper work done in a few days so that the process is simple and stress free,  and he does that for every one. There I was thinking it was my charm and  aging good looks that had convinced him he should put aside his time scales and schedules just to deal with us urgently, but no, he just loves his job and is a good egg to boot. I will feed him home made cake and fresh coffee when he comes tomorrow just to make sure we keep him sweet, well perhaps the home made cake is not such a great idea.