This is a first for us……….

We are house sitting for some Aussies.

And for the next 6+ weeks we will be caring for their two very well-behaved dogs and enjoying a very different part of France, the Puy-de-Dôme, one of the four Departments in the Auvergne Region.

The first thing we noticed that is different from anywhere else we’ve been in France is that this is not a wine growing region, but thankfully the supermarkets stock plenty of good French red wine, so we figure we will be okay.

But, the area is absolutely beautiful – what we have seen so far.

We have spent the last two days with the Australians to learn about their dogs’ needs and routines – one of them was operated on only a few days before we arrived (very much unplanned and the owners fretted terribly when this occurred). We are going to have to take her to the vets to get her stitches removed in a week. They also took us to the local villages where they shop and have their French lessons (which we are going to take over while we are here).

The Aussies bought a partially converted barn and have been here for almost 12 months. They have worked very hard to convert it into an amazing home. It is not finished, but we can see the potential, and what they have done shows perfectionism and great taste.

The name of the commune is Ayat-sur-Sioule (pronounced very quickly as eye-a-sir-see-ole).

They own a few acres and Mick will have to mow the lawns and use the whipper snipper (strimmer) to cut the grass is some areas at least once while they are gone. Plus there was a load of wood delivered the day before we arrived and Mick offered to stack it for them.

We are much higher up here and so the temperature drops to below zero over night and you need that wood to keep warm. Snow is forecast next week, so we will wait and see if that eventuates.