Guilhounet

Guilhounet The Flood

Its three weeks since i arrived back in France and almost five weeks since the disasterous flood in my house.I was with Peter in Jodhpur Rajesthan ,India.We were in a wood yard choosing and designing four poster beds when the call came from Gill and Jim.They told me that a pipe had burst in the roof and the seagrass floor had acted as a sealant filling with water and then cascading down to all floors taking down ceilings with it.Gills analogy of someone emptying the contents of the swimming pool onto the house seems apt now.I have seen the movies and i expected the worst.I must have been hell to live with for the following ten days.
I tried hard not to think of precious possessions,Paintings,Books,Photographs,Textiles memories of my life.I was convinced all must be lost.I became withdrawn and tearful as we continued our trip in Rajesthan.Peter was supportive and positive distracting me with visits to Textile Emporiums and a wonderful Silk Fair in Delhi where the highlight for me was meeting the man who made the heavily beaded Frank Usher clothes in the 1980s. I lived with a cloud that disapeared for a while but always returned.In Delhi i changed my flight having to co ordinate this with a flight from Goa to Mumbai then Mumbai to London and London to Carcassonne.Before leaving Goa Peter suggested a massage we had many before and we liked the Averyudic centre in Arambol.I said i wanted a specfic massage to help the stress i was under.It was the best massage i have ever had i wondered how i could persuade Peter to come back the following day..my last day in India, for another massage.His experience was the same as mine it really helped me to gather all my physical and emotional strengh together before leaving.
This together with being upgraded to Premier Class on the long flight back to London gave me all i needed to cope.Liz and Mike met me at Heathrow it was so important to see friendly faces they took me home and looked after me before Matt (my son )arrived back from Sweden.The following morning Mike was there to take me to Stanstead. Gill met me at Carcassonne it was so good to see her our first stop was LeClerc to buy a French mobile phone,at this point i had no means of communication having lost my english mobile enroute to Mumbai and i was homeless.
In my absence Gill,Jim,Jimmy,Tracy Vicky and others had taken all my sodden clothes from drawers and wardrobes,they took all soft furnishings and bedding,they visited Laundrettes and washed and dried everything between them.All of you who know me understand what a huge task that was.Gill,Jim and Jimmy moved my Vintage Wardrobe to Peters house creating a makeshift wardrobe in his Salon.It now resembles the first floor including the Vintage Clothes section in Top Shop,Oxford Street. Thanks to all their hard work and quick thinking they have saved Textiles,Rugs and clothes that would otherwise been lost.
They had to leave everything else in place until the assessor for my insurance company had visited the house.
I havnt distracted you with my storys of the eye operation in Jaipur or Delhi Belly in Delhi.....I can almost hear the sigh....
After buying the mobile phone Gill and i went to see the house..i could feel Gills apprehension but i felt as prepared as i ever could be.It was bad,it was awful but thanks to my fertile imagination not as bad as i had expected.Furniture was still there,Paintings were stacked,Mattresses were on the terrace.It was dark,dank,cold and smelly there were bright pink spots of mould on walls fabrics,floors and ceilings.Everything seemed tinged with grey,tainted and stained but i rediscovered things i thought were lost and Gill had my Dads Teddy Bear at home.Gill insisted i stay with them for the weekend it was such a comfort to be in the warmth and humdrum of family life.I leapt at the opportunity to rent their small Gite next door.Over the weekend with the help of Malc,Lorna, David,Jim,Jimmy and Gill we managed to move all the furniture into a dry space offered by Jo and Mack.The following week Gill,Tracy Lorna ,Debby and i moved books and objects to the atelier and the Art Studio.Gills mayor an ex antique dealer knew a restorer who assessed the damage to the furniture.Claude my Deputy Mayor gave me a disc of pictures he took at my house on the day they discovered the leak.Liz the previous owner who now lives in New Zealand has been so helpful.
Jimmy Kelly who speaks good french ...is my spokesperson communicating with Pacifica my insurance company.He organised a meeting with Vincent the assessor in Toulouse.It was serious weather,snow and icy roads.I had prepared the documentation required in true beaurocratic style.I had discovered the day before the meeting that Pacifica had transfered 10,000 euros into my account to cover rent,hire of a van and builders etc;A positive sign.At the meeting i was told i could be penilised for not turning the water off as there was a clause in the small print which states that the water must be turned off if you are away for more than seven days, it was not clear as to how much although 30% was mentioned........I was given a list of things to do.Pacifica were desperate to find out the name of the Builders who had worked for the previous owners and may have done plumbing work on the house,i was able to find this information for them and i passed this information to Vincent the assessor by post and by email.They asked for Devis to replace everything that was lost and to put the house back how it was before the Flood.A meeting was suggested for the end of March when the humidyfers presently in the house would be removed or would they? Pacifica had employed the Company to put the Humidifyers into the house for one month.On Feb 21st i arranged to meet Nigel an electrician at the house so that he could test the electrical appliances ,i had been asked to do this by Pacifica.It was clear as we walked around the house that the humidifyers were not working the house was still very wet.The ceilings had been removed but not the hardboard walls or the seagrass matting.There were humidifyers in both toilets and the heating was not turned on.The humidifyers at the top of the house were not switched on.The large damp patch on the outside wall was larger and more cracks had appeared.There were damp patches on the back of the house i had not noticed before.I talked to Jim and organised a site meeting at the house on Sunday Febuary 28th.Al (Carpenter who had installed my Dressing Room)Brett and Mich(Stone and Roof artizans)Malc (shutters)Jim (general Builder).It was generally agreed that the Humidifying Company were cutting corners by not stripping the house and then drying out the stone,I asked Jimmy Kelly to talk to Vincent the assessor for Pacifica and explain that the house was not drying out and that the damage could be more extensive without proper action.I asked Al for a Devi for carefully removing the Kitchen and Bathroom units(both units were handcrafted by Cabinet Makers in Salisbury).I asked Brett and Mich for a Devi to remove the Crepi from the front of the house so that the stone could breath.The crepi was cracking in several places and looked like crazy paving. While in the Uk i contacted Mike from The Walnut workshop who was able to locate the original plans and costs of the Kitchen and the Bathroom Units.Carol Mackertich who found the wonderful Charles Rennie Mackingtosh fabrics and made the curtains for all the ground floor windows also had records of original costs.
On returning to France i recieved notice of a meeting at Guilhounet for Tuesday March 30th with representatives from Pacifica ,Florence from Credit Agricole bank myself ,Jim Masters and Jimmy Kelly.This is to assess how the house is drying out and what else needs to be done and by whom. I am still collecting invoices and trying not to forget anything i have lost.Nigel Green has tested most of the electrics and we have together a list with costs of replacement.