Happy New Year from No.fifty6 As We Welcome 2019

As the dawn of a New Year breaks we would like to thank everyone who sent us cards and festive messages and we would like to wish everyone a Happy New Year. We spent a few days over Christmas in England with family and we are now back on The Somme ready for some rest and relaxation and make plans for 2019. The weather is damp and relatively mild but we know January can bring its winter blasts!  Regardless of the weather we get a chance in the winter to go out, dust away the cobwebs and visit places we don’t get time to explore in the summer.

2019 we hope promises good things. The renovated bathrooms are nearly finished, we know we have lovely people booked in to stay with us throughout the year as they make their own pilgrimages to this special place and we have a new arrival at No.fifty6… And as you know there is always something going on here…

CWGC Visitor Centre

In Spring 2019 CWGC will be opening a Visitor Centre at it's European HQ in Beaurains, a short drive from us. For the first time visitors will be able to see the Commission’s team of skilled craftsman at work. Taking a tour of their workshops and observing them as they continue their century long task of caring for some of the world’s most impressive and recognisable monuments and memorials. We will keep you posted as we hear more about opening dates etc.

The proposed CWGC Visitor Centre

Personal Pilgrimages

Richard Scott and Brian came in December and made the best of very changeable weather. Richard has been coming to the Somme for many years and Brian was on his second visit. Despite no family connections, both men feel a special connection to the place. After a wonderful long circular battlefield walk in the rain which they loved, Richard and Brian decided over dinner to teach David to jive. They were very patient with David’s lack of rhythm.

Mark Fruenfelder made the journey from Melbourne, Australia with his 2 adult sons to view the battlefields. David took them on a personalised tour taking in Australian aspects of the War. Mark said the experience “blew him away.” 

 Treve De Noel/Christmas Truce Service Pozieres

On a very cold, icy 15^th December we attended the Christmas Truce service in Pozieres church. This annual event really heralds the start of Christmas festivities for us. Poems are read, the choir sings in 3 languages – French, English and German and it is a time to reflect on the year and how important striving for peace is. The Digger Cote Association acted scenes in period costume with sound effects to great emotional effect, covering John McCrae’s poem In Flanders Fields and the story of a nurse working in Etaples.

We live streamed the second half of the evening via Facebook so that this special event could be shared with a wider audience. 

Christmas Trees in the Streets of La Boisselle.

We do have some new village Christmas lights but after its success last year, Christian Bernard, our Mayor, offered everyone in the village to have a real Christmas tree, as long as it was on the roadside and was decorated so that the village was illuminated for Christmas. Many families took part – including us- and they did look pretty. The Mayor took photos of them all and will declare the best-dressed trees at the Wishes of the Mayor Event in January. Last year we were lucky enough to win a pencil! We love our Community. 

Bathroom/Bedroom Renovations

Greg our lovely builder has been cracking on with the renovation work to the guest bedrooms and bathrooms. 3 of the 4 upstairs rooms are now done, the landing flooring has been replaced (after removing all our books and models!) and Florentine has been started but there is about 2 weeks work left to do. Everything will have a fresh new look for our first guests of 2019.

New bedroom flooring

Practical Matters 

Our room tariffs for 2019 are on our website. After holding our rates for a couple of years we have increased our 2019 single room rate. Providing value for money is important to us but we have to cover all the bills too.   A single occupancy room is €65 per night and a twin/double room is unchanged at €98 per night. Our rates include breakfast. Our dinner rate will be €27 per person for 4 courses and drinks with your meal. 

The local Tourist Tax which must be accounted separately is 40 cents per adult per night and will appear separately as an addition to your bill. The tax which is imposed by Le Pays Du Coquelicot aids tourism in the area. 

Also a reminder that we do take payment by card (visa/mastercard) as well as Euros cash. We are thoroughly modern here you know! 

Our 2018 accounts will be winging their way to the accountant this month, we have always done things properly. 

French Residency

We passed a milestone in December when we submitted our dossiers and had an interview at the Prefecture in Amiens. As a result we now have a receipt to say we both have permanent residency rights – called a Carte de Sejour Permanent – as we have permanently lived here more than 5 years and are not a burden on the state. The receipt is an official document but it will be replaced by an official card when they are ready at the Prefecture. You would not believe the size of the dossiers of proof! This was a huge undertaking for us but also hugely important to protect our future rights…

Animal Postscript

While we were away for a few days at Christmas our lovely neighbours Chantal and Jean looked after the hens and rabbits.   The hens are laying machines as we are still getting 5/6 eggs a day.

We do though, have a new arrival at No.fifty6. A few weeks ago we noticed a mummy cat and her 2 kittens living in our wood store in the garden. We helped this little family along with extra food and put out a notice to see if anyone had lost a cat – to no avail. We kept an eye on them and a few weeks ago mummy cat, decided to come into our private quarters and decided to stay. We took her to the vet for a once over. She had no microchip and was in good health apart from a small cut on her tongue. The vet said she had finished weaning her kittens so was unlikely to have anything further to do with them. Apparently cats say, “that’s it kids, you are on your own now”.  So mum, who is grey and white and we have called Grizabella (Griza for short) is now chipped and vaccinated and she has adopted us. She is not allowed in any of the guest areas but she has made herself at home in our bit. The kittens, both tabbies, do not want to come in and we can’t catch them, so for the moment they continue in the cosy woodpile and we continue to feed them.  Our friend Poppy made sure they were all looked after over Christmas.

We never intended having a cat, but Griza found us, not the other way round. And she is scared of the hens, so no worries there. 

Happy New Year

All that is left is for us to wish all our wonderful friends and guests past and future a happy, healthy, peaceful New Year. We look forward to connecting with old friends and new in 2019.