Well I say gorge walking, but actually it was more of a paddle in a stream. Gorge walking just sounds better and grabs the attention a little more.
I know you want to know why we were ‘gorge walking’, stick with me on this, it’s good copy writing. The reason is that there has been a major clean up of our little river. These French guys turned up with great big trucks, huge chainsaws and matching mechanical arms that were capable of picking up a fully grown oak tree. Then they set about clearing the river for as far as the eye could see.
Now we had been warned about this, when I received a letter stating that they were going to do the job and asking if we wanted the wood disposed of or did we want to keep it. Now naturally I said we would like to keep it. Buying a few stairs of wood over here can be a pretty expensive pastime, so there was no way I was going to look this gift horse in the mouth. This was despite the small print that said all the wood had to be cleared away within a couple of weeks following the completion of the work. I mean after all how much wood could there be clearing a few branches and a bit of brush.
Needless to say there followed a period of complete panic as we witnessed the felling of several fully grown oak trees; and a few other varieties as well. I was eying my arsenal of two wheelbarrows and the phrase ‘we are going to need a bigger boat’ from that famous film ‘Jaws’ sprang to mind. Only in my case it was a tractor and trailer that was the necessary specification.
You can imagine my relief when a couple of the guys came over to see me and asked me where I would like to store my wood. Phew!! I rather naively suggested that near the river might be a good place, not realizing that they meant anywhere on the property would not be unreasonable. So after a bit of pigeon French, where they told me that my suggestion was too close to the river. And I said to them ‘you can put it there?’ or ‘vous pouvez le mettre là-bas?’, not thinking for a second they could, it was agreed that the wood would be placed in a very convenient location not a million miles from the house. Big smiles all around.
So following all that panic and relief it was felt an exploratory ‘gorge walk’, see it does work, was the order of the day. Off we set, dog in tow, to explore the countryside and examine the fruits of their labour. It has to be said they did a pretty good job all in all and the river was exactly what they said it would be; clear of wood. And you can lay testament to that by watching the video I have carefully crafted together to share the event.
I haven’t got away scot-free however, there was still a little bit of brush to deal with, in fact enough to warrant the purchase of a nice new trailer to go behind my mower, and in a matching red colour to boot. You have the keep the wife happy, she is into colour coordination after all.
So there you have it, another adventure from living in the France lane,pretty exciting I have to say. Might have to go and lie down now, oh no I can’t, I’ve got wood to cut 🙂