Meetings with builders, carpenters, plumbers, etc., etc.

We had an action-packed day last Thursday: M. Petipas had set up morning and afternoon meetings with the various trades he had invited to quote for the work on our house...

They had got 2 firms representing each trade to agree to come and give us a quote, and had split them into morning and afternoon visits.

We had a list of all the people we were expecting to see - needless to say there were a few last minute substitutions/cancellations.

I, for one, was quite worn out at the end of the day; trying to talk to 20 or 30 people about different aspects of the project (never really got to grips with who was who; just working out what trade they represented by the questions they were asking!), and listening in French for 2/3 hours at a stretch was quite a challenge.

I can remember at school (and later at poly/college) being told that humans have an attention span/can concentrate well for about 40 minutes (which is why most classes/lectures last less than an hour), but after that you might as well be talking in a foreign language!

Well, it was a challenge, but we both feel much more positive; it actually seems possible that work might one day start again...

Which would mean that one day it would be finished!