Assembling the team

First it was Rosalind, my realtor, who had all the answers to all my questions. When I asked her to recommend people to help me with my Duras endeavors, she sent along emails, phone numbers, and even called them first to see if they'd be on board to help me.

Since then I have written to Sue and Ludovic, who have written back, and both have pencilled me in for one or more days of my visit. Ludovic only writes in French, so it's good practice for me to receive his notes and try to decipher them.

On my own I found Julie, who will be at my place on Tuesday morning to start painting. I also found Tony, of Aquitaine Internet, who is doing all the legwork with the telcom/broadband companies to get wifi set up in the house while I am there.

So my team consists of Sue, the housekeeper/caretaker; Ludovic, the jack-of-all-trades, who will help me move furniture, haul things away, and put up all my new lighting fixtures. Julie, the painter; and Tony the tech guy. And, of course, Rosalind, who is my "concierge" in Duras. Then there's me.

The team is in place!