Eventful week

I’ve had a very busy time since my return from the UK. I’ve been especially busy this week having taken Sophie’s son, Jean-Pierre, and his lovely little daughter for flights from Galinat in 56NE on Thursday but my time has mainly been taken up with other things, namely the acquisition of a new (to me) trailer and ride-on mower. I think that I was especially lucky with both, as I’ll explain.

I’ve mentioned many times previously that there’s a well-known web site in France called Le Bon Coin on which you can advertise anything for sale for free and which is therefore a magnet for buyers because on it you can find almost anything that you want. It’s divided up into regions (remember, France is a very big country geographically compared to the UK) and the main problem that I’ve found is that whenever I’ve been searching for anything, I’ve never been able to find it in the Dordogne, or if so, it’s always for some reason been more expensive than in other parts of France. You can search your ‘département’ and the neighbouring ones, but in the case of the Dordogne, this means that your search will extend as far south as the Spanish border, as far west as the Atlantic and as far north as Brittany, all of which involve many hours of driving to get to.

It was almost the same with the two items that I wanted this week, coupled with the fact that while I did not have a suitable large trailer, I couldn’t go for any of the advertised ride-on mowers! While I was searching for a trailer, lots of ride-ons were advertised and were snapped up and I thought, mistakenly as it happens, that I was missing lots of absolute bargains. I was looking for a double-axle trailer large enough to take a ride-on mower, which the small one that I have at present isn’t, that I could also use for carrying building materials and large items out of my garden. I spotted one that was perfect for my needs and at an incredibly low price last weekend and after trying and failing to get through to the advertiser’s mobile number, fired off an email message. It turned out that that message was my trump card.

The trailer was located down in the Tarn et Garonne, the other side of Montauban, but its price made the distance worthwhile. The seller replied to my message the next day and when he said that it was still available I said that I’d be down to see it the same evening. As soon as I saw it, I agreed to buy it and it was then that the seller somewhat ruefully told me that I had been the first to reply and showed me the scores of messages that he’d subsequently received from other prospective buyers. He said that he now realised that his price was far too low and I think he was right, but it didn’t stop me from paying it, though 😉

So then I could continue my search for a ride-on mower. The old one that I bought for peanuts several months ago that is falling to bits (literally) nevertheless proved that I could use such a machine successfully in my garden and I not only wanted one to replace it (ie small enough to use in my garden) but also one that would be big and powerful enough to use over at Galinat. Christian, the owner, doesn’t always have the time to keep on top of the grass (and weeds) and when I flew this week, the runway was covered in long, straggly weeds and looked particularly ragged. It would help us both if I could pop a mower over there and just run up and down it a few times, but not just any old ride-on would do. I’d need one of at least 13 hp or so with a cut diameter of something like 96 cms so it would not be over-stretched and end up burning itself out, and such mowers weren’t coming up that regularly on LBC. And when they did, they were at somewhat elevated prices.

Then I had a stroke of luck. I’ve found in the past that not all LBC advertisers are totally literate, or to be more fair, sometimes make undetected spelling mistakes. When that happens, most buyers don’t find their items as a result of using ‘normal’ search terms, so it’s worthwhile trying a few spelling variations yourself when you carry out searches for what you’re looking to buy. And so it was that I came across a ride-on mower being advertised over in the Gironde in the Arcachon area. It had been put up a few days before and I was encouraged when I was told that it was still for sale when I inquired. Not surprising, really, as mine was probably the only enquiry they’d received, and it didn’t help much when the advertiser didn’t seem to understand much about engine power and cut diameter.

But I was undeterred because something told me that I’d lighted upon a little gem. The machine had been photographed inside a wooden shed in which it had obviously always been stored, unlike the majority of ride-ons in France that are left outside in the rain by their owners, so I decided to take the drive ‘out-west’ towing my new trailer to see what was what. I was met by the advertiser’s husband who then took me to his elderly but sprightly relative’s house where the mower was located and as soon as I saw it, I knew that I’d buy it even at the full advertised price.

The mower was only about 4 years old and had been very little used. It also had a 14 hp Briggs and Stratton engine and a cut diameter of 97 cms, so was exactly what I was looking for as it totally met my needs. The old boy took great pleasure in a lengthy demonstration of the machine in all its modes which I politely observed while all the time just wanting to cut to the chase of the price. When we finally did, I offered 50€ less than the asking price, and the deal was clinched. And so it was that I arrived back home with it on the back of my new trailer at about 10.30 pm last night, very tired but flushed with success.

Luckily, I checked the weather forecast having noticed building thunderstorms and lightening over the Dordogne on the way home (it was around 35 degrees again yesterday) and was able to get it covered up on my trailer against the overnight rain that was forecast, and indeed materialised. Here are a few shots that I took of both my new trailer and ride-on mower this morning after the rain had stopped and I was able to think about getting the mower back onto the ground without proper ramps.

The rain actually held off long enough for me to test the ride-on out by doing a complete mow of my front lawn. It ran beautifully and did the job effortlessly, so I think that I was incredibly lucky to come across it, let alone buy it for the price that I did. On Thursday, Christian said that he was going to arrange for a large tractor and mower to run over the runway at Galinat so this coming week I’ll have to check to see if he has been able to. If not, I might just give him a little surprise 😉