Cafe update

Our "holiday" is coming to an end. We have just a week left before we move from the Vendee the 100 miles or so to Champniers Vienne to our new venture. So for the second time in 10 weeks we are packing up, sorting out what we take and what we don't and selling, giving away or dumping the rest. Prior to our move, there is work going on in the bar. The village has had main drainage installed during the time the bar has been closed and there is a legal obligation to use it. Therefore all of the drainage from the house has to be rerouted and must now run left to right to the main drainage in the road, instead of right to left to the fosse septique in the field. This requires a complete rerun of pipes, channels being dug through the concrete floor of the barn and right through the garden and the introduction of a pump in the cellar to help it on its way. Never in my wildest dreams did I think I would ever be spending thousands of euros to pump shit uphill, although many a time at work I felt that I was doing work of a similar nature. The work also means that the bathroom in the apartment has to be moved from the front of the house to the back, solely to allow the plumbing to work.We have been told that we will be functioning by the time we move in. I sincerely hope so, the local conveniences are those of the "need to squat" type. So what else is happening, the web site is being worked on as are the flyers we will use locally. J has a five day business course set up and a 3 day course enabling her to be the licencee. (Typical of France, you pay your €700 fee for the course, go on it and then they check your suitability to hold the licence) I have been involved in a lot of the key decisions, which model of TV for the bar and organising the satellite dishes installation for as soon as we move in, working out what the bar will stock. We have an accountant, a bank, we have talked to suppliers for beer, coffee and frozen foods and have spoken to the cash and carry.
All I have to do now is learn to cook, learn to run a bar and perhaps learn some French. I know all these are important but I am so involved in what is obviously the absolute key decision that I just haven't had time. You just would not believe how difficult it is to work our way through all the options of what the house wine will be !!!