Having gone to sleep last night confident that the result of the Brexit referendum would be for the UK to remain in the EU, we were shocked (along with most of the rest of the world) to hear the morning news that the final result (52% to 48%) was for the UK to leave the EU. It was a surprise for everyone, including those pushing the Leave case. The two main reasons suggested were to stop uncontrolled immigration into the UK, and a feeling among the older generation that they wanted to regain control of their country (and hopefully return to the good old days of Mighty England). Within a few hours, David Cameron had signalled his intention to resign as PM, and the leader of the opposition Jeremy Corbyn was also under pressure to step down. Who knows where this decision will lead the UK, but two uncomfortable factors have emerged. Firstly, both Scotland and Northern Ireland voted to Remain in the EU, so the risk of secession from the UK has increased substantially, with the result that the UK will become the DK (Disunited Kingdom). Secondly, it has emerged from exit polling that the Leave vote was strongly supported by the older generation, while the Remain vote was strongly supported by the younger generation, thus creating a demographic divide on the issue (especially when the younger generation will have to live with the older generation’s decision for a long, long time).

I have a particular interest in the outcome, since lots of Brits (currently with EU citizenship) are in Europe on Barges. If they lose their right to freedom of travel within Europe, then they have to apply for special visas (like Australians currently do) if they want to spend any more than 90 days in Europe every 180 days. If it makes it difficult to use their barges as they currently do, including over-wintering on their barges, then this might encourage a lot of them to sell their barges. This could flood the market with second-hand barges, and reduce the resale price that we might get for Kanumbra if ever we wanted to sell (the devaluation of the Pound immediately after the result was announced has already knocked 10% of the value of Kanumbra!). Time will tell! The only “good” thing that comes of the decision for me is that I was going to get a British Passport, to be able to visit France for as long as I wanted. When the Brexit vote was first mooted, I decided to wait for the outcome, even though everyone was telling me that it had no chance of going through. Well, so much for everyone’s opinion! At least I didn’t waste money on the passport application (about $3000) since the British Passport might now have been useless to me.

Having spent considerable time pondering the Brexit outcome in the morning, I decided to do something more important, so I resumed work on preparing the gates for painting, by chipping off more paint. Having finished the two gates, I moved on to the iron railing fence across the front of the garden.

We got an email reply today from the potential renters, saying that they thought our asking price of 1200euro/month was too high and saying that there were other houses available for rent in Moissac in the range of 750-950euro/month. I’m sure this is true but very few would have a separate bathroom for each for the four bedrooms, plus a brand new kitchen. They were also concerned about us wanting to retain access to the top floor for occasional use. We now have to make a decision as to which path we want to take.

In the afternoon, Dede Calvert, the music historian who gave the lecture for the band in 2014 and also an accomplished musician and piano-tuner, came over to the house to have a look at the piano that was left in the house to see if it was worth tuning. He had a look inside and recognised it as a piano that he had previously tuned, and told us that from serial marks inside the case he could identify it as having been made in 1912, so it is almost as old as the house (built in 1906) and could possibly have spent its entire life in this house. He confirmed that it was worth tuning, and proceeded to do so.

In the evening, we went into the centre of town for more concerts. We found some friends guarding the set-up for the later concert by Les Clandestines behind the Abbey and Cloister, and so went to the front of the library to watch the end of the previous concert by Italian duo Ilaria Graziano and Francesco Forni. We only caught the last couple of numbers, and strangely they were both Country & Western! Don’t know if the rest of their show was the same, but it sounded OK anyway.

As we waited for the next concert, the sky darkened in the west, heralding the arrival of a storm. When I heard the hail cannons start firing, I realised that it was serious and so, since I only had on a light summer shirt, I excused myself and headed for home. Just as well, because as I reached the back verandah of the house, the rain started. Rita and Jackie assured me later that Les Clandestines were really good and continued on despite the rain. Not to worry, they are on again tomorrow, so I will be able to see what I missed.