Day 1 Business speed dating in Brive dept 19. Tuesday 24th of November.

Well today started badly for me Amanda as yesterday day I had taken my twelve-year-old son to have his hair trimmed. I can say it was only trimmed but he hated it and refused to go to school. Great I thought just when I am going away for six days. Husband lost it with him and I was left to bundle him in the car and ship him off to school sobbing his heart out. I then needed to get some last minute shopping still very upset from Charlie I gathered what I needed and started to queue in this very long queue Along came two ladies that decided to create as they wanted another till open. The cashier told them that no other till would be open and with that they pushed in!!. At this moment I was so angry as my French was not good enough to argue. With steam coming out of my eyes, ears and mouth I gritted my teeth and started to put my shopping on the belt. Finally when it came to the two ladies to pay they said that the cashier had got it wrong. Oh my god I thought are you joking!!. The time was now 10.30 and we were meant to leave by 10. After the cashier looked at the receipt she noticed that she had charged 41 euros for a bag of sweets instead of 41cents and with no apologies she gave the refund to the ladies. I am glad that she hadn't made that mistake with me as the mood I was in I probably would of paid it to get out of there.
I returned home only to find that Melanie hadn't arrived as one of her cats hadn't returned home so it was 11.30 before we left home for our trip. Just before leaving I placed a newly printed car magnet on the bonnet of my car.
Here we were off to Brive to meet Amanda Kiff from the FBCCI for an evening of fun all be it 4.5h away.
10 minutes from home along a very busy road something large and red flashed before our eyes. Melanie then said I think that was your new car sign. Great I thought and looked quickly for a turning point on this very busy road. By some sort of miracle we saw it rolling about to the side of the road. I pulled over and Melanie started to play dare with the lorries to grab it while it was being blown down the road. The day had barely started and I felt the urge for a drink!!. Still onwards and upwards we continued for an hour or so had a bite to eat and reached Brive at about 5.30 a little later than anticipated. We off loaded our things in the hotel room and cracked open a bottle of fizz. We were now ready for our business speed dating. A shining star was in front of us with the biggest smile ever. Yes it was Amanda Kiff at last we had met her and we both felt that we had known her for ages. We were given a number and instructions on where to go. I was excited but as we looked around we were relieved that it was only business speed date and not one for love!!.
All sorts of people arrived, tall ones, short ones, funny ones and one came with straw on her back! We think that she must have had her bit of dating before!!. What a great time we all had and so many people had heard about us but it was so nice to meet face to face. Three minutes seemed such a long time to talk and the last group told me not to bother as Melanie the other wing had explained it all. Fine I thought, as by this time I was sick of hearing my own voice. By eight o'clock it was drink time and Guy from Barclays bank was very good at pouring the wine in fact too good. The food was delicious too. We noticed that we hadn't had the chance to speak with everybody and Melanie had spotted a 6ft something giant and she asked me who he was. Oh yes Melanie he is a professional rugby player. Well that was it as she has had a plan for angel Traders to create a rugby calender I think more of a fantasy than a business plan!!. Well I will be dammed I could hear her explaining that her beautician skills would be necessary for the job and he was agreeing and said he was sure that the team would agree. With excitement her feet went from under her and she grabbed this giant who helped her get on her feet. I turned to Amanda Kiff and the words "sorry" came out. I think Melanie was so excited at the idea as she had met a photographer the same evening and in her mind the calender had just started!!.
Amanda Kiff had also organised a business card prize draw to win two tickets for a rugby match in Brive. Guess who put their cards in first? Yes it was Melanie. Oh no I thought if she doesn't win what would be her next plan to get them!!. Well she didn't win but chatted a rather long time with the guy that did. He said " what are you doing on the" and before he could give a date she said "nothing". I thought come on girl have some standards. When she wants something she won't give up!!. The great evening came to an end and we were on a mission to find a nice bar and see the highlights of Brive. Mind you I think Melanie had had a lot of high lights on this evening already. We said our good-byes and walked towards the town and bumped into Philippe the man who had won the rugby tickets he asked, " where are you ladies off too?" We replied to find a bar". With that he offered to take us in his car to see the beautiful town of Brive. It was fascinating and so was he. How kind was that?. We were not so sure that we would have the same welcome in England. With his rugby tickets firmly held to his chest he dropped us off at an Irish pub just a stones throw away from our hotel. We had just one drink and a bowl of perfect fat chips. What a wonderful time we had and it was only 10.30 when we were tucked up in bed.

Day 2 Chateau Sedieres

We had arranged to meet with Amanda Kiff to plan a business fair in the Chateau.
We arrived at this amazing Chateau and when we entered it had such a magical atmosphere and we both felt so privileged to have been invited. We need to confirm dates for the event but we really can't wait until the day of this fair. So watch the website for details. Already it was dinnertime and we decided to go to Tulle for lunch. We found a great restaurant and had a very nice lunch and Melanie was still wanting to discuss the calender!!.
We headed off to Eymet where we have rented a house for five days. We stopped and got some shopping and went to find the house. We had rough directions and when we found the road I saw a sign that translated to funeral bedrooms I said to Melanie if it's near there I am out of here!!. We telephoned our host Fiona who came and welcomed us to a lovely gite. Still worried about the sign that I had seen I asked her about it. She reassured me that the parlour was further down the road and not to worry!!.
We unloaded the car and settled down to poached Salmon and wild rice put a Harry Potter movie on and enjoyed a bar of Cadbury's dairy milk, which we had purchased in Eymet. We really do love it here.
Melanie went to bed early to dream of the calender which she is producing next year she has booked Mr. November but she wants to dream of the other eleven months!!. I went to bed hoping that my son had got over his new hairstyle and the thought of good old egg and bacon for breakfast tomorrow!!.

Day 3 Eymet
After a good nights sleep we were up and ready for the Market in Eymet. First stop was Julian from the tile shop a regular exhibitor of ours. It was great to see him and his fantastic shop.
The people of Eymet were great and hundreds of leaflets were distributed together with shop posters. The wonderful aromas of all the different foods on offer made us very hungry!!.
We spoke with some traders that were very interested in our Christmas fayre in the Chateau Le mas de Montet on the 13th of December.
On our travels we went to a fab bar in called the Gambetta in the heart of the town. The owner was very helpful and friendly and we said it would great for them to speak with Martin from angloinfo.com as they want to advertise their company. We are always trying to help. We try to promote you all when your services are needed.
Walking back to our gite we saw Julian again he offered us coffee but we said that we only drink hot chocolate and to get some in for when we return. Tomorrow we are off to a big expo to put posters on every car and to prepare the salon at the beautiful Chateau des Vigiers.

Angel Traders Business Fairs

Day Four
Well we got up early and made our way to the Chateau and felt so privileged to be holding our business fair in such a wonderful place.
The hall had a beautiful painting at one end. It was a picture of the mad hatter’s tea party. The chairs were red velvet and fit for king and queen! It wasn't long before everything was in place for the big day tomorrow. We then went to see a lady who is in charge of events at the chateau as we are helping to coordinate a wedding for next September. We talked and took many pictures for the bride to be.
We next went to another town to make some last minute advertising.
We were given some tickets for a bio expo in Bergerac. It was late we were tiered and took the wrong turning parked the car and ended up in a gypsy encampment. The trailers were all out of this world and all had satellite TV. We were so tiered and our accommodation that we had booked didn't have a bath or heating that was working but looking at the vans in front of us it looked like they would probably have hot tubs! Anyway we decided it might be safer to swiftly move on and get back in our car and find the venue. The welcome was cold the venue looked terrible compared to the chateau we had just left.
There were 70 stands offering a healthy lifestyle. We can only describe it as a chocoholic’s nightmare! Yes we did find something to buy. Pink bubbly it was fab but we are still not sure what was healthy about it.
It was 8pm before we got back to our gite. We decided to go for a quick drink and have some dinner when we got home. As a rule we never drink the night before the venue. While staying in Eymet we had discovered the beer "desperado" with a slice of lemon. So easy to drink and after a couple of them in the Gambetta we were tapping away to the band which was playing.
We spoke with the vocalist and a photographer introduced himself. We had a good time the beers made me very tiered but Melanie decided to cook a big dinner for herself. I set the alarm for 6.30am and fell asleep and had an early night ready for our special day tomorrow.

Angel Traders Business Fairs

Day 5
Bright and breezy we were ready. The chateau had made signs for the parking and Big dish was first to set up. It was great to see all of the familiar faces. We feel that we have made a lot of friends.
A man came up to us and said hello my name is Bernard panic struck as I didn't have an exhibitor named Bernard. The hall had been planned very carefully and there was no room left. Horrified I said " and which company are you representing?". He replied " I am the MD of the chateau". Relived in one way for not forgetting an exhibitor but totally embarrassed not to have been introduced to him before.
The day was just perfect and people just kept coming in.
New businesses came and introduced themselves. They had been following the success of our fairs and now wanted to be part of our success.
Matt and Alistair had invited the exhibitors to the after fair get together where everybody had the opportunity to network and to talk about the success of the day.
Many contacts were made and everybody that exhibited was seen by hundreds of people. It only takes one good lead and your stand is paid for.
Everybody went home after a good days work accept one exhibitor who we can't name however he wanted to show us his best dance moves! Melanie Mongoose and Amanda Cowell advised him to keep coming to the fairs and not to give up his day job!
We returned back to the gite got changed and joined Matt and Alistair ( sweetcakes) from Halo financial for dinner in Eymet. We were told about a new bistro and thought we would try it. We were all really tiered and hungry especially the boys. Don't want to say too much about it but the service and attitude was terrible! No customer comes first policy at this place. What a shame especially after the great day we had.
We left the restaurant and headed back. We managed to watch xfactor but fell asleep after that.

Angel Traders Business Fairs

Day 6
Saint Emilion that was our mission today. We left early and got there in just over an hour. Fields and fields of vines and beautiful chateaux.
Cobbled streets pretty shops, bars, cafes, hotels and restaurants.
Poor Melanie has been sick with flu but managed to enjoy a little scenery. We followed the road up through the high street and everybody was staring at us. We thought maybe because our number plate was strange to the area and then we came to a dead end with no entry signs everywhere. Yes the reason everybody was staring was because we had gone up the main high street the wrong way! Once we finally turned around one French man had a right old chuckle. With Melanie still felling poorly we decided to head back to the gite.
We had cooked a nice pork stew in our slow cooker together with onion mash potato and thick gravy. It was perfect to have on this cold autumn day.
Tomorrow we are off to Petit Bersac to visit the chateau where our Christmas fair will be held. We can't wait to see Richard and his beautiful home again.

Someone got sent home at Ruffec !!

Angel traders call in reinforcements at the Ruffec Business Fair as an imposter tries to Wade in on the Success of the Angel Traders business fairs.
This particular imposter seemed scared of the competition and took it upon himself to set up a stand in the car park where the business fair took place trying to give his product away.
After refusing to leave the event Angel traders had no option but to call the police. After several minutes of trying to find every excuse why he had the right to be there the police moved the imposter along.
With the little hipcup out of the way the fair was able to go on.
With a huge variaty of different stands ranging from delicious sizzling sausages to Siddalls finacial experts.
Beautiful tile displays, authors, banks and media coverage filled the 800m2 hall.
We had great feed back from both visitors and exhibitors and something new is learnt from each event.
With thanks to Angloinfo.com and the Connexion and Advertiser newspaper who provide us with excellent media coverage. We would also like to thank our print sponsor Magic Mouse who have supplied many of the colourful banners for the events and Halo Financial giving that personal touch to foreign currency transactions.
We thank you all for your help support and wonderful idea's all of which is listened to and used making the future events even more sucessful.