Where have you/we been?!?!?!

It’s been a LONG time since the last post. Our internet service went down at the end of November, 2017 and was “restored/repaired” on February 6, 2018!! Oui, C’est Vrai…no internet or television or land line (required for internet via ADSL) for more than two months!!! Our service provider, Orange, has provided many “lessons” about la vie en France” in the past two months.  But for now, we will simply say it’s good to be back AND to be getting a nice refund from Orange.  Let’s hope we don’t have to rely on 3G cell service ever again.

Of course, the lack of internet had a “chilling effect” on our house searching process but we continued the quest.  I’d be lying if I said it was easy (NOT) and that there were not moments of extreme stress, frustration and anger (there WERE) BUT we are quite determined when we put our minds to something.  Oh, did I mention it rained constantly through all of December and January?  Yeah, it did.  Pas de problem, we have Muck Boots!

As of this writing (11:45 a.m. on 8 February) we have seen approximately 80 properties. Yep, quatre-vingt maisons! We’ve more than “covered the waterfront” having looked in the Lot, Dordogne, Gironde, Lot-et-Garonne, Charente. Here are some of the places and things we’ve seen during the “dark times”…the past two months sans Internet.

Most every place we have looked has had some combination of charm, poor prior restoration, stone and original elements, bad maintenance, lovely grounds, bad location (near a busy road or surrounded by UGLY new housing, etc.), way too big for us, no appropriate atelier space.

We have looked at a wide range of price points and styles and have learned that higher price generally means much bigger (10 bedrooms!), but not necessarily better quality. Also, a lot

of sellers in France have a “very dear” notion of what their property is worth.  In French the term is “CLUELESS.”

Ironically, the very first house remained “on our short list” until we went for the second visit. Among the learnings we got on returning to the property was that it belonged to the broker who showed it to us…who never bothered to tell us that. Moving on!

One “highlight” was looking at an old water-mill property (“moulin”) that had a restaurant on site

for those special holiday dinner parties!  Another of our “short list” houses was ultimately rejected because it just didn’t check all boxes–it was too well done to justify changing things (great systems), the outbuildings were not located on the same parcel as the house (you had to cross the road) and it wasn’t really our style.  Still a great house for somebody…just not us.

Q: When is a great house not really great? A: When the “barn” is only 1/3 of the barn and the other 2/3 (behind the “dividing wall”) is owned by a different owner who doesn’t want to sell.

One of the best parts of this house search is seeing a lot of France…it is a beautiful county.

One of the shortlist properties was “urban”–located in centre-ville on a main road, walking distance from the post office, butcher shop, boulangerie (bread and pastry) and Mairie (town hall).  The train station was close by, allowing access to big cities like Bordeaux or Paris…and beyond. One version of our “French Dream”…

The biggest issue with this place is size…there is an “extra” floor with four bedrooms and two bathrooms.  So, in addition to changes in fixtures and kitchen update, building out the atelier/shop space and other work…there is an EXTRA FLOOR to heat/condition or close off (!). Still, worth considering…the dream of village living… But maybe we should look in the Charente?

Our Charente excursion brought us to some very interesting places. The one pictured above (with the chapel) was the home of famous 18th century physician and his family (the son built the chapel after Dad died and turned the house into a hermitage).  While cool, we didn’t quite know what to do with the chapel AND medical examining rooms…so we moved on.  There was the “Big Bamboo” a sad tale of a bohemian French artist who sold off parcels of her land until all that was left was the original house and barn (in very sad condition) surrounded by newly constructed “not grand” housing and some commercial/retail places.  Ugh.

Having encountered a chapel in our search, when the “13th Century Church converted into House and Studio” came up in our research we had to go check it out.  It was well worth the trip

The church was/is extraordinary, winding stone staircases, “secret” wooden staircases, stained glass, big back yard, etc.  The current owners are artists whose work was throughout the house. And then there was the studio work space…even with the IKEA lighting…whoa!

But there were just too many stairs and way too much space.  Grand space but too much.  We looked at some places near Cognac (where you can ask “is it near Courvoisier or closer to Hennessy?” for driving directions).  Once again some very cool places/spaces but just not quite

the right fit.  This doctor’s house (he could actually be the real life “most interesting man in the world”–sailor (who sews his own sails), pilot, classic car collector (who sewed the leather work on his Jaguars and chef…who is going to live on his boat after the house sells) had its own disco. It also had an incredible automated wood pellet heating system. But a disco?!?!?

There was a last-minute diversion to a “new listing” with some “special features”…including an

an elevator.  But, alas, it had no barn or outbuilding for a workshop and the special features weren’t so special.

So, where does that leave us after 80 or houses and 1000’s of kilometers?  WE HAVE MADE AN OFFER!!!  But the details will have to wait for the next post.  Which should be soon…stay tuned.