SOLD!! The city pad is sold!! We finally accepted an offer that put an end to negotiations on Monday morning and can confirm that come January, if all goes smoothly, the Piglet family will be homeless unless we find something quick!
As is always the way, as soon as we had agreed a price (less than the asking price but nonetheless a price we are happy with) we got a call from another interested person, an international footballer! Tempted by the money but morally aware that the property was already sold, we politely, but regretfully sent his agent packing. I don’t think they’re used to being told that sold means sold and not if they pay more then they can buy it! Anyway, at least we know we made the right decision on a moral basis even if it was a hard one to make financially.
In anticipation of the sale, Mr Piglet and I started house hunting on Saturday. We had spent some time looking on the internet but had not started really looking as I am very superstitious and didn’t want to jinx selling the property. I could not imagine the heartache if I’d found the perfect property only to not be able to buy it because we hadn’t sold.
Rather rapidly we chose two properties that looked great on paper and seemed to answer everything on our wish list:
– spacious, ideally 200m2
– outbuildings
– rural but not isolated
– character building if possible (shouldn’t be hard in France)
– ADSL required!
– Not on a busy road
– No structural renovation required in the main property
Easy right?
Arriving in the village I desperately needed the loo (being pregnant meant that Husband did not moan for once!) so we stopped in the village bar for a coffee. Entering the small room, I was overwhelmed by the stench of cigarettes and alcohol – it’s been a while now since smoking was banned in bars and restaurants but that law has obviously not reached parts of rural France as yet.
I glanced around, taking in my surroundings and saw a woman about my age showing off her new purchases to some other women in the bar. Thrilled at the thought of sharing a shopping addiction with other villagers I looked on. Now, I’m no fashionista, but the excited exclamations and squeals of joy she was receiving lead me to believe that she had acquired a pair of Louboutins or similar coveted footwear, and incited me to take a closer peek into the box she was holding. What a shock! The contents were silver, sparkly trainers! Not quite what I was expecting!
It was daft of me to expect someone to have these in rural France!
As I continued to scan the bar area, my eyes were drawn to a caricature of a man, the type of person I’d always expected to see in France when I was about 10 but who, rather disappointedly in reality doesn’t exist. You know, the man with the beret hat, the mariner t-shirt, closely cut hair and brightly coloured belt? Well, I had to do a double take, as this guy at the bar was exactly that, the typical French guy that I believed didn’t exist. All that was missing was a baguette and some onions. He was drinking Pastis (at 1130 am) and was discussing hunting so maybe the lack of baguette and onions can be forgiven as he’d obviously not caught anything so wouldn’t be making lunch. Afterall, that would explain why he was in a bar drowning his sorrows in Pastis!
My stereotypical image of a Frenchman
Feeling rather out of sorts in the bar, Mr Piglet and I left rapidly after downing our coffee, bemused by the characters we had encountered. Was village living really going to be the right thing for us? Then again, I’m sure if we went into any bar in Lyon at 1130 in the morning we’d meet some strange souls so we decided to discount this experience as being unrelated to country living.
As for the properties we visited, all I can say was the trip was a waste of time and nothing was suitable.
The first property was being advertised as habitable and requiring comfort refreshing (ie. Decoration) yet, walking around I was scared stiff that the ceilings were going to cave in, that I would be electrocuted or the floor would give way.
The second property was being advertised as being 200 m2 and as having outbuildings, but reality again turned out to be different. Entering the front door, I was immediately confronted with a close up view of the back door. Now, I’m a bit short sighted and things normally look quite far away, but the back door was only 5 metres away from me! The kitchen was a non-existent black hole and the bedrooms could only be called single box rooms at best. Not quite what I was expecting! At best, we estimated the house measured no more than 140 m2. As for the numerous outbuildings advertised, there was one, measuring 20 metres squared on the ground, so maximum extension potential of 40 m2!
Our quest for space may seem excessive but when both spouses work from home, an office in the spare bedroom is not really practical, so we need space to work, to live and to welcome house guests especially now that we have a mini us on it’s way!
All in all, a disappointing first outing. Our next visits are being planned with military precision and hopefully, just hopefully, we will stumble upon the perfect property very soon otherwise we really will be homeless!
ps. I did take some pictures but they’re stuck on my camera for the time being and don’t want to come off!
Piglet in France 
Poor Piglet,
I think village life is gonna come as quite a shock. You will have to retrieve the disgarded baggy tracksuit bottoms from the bottom of your wardrobe or go hippy chic!
PiP
LOL! I’m really motivated but I keep thinking of stupid things like how I’ll have to drive to Lyon to see my Osteopath and where would I get my blood tests done?
But then I think of something like taking a walk on a crisp winter morning and NOT having the odour of pollution burn my lungs or a traffic jam being the equivalent of a tractor as opposed to a 40 minute queue that doesn’t move…
Congrats on the sale! Now the real fun begins, huh?
D and I have already started looking at places and trying to get an idea of where we’d like to live. We don’t plan on moving for another 2 – 3 years…
It may be tough but keep going. Your new home is out there; you’ll find it!
Thanks Tanya! Yes, the fun has started and I’m becoming a bit despondent actually. Internet is not very well developed in rural France 😦
Its a good idea giving yourself plenty of time to familarise yourself with an area before buying there. Hubby and I have said that if we can’t find anything we really like then we’ll rent for a few months until we do, thus allowing us more time to really explore!
Congrats on the sale! That’s great news!
As for village life – yeah, it will probably be interesting. That can also be great news, though. Think of all the funny blog posts you’ll have!
Thanks Sion! I dread to think of what I’ll be posting about in a years time…
Ho, ho! Welcome to rural France. I had to laugh at your description of the little town bar, as it sounds like many around here.
Your wish list is very similar to what mine was 12 years ago. It took us 18 months of hunting but we found our house, you will too!
Bon courage!
Merci Dedene! I sure do hope that we find it but hopefully in under 18 months! For sure, we have to find it before Christmas if we’re going to buy it before we have to move out of here, if not we’ll rent and we’ll have more time to look but it’s all a bit worrying but fun at the same time!
Life in a village is always much less glamorous than previously thought and that goes for any place , all over the world . You will meet lots of uneducated ,old fashioned people, people with strange habits and peculiar behaviour, everyone will be less everything compared to Lyon etc. And it will be more diffciult to find people that share with you a common set of life principles or values. But you WILL have plenty of space, gardens and vegetables, quiet surroundings , fresh air. You will miss many things from you previous life and you will learn to like many new ones. Bonne chance with finding the new house.
Thanks Rosabell for your comment & best wishes. I’m sure I will have to adapt a lot and that I won’t have much in common with people, but I’m also hoping that people in the country will be more simple (not in a simple simon way though), less judgemental and less materialistic. We will see! I am sure that there will be a mix of people just like there is in Lyon.
One thing I really am hoping for though is less stress, less trafic, more smiles and actually asking people how they are and building relationships. The coldness of the city is rather unappealing to me now and it makes all the shiny exciting things that go on here seem rather dull.
ps. can you imagine the Jardinage Jeudi posts I could write? LOL!
Jardinage Jeudi should be great ! On the other hand, I wouldn’t expect people in the countryside to be less materialistic or judgemental….Since they don’t literally have much to do from dawn till dusk, they usually tend to spy around everyone and over gossip everything….
But I am absolutely ,like 100% percent sure you will soon find the right house. Let’s say, I’ll bet you’ll find it by 1st December. I would put my money for the week 22-27 november !
Are you sure you weren’t in the bar in Le Petit Village???
Best of luck Piglet! Your home is out there 🙂
LOL! I’m becoming less and less sure that something out there is waiting for us 😦
Congratulations on the sale! And that sounds a lot like the villages I came across when I used to live in Bretagne. Which makes me want to suggest – maybe one important thing to ask the estate agent is how outsiders are seen in the villages you are considering?
I know where I used to live, anyone not born within a 10km radius was considered a “foreigner” and thus not be trusted. That might be a *slight* exaggeration, but it’s something to keep in mind – we saw many British families move in to the area and then move out because they were unable to integrate and thus became isolated. Keith is one of the rare few who managed successfully (but that’s no surprise, is it? *S*) I had a French partner, and it still wasn’t easy for me. I’ve actually found the people to be a lot friendlier in Paris! But then again, Bretagne isn’t exactly known for being the most open region, is it?
On the other hand, I do miss having the space and now you’ve got a little one to consider too…Country life sure is a lot more suited to family living! 🙂
Thanks for your comments and tips. It is something we’ve considered and have asked about as I was worried that maybe small villages could be rife with racism, after all it is a lot of the rural areas that voted far right in the elections… interestingly enough we have had very pleasant answers and everyone we have spoken to has been charming but it’s definitely something I enquire about everywhere we go.
We found out the other day that my husbands family originates from the region we’re looking in so our surname (he’s French) is familiar and local to people there so we’re better accepted!
Also the fact that I’m fluent in French and work as opposed to looking to “live the dream” is an important factor for intergration also.
I too find people in Paris friendly, especially compared to Lyon. The Lyonnais have a really bad reputation for being cold and hard to get on with, and I’m afraid it’s true! That said, we’re fine here but then we’ve been here for a very long time now and Mr Piglet was even born in Lyon and went to school here for a while also.
Now we just have to find somewhere to live! Not an easy task!
Ha. I have a pair of (faux) Louboutins just like those pictured. And I can not imagine myself hobbling down the cobbled streets of my small town. Imagine the looks I’d get. Fashion here consists of orthopedic oxfords and below the knee skirts…
Thanks Samantha!
I’m wondering what will become of all my shoes (I have quite a collection!) when we move!? I guess I will be taking them on special trips to the city when I go out!
Since starting to visit houses I’ve worn just one pair of shoes, that’s one pair that I didn’t mind getting muddy!!!
Oh! And good luck house hunting!
Well done for selling the house!
Good luck with house hunting. Hopefully the house you like will be for sale at the time you’re looking! There’s a lot of luck involved with house-hunting.
The only thing I’d add to the marvellous comments you’ve got here is to find a village big enough to have a local shop and a maternelle/primary school. Having to get in the car to drive 10km to the nearest commerce puts you off very quickly and having other new parents around will give you an instant source of potential friends.
Being isolated with a young child is very trying!
Hi Sarah, valid points you make there, thank you! I hadn’t thought about instant sources of potential friends, that’s a definite advantage! We hadn’t thought about the isolation thing with a young child, I suppose because we don’t have children yet and don’t have a clue what to expect (Scary!) but I will definitely be bearing this advice in mind. Thank you so much!
ps. Definitely lots of luck in house hunting, I agree 100%. At the moment, we have not had that luck except in the sale of our house so I’m not complaining for the moment… Fingers crossed!
Great Scott! That was quick. Well done.
Good luck with your rural house hunt. For what it’s worth, I’d seriously think about renting for a while in the place of, or very near to, your choice. It’s very difficult to get a feel for a place and what it is going to be like living there based on a few visits. We did that once in the past, very much to our regret. And as Sarah points out, it can be very isolating if you are too far from a point of social contact, so a village with at least a bar and shop, plus a school, would be a good idea.
What a lot of changes taking place in your life at the moment, and what fun.
I’m looking forward to following you over the next few months to say where your road leads.
Hi Merewoman! Many thanks for the tips, I had a look at rental properties (which is going to have to be an option if we don’t find something quick) but they are all so small and horrible looking compared to what we’re looking to purchase… I just don’t think that I’d be happy in any of them even if they were in the most heavenly place on earth! I think it’s going to be a tough few months ahead!
Thankfully we will not be too far away from Lyon (45 mins drive max) our family & friends in other nearby towns (Aix Les Bains, Chambery, Grenoble) so we won’t be completely isolated from our social network which is good. We spend most of our summer times around the lakes so we’ll only be about a 25 minutes drive away which is reassuring even if the villages are fairly new to us.
The school in the village has become a new criteria for us and our searches are now being orientated towards larger villages or small towns as opposed to complete isolation! Afterall, goats and cows are not going to be very good company!
I wish I had a cristal ball to see where this journey is going to take me, at the moment I can only see as far as my nose and it is somewhat disturbing…
So glad you sold so quickly…it sounds a super place, though.
Can only add to all the above…don’t be too put off by the bar as you probably won’t be frequenting it and make sure you are close enough to a reasonable town for shopping, for public services and…as it’s getting to be a problem in rural France…doctors and dentists.
Good luck with the hunt…have you tried Leboncoin or PAP…or the local rag…and I think there’s a property website run by Notaires de France too which advertises stuff held by notaires.
And you could try the Domaines to see what they have, but I’ve lost their references.
we’re glad too from a financial perspective, slightly sad though as it is a super place and we’re downsizing in terms of niceness so it’s going to be tough on us I think. I adore living here but the mortgage and the city has just got too much and now our priorities are changing with little piglet on it’s way…
We’ve been looking on some of the sites you mention but hadn’t thought about the notaires directly or les Domaines… I will be investigating!