Well, this is another 'volte face' from me, and after another long absence. I'm moving, and not just back to Hove, but on to France! The last few months have been pretty stressful and I finally came to the conclusion that I need a complete change of scene: in fact a complete change of Life. So in my absence from Blogging I've been exploring on the internet, in property magazines, and asking anyone who was willing for their advice and help. It turns out that people are mostly inclined to be very helpful, and so I found myself at the end of September whizzing off to the Canal du Midi area of France to meet some Estate Agents and look at a few properties. This entailed flying to Carcassonne, hiring a car from there and driving to Lezignan Corbieres where I was met by the lovely Lorna Roscow and her husband Jason, and sheperded to a dear little house in Fabrezan for a 3 night stay.
( I should say that the journey from here to Stansted was a bit of a nightmare, as the first train I boarded was cancelled before it even moved. Altogether the journey took more than 3 hours. And the train fare (£60.60 for a return) was more expensive than my return flight to Carcassonne!! )
Anyway, that aside it was lovely once I got to France (after the unpleasant car-hire rip-off) and driving in France was as good an experience as it usually is on their superb roads. Glorious weather, boiling hot, clear blue skies and friendly people. What more could I ask. The next day Lorna and Jason took me around and showed me 3 houses - one of which I had thought might be perfect and was a great disappointment - and a couple more which were nicer, but not quite right. ( I should tell you that my wish list contains 3 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms and a swimming pool, near the Canal du Midi.) Thankfully they were happy to do the driving so I could look around at the villages and the countryside, and I'm absolutely sure that it's the perfect location...
Next day I had another morning with Lorna and Jason, though nothing I saw quite hit the spot. And then the afternoon adventure began with a phone call from Richard Pullen (of Pullen Estates France) who was keen to show me 3 properties, and also to get me involved with a TV crew (French) who were doing a short piece on why English people might be buying property in France to escape from Brexit... Ho ho, I certainly fell into that category and so I was perfectly willing to be interviewed, tho' I didn't fancy the driving through unfamiliar territory to get there! Richard bravely and very kindly offered to come and collect me (and then drive me back) so that is what we did. And one of the houses I saw that afternoon may well be the one for me! I think the test for this is whether or not you can picture yourself in the house and I can - I have been back here in boring Shoreham for nearly 3 weeks (18 days to be precise) and I am planning to go back to Bize Minervois very soon. Hopefully with Son who, if you recall, lives in Barcelona and is therefore only a two and a half hour drive away from the house I like. He has an unerring eye when it comes to property and I always value his opinion. Fingers crossed....
Thursday, October 18, 2018
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