5. back to school

Yesterday, I darkened my karma. I couldn't resist writing an email to the greedy notaire that deals with the sale of the station. Officially it was to withdraw our offer, unofficially it was to unashamedly gloat. Not only have I clearly stated the price we paid for our home (€50k less than what we offered for the station), I also attached a picture of it for good measure (see above). I don't expect a reply, but I revel in the knowledge that she must be kicking herself silly as the station still isn't sold (I checked) and with the present economic downturn, it's likely it won't for a while. Unless its price is substantially reduced. Cue evil laugh.

In the end their greed (either the notaire's or the owners' or both) has been a blessing in disguise. Although we were quite gutted we also had a wedding to finish planning and while Fox went straight back into compiling a new list of viewings I was happy to concentrate on tying up the loose ends for our big day. Two weeks after our civil partnership, we were back in France.

the newlyweds

We had shortlisted three properties: a nunnery, a house by a river and a disused school. The nunnery was the front runner, then came the house by the river for Fox, the school for me. Although it wasn't secluded, I had come round the idea that being in the middle of nowhere would mean poor or no internet connection and no help in case of an emergency. So I was willing to settle for being on the outskirt of a village (as long as the villagers didn't chase us armed with torches).
The nunnery was a big disappointment. Huge cracks split walls in two and although the owner was adamant that an architect assured her it didn't compromise the building, we decided to go with our gut feeling, not to mention our common sense, and passed on it. As for the house by the river, it was just a question of time before the river came lapping at its door, and in my opinion, having a public footpath splitting the land and the house wasn't much of a strong selling point.

The school, however, was something else. From the word go it was just right. Within minutes of walking in its playground €20k was knocked off its price, we had the assured support of the Mairie to turn part of it into a B&B and even a possible list of contacts. The Mayor's deputy didn't even bat an eyelid when I told him we wanted to turn this into a family home. We started the viewing by the two huge classrooms, followed by the schoolmaster's house and finally the garden behind the préau (see below). It was beautiful, spacious, private, quirky with its bell still hanging, albeit perilously. It was just the home we were looking for.
And just like that, belle-maman and beau-papa got their jobs back.