Doesn't time fly... Or the move happens on Monday!

So much has happened since my last post I can't believe it, but I'll try to keep the story in some sort of order and carry on where I left off...

We went out to the Vendee region of France and looked at lots of houses over about 5 days, fell madly in love with one house and saw the potential to fall in love with one other. As it was our first visit we had arranged to see a variety of different types of house that fulfilled our main requirement which was detached with no close neighbours - we had 5 rescue dogs one or two of which bark at everything that moves - with a large garden to grow veg in. Everybody will know what they think they want, but, as is often the case, we are not always right. Sometimes rose coloured glasses of how we think life will be can colour our decisions, and sometimes other people can see what would be perfect for us even when we can't see it ourselves. So my advice for what it's worth (and take it or leave it I won't be offended either way) is that you go and see property with an open mind, listen to suggestions, remember that a picture on the internet will not give you a true idea of what a house is like, but at the end of the day you'll be the one living there.

Anyway I digress. We were told by quite a few people that we wouldn't find "our house" the first visit. How wrong were they. We found two!! The one we fell madly in love with was our romantic idea of what a French house should be, huge ceilings, big windows, lots of light, and it tugged at both our heart strings. It was truly beautiful, and truly cheap too but we didn't buy it. We walked round and round both the house and the garden numerous times trying so hard to make it work for us, to try to see it working for us in it's finished glory, which will be beautiful when it is finished, but it didn't matter how hard we tried we just couldn't make it work. It was on a busy (by French standards that is) road and we have dogs. It was only really 4 rooms, 2 up and 2 down, even though the rooms were big and we couldn't work out where my studio would go or where his workshop would go, and the garden had too many trees and not enough room for my fruit and veg growing aspirations. But we still love it and if anyone wants to buy it it looks like this and can be found on the Leggett Immobilier website...

The Conifer house

So what are we buying? We're buying the country dream, the house I always wanted, the get away from it all self sufficiency ideal truly amazing country farmhouse!

The White House

It is much bigger than we were really looking for but we don't care! It's in a tiny hamlet of four houses, but the nearest true village is only a mile or so away, so isolated but at the same time not really. It needs a huge amount of work but we don't care! It has been a much loved family home with a lot of memories.It will probably turn out to be a money pit but we don't care! It's been a real emotional roller coster but in less than a week it will be ours. There is no fencing to keep the dogs in so that's an urgent fix, but we don't care!!

It will be our home and the intention is for it to be our forever home...

So until next time when I will tell you the next stage of the adventure ...

A bientot!