We've arrived

I know that I’ve jumped a few processes between the last post and this one and I will go back to how to do things that will get you to where we are now but I just want to share our excitement! We’re here, French home owners, complete with French mortgage(and English one too until the UK house sale is completed – let’s hope it’s not too long!!) and a complete amazement at the completion process at the notaires office! But back to that later…

We decided that as we have 4 dogs we would travel via the Eurotunnel rather than a ferry crossing. Everyone has to do what’s right for their dogs, and this was definitely the right thing to do for ours even though it was exhausting and the dogs ended up being in the car for 13 hours! 3 spaniels and a terrier cross poodle in one car boot could have led to bloodshed but they were in fact absolutely amazing. I had spent time the previous few weeks in training them to stay in the car when the boot was opened, which paid dividends on the journey whenever we stopped at service stations both in the UK and France. Shame we didn’t check how tight (or loose!) all their collars were as the little one managed to slip his collar at the Eurotunnel car park! Fortunately he always comes to a whistle (which is more than can be said for the spaniels!) and he came straight back to me. I have to admit to being very relieved! 

Our amazing estate agent, FiB, had located a kennels for us and the dogs spent their first night on foreign soil in kennels, which again turned out to be a godsend, while we went off to a local B&B (we can highly recommended it – Les Treilles in Thoursais Bouildroux – and no they aren’t paying me!) run by an English couple who provide the most amazing breakfast, and advice on settling in to the French way of life too!

The following morning was a bit of a blur to be honest. We had lots of information thrown at us in a very short space of time. First stop the bank to collect our house insurance information (assurance in French) as this is a legal requirement and without it the notaire may well decide to not complete the sale. After that we went  to the house to meet the sellers so that we could agree the meter reading for both the electric and the water meters. Many explanations about how things work later we then moved on to the notaire. Now here a word to the wise. Don’t be late or they could decide to cancel and rearrange, but being on time,  or even early, doesn’t mean that you will be seen at the time of your appointment! And expect everyone involved in the selling of the house from the vendors to be there. There were 10 people in the room not including the notaire. And if you’re foreign (English!) you are now required by law to have a registered translator present. In the past FiB has done translations for her clients but as she’s not a registered translator she’s no longer allowed to. Anyway we were there a few minutes early for our 11 am appointment but it was 11.40 when we were finally called in. After a very long meeting, all conducted in French, with Val our translator, translating the things being said to us, we finally left the notaire's office at well gone1.00pm!! And yes it really does take that long to go through every piece of paper, every report on the house, every document relating to the mortgage (discussed in detail openly in front of the vendors right down to how much has been borrowed, how much insurance, what the insurance covers and how much the monthly payments are)we finally got to sign for our new house! The actual signing was a little bit of an anti-climax as it was on an electronic signing pad – like signing for parcels – but it was done. The house was ours, keys were handed over, lots and lots of kissing and hand shaking, and the vendors saying that they had all grown up in the house and had nothing but good memories and they hoped for us the same! They were probably all in their late 50’s and 60’s so that gives you an idea of the age of the house.

So with a lump in our throats after their lovely wishes for our future, we got into the car and went…. No not to the house, but to the Super U supermarket for lunch with FiB, then to collect the dogs and then off to the house….