Yes we have actually made it and are now resident en france!
The end was messy and complicated but worth it in the end.
We eventually moved out of our house in Stoke on 15th July when our third potential buyer got the money together. By that time we had the house back on the market and had gone to France to wait for something definite to happen. By then the house we had hoped to buy had been sold but we decided not to look at any more until we had moved.
After much stress and several missed deadlines we eventually got the news that we were waiting for - our buyers had signed the contract after we had told our solicitor to give them a final deadline before we told them the deal was off. We went back to Stoke for just a few days to do the actual move and then the fun really started when the suspension on our car collapsed at our sons house that evening. ( Yes the car was overloaded AGAIN!) We ended up having to hire a car to go to France to keep all the househunting appointments we had made and go back again a week later. By the time we had been moved out 3 weeks we had travelled 4000 miles, crossed the channel 3 times, eaten more motorway sandwiches than is good for anyone and slept in 10 different beds! We were glad to get away for 5 days by the coast (Collioure), lock the car in the hotel car park and rest.
We did find a house and signed the compromis, the final acte de vente being set for 7 th October. In the meantime we are whiled away the rest of the summer in our holiday place. We made ourselves very comfortable, the weather was hot and sunny and we didn't mind being without electricity at all. We did get a telephone line put in which cost and arm and a leg as we had to pay to have a pole put upbut we could not have managed without it. The biggest problem was not having the internet and having to visit a cyber cafe regularly to pick up emails.
Our temporary address meant it was difficult to really feel properly "at home" as were to be moving again so soon - but we did get a lot of official paperwork out of the way. We bought a new car , got registered for healthcare,and managed to re-register TC's car.
6 weeks ago today we were reun
ited with our furniture and our new house became our home. The move went smoothly and we settled in very quickly and soon felt very much at home. Its hard to believe that we have only been here for 6 weeks, but at the same time the weeks have just flown and here we are with winter round the corner.So we have made it from 82 to 82. In fact our house is right on the border of Tarn et Garonne (dept82), the other side of the road is in Lot and our nearest big town is in Aveyron. It has been a strange year all round and one hell of a fairground ride at times but in the end we have found the right house for us and are looking forward to many years of Segala sunrises!
(the view from our bedroom window - can't be bad to wake up to this!)
4 comments:
I am so glad that you have made it despite all the problems along the way. If you are as happy in France as I am then you will have no problems getting settled. I just need my husband to retire to join me. This business of summer in France and winter in the UK is for the birds. I have to say my husband is so good to let me stay put in France all of summer while he takes a few days here and there to visit. We are hoping he can walk out next year and then France here we come for good.
Wishing you all the best in your new home. Diane
Forgot to add that sunset is fantastic. Diane
Welcome back Sue! Your new home is beautiful.
Wishing you all the best for your new home here in France, and hope you settle in quickly. Your house looks lovely, and has a roof! Ours does too, but didn't when we arrived. We have also just graduated to half a loo, and a small log burner. For night time we have an electric blanket in the caravan. We are at the top of 65, which is the Haute Pyrenees. Love it here, with all the challenges which keep coming at us. Look forward to reading your blog in the future.
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