The Chateau Chronicles – Moving In Part 1
I wish I had been writing every day from the moment I got here, to keep a record, but it’s been a whirlwind. I will try and encapsulate my first 2 weeks in France here, though I will need to break it into two parts so I don’t ramble on too long.
So far, I’ve encountered a series of roadblocks and obstacles which I suppose I was expecting, given what I have learned about France and knowing what it was like living in Belgium. Things here take the time they take and it’s not worth protesting, as you’ll just waste your breath. But, dear God, these two weeks have tested me hard.
The send off
The Arrival
Flights with Chloe were uneventful and the drugs I had for her worked quite well so she just slept for the entire 10 hr flight. Picking up the rental was a disappointment – an Opel. – but hey, it’s cheap and it drives. Still, I was hoping for something with a little more hatch in the back. I managed to make it from Toulouse to Agen without falling asleep at the wheel, but I think that will be the last time I go that route. From now on, it will be the TGV from Paris.
The Airbnb
The Airbnb in Agen was a hiccup. The host forgot to send me the door code, so Chloe and I sat in the car with the AC on high for almost 2 hours before he finally responded. The house was cute, a little 16th-century number, incredibly hot, with bedrooms on the 1st and 2nd floors each with a fan, but no AC.
The hiccup was quickly forgotten when I discovered a cute little restaurant, and so, with a glass of rosé and one of the best (and prettiest) dinners I’ve had in a long time.
The dinner that solved it all.
The Bank
On the first day, I hit the banks. Opening a French bank account from the US had proved elusive and so I knew I needed to get a bank account asap, as everything else hinged on it: Internet, cell phone, utilities. The first bank could only arrange an appointment to open an account for Aug 26th (it was August 9th) and the second bank gave me an appointment on Aug 30th! 3 weeks just to open an account! I was in a panic.
Next stop was to try and get a french cell phone… but I quickly discovered that without a French bank account, it wasn’t possible. The vicious circle was only beginning. I wandered around Agen a little and found a lovely place for some lunch before picking up my friend Wendy from the train station.
I was grateful for her arrival as it was quickly apparent to me that doing this whole thing alone (with a small dog) was going to be a challenge. That night I plied her with rosé and we had a dinner of charcuterie served by the only French waitress I’ve ever encountered who didn’t know how to open a bottle of wine. I intervened, bien sûr.
The initial haul
The next few days were filled with shopping at stores similar to Lowes and Bed Bath and Beyond and we filled the car and then the Airbnb with goods like pillows and duvets and a small wine fridge to tide me over until a real fridge could be delivered the following week. Mattresses were set to be delivered the day after the closing, the day we would check out of the Airbnb and move into the chateau.
The Tresspass
It had been arranged that we would have a chance to walk through the property with my realtor, the seller, and the seller’s realtor.
But when Wendy arrived, I was dying to drive to the house and at least peek through the gate. When we discovered the gate was only held shut with a piece of wire, I did what any aspiring new homeowner would do and broke in!
We wandered around the property and I was somewhat dismayed to discover that it hadn’t been cared for at all, probably since I had made my offer in May. It was overgrown, and the drought in France had caused many shrubs to appear dead and it looked like fall, the driveway and parking area covered in dead leaves. Flies buzzed inside all the cave areas, no doubt trying to escape the 40-degree heat (103 F). Seeing it again for only the 2nd time, I felt a sense of both excitement and dismay.
Just inside the entry gate, leading to the house
The Walkthrough
The next day, excited, we prepared for our rendezvous at 9:30, but my realtor called annoyed at 9:10 wondering where I was. We arrived in already sweltering heat to discover he had his wife and kids in the car because they were making a day of being in Agen and had plans to go to the local water park. Of course, the kids and wife were restless in a hot car, and now we were late (he had told us 9:30) and so he rushed us through the house in a very bad mood. I managed to get the seller to show me the heating system and I tried to follow along in French as he showed me how it worked. It was clear my realtor was desperate to leave and so we felt obligated to leave as well though looking back, I wish I had told him just to go, so I could have had longer to chat with the seller in my broken French. This was also the day (2 days before the signing) that the meters were read. I still didn’t have a bank account and as it turned out, I wasn’t able to sign up for electricity until I had one.
But I’ll save that fiasco for Part 2.
The walkthrough - photo courtesy of Wendy Colbert