 |
| Soon we will have our own walnuts |
Both girls have been out here over the past couple of weeks so posts have taken a back seat. We have also been busy doing drawings (and French translations) for the artisans, so that we can get updated quotations (devis) for the house renovations.
 |
| The land the farmers are deciding not to buy |
We also seem to have been lurching from crisis to crisis as we inch slowly towards securing the house. Solicitors over here (despite the rather grand title of Notaires also cock things up just like they do in the UK). There is a somewhat bizarre rule in France that, if a property being sold has more than 0.6 hectares (about 1 ½ acres), the local farmer’s union has the right to buy it. They have to buy the whole property (including the house) at the same price that has already been agreed. This would make the cost of the land on its own very expensive, so they never do. But they have two months to decide not to buy it. During this time the sale cannot go ahead (until the farmers have made up their minds).
 |
| The French have the same expression as us - sous la table |
The seller’s solicitor, it turns out, forgot to send off the form – for a month. This means that the earliest we could now move in is 6th July. As we have to move out of our gite at the end of June, we may have to sleep in the car for six days. Could be hot, could be cold, no loos, no shower and potentially very uncomfortable.The good news is that for a “consideration” of around 300 euros the farmers will (surprise surprise) make up their minds not to buy - almost instantly. We are hoping it will be sorted out soon so we don't have to sleep in the car (see post below), with the errant notaire picking up the bill.
 |
| A bat in the cave of the new house |
We are going over to see our friends, the Bats, in the Massif centrale for a couple of days tomorrow. We then have a sort of outdoor music festival in our local village, being held just below the dongeon (hope there is no sinister relevance). After that we hope we may sign the acte de vente (completion), and then on the Saturday it is the fête de St Jean.
As a result, it may be a while before the blog is updated. There is, though, quite a bit to relate - the idiosyncrasies of British and French banking (and the assumption that everyone is an international criminal laundering money), the French attitude to zebra crossings and, of course, the wonderful phenomenon of village fetes and religious festivals.
