Today we have three properties on our shortlist and have gone back for a second look at the Herpes House. The next visit I don’t feel as excited, I just see all the things I don't like, but I try to keep positive as I know we have such a limited budget and my standards are always higher than my budget. But I do need to feel excited to keep me going through the hard times when fixing up the property begins.
Feeling a bit depressed and only having a week left to our trip I start to lose hope. I must have looked at 10,000 houses on the internet in the past 5 years.
Some sold before we got to France, some were in the wrong areas, some no sun, others weren’t what we were led to believe, a lot, too expensive and 1000’s were just so ugly they weren’t worth a glimpse. Nic rallied a bit that night as I think he felt my despair and had a last look on the smaller French real estate web sites. A few hours into the night and a few hundred houses later, I heard a spark in his voice. He passed me the computer and asked me what I thought of a house he had found. I peered at a photo of a spiral staircase with a beautiful handpainted scrolled design and an incredible ornate bannister, surrounded by a frescoed wall. Gone with the wind sprang to mind. I burst out laughing as it looked like it belonged in the palace of Versailles. I assumed it was a joke and it was probably taken from the museum in town, like real estates in NZ take photos of the sea to sell a house, then you realize it’s 20km away! There were only 3 photos of the house, the staircase, a hand-painted domed ceiling that looked like Micheal Angelo had once lived there and an outside photo of a house that looked a bit like it belonged in Paris. We emailed the realtor immediately and waited for a reply. 3 days later we got a short email.
“ Bonjour Madame, The house needs a lot of work, it is on a road, the garden is small, there are no more photos and if you still want to see it, give me 4 days notice, as I am busy!”
Undeterred and our interest piqued, I sent back a short email to say that we needed to see it in 2 days and if she wasn’t interested to find someone in the office that was.
The next day with an appointment reassigned to her boss, we sped off to a destination far far away.
