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House Hunting in France
Well trying to get the whole family over to France, a Baby, sceptical wife and 2 adolescent daughters who couldn’t sit together for than 5 minutes before arguing was not going to be easy but as always I find a way. Remember, over round or through is my motto when faced with life’s most stubborn obstinate adversities.
February 2001 and we’re off at last. We Travel full of excited anticipation of the adventures that lie ahead, from Portsmouth with P&O Ferries to La Havre / Normandy (5 ½ hours).
Note: I would mention that this was not my preferred route as Brittany Ferries do a great route from Portsmouth to St Malo / Brittany:
Brittany Ferries
But we had to consider the implications of spending such a long time at sea (9 ¾ hours) with a young baby and the possibility that the crossing could turn unpleasant during the winter months.
We arrived at Le Havre / Upper Normandy in fine fettle then began the 6/7 hour drive to our accommodation and base for the house hunting to follow. We had booked a rented gite on the internet (£40 for a weekend. Good I thought) on the Northern Brittany coast on the outskirts of a village called plouha.
We broke up the long journey by stopping somewhere near Mount St Michael / Lower Normandy:
Virtual Tour of Lower Normandy
to enjoy some traditional French culture and cuisine / (MacDonald’s for the kids) and then on again along the Northern coast of Brittany towards Plouha. We arrived late in the evening at the gite and rested before house hunting the next day. The accommodation was lovely, a warm friendly welcome from the ex pat owner who lived next door. We were shown around our small gite which had lovely stone clad walls, 2 bedrooms, small but well equipped kitchen and wood burner which was soon lit providing adequate heat for the whole property. We settled down, it had been an exhausting journey and had fallen out with the wife at one stage but now all was forgiven, we made up, had some food put the kids to bed and sunk a few bottles of the local French Cider (Cid) to chill. This is the life…..
For Rental Property within Brittany
The next day we were up bright and early, cleaned and fed setting off clutching our newly purchased Michelin French map + itinerary to our 1st appointment.
Note – you should always pre-arrange appointments with Agents as they like to schedule their time to clients and pre-book appointments with the Owners. France is a much larger country than the UK and properties are normally widely dispersed. If you turn up on the fly you may have wasted your time and effort and be unable to get an Agent to show you Properties.
We had arranged to visit at least 3 agents a day and had previously picked out 2 properties per agent. We arrived at the 1st Agents to be told that the properties we had picked were sold. So not wanting to waste the journey we asked to see what had come in and picked out a further 2 properties that looked ok. The agent luckily had the keys for both properties and off we went following the young agent through the winding countryside.
Note – Be prepared not to see your requested properties. We have found this happens quite often especially when the exchange rate is good, Interest rates are low and the British are in town looking for bargains.
The 1st house was a big isolated 3 Bedroom, partly renovated house on the outskirts of a village. The house itself although big and airy needed a lot of work to do to get it to a basic standard. A massive loft and I mean massive, slate roof and the potential for 2 additional bedrooms. As I went round I began to think that yes my enthusiasm would take me so far but the finances would not follow for this project. Also the garden smelt a bit. I initially thought it may have been a blocked cesspit but on looking over to an adjacent farm saw the source of the smell. The farm and a large herd of cows being mucked out from a large barn. A regular occurrence no doubt. That settled it, not this one we moved onto no. two.
The 2nd house looked lovely at the agents but on arrival it was evident that it was too small with little land and right, and I mean right on a road. Although the road was quiet it was not what you want when you have young children running around. No not this one we moved on…..
Over the next few days we looked at a number of properties mostly in the central parts of Brittany as our budget meant that the Coastal properties were beyond our reach financially. All were excellent value in comparison to UK prices and many had scope but you know when you get that feeling and we’d not yet seen the right property for us. It was the end of the 3rd day when we arrived at a town called Callac. Parked up in the church square and walked over to the Agents office.
We introduced ourselves and were greeted by the Agent, a warm and immediately pleasant guy called John Paul. Speaking excellent English he explained that the property we originally wished to view had yet again been sold. So we again went through the Properties currently available within our price range. Feeling a bit dejected at again having to choose properties which were not on our itinerary we selected a property in a little village a few miles from the town. 15 Minutes later we arrived on the outskirts of the village. It overlooked a large valley with a road winding down to the village below. We drove down past a lovely open washhouse to the village square. On one side stood a beautiful ornate church and on the other side the square was surrounded by traditionally constructed stone built properties for which Brittany is well known. We turned off down a secluded lane past an open field pulling up shortly afterwards at a stone property at the end of a row of similar properties. It looked nice from the outside, stone built, with garage and a fairly modern (60s maybe) extension built onto 2 sides of the original house. The agent opened the front door went in and switched on the lights before opening the shutters.
The shutters were thrown open to reveal an interior décor that had been caught in a time bubble. Dating back to the 60s the décor included flowery wallpaper, plastic, tacky Formica the lot. We went through into the kitchen and the agent again flung open the shutters. The same again but on looking through the shutters revealing a massive rear garden. The garden with a combined area of 1200 square meters laid to grass and sloping slightly from top to bottom had a large selection of apple and pear trees, large wooden barn, and to our surprise and to the children’s amusement goats grazing on the long grass. The Agent explained that the goats belonged to an elderly couple to the rear of the garden and that they had an arrangement with the current owner to place the goats on the land. The Goats sat there staring back at us as if we were invading their own little world. How unusual I thought.
We went room to room and again the interior was a throw back to Woodstock but I could see with a little work maybe… We then went into the garage and up a shaky wooden ladder to a large open mezzanine filled top to bottom with boxes upon boxes full of old newspapers and magazines. What a fire hazard I thought and why keep them? The extension which made up the mezzanine was built on two sides of the original granite / stone built property. The original building must have dated to at least the 1900s and maybe even older. The original walls of the mezzanine could be seen and looked lovely. The mezzanine area had potential I thought for at least 2 additional bedrooms and the original walls would make them look spectacular. I looked at the wife and she sort of smiled so things were beginning to look promising.
It got better.
Oh Yes he said you have a cellar. We went back to the living room and he moved an old settee revealing a trap door, opened it and switched on a light. I climbed down a small ladder were the agent was waiting. You were able to stand. The dimly lit cellar was surrounded on 3 sides by wooden shelving and had a mud floor covered in most places by boxes and empty wine bottles. On one side facing the front of the property was what I could best describe as a large coned shaped concrete object sided by a large storage tank. Preservative jars filled the shelves, runner beans, peaches and god knows what else. John Paul explained that the previous occupants like to drink and that they also made their own Cid (Cider) hence the bottles. They also used their own water from the well pointing at the concrete construction. We opened the top and peered down into the darkness. Wow!! A well under the living room, that’s cool, it’s got potential I thought.
We went out into the garden. 1200 sq meters in total said the agent pointing to the boundaries at each corner. Wow! I said to the wife plenty of room for the kids and now I can get that Tractor Mower that I’d always wanted, another dream I had since seeing the Forest Gump movie many years before. I could see me riding around on a tractor cutting grass….heaven. This is yours as well said the agent pointing to an old wooden barn at the top of the garden. Yes, we could also have a barn as big as 1/3 my garden back in the UK. Great I thought, let’s go and sign the papers. But yet more surprises were to follow….read on
Out came another set of keys – this is part of the sale as well. Another house attached to the 1st Property. The pair detached from the other properties up the lane leading back to the village square. This looked better than the 1st house from the outside but on entry I could see a lot more work would be required replacing joists and floors but again as far as I was concerned ok, another restoration project and another excellent property when completed.
I could see at last that I had the wife’s attention and she was finally on side. We went back to the Agents and let him know that we were interested but had other properties to view. Off we went but continued talking about the properties, the value, and prospects of acquiring multiple properties to the family estate. The next day was our last. We visited another few properties but again they were not up to the same standard as our favourite. Knowing how quickly properties were selling we decided to stop and go back for another look.
Note - It’s always a good idea to return for a 2nd visit when house hunting. By returning you take more in and are able to make a more judgemental decision. Rose coloured spectacles as they say
On our return we noted a larger project than initially thought. But it was good, had potential, and was in the right location and at a price we could afford. We would make an offer.
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