Our thoughts are beginning to come together. The more visits we make to the house the more our thinking is refined and the more a plan of action starts to take shape.

We thought we knew what we wanted but each visit seems to bring new ideas and new approaches. If we had the luxury we could just leave it all as it is for a year, keep visiting every two days throughout all the seasons and then decide - but that is an indulgence too far.

The first (or is that second?) floor needs more thought, so we are going to take a ground floor (or that first?) room as our bedroom to begin with. It has an en-suite bathroom already which is perfect, except that it needs totally gutting and refurbishing - but in reality it's not too much work - a bit of extra electrics and a coat of paint and the whole space will be a sorted as a short term solution for our sleeping and washing needs.

The kitchen plan was fairly definite but another look at the existing plumbing has resulted in a re-draw of the layout which swaps the range and the sink from one end to the other of the wall layout to minimise the plumbing and electrics work.

It's all very exciting.

I also gave the pool a thorough clean today with the net - which of course just sorts out the surface debris. I need to get the 'robot' repaired so that the bottom can be scoured (we all appreciate the benefits of that) and visit the pool shop to be ripped off with chemicals, tubes, repairs and heaven knows what else. My very good friend Anna (www.chateaurigaud.co.uk) explained it to me. "It's the dark art of pool maintenance", she said and so I believe it to be. Dark art or not, my pool maintenance French will be sorely tested when I visit the pool shop - I am building myself up to it.




Just when I was locking up and preparing to leave I noticed some new white blotches on the lawn. When I wandered nearer I realised they were mushrooms that had spouted since my previous visit two days ago.

They were extremely beautiful - milky white with a faint brown centre cap and a ring half way up the stem. They looked good enough to eat but I am well aware of the warnings in every pharmacie in France - check them first.

I plucked them from the lawn and put them in a bag to take back to Carcassonne with me. There were only three of them so they were hardly going to make a meal but I was curious. I found a site online by the name of Rogers Mushrooms - I guess it takes all sorts! The nearest I could get to identifying them was that they were part of the Amanita family, which seemed to range from being suspicious to poisonous to deadly. Hmmm. Best not take a chance with those then - even the favourable end of the scale wasn't that encouraging! I threw them away and washed my hands thoroughly.

It seems that not all we may glean from our new wildlife habitat will be edible.

Debrah came back home after a long week of travelling and work in the UK. The new Winter Ryanair flight schedule between London and Carcassonne leaves a lot to be desired with only two flights a week; one arrives mid afternoon and one leaves before dawn, neither is particularly timely and two is not enough. The Wednesday flight is a mid-afternoon arrival and was thankfully on time.

Debrah still hadn't visited the house since it became ours last week, so after she had a late lunch and I checked in some new clients, I insisted that we drove straight there.




The Autumn colours are just magnificent at the moment and we were able to take them in in all their splendour as we drove to Moux. I am always amazed by the difference between the colours in vineyards next to each other, whilst one field is reddish brown the adjacent one is golden yellow. It is all to do with grape type, soil, drainage and aspect to name but a few factors - what the French call 'terroir' - the results at this time of year are quite stunning.

At the house I went into my usual routine; cleaning out fallen leaves from the drainage channels and pool filters and checking all was working well.




We celebrated our visit together since the signing with a small glass of something fizzy, brought along especially for the occasion. The sun even managed to smile upon us as we popped the cork.

As we walked through the many empty rooms, the same questions kept returning;
What are we going to do with it all?
Which bedroom should we take and, therefore, how do we configure the bathrooms?
Where do we start?

At the moment we can't settle on a plan and so our brief to potential artisans is constantly changing. I guess we actually have too many options.

It has been quite a long time since I spent the afternoon engaged in outside man's work. The last house we owned that had a garden was sold 6 years ago along with most of the garden tools and equipment that I used to own.

So it was a bit of a shock to be working in the garden of our new house, but to be honest, a welcome change from ironing sheets and cleaning rooms, which was my morning activity today.

Yesterday I had worked out why so much water was pouring into the basement when it rained - it was less to do with the water running down the road and all about the blocked drainage channels in the courtyard that should have been taking the water to the drain. Today's task was to clean out those channels so that the rain forecast for later this week will head off in the right direction.

The channel to the right of the house was totally blocked with soil, stones and roots - it has obviously not been cleaned out for a very long time. I filled 2 black bags with debris from the channels and gulleys and placed some terracotta tiles over the top to stop new debris falling into the channel. I can't stop the leaves falling and I will need to keep an eye on it but I hope it will alleviate the problem, at least in the short term.


I also gave the pool a good clean and checked all the filters and the equipment and all seems to be working fine which is a relief.

Whilst I was out in the garden I noticed a few tomatoes on the neglected vegetable patch that looked as if they might be ok. On closer inspection I was able to collect a good bagful of ripe healthy tomatoes and a few sprigs of basil from the herb bed - they had a amazing aroma and made the most wonderful tomato salad this evening to accompany my steak and potatoes.


I might not have planted them but they still represent the first crop from our new garden that has been turned into a dish for eating - may there be many many more but that will only happen when I get to grips with the vegetable patch and that isn't top of the list of jobs to be done.

As I was packing up to leave, two local girls came wandering up the road dressed in their halloween costumes. I have to admit they had made a good effort and very much looked the part. I told them so but had to explain that having not yet moved into the house there were no treats or sweets to be had this year from me - what a meanie!

October 28th 2011.

It started raining yesterday. The first rain we have had here for about 6 weeks. Thirty hours later and it hasn't stopped yet.

We had only ever seen the house in the sunshine. Every visit over the last 6 months was on a beautifully sunny day that had us imagining the smell of grilled meat on the barbeque, lazy days by the pool, time spent pottering around the garden tending to the herbs and vegetables and cold evening aperos as the sun set. Those days will surely come.

But not today. I pulled up outside the house and stepped out of the car into a river of water running down the road.

The house is on a hill, not at the bottom and not at the top. One hopes the water stays in the drains or runs straight on past but it was doing neither. The drain couldn't cope with the volume so the water was backing up out onto the street and the natural angle of the slope was sending it directly to the front gate, where it splashed down the stone steps into the courtyard, then under the door to the 'cave' where it formed a large lake.

I had been warned that "some water may find it's way into the cave" and had put some defences against the gate to divert water away. It must have rained very heavily at some point because the defences had been washed away by the sheer volume of water and replaced with rocks and grit and mud. In fact the whole village was awash with debris on the streets. My neighbour, the vendor, must have been chuckling away to himself somewhere.

In the attic the tell tale 'drip drip' noise was a clue to a couple of not so watertight spots in the roof tiles. I hastily arranged some buckets to catch the worst.

There was nothing I could do about either problem today but clearly I need to get a man on the roof to do a bit of tile maintenance. The other problem requires a lot more thought, probably a discussion with the Mairie and some major work.

One of the reasons for visiting the house today was to check on the pool. The filters needed emptying but everything was working fine although the pool was virtually overflowing due to the volume of rain.

After checking the pool, unloading the car, padlocking the gate and putting the makeshift water defences back in place I was as wet as anyone could possibly be when fully dressed. It was a soggy and uncomfortable drive back to Carcassonne.

October 25th 2011

We fill the hours with the usual chores: housekeeping tasks for 42rvh are keeping me busy and Debrah is planning her next UK work trip.

We walk out to the small Tuesday market and take a coffee at Chez Felix in the Place Carnot. There is no wind and the Autumn sun has us peeling off our top layers as we sit back and gaze at the cloudless blue sky through the orangey brown leaves of the plane trees.

Time stands still for a blissful few peaceful minutes.

But those are just diversions from what is really occupying our thoughts – the completion meeting scheduled for 5pm at the notaire’s office at 35 rue de Lorraine – the completion meeting that will confirm that we now own two French properties and are indebted to a French bank for a not insubstantial sum of money.

As this day has drawn closer, the reality of what we are about to embark upon has become more evident. The awe of our first viewing back in April, the immediate excitement of the possibilities, the negotiation, the commitment of the ‘compromis de vente’, the planning, the design – all are suddenly distant, replaced by the knowledge that after this meeting there is no turning back. It will no longer be a dream, an idea, a future – it will be for real.

We are the first to arrive at the notaire’s office, followed by the vendors (keen to complete), the two agents (wanting their slice of pie) and the notaries (performing their official duties).

It is a very French affair. The lead notaire reads aloud from the ‘acte de vente’, looking towards each relevant party as she seeks agreement and assurance to the contents of the document. My contact at the office is away on holiday, which is the most awful bad timing from my point of view – the fact that I have been through the document once already with my contact, my limited grasp of French and the assistance of my good friend Nicole combine to keep me abreast of most of what is being said. Debrah and Michael (my agent) lose interest and chat together in the background.

There are various comings and goings as copies of documents are made and cheques are made out and then we all have to sign a 53 page document on every page. As I initial away my life I think about the process in the UK where one waits for a lawyer to call you to say it’s done and an agent to hand you some keys – so very different from this reverential, and solemn passing of title and goods from one person to another. Somehow the French way brings home the importance of the occasion – if only I could be sure I understood all that took place!

I was in fact somewhat surprised to be handed a cheque for a lovely amount of euros. This should have been used to settle the outstanding balance on my existing French mortgage and I knew it was a mistake that would lead to some anguished tooing and froing between the bank and the notaire and me. For all the solemnity and bureaucracy they still managed to fuck it up between them, didn’t they!

Despite that, we all shook hands and we all kissed. The vendors were very, very sweet in wishing us a lovely life in a home that they have many happy memories of and they handed us a pile of keys including the ridiculously large and impractical front door key that is pictured here.





We wandered home in somewhat of a daze.

Michael and Nicole came round to 42rvh with a bottle of champagne and much enthusiasm for barbecues and pool days at our new house. It was great to spend a relaxed few hours with them. It helped to take our minds off the enormity of what we have done and the task ahead, and their excitement at the possibilities and opportunities renewed our enthusiasm for the task ahead.

It still feels very surreal to have bought a new house and not be living in it. Debrah hasn't even seen it since the completion as she headed straight back to London on the lunchtime flight out of Carcassonne - not that the money won't come in handy!



It was a beautiful Languedoc Autumn day after the initial chill in the air and, after dropping Debrah at the airport, I motored off to Moux with a car full of stuff and the roof down on the Audi.

Moux is the name of the village where our new house is located. The village lies halfway between Carcassonne and Narbonne; a 25/30 minute drive back to 42rvh. Moux is one of those 'exceptions to the rule' of the french language: it does not not have a silent x as you might expect and is pronounced Moooksss.

Apart from taking a bit of stuff over, the purpose of my visit was to meet the vendor, who is our new neighbour, and be given a crash course in pool maintenance. I have never owned a swimming pool and know (knew) nothing about looking after them.

The vendor greeted me with a broad smile, a warm handshake and a "welcome neighbour" comment, which was all very heartening. A couple of hours later it became very clear that he wanted nothing to do with pool maintenance ever again and was more than happy to hand over the responsibility to me! I have since typed up my four pages of scribbled notes and am steeling myself for my first visit tomorrow since my lesson; my first visit in the absence of the vendor who has now cheerfully pissed off on holiday for 2 weeks on the back of our purchase money. ( I don't blame them really - I'd have done the same).

Anyway, I need to be able to cope on my own with all this new responsibility and the enormity of that task, alongside the day to day running of the apartments at 42rvh, was rapidly dawning on me as the afternoon went on and I wandered the vast emptiness of our new home, taking note of all that needs doing, both the one-off fixing and the ongoing everyday .

As I write this the weather has turned full circle and it is raining steadily. I am worrying about the roof, knowing that there are a couple of gaps, and water flowing under the front gate into the cave and the random break-ins that were casually dropped into the conversation yesterday between the PH readings and the backwash setting!! I have already noted several places that need a bit of enhanced security and although the house is empty it still needs sorting out as soon as possible.

What have we let ourselves in for!