The Good Life...But Is It Really?

We've been here just over a year now and the two questions people ask us when they meet us for the first time are:

"Why did you choose Limoux"? followed closely by

"Well you've been here a year now so you must feel settled. Don't you"?

The first question is easy to answer. The second not so. It's like a year is the magic number. 'Live here a year then you'll be fine'.

We arrived here at the end of August 2008 and so 14 months down the line everyone wants us to say "Yes we are totally settled". But then when we actually say "Well things aren't exactly as we imagined....."

You can see some people are disappointed when we say that and you can see the look of pity and 'Oh dear' seeping from their silent thoughts. Others are secretly happy that we feel like they did at this point in time and are relieved to know that maybe it is OK to feel unsettled after a year.

Don't get me wrong, in that, I don't feel unhappy, or that we made the wrong decision or that French life is not what I thought it would be. It's more that settling into a new place, let alone a new country where the language is rather alien is a long and sometimes frustrating process.

We've lived in 6 different countries throughout Africa and Asia in the past 17 years so I know how long it takes to get settled. Moving to France though was the hardest!

I think it's because for the first time we are living in a house we own, we therefore have more bills to sort out, decorating to do, the garden to plant and look after, organizations to join and we are sort of the odd ones out.

Before we were one expatriate family amongst many, and there were lots of new faces arriving together so we all looked out for one another. Here you are a bit on your own at times and when you have difficulty making yourself understood, then the settling in takes on a whole new perspective.

On the ultra positive side though, the kids are 100% settled at school, we own our house and just love pottering and DIY'ing, we have neighbours that stay put and we can throw away all those boxes and packing paper that I have stored for 17 years in preparation for our next move.

We've got a whole new menu at dinner time, the dog is bilingual, our neighbours offer us honey from their bees or fruit from their garden and we never have to go on a waiting list to see a doctor - except for the optician who never seems to have a free slot.

Through this blog, I have heard from many people who have moved to France or are thinking of moving. Many have sent me messages and others I have met for coffee in Limoux town square and I have really enjoyed telling people how we are getting on and settling in. I really don't mind telling things as they really are and I think it gives a real perspective to other thinking of making the move.

Uprooting and moving away from what is familiar and comfortable to you is a huge undertaking. It is exciting but challenging and at times frightening and frustrating. However if you can get over the humps and bumps, and it is something that you really want to do, then life will eventually become easy and fun.

I have learned it may take a year, maybe even 2 or more. But that is OK.

Time to stop rambling and to get in the garden and take the dog for a walk through the vineyard. Maybe meet a neighbour on the way and have a chat about the weather (which is 28C and blue skied and sunny today :)) and then cook moules marinieres for dinner......ah the good life!

Next Time: I'm having a knee op next month. Do they really give enemas as the cure all for everything and will I get wine with hospital dinners?

The Big Hole is No More

Suddenly 6 weeks has gone and I realise that an update on what has been going on in Limoux and in our lives is well overdue.

However we have not been slacking and have been up to our eyeballs with mud, earth, sand, water and the constant digging and cementing of holes.

Basically the last 2 months have rather obsessively centered around the pool. We knew that we were getting ultra boring when the kids started to say "Can we not have just one day when we don't mention the word - POOL?!"

Well triumphantly I can now say that the 'big hole' that we created in June is now a shimmering oasis in our garden.

Yes our pool is finished......well sort of as there is still a lot to do.

But hey we can swim when the stifling heat of the South of France gets too much for us and that is what we wanted to achieve.

In 2 months we went from this.......


To this......

We only filled the pool a week ago and already the water is 28.5C (yes we are a bit obsessive). Wonderful!


So what else has been going on?

Well the kids finished school what seems like an eternity ago. Lessons officially finished at the end of the first week of July but there is a strange system here whereby once you have been given the go ahead to move up to the next school year in September, it means you can stop going to school for the rest of the term.

So our kids have been at home since the last week of June.

Being conscientious parents (and mean according to our kids) we did try and send them but the teachers huffed and puffed as it meant they had to supervise so homeward bound our kids came.

It has been nice having them all at home though as it has meant we have had helpers to build the pool and most importantly we haven't had to get up at 6am for the school bus. I am not looking forward to 'La Rentree' - beginning of term - but let's not talk about that now.

With the pool (well the swimmable bit) now ticked off the list, we have also been trying to tidy the garden (a never ending and thankless task right now), painting walls and doors, putting up light fittings, tidying the garage (another never ending and thankless task) and just feeling we are busy day in, day out.

We have also found time to browse in the weekly Limoux night markets (a fantastic and fascinating lurking opportunity), get immersed in the various music and theatrical events which take place in Limoux square and just enjoy the balmy hot evenings on our terrace listening to all the crickets and insects who seem to have taken shelter in our garden. Bliss!

We have also had a great time with Bill's brothers and families visiting and other friends popping in for overnight stays. We have just loved showing them around and introducing them to our new life here in Limoux. It is a strange but very proud feeling to be living in our own home after renting for the past 17 years.

Much as we would have liked to have hoards of visitors to stay we are not really set up at the moment for welcoming the masses. I think that is a way off unless we sell the kids to make bed space.

Bill's bijoux office has a sofa bed (for small people) so that has been getting some use and as for our idea of putting tents in the garden well that quickly evaporated when we saw how we get buffeted by the wind which is pretty fierce. Plus our garden, big as it may be, is rather a jungle right now with wild rabbits and snakes ready to welcome any newcomers.

So for now we are just enjoying the summer.

Bill has finished his stint in Nigeria and managing a bit of a holiday before his next assignment which he hopes will be desk based and the kids are making the most of their last few weeks before 'La Rentree'......

Next Time: La Rentree (Back to school).

New Year...New House...New Resolutions

Happy New Year 2009.
December 23rd 2008 was such an exciting day for us - we finally got the keys to our new 'home'.

Needless to say we are just like kids with a new toy. Bill and I continually find ourselves stopping in mid activity to say "We own this house"!

Although we have owned a house in the UK for the past 16 years it was never really 'home' as we didn't live in it - we lived in rented houses/apartments overseas in Asia and West Africa so this to us is very special.

Getting the keys was fun.

We, our estate agent and the vendors met up in the ever important notaires chambers and it was like walking back in time 100 years.

Imagine entering into an oak wood panelled room, faced with walls lined with files dating back to the early 19th century and succumbing to their faintly musty smell. Then sitting in ornate and delicately carved high backed wooden chairs in front of a huge leather topped solid wood partner desk whilst the notaire read out paper upon paper of house deeds and details which were all about us and our new home.

45 minutes later it was all done and we walked out into the sunshine with a big bunch of keys and a huge smile on our faces.

We were now home owners in the sunny South of France.

Sunny did I say?


The last time that snow settled in Limoux was in 1992. However that all changed on the day we decided to move house - Boxing day 2008.

"Yippee" said the kids, "What's this then" said the dog, "*#*@*!*" said the parents.

Our enormous hired Super U van did us proud as it slipped and slid its way up and down hills and slopes and into potholes and dips.

The award of the day though went to Bill who drove it in the most terrifying conditions.

We probably should have abandoned the move that day but you know when you have your heart set on doing something......

Andy and Erica, Bills parents were also with us during the move and we are extremely grateful to their dedicated lugging of bits and bobs and boxes - the quicker they did it the more cups of tea and Christmas cake they received.

We did hear the neighbours whispering something about 'parent labour'...

Three weeks have passed now and although we have unpacked what seems like mountains of boxes we seem to still have several more mountains to go. I do keep asking myself why on earth have we got so much "stuff" and it just goes from box to box to cupboard to shelf and back to box again, until I decide where to put it.

Bill would probably have a good solution.....needless to say I have hidden the bin bags.

As for the kids and Lily the dog, well they too have settled in brilliantly. They each have their own rooms (Lily has a corner) which I have promised not to interfere in (hard, so hard) and they now feel they can invite friends over. Trouble is if they do they are usually asked to carry boxes up and down to the garage and I think they might be expecting payment soon so we might be had up for 'child labour' too.

So the new year started with a new house and now I just need to think of my new year resolutions. I might start with "I must finish unpacking the boxes by Christmas" and "Give more of our 'stuff' to charity".



Next Time: Douglas has just turned 13 so we now have a household of 3 teenagers. What's it like living with teenagers in France?

Landed in Limoux

We've landed in Limoux.

Where has the time gone? We have now been here almost 4 weeks and are feeling like we definitely made the right decision to move to France.

The past few weeks have actually been REALLY hectic and gone by in a bit of blur.

However we now:
- have a long term rental
- squashed all our belongings into the garage (we're talking about 30m3 of 'stuff')
- own a car
- bought cooker, fridge, washing machine and TV
- sussed out school transport (well not really as we still don't understand the timetable or lack of it)
- have the kids all in their various schools
- enrolled the kids in various sports clubs
- collected our dog from Toulouse
- sorted all the utilities and bank accounts
- have telephone and Internet
- registered here there and everywhere for all sorts of things
- found time to go to the beach, the mountains, lakes the cinema
- sussed out the town night life of which there seems to be plenty at the moment.....free bands and concerts every night, a fair and circus all this week and next.

Oh yes and we put in an offer on a house!

How I am finding time to write this blog I am not sure but what I am sure of is that Limoux is a fantastic place to live.

People often talk about French towns and villages going into hibernation once the summer is over but here, life seems to go on. In fact life got busier once La Rentree (kids back to school) started. For the past 2 weeks the town has been taken over by a fair, music bands and the all important regional Petanque competition. I nearly bought some balls the other day but then was worried about gouging big chunks out of the lawn in our rented house.

Another French assumption seems to be the 'awful french driving'. In fact it seems safe and sensible to us so far. I am probably in fact the least safe person on the road right now!

We collected our new car (second hand but new to us) 2 weeks ago and I hadn't driven for 8 years so wasn't at all nervous to have to drive it out of the garage forecourt and then drive 25kms straight to Carcassonne! We had to return our hire car the same day so Bill drove that whilst I drove our new car. Was I scared? YES!! Ellie my daughter was with me and she was very good at not pointing out too often that all the other cars were overtaking me.

What about the house we put an offer on?......

We arrived here deciding that we would give ourselves a couple of months to view houses and land (still preferring to build our house and a gite rather than buy ready built) and then by the end of October to have made a decision. Well surprise surprise.....none of that happened.

Firstly several people (yes we know some people now) mentioned about how long self building takes which made us a bit nervous. Sam our eldest has to share a room with his younger brother and he is not too pleased. Nor is he pleased that he is sleeping on cardboard boxes. There is a mattress on top mind you but he feels he's living like a tramp - little does he know! So we feel in all fairness we need to get things moving fast.

Secondly I have been keeping an eye on what's available for the past year - Internet is a wonderful thing - so knew what was available that might suit us.

Anyway to cut a to the chase, we went to visit a house on a hillside and......immediately knew that it was perfect. Well it ticked 9 boxes out of 10 so had to be pretty good.

Box 1: Location, location, location - perfect. 10 mins walk to school for Douglas, 10 mins walk to the boulangerie, 10 mins walk to tennis (free!), open fields around and beautiful view.
Box 2: Large plot (2800m2) plus a building plot attached - perfect.
Box 3: House exactly the size we want and oddly enough it was built by the same building company that we had planned to use and almost to the same spec as the house we wanted to build. Spookey but perfect!
Box 4 - 9: You probably wouldn't be interested about the double garage, basement, study......

Tomorrow we sign the first contract and so you never know we may be in by Christmas.

There is however the little matter about the mortgage which we are working on.......

Next time: Moving out of the honeymoon phase and into autumn living in France.

Limoux is Looming

Our family move to France is just around the corner.

We are just so excited. In less than 2 weeks we shall be winging our way on Ryanair (!) to Carcassonne and then picking up our hire car and heading off on our new journey and life in Limoux.

Everything is in place....sort of. I can't believe the number of hiccups we have had to get to this stage but either way we are still looking forward and treating each hiccup as just a simple detour to our plans.

Our UK house is now sold with the new owner in situ. We have a gite to rent for the first 2 weeks when we arrive in Limoux. We then have a tiny box of a house lined up as a long term rental. The kids are enrolled in their schools (3 schools for 3 kids) and our furniture plus dog are arriving a few days after we get there.

Our dog Lily will be a first time flier and she will be flying on her own and taking three different flights from Hanoi to Toulouse. Let's just hope Air France look after her well. I think the French love their dogs so she should be OK. She'll probably have been fed steak and frites...

Bill is still in Hanoi tying up lose ends and trying to get some consultancies set up for later in the year. Really he would love to retire and grow orchids but I think he will just have to do that in another life. I am back in the UK with the kids, tying up lose ends, popping back and forth to the bank, GP and dentist and above all obsessing over the euro-sterling exchange rate.

Now we have some money from the sale of our house, we need to convert it to euros so we can start house/land hunting in France. For weeks now we have been wathcing the exchange rates and just feeling rather flat and depressed, rather like the exchange rates themselves.

One night couple of weeks ago we decided we just couldn't keep putting it off as you could wait for ever and we didn't really know what we were waiting for. So we picked a day when things looked better than they had for a few weeks and then decided to take the plunge. We dithered a bit and then decided that that when the washing machine had finished that was when we would ring our currency dealer. Now that really is bizarre behaviour from 2 seemingly sensible adults but we needed someone to blame if we had picked the wrong date/time and neither of us wanted to blame each other.

So sorry Electrolux but it's your fault.

So the date is set for next Monday and now we know our budget and let's hope that we stick to it. Hmm.

Next installment: Settling in France. The ups (and maybe downs).

The Light At The End Of The Tunnel

Well our tenant has vacated!

Two days before the bailiff was due to turn up, our tenant decided to move out. It really must have been in the dead of night and by teleportation as we had various spies watching the property and no one saw him and his furniture leave.

Thankfully he didn't trash the place but did leave a huge brown patch in the middle of the lawn where some say he had a bonfire and others that it was his teleporting launch pad...

Anyway we are thrilled and so is our buyer. In fact she was so thrilled that she decided to metamorphosise from dear sweet old lady to the negotiator. We did sort of expect it but felt we might be able to negotiator a bit but she was having none of it.

Either we reduce the price by antoher 8% on top of the 5% that we had already given her or she wasn't going to buy. We felt totally in a corner and she knew it. We did feel it was a bit of a mean game especially when when she started her case with "I don't normally agree with people who try and reduce the price at the last minute BUT........"

At the end of the day though we just want to move on. There are others in much worse situations than us and at least we have a house to sell. So onwards and upwards from now on.

As for our family move to France, that has not been on the back burner by any means. We now have 2 out of 3 of our kids definitely enrolled in schools in Limoux. Sam our eldest wants to attend a Lyvee in Carcassonne as opposed to Limoux and so it is a bit more complicated. The forms are all filled out though and now we are just waiting for a response.

The other big issue is finding somewhere more permanent to live in Limoux. We have somewhere to live for the first 2 weeks but that runs out the day before school starts. I can imagine the kids ringing us up from the bus stop and saying "And do we have a home to go to mum?"

We can't believe how incredibly difficult it is to find a long term let in Limoux. We are not asking for much - 4 bedrooms, garage and small garden, full stop. That has just proved impossible so we are now down to 3 bedrooms, garage and patio. However that is also proving impossible. Anything that comes on the market that is vaguely possible is gone within the hour. There is definitely a market in and around Limoux for properties bigger than a 2 bedroom apartment - anyone looking for a business?

Luckily we have friends in Limoux who have been fantastic at visiting possible places and asking around for us - thanks Tricia and Chris!

Next time: Will we ever find a house to rent in Limoux?

Did we finally sell our house in the UK?

No we didn't.

For the past month (5 weeks actually) our tenant has not budged. He doesn't answer his phone, ignores emails, ignores letters and we are all hugely frustrated - 'WE' being us the Tod family, the letting agent, the estate agent and mostly our buyer who is patiently waiting in the wings for which we are eternally grateful.

We swing from moments of anger and frustration to moments of pity and sadness for our tenant. For the past 5 years he has been a model tenant. Paid his rent on time, kept the house immaculate and been amenable and obliging.

So what has gone wrong?.... Nobody really knows but whatever it is, it is not doing any of us any good. Oops another nail bites the dust.

Anyway we are still on a high regarding our family move to Limoux. Everyday we think about it, discuss it and dream about the new things we are going to experience and the new life we are going to be part of. Our flights are booked for 18th August (Stansted - Carcassonne) and basically we have our new life sorted till the 1st September.

Then what?..... Panic maybe!

In the first 2 weeks of our arrival in Limoux, we will have to sort out a long term let, buy a car, settle the kids into their new schools (3 schools for 3 kids), buy housey stuff and also try and have a bit of a holiday. Mind you maybe it will all seem like a holiday...well not sure the kids will think the same way.

In the meantime back here in Hanoi, we have just had a long weekend to celebrate the fall of Saigon in 1975. We made the most of it and flew down the coast to a wonderful place called Phan Thiet. My dad and Bill's parents have also been there whilst they visited us and we have always had a really good time..

We had a lovely surprise when we got to our hotel the Blue Ocean, as not only did we have a sea view villa but it also came with its own poool - we were totally gobsmacked and felt very special!

I found 3 cowrie shells (always my mission when we are on a beach), Sam discovered the thrills of kite boarding, Douglas discovered he looks cool in board shorts, Ellie discovered that she could easily eat the largest red snapper in the restaurant and Bill and I, well we just managed to relax and to not think about our house .... sort of.

I blame it on the free Internet in the hotel which is not good when you want to switch off.





So by the time I next write....

* hopefully the legal process will have run it's course and our tenant will be out of our house
* hopefully our buyer will be in there with her paint brushes and
* hopefully the exchange rates will move in our favour.

You gotta have hope :-)

Nicole

Exchange Contracts or Exchange Rates?

This morning we were hoping to exchange contracts with our buyer for the sale of our UK house…..

This morning though, there is panic all round. Well I am panicking even if Bill remains calm. Apparently the buyer went round to see the house yesterday which was vacated at the weekend by our tenant, only to find that he is still there, furniture and all.

She was not happy and neither are we. Funnily enough just 2 days ago I had sent a letter to our letting agent telling them how wonderful they had been at keeping us informed abut everything and being so organized and efficient. Hmmmm. Let's just hope it's a minor blip and that there is a very plausible explanation.

The other thing to worry about though is the Sterling-Euro exchange rate. Everyday we see our money falling further and further. Sometimes we feel lucky in at least we have some money to exchange and at least we have sold (???) our house and other times we just reach out for the gin. What to do and what not to do? Any clairvoyants are welcome to make contact.

Apart from those SMALL worries, we are still avidly looking at property websites and dreaming about the house we are going to build in Limoux and the gite we are going to rent out and the garden full off fruit trees, orchids, vegetables and chickens. Not sure they will all get along. Because of our dwindling budget, the gite has now shrunk from 4 bedrooms to 2. But that's OK though as I never wanted to wash all those sheets anyway.

We were talking to some Vietnamese friends last weekend about house buying and comparing notes. Imagine that there were no estate agents and that you discovered a house was for sale by gossiping with your neighbours or whilst buying tomatoes in the market. Imagine that you discussed the price round the kitchen table or round the mat on the floor whilst drinking green tea or maybe a whisky if you are a man. Imagine not asking how many thousands it will cost but rather how many Taels of gold (1 Tael equals approx 37.5gm). Then imagine rushing round your family and friends to see who might be able to lend you a tael here or a tael there. Imagine that you are not really buying or bidding on the house but what you are buying is the land the house sits on. Then when it's yours you are going to knock the house down and build a house for yourself even if it looks exactly like what you just bulldozed down. Maybe you will add an extra floor though and have 5 one roomed floors instead of 4.

Since we have been living here in Hanoi (for 7 years with a year break in the middle), we have never known what it is like to not have a building site within 500m of our house. If there is land, it will be built upon. If you buy a house, you knock it down and build another. Basically land here is like gold dust (!) but building labour and materials costs little in comparison.

I wish buying land in France could be that much fun. "Excusez-moi. How many baguettes do you want for this field and yes another glass of wine would be lovely."

So for the moment we are in limbo but hopefully by the time I next put finger to keyboard, I will have lots of good news.

Next time: Did we dare to exchange our Sterling to Euros?….Assuming our house sale went through.

Was Limoux as beautiful as we had remembered it?

Well we are back from our 10 day lurk in Limoux and what a trip. It seems the kids and the dog survived without us as did the grandparents to whom we are forever grateful.

So was Limoux as beautiful as we had remembered it and do we still want to move to France?........

We had only ever visited Limoux twice and that was 3 years ago and it was just for a pizza (!) and a walk along the banks of the River Aude. It was July and the sun was shining, the sky was a gorgeous blue and we were soaking up holiday heaven.

This time it was February, considered a cold, grey and boring month with the population still suffering from the after-effects of too much Christmas. Well those who 'consider' maybe got it wrong.

Our first encounter with a Limouxin (male Limoux resident as opposed to a female Limouxine) was as we were fumbling by the roadside in our little hired Renault trying to work out where our accommodation was located. A little tap at the window and there was this smiling, rather bulbous face talking in a strange language that was a bit of a shock to the system – was our rusty French really that bad? May he help us was what he was saying and although he couldn't (maybe he wasn't a real Limouxin after all), he paved the way to a non-stop line of helpful people.

We were warned about the French bureaucracy and the passing from pillar to post, the non stop forms and the need for insurmountable patience. Well we opened a bank account (2 actually), introduced ourselves in the Mairie, visited 3 schools, popped into and had meetings in the Conseil General and the Academy de Montpellier, visited a few (OK lots) of estate agents, organised a long term rental, visited house building companies and talked to builders and home owners and ….and not once did we get frustrated or feel overwhelmed by the French way of doing things. Admittedly that may change over time but what we did find was that if we were willing to try and speak French and to not expect to be treated as different to anyone else, then everyone we met was willing to help.

One very kind lady in the Conseil General told us specifically to contact her with 'any' difficulties as she knew what it was like to move to a new country and not know the system – she was Italian. Now how kind was that?!

We also met some incredibly kind and helpful foreign residents (thank you Jonathan, Angele, Trisha and Chris) who told us all the ins and outs and ups and downs – We owe you a drink or three.

One of our aims was to find a plot of land to build our house. The choice compared to the UK was incomparable. There were plots here, plots there and plots sprouting everywhere. Actually it seemed like everyone had gone plotty and it was a case of build, build, build. There were also in our opinion rather too many little boxes going up on these unappealing housing estates but another way of looking at it was that it was giving people the chance to get on the housing ladder.

So did we find our dream plot?.....

Yes we did - and it even had a little wooden house on it. Imagine a grassy field, slightly sloping with a wood behind and a field of sheep and donkeys grazing to one side. In front of you and a two minute stroll, the Aude River flows calmly and coolly diving into little secret bathing spots.

Two minutes in another direction and you can be canoeing, playing tennis or swimming in the enormous outdoor pool or maybe a few minutes further and you can be sitting in Limoux town square, sipping an espresso outside a café and watching the world go by. The air was fresh and the only sounds were that of the gentle brushing of the trees and the birds and in the distance, the faint sound of.....….clang, bang, clang.

It turns out that just behind the wood and over the hill (0.25km according to Google Earth) is a clay quarry. After a little bit of delving at the Mairie (town hall), we find out that the quarry has a 40 year lease on the land and is expanding in a big way and they do regular explosions. Bye, bye plot.

And yes the phrase "Location, Location, Location" really does stand true.

Oh well we shall just have to keep on looking when we arrive in August - one way ticket already booked!. If we were able to find our ideal plot in a week, just imagine what we will find in a month. Now both Bill and I are terrible (really terrible) at making decisions and the more plots we have to choose from the more we dither and procrastinate…….I can see trouble ahead.

So in answer to my first question about Limoux, yes we loved the place. We are one hundred percent certain that we have made the right decision in location.

Many people have asked us "Why Limoux?"

You know when you are house hunting and you walk into a particular house and it just feels right, well that sums up Limoux to us. It's our size town, beautiful views and weather, friendly people, lots going on, good transport, good schools and just has a very nice feel to it. Naturally I am sure that there are other places in France that would also fit the bill, but at the end of the day you have to pick one.

It is a town of 10,000 inhabitants and growing and there is an event or festival going on every month. Just perfect for 3 teenage children, 2 forty-something adults and a mad dog. The schools seem great and hugely welcoming and we took trillions (it's amazing what you can get on a digital camera) of photos to show the kids and the grandparents.

Even Lily the dog is going to enjoy it although she will miss the smells and rubbish of the Hanoi streets.

So what's next?......Packing and sorting and chucking sixteen years of expat 'stuff' and of course making lots of lists.

Also off to work on my learn french website. The Limouxins have a very pronounced nasal accent which I need to master....

Next Time: Organising a long term rental, registering at schools and transporting a dog.

We Sold Our House - another step forward

Six months on the market, 3 offers, 3 disappointments, 3 price drops and we finally sold our house. Thank you Mrs Toucan.

It's funny as thrilled as we are to have sold the house, we do feel rather flat about it. We ended up giving it away, well we feel like that, as we had to take a 15 % price drop. Basically we needed to sell and our buyer knew . But what really swung it was that she is a cash buyer and in rented accommodation. Our estate agents reckons 2 months and it will all be signed, sealed and delivered.

However it does mean we can get on. Get on with planning, looking, researching, reading and just generally getting excited about our family move to France. We now know what our budget is and although less than we had originally planned, at least we know.

In 2 weeks (exactly) Bill and I are off to France for our weeks reckie in Limoux. We can hardly contain our excitement. People always say you should visit your prospective new home in all seasons, well you can't get more grim than February can you? Even Vietnam is grim. The cold front is sweeping across from China and we are having the coldest winter in Hanoi for the past 20 years.

Nest week is the Chinese New Year of the rat. I am a rat!! Does that mean luck? I hope so and I promise to share some of it with you who are reading this.

Nicole

Next time: Is Limoux as beautiful in the cold and grey?

Our Move To France Starts Here - Right Now!

After years of talking about it, procrastinating about it and dreaming about it, we have finally made the decision - "Let's just do it - Let's move to France"!!

Yes like thousands of others before us we have decided to move to France. It's the good life there, you can get a mansion for your pocket money, renovate a barn and own acres of land, stress is a mere whisper in your ear, and life will be so much better not forgetting all that wine. Well I have to admit, lovely as that all sounds that doesn't really describe us although I do like the wine part.

Let me just give you a small taster of who we are and why oh why are we walking the well trodden path to France in the shadows of many before us. Some fallen shadows but many basking in the sunshine and glory of their successes.

My name is Nicole and I belong to a family of 2 adults, 3 kids and a dog, not forgetting the fish. I won't tell you about all my other family members (yet) as that could be a long story.

Since our 15 year old and eldest son was in nappies, we have talked about having a holiday home in France. We holidayed there every year, scoured estate agents windows (even visited a few properties), bored the kids to death with yet "more estate agents" and generally became a nuisance with our promises to buy that special something but then never doing it. It wasn't that we couldn't but between us we could never make up our mind on whether we were doing the right thing, at the right time, in the right place and for the right reasons.

So what changed our minds?........

Well I have skipped a large chunk of our lives. The bit about us living abroad in developing countries for the past 15 years and the fact that our children speak fluent French and are all in the French school system and the fact that we are desperate to have our own place, where we can paint our own walls and plant our own garden and not have to ask the landlord to change the light bulb or to mend the lock on the gate (for the umpteenth time).

The kids too need to settle, to make more physically permanent friends and to learn what a normal life is and to enjoy staying put for a while. Bill (my wonderful partner in crime) dreams of growing orchids and laying a tiled floor and chopping firewood in his new bovver boots (bought last weekend in anticipation of his new life) and Lily the dog dreams of racing around lush green fields and making friends with anything furry - well she would say that if she could talk. The fish though might have to stay behind - sorry fishies.

......So that is why we are doing it now.

Bill has handed in his notice, the kids have told their friends and I am panicking about how it will all work and how we will manage and I am writing lots and lots of lists and then more lists about lists and then lists about......

So today we are 03 January 2008 and it will soon be the Chinese New year of the rat. I'm a rat and so this is going to be my year or so I am told and so I really like to believe.

Our plan so far (in list form naturally):

* Feb 2008 - Bill and I are going to do a 10 day trip to Limoux to sort out schools, open a bank account, find a house to rent, buy some land, sort out builders etc.
* July 2008 - Leave Hanoi and head for England to sort out final bits and bobs and to see the family.
* August 2008 - Hey ho, hey ho, it's off to France we go.....

Now plans never go to plan and already ours are scuppered.

Firstly we need to sell our house in the UK in order to buy in France. We plan to buy some land in Limoux (Aude) and build 2 houses. One for us and one to let out as a gite - yes another gite but...ours will be different so watch this space.


Well our house has been on the market in the UK since July 2007 and as the housing market decide to go pear shaped at exactly that time (probably the exact same date and exact same time that we put our house on the market), we have yet to sell. We have not been short of offers but they have.

I am off now to check the status of our Estate Agents who I think are probably still enjoying their New Years celebrations so maybe I need to wait a week.

Next Installment : Why did we choose Limoux?