A New Adventure in France

Well we’ve now signed our lives away on a house in France and it’s all a bit frightening! So first of all a bit about the house and area. During our travels in France over the past 4 years we’ve kept being drawn back to the Lot valley and surrounding areas and imagining what it might be like to live there. We decided to put an end to our musings once and for all by doing a house hunting trip. We did a lot of online research beforehand  against a list of criteria and set off in a frosty March to meet with agents and view properties. The house we’ve bought was in fact the first house we saw and met all the criteria on our list  apart from being a few kilometres beyond the original search area. 

Labourdette is a former farmhouse, built in the white stone of the Quercy region. It is about 1.5 km from the village of Tournon d’Agenais, a lovely bastide village that was included a few years ago into the ranks of the ‘Plus Beaux Villages de France’.  We’re actually in the Lot et Garonne department within the region of Nouvelle-Aquitaine but we’re right on the borders of three departments – Lot et Garonne, Lot and Tarn et Garonne – so there’s plenty of exploring to be done. Much of the farm land around the house has been sold to another farmer over the years but we have about 3 acres around the house. The buildings comprise the house, a large barn and a small wooden chalet used as an art/ craft studio. 

From what we know at present of the history of the house, when it was used as a farm house animals would have been housed on the ground floor of the house and the family would have lived on the upper floor. We’re not sure of the exact age of the house but the original farm is shown on local maps. At one point the buildings were used for a wholesale wine business but for the last 20 years or so it has been in residential occupation by the last two owners who have carried out extensive renovations to both the house and barn. So we are in the fortunate position of not having any work to do apart from some cosmetic redecoration. 

The house sits on a hill with lovely views all round.  The wheat on the surrounding farmland was harvested just before we took possession and we look over other crops, woodland and orchards of plum trees which produce the ‘Pruneaux d’Agen’, a speciality of the region. 

The process of buying the house has taken a few months and culminated in the signing at the Notaire’s office. This is much more of a charming and formal ceremony than buying a house in the UK and we attended at the Notaire’s office along with the lovely English couple who were selling the house and the estate agent who has been a great help throughout the process. Despite the formality, technology has caught up even with French Notaires and we were taken through the Acte de Vente, projected onto the wall, and even the signing at the end was via a tablet and without the tedious process of having to initial every page of the document. Coffee with the previous owners after the signing, keys handed over and we were on our way to the house. More to come about the house in the next instalment. 

There is, and will be, inevitably a lot of administration to deal with so the process of signing for the house seemed like a doddle compared to the two hours it had taken the day before to get a bank account set up. It’s something that Joe in particular will have to get used to …

We read the following day newspaper headlines stating that the Foreign Office is advising tourists to avoid travelling to France, or at least cities. Whilst the situation is very serious,  we feel very far away from it here in ‘La France profonde’.