Sunday, January 10, 2010

Westward Ho!

We're off tomorrow to do a second round of house hunting in the southern Dordogne and northern Lot-et-Garonne, two departments in the region called Aquitaine. So far we've arranged to see several houses, and you can see a web page with links to photos of most of them here. I had set up this page to keep track of everything and putting it online turned out to be the easiest way to make it accessible to both John and myself - and now for whoever else wants to see what's going on.

We're hoping that the weather improves. Right now, we have about 8 inches of snow! It has been shockingly cold, with temperatures staying below freezing for the past three or four days. Oddly, last week was warmer on the Atlantic side of the country than here, where usually the reverse is true. According to forecasts this is to change in the next few days - so we're following the cold. Brrrr.

8 comments:

  1. Ellie, the blog is a great idea. That way you don't have to keep writing the same thing to everyone. The weather doesn't seem promising, though; I've been following it on the La Dépêche Aude site and it looks miserable!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Hi Ellie and John,

    Good luck with your house-hunting. Hope the wintry weather won't make the travelling too difficile. It is fun to see the possibilities. So far my favorites are your Tues. morning Lot-et-Garonne--looks well cared for, and nice kitchen set-up, with double windows opening up. Also your Fri am Alles-sur-Dordogne, and Sat. "near Beaumont" The Chateau looks like a fascinating possibility too. Keep us posted!

    ReplyDelete
  3. Yeah, I gotta admit that chateau is intriqueing. Right now Im finishing up with web pages, printing them in case our internet connections fail. It will be an exciting - and probably exhausting - week. We're staying in a hotel this time instead of in a gite. It usually takes about three days to heat up a gite to a livable temperature! And few have wifi - which we decided we *really* need when house hunting. Thanks to both for your good wishes. À tout à l'heure!

    ReplyDelete
  4. Glad you're treating yourself to a hotel in the cold weather! Hope you find more than a few good possibilities in your search.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Nuts, sorry Tuesday was a strike-out, but this is part of the necessary process as you educate yourselves on what is actually available! I look forward to hearing how Wednesday goes, hope the weather gets warmer and the roads are passable. Nice you found such a nice restaurant for lunch.

    ReplyDelete
  6. Oh, dear, that's a shame about the two houses. I really liked the look of the second one, too. The one for Wednesday morning looks nice, though! Here's hoping...

    ReplyDelete
  7. I'm glad you are finding at least a few "possibles" this week! Can't wait to see more pictures.

    ReplyDelete
  8. The house in Sauveboeuf looks like a "best" to me, with all the room and land. And maybe more windows and daylight coming in? It also is an advantage that it is almost move-in ready! The only worrisome thing is whether you'll get smoke from the neighbor's chimney...how close are they? The house near the train sounds like you both like it a lot, and it has the advantage of land for the horse and a horse farm nearby. From the picture, it doesn't look like there are many windows for daylight. And the train might be worrisome, especially if you have outdoor pets? At any rate, good luck making a decision!

    ReplyDelete