Missive 28 Maison Boutet ~ Working Title

March 2011

Dear All

Hopefully you will find Missive 28 attached. Believe it or not it features a house rather a lot, but “her indoors” tells me “this is more like it, more what I thought the missives were going to be like!” Praise indeed! I guess the missive says it all! In the meantime, we look forward to seeing you at the pendaison de crémaillère, but don’t forget the paintbrushes!!

Love Roger

rogerhiggs@hotmail.co.uk

Mes chers amis

Maison Boutet: “Working Title” ~ Missive 28

"All the world's a stage, and all the men and women merely players. They have their exits and their entrances; And one man in his time plays many parts" William Shakespeare, As You Like It (Act II, Scene VII).

“All changes are more or less tinged with melancholy, for what we are leaving behind is part of ourselves”. Amelia Barr

I felt we owed it to Monsieur (M) from the Chateau, to tell him the news of our new house and therefore fairly imminent departure from our current abode. After the relationship we had established over the previous summer it was, I felt, the least we could do. But finding the right words proved quite difficult, and for several evenings I put it off, until after our first visitors of the year had gone and I could give the task my undivided attention!!

This then is the bulk of what I finally sent, although thanks to Babelfish it was in Spanish, M’s first language:

“As you said at the end of last summer “All good things must come to an end!,” and as you will no doubt remember, we have been waiting to sell the house of Linda’s mother in York, before deciding where we go next. Well, the house has now sold and we are in the position to buy our own “little piece of France” and have found a suitable house in Le Boutet, still in the commune of St Laurent de la Salle, where we feel we have begun to get to know people and put some roots down. The house is an old stone farmhouse, which needs quite a lot of work doing on it before we can move in, so it will be our intention to remain at La Loge for some weeks after the sale is completed in the middle of May, principally to allow an electrician / plumber time to make the house safe and habitable – then we can start with the paint brushes!!

It will be with more than a twinge of sadness that we leave La loge, as we have been very happy here and will take with us many happy memories of our first two years in France, living in “the little house at the end of the drive!” These happy memories will include many about times spent with the man from “the large house at the other end of the drive” and his dog. But, will of course have much of the summer to renew this friendship over a cup of tea or two and, who knows, maybe dance a jig or two, to the surprise of the good citizens of Fontenay le Comte!!!

We will obviously give our three months notice to the Notaire, in due course, probably at the beginning of May, if we are able to arrange the necessary works to tie in with this date. I expect that the Notaire will be in touch with you, but felt that we wanted to contact you personally, in the true English fashion courtesy and good manners!

In the meantime, with Spring arriving with a wonderful display of magnificent flowers everywhere and some lovely warm sunshine to broaden the smiles, we will wish you good-bye, until we see you later in the Summer. There are also some suitable “leaving / moving on” quotes below!!

Kind regards and best wishes......

Then I waited with baited breath! I didn’t have to wait long as by lunchtime the next day I had received M.’s reply, in English, my first language, and it was its normal blend of eloquence and eccentricity! Here are some verbatim excerpts:

First of all, I congratulate you to stay in Saint Laurent de la Salle for ever! I shall have, in that case, the pleasure to see you...for ever! If you had choosen a house in the moon, the song would have been different!

So, with great pain, I shall see you going away but I shall rejoice knowing you do not go too far from home in which you will always be welcomed with open arms and with Toutoune's (his dog!!) open legs!!

I shall never forget those magic moments spent together, Indian dinners, tea party, and moments spent in front of my computer...!!! But, everything ends on this planet!

He also thanked us for the “elegance” of letting him know before the Notaire, “writing” it in Spanish and for the quotes which were included and for which we both share a passion. The Shakespeare one was particularly chosen for him and my email was headed with an anonymous quote that also seems very apt:

“Tres cosas dicen a un hombre: sus ojos, sus amigos y sus cotizaciones preferidas.”

“Three things tell a man: his eyes, his friends and his favourite quotes.”

And, I suppose, that as the new house is the news of the moment there is little more to write about – well after all it is just about filling our every waking moment, and may well provide a few nightmares along the way!! So the rest of this missive is centred around our new abode, called by the estate agent Maison Boutet, but we are working on a different name, (ideas on a postcard please!!) as there are actually eight Maisons Boutet; three owned by French people, one of whom has a rather lovely gîte in their garden, one recently bought by an English family, initially as a holiday home, but maybe for renting out in the future and another three houses in various states of renovation, but at the moment not lived in.

Le Boutet, as it appears on the signs, may I like to think after researching it, be a variation on boutée, which is French for a full boute or hogshead (barrel), and as a hogshead full measures in at 52 ½ gallons, or a mere 198.73 litres, it bodes well for the pendaison de crémaillère (House warming party)! Mind you if we don’t get the heating in in time for next winter, we might need the house warming.

Yes, and before I forget you’re all invited – just bring old clothes, paint brushes and rollers, secateurs ...... and a pint or two of good English beer – one of the few things I miss about the UK and it does seem to quench the thirst better than the French stuff!!!

The Search!

I’m sure you will remember the utter dismay we felt, having returned from the UK, ready to view a house we had both fallen in love with close to where we are now and still within St Laurent de la Salle, where we had decided we wanted to stay, only to find it had been sold, although to date it remains empty. A trawl of the multitude of estate agents and a couple of trips to the local Notaire (Solicitor) who was selling the first house, unearthed nothing suitable within the chosen area.

So the holiday in the caravan was a welcome break and a chance to get over the disappointment, and to think about where we went from then. The decision was that certainly in the short to medium term we would hold out for a house in this commune, staying where we are living at the moment, a great place, with a chateau in the garden and an owner who became a great friend and who would once again move back from Spain for the summer – so as I said in the last missive: “But, on reflection and now the disappointment has dwindled somewhat, fate hasn’t done us too bad so far!!”

But on our return, there was still that niggling feeling that it wasn’t ours and should we plant the garden – what if?, I’m sure you know the sort of thing. We had however, decided that we would go shopping later in the week and buy some things to plant in the veg plot! Linda then came across, almost by accident details of “The House” which we had seen before we were in a position to buy but which we thought had been sold, and although it perhaps didn’t tick all the boxes, it did most and particularly the all important St Laurent de la Salle box, although the reason we hadn’t found the details before was that they were listed under La Caillère, the neighbouring commune!!

Hoping it wasn’t a false alarm and that it was still on the market, Linda emailed to arrange a viewing and what a relief when we found it was still available, and off we went to have a look and veg planting was at least for the time being put on hold!

The Viewings!

It wasn’t quite love at first sight, as it didn’t tick all the boxes and probably had more needing to be done than we were thinking of doing at the time, but that was well and truly reflected in the price, which was quite a lot less than advertised – the estate agent obviously keen for a sale, told us of a previous offer that had been accepted, but the potential buyers needed a mortgage and weren’t able to get one. We also at this stage asked about the other piece of land and being in France, shouldn’t have been surprised when he said he didn’t know where it was, but then after a phone call took us to a place it might have been, and subsequently transpired that it was!!

We mulled for several days, looked at maps, google earth and made the odd sortie to look at the property from afar, its position making it very difficult to walk past it unobserved! To my untrained eye, and disregarding the various piles of mouse droppings the house looked to be in a fairly sound state, solid walls and a fairly new roof, despite the fact that everything else looked rather archaic, to the point of obsoletion and eventually we decided to pay a second visit with our retired builder friend and if he agreed with us that it was sound of wall and roof, to make an offer. He had a good poke around, declared us of sound mind, at least in relation to our thoughts about the house and our initial draft plans of what we wanted to do, as well as offering a few suggestions of his own!

Love then blossomed and we made a verbal offer, followed it up with a written offer once a couple of points had been clarified and the rest is history, not least as it’s being written down here!! There was then the wait to discover if the offer was acceptable and to get a date to sign the compromis, to make it all legal and binding. It was an anxious wait, despite the fact that in France, once an offer has been accepted then it is unlikely that the estate agent will show anyone else around and the house is as good as yours, but there’s still the worry if you haven’t signed on the dotted line!! So, what is it we’re buying:

The House!

In the estate agent’s blurb the description says: DANS HAMEAU CALME GRANDE MAISON DE PIERRES A RENOVER COMPRENANT 3 PIECES REZ DE CHAUSSEE PLUS CELLIER 4 CHAMBRES ETAGE ET DEUX GRANDES DEPENDANCES OUVERTURES EN PARTIE REFAITES DOUBLE VITRAGE PETIT JARDIN ATTENANT ET TERRAIN NON ATTENANT 1500M2 or if you prefer: IN A CALM HAMLET LARGE STONE HOUSE TO RENOVATE COMPRISING THREE ROOMS DOWNSTAIRS PLUS CELLAR 4 BEDROOMS UPSTAIRS AND TWO LARGE OUTBUILDINGS (attached to the main house and very large) PART DOUBLE GLAZING SMALL GARDEN ADJOINING AND LAND NOT ADJACENT 1500M².

It’s almost right; although the house isn’t that large, 7 rooms but none of them big, the cellar is in fact a ground floor cave / back kitchen, the small garden isn’t that small and doesn’t adjoin, it’s about 20 metres away and the other land is much nearer to 1000m², but you get the gist of it and the hamlet is certainly calm!!
Basically, plenty of space, the living space is about a third more than where we are renting now, and with loads of potential and the all important sound walls and roof, at least over the living area, so now it’s up to us to transform the place, which is both daunting and very exciting! Watch this space!

Nelly knew!

You might think that the fact Linda had her hair cut the other day, doesn’t really fit in with the rest of this missive and isn’t centred around “The House,” but you would be wrong! A few days after we had put a formal offer for the house into the estate agent, Linda went to make an appointment to have her hair cut. When she arrived there was a lady under the dryer and a man waiting to have his hair cut, but Nelly the hairdresser was able to book Linda’s appointment for a couple of days later. It was as Linda left that the lady under the dryer turned around and recognised Linda and said hello. This lady who lives between us and the centre of St Laurent de la Salle, had come to see Monsieur at the Chateau the previous summer, we think this lady’s mother used to work at the “big house” and is probably a similar age to Monsieur, so may well have known him as a child. Much to his chagrin M. had forgotten the appointment and the lady appeared at our front door asking if we knew where he was. We tried phoning, and had a chat with the lady, who subsequently takes delight in introducing us to her friends when we attend a village function – we’re her English friends who live next to the chateau, no not that one the other one!!

Back to Nelly’s and Linda had a brief chat with the lady and left, returning a couple of days later to have her hair done. Part way through the haircut, Nelly suddenly remembered something and excitedly said to Linda “You’ve found a house to buy!” On previous visits they had talked about where we lived, how we rented the house and were hoping to buy somewhere, but how did Nelly know?

Well, when Linda had left Nelly’s a couple of days previously, the lady under the dryer had informed Nelly and the gentleman waiting who Linda was and where she lived! At this point the gentleman’s ears pricked up and he said well in that case she’s going to be my new neighbour! How did he know, well ...... good friends of ours, Geoff and Chris, had stayed for several months in the gîte whilst completing the purchase of their house just down the road. During this time they became good friends with our new neighbours and had accompanied them the previous weekend to the Hunt Dinner and told them all about their new neighbours – well perhaps not everything, because when we went to introduce ourselves they were pleased to see us!!

The bush telegraph works just as well in France as in England, but just for once we were able to trace the calls!

The Garden!

This is also covered in the section below entitled Next!?! But, just a little more here. The house itself simply has the courtyard, although one long term plan involves removing the roof from part of the “dependances” (out buildings) and creating a little hidden courtyard with a covered summer dining area and summer kitchen, but the emphasis on long term!!

The garden for the house is a short step or two down the track in front of the house and borders on one side an area owned and looked after by the commune of St Laurent de la Salle. This attractive area includes the communal oven, that is still fired up at least once a year to cook the delicious local delicacy – prefou, a flat garlic bread sometimes stuffed with other fillings such as tuna, tomatoes, salmon and the like, but always with dripping down the chin quantities of strong garlic butter, for the local “parish walk” in June. This could well be our first social event after getting the keys.

Our garden, as I recently promised the neighbours will one day look magnificent! Perhaps, rather a rash way to keep in with the neighbours, who have an enormous, indeed magnificently kept plot, hence my rather rash promise when complimenting them on their wonderful garden, containing flowers, lawn, stream, woodland, potager (vegetable plot), orchards, sheep fields, barns (numerous), wood stores, gîte, chicken runs and I’m reliably informed a cave (wine cellar!) all looked after by the neighbours – a sprightly couple who we’re led to believe are in their eighties, although they certainly don’t look it. Maybe, hopefully, it’s the Le Boutet air that does it and the next time you see us, well maybe in a year or two when all the hard work has been done, we’ll look rejuvenated and my re-growing bald patch will have thickened into a fine thatch!!

Our 350 m² of garden slightly pales into insignificance when you look at the neighbours plot, but it didn’t stop Madame popping down to see me in the garden the other day to say hello. She stood in her very typical blue French boiler suit; she was on the way to do some strimming on the bank of the lane, she surveyed the garden and said somewhat incredulously “Oh, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la!! It kind of said it all, but it’s to be hoped that each day after we’ve left they pop down to vet what we have done and are suitably impressed, by what at the moment looks more like a demolition scene than a garden! But, one day hopefully in the not too distance future, she’ll stand at the gate and simply “Oh la, la!” said admiringly will suffice!!

In the meantime, Linda has got lots of pots and planters ready to put in the courtyard to make an instant impact and to make the place look loved and lived in, and the front of our house does look over the neighbour’s beautifully tended garden, giving us a good view and something to aspire to!!

Roger’s Retreat!

You may have seen the pictures of this, a piece of land it seems now nudging just over 1000 m², a strip 8 ½ metres wide and about 120 metres long and really something of a bonus, but not uncommon in France where the succession laws split everything up amongst the offspring, even as is probably the case here, splitting a field into strips. Its “development” is way down on the “to do” list, but when it happens, and it is probably a good winter job when the accumulated prunings can be burnt, there are some sketchy plans!

I have always wanted a piece of woodland, and as the edge of this has a number of semi-mature oak trees, with some smaller saplings encroaching onto the strip, a woodland is there for the making. I think also, there will be some sort of temporary shelter, to keep dry or to shade from the sun, next to one of several grassy glades to encourage wildlife – we’ve already seen a large deer on the edge of the plot! Then, possibly a small orchard / growing area, there’s a splendid and well maintained vineyard next door on a similar narrow plot, but whatever goes there will need to be low maintenance, as the house garden will come first.

But basically, it’s a lovely spot surrounded by fields on two sides (one short, one long!, the vineyard on the other long side, and with scrubby woodland giving way to an amazing flooded quarry, with high cliffs and plenty of wildlife opportunities.

So, if I go missing or I’m in the doghouse, you could do worse than to look for me first at Roger’s Retreat! Maybe the development plans should also include a wine cellar; it’s near enough to walk home!!

Next!?!

Strange, but in a way the next bit has started already! We are coming up to the “cooling off” period, where after the signing of the compromis we have seven days to change out mind, but the sellers can’t!, and although we have no intention of pulling out, it normally takes up to eight weeks for the next bit to be completed and the house become ours. However, at the signing of the compromis we asked if we could make a start in the garden, which as I said before is head high with brambles and about half of it covered in rather ramshackle sheds and chicken houses. Ramshackle they may be, but they’re certainly not Gerry built, with several layers of chicken wire liberally nailed to the wooden frame, which is put together with nothing less than 4 inch and mostly 6 inch nails, conveniently bent over once through the pieces of wood they are being used to hold together!

So, nearly 24 person hours later (our last visitor roped himself in!) as well as Linda and I we have made a start, although in reality barely scratched the surface and already the local tip, fortunately only a couple of miles away, has become a frequent haunt!!

In addition to the garden we have also been busy checking out the local, and not so local DIY shops, once scarce in France, but now thanks in part to the Brits, springing up everywhere. We seem to have visited most of the shops in a 30 miles plus radius and one or two of them twice, and perhaps rather jumping the gun, we started even before the compromis, buying the trappings of civilisation. Our cave de chaffauge, boiler room, which is fortunately something like an aircraft hanger, has started to resemble a builder’s merchant – bathroom furniture, wash hand basins, log burner, radiators, the odd cupboard or two and even a kitchen sink and base unit! The kitchen has even less in it than the house we rent, it has two taps coming out of the wall, but only a cracked tile shelf underneath them to hold a washing up bowl, and nowhere to tip it other than outside!!

I’m tempted to think that the jungle trekking we have been doing in the garden is actually the lull before the storm!! Next is the storm – rewiring, plumbing, hot water, heating, painting, tiling ... and whatever next is unearthed! Both of our new neighbours, Monsieur and Madame, independently from on another, mentioned the state of some of the roofing on the “dependances” – out buildings and there are a number of broken tiles under the eaves. But the roof on the main house is sound and fairly recent so that’s something!! But this leads me neatly on to the next section.......!!

“Ici devant nous!”

The neighbours! The delightful couple, who will shortly become our “nouveau voisin” seem delighted at the prospect, when we went around to introduce ourselves Monsieur when he had checked we were actually going to live in the house chuckled pleasantly and muttered “nouveau voisin” with a sufficiently broad smile to show he was pleased. Now we have to make the right impression and will know we have been accepted when beckoned into the cave (wine cellar) to try a glass or two!!

Reliable sources, however, tell us that this lovely gentle older couple had a very long running (many years) and extremely deep routed (our house features a lot of barbed wire fortifications) feud with the inhabitants of our new house! Let’s hope it wasn’t about the dependances roof, as our first priorities will be making the house habitable and comfortable, but just in case, I think the roof may have just gone higher on the “to do” list, for reasons of entente cordial, oh, and the chance of a visit to the cave!!

My original “thoughts!”

Oh my god! What have we done!! I’m going to be too busy to become a fully paid up member of the GOD’s as reported last time. It will be more a case of Growing Old Demoniacally, with all the work needed on the new abode!

Over the years, Linda and I have read many books about people who have escaped, bought “house wrecks” and spent the following years turning them into their “little bit of peaceful and idyllic France.” Yes, we dreamed but always said “How do they do that!” Well, we’re about to find out and already I’ve had lessons on stud walling and wall lining from a good friend who before retiring to France was a builder!!

And, at the end of the day, there may not be a chateau in the garden, but it’s ours, or will be very soon!!

Kind regards, Best Wishes and Love, Roger and Linda

And, next time? So little time, so much to do – who knows, but it may feature what the English regard as wickedness and the French pleasure!?!