It's June here in the Languedoc Roussillon and we have just sold our house after 5 happy years living near the medieval city of Carcassonne. Now it's time to start out next adventure so we headed off for a visit to the Poitou Charente, to view some houses. As it was a 5 hour journey, we had to set out early. I foolishly offered to drive there so I found myself setting out ( semi conscious!) at 5.30am, with the radio on loud to keep me awake. It also helped to drown out my awful singing! The journey there wasn't too bad, although there were a few spells of torrential rain. You wouldn't think it was June in Southern France!! With the help of the SatNav, we managed to arrive for our first viewing in the village of Aigre, without getting lost at all. If you knew us, this is an impressive feat!
We had seen the ad for the first house online and it was described as a 3 bedroom house with outbuildings and a good sized garden. Well as soon as we stepped through the door, we discovered that the photos on the website were obviously taken some time ago ( 3 years ago, the agent later admitted). Now we have already completed a big renovation project here in France so are prepared to do some work but from the photos and the emails back and forth with the agent, we hadn't expected to walk into a property with crumbling walls, interconnecting bedrooms with no way of changing the layout and an attic which seemed to have a ceiling being held up by one piece of rickety wood!! Not our dream first viewing of a house in the Charente region!
We had some spare time before the next property viewing so headed off for lunch. We were passing Ruffec, saw the familiar E.Leclerc sign, so pulled in. We go to the E.Leclerc in Carcassonne sometimes for lunch and they have quite a basic cafeteria so we weren't expecting anything fancy but this store didn't have a simple cafeteria, they had a "Bar Brasserie". Well, what a difference!! We enjoyed a lovely glass of wine each, a big salad and then a Crème brulée. Perfection!
At 2pm we were ready for our next appointment, with Kate and Susan from Papillon Properties. I had only found the property by chance on their website just 2 days before we were due to drive up to the region so I was lucky that they were able to fit us in for a viewing. The house was given the name, "I've Started so I need Finishing...." on the website which pretty much sums up the scenario.
It''s a very old property which has had most of the hard work already completed. There are 2 small lounges which can be knocked into one large room. Then there is a fitted kitchen with exposed beams and modern tiled floor. There is a door from here out onto the lovely rear garden. On the first floor there are two bathrooms and two large double bedrooms-one with a dressing room attached. The second floor has two further bedrooms. The largest has an en suite bathroom.
There is a large garden which has a ruin in the middle which must at one time been an impressive local landmark, probably with a tower. However the ivy has now taken it over and it would be a labour of love to restore.
As you can probably guess by my extended description, we fell in love with the house pretty much straight away. After spending quite some time wandering around, we headed back to the Papillon Offices and made an offer which has been accpeted. We should be moving in about 7 weeks and I cannot wait to get started on renovating the property!!
Here are some pictures so you can have an idea of what we were starting off with:
We had seen the ad for the first house online and it was described as a 3 bedroom house with outbuildings and a good sized garden. Well as soon as we stepped through the door, we discovered that the photos on the website were obviously taken some time ago ( 3 years ago, the agent later admitted). Now we have already completed a big renovation project here in France so are prepared to do some work but from the photos and the emails back and forth with the agent, we hadn't expected to walk into a property with crumbling walls, interconnecting bedrooms with no way of changing the layout and an attic which seemed to have a ceiling being held up by one piece of rickety wood!! Not our dream first viewing of a house in the Charente region!
We had some spare time before the next property viewing so headed off for lunch. We were passing Ruffec, saw the familiar E.Leclerc sign, so pulled in. We go to the E.Leclerc in Carcassonne sometimes for lunch and they have quite a basic cafeteria so we weren't expecting anything fancy but this store didn't have a simple cafeteria, they had a "Bar Brasserie". Well, what a difference!! We enjoyed a lovely glass of wine each, a big salad and then a Crème brulée. Perfection!
At 2pm we were ready for our next appointment, with Kate and Susan from Papillon Properties. I had only found the property by chance on their website just 2 days before we were due to drive up to the region so I was lucky that they were able to fit us in for a viewing. The house was given the name, "I've Started so I need Finishing...." on the website which pretty much sums up the scenario.
It''s a very old property which has had most of the hard work already completed. There are 2 small lounges which can be knocked into one large room. Then there is a fitted kitchen with exposed beams and modern tiled floor. There is a door from here out onto the lovely rear garden. On the first floor there are two bathrooms and two large double bedrooms-one with a dressing room attached. The second floor has two further bedrooms. The largest has an en suite bathroom.
There is a large garden which has a ruin in the middle which must at one time been an impressive local landmark, probably with a tower. However the ivy has now taken it over and it would be a labour of love to restore.
As you can probably guess by my extended description, we fell in love with the house pretty much straight away. After spending quite some time wandering around, we headed back to the Papillon Offices and made an offer which has been accpeted. We should be moving in about 7 weeks and I cannot wait to get started on renovating the property!!
Here are some pictures so you can have an idea of what we were starting off with:
 The Front of the Property, which has a small front garden |  A section of the garden behind the property, which can be accessed from the kitchen |  The rest of the land which is around 1/4 of an acre. Perfect for our 4 dogs! |
 The recently fitted kitchen. Having just renovated a 17th Century property, I love keeping original features such as beams. They give the room such a cosy and traditional feel. |  One of the lounges, where we will fit a Charentaise fireplace. We love having a wood-burning stove and it will warm the ground floor of the house during the Winter. |
 Bedroom 1 has a lovely fireplace and a fabulous dressing area. I think there will be a fight between me and my Mum for who gets this room!! |  Bedroom 1 also has a nice-sized ensuite bathroom with good sized shower/bath and lots of space for storage. |
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Bedroom 3 and 4 are on the second floor and one has a lovely en-suite bathroom. Love the beams and we want to have wood flooring throughout the property to keep a really traditional feel.
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