Tuesday 8th october 2002
Jay has a five mile jog but I stay in the house for a more leisurely start to the day. Buy new matches at the local shop and some eggs to boil for breakfast.
The drive to Charleville is a bit busier than yesterday probably because it's market day, but as we come to the carpark someone pulls out so we are lucky to get a space.
Visit several estate Agents and two Huissiers (A kind of cross between a solicitor and a bailiff. They can let and manage houses but are not 'qualified' to sell them.) and the bank to open an account. We are told we have to use J.Y.'s addess and ask him to fill in some forms and produce a copy of his Carte d'Identite and a utility bill. Won't see him till Wednesday evening so make an appointment for Thursday 10a.m.
The two hour lunch break seems like an eternity. We have coffee and mineral water in a bar and then I buy a slice of Tarte aux Myrtilles (blueberries) and scoff it in the car.
There are lots of people chasing a small number of houses to rent and so long waits at Huissiers' offices. In desperation we pick out two likely looking properties and ask if they are accessible for disabled people. The girl shrugs and suggests we go and look at the outside first. She photocopies the details and off we go.
The one in Rue Lapic is cheaper - 445euros - so we go there first. Quiet area, pleasant enough road but the house is blessed with four steep steps. So, off to property number two - Chaussée de Sedan.
A large, imposing house and NO steps. Off we go to get the keys, leaving my passport and 20 euros as hostage at the Huissiers. The traffic is terrible going back via the 'direct ' route, mainly because they are painting the zebra crossings and digging up the road but here we are - good parking but directly opposite the ralway line!
I struggle to unlock the doot but Jay manages to open it and we are greeted by the sight of a man. Once over our mutual surprise, he turns out to be the owner and shows us round. The ground floor has four huge rooms, a kind of utility room and a toilet with a very narrow door.
Upstairs are four more big rooms, one with an ensuite bathroom, but the kitchen is small and disappointing. It has a sink unit, a gaspipe, lots of electrical sockets and nothing else, except for a most inconvenient pipe sticking out of the floor in one corner.
Then he shows us the attic, (four more 'rooms'), the cellar, which goes on and on, and the garden - a wild and wooded 2000 square metres - accessible via a balcony and STEPS!!! Still, it would be far too rough to push a wheelchair round through that jungle of weeds and trees. At least, we wouldn't have to worry about doing any gardening.
It's lovely apart from
1) The kitchen - or lack of it.
2) The downstairs loo - rather narrow for a commode on wheels.
3)The RENT 990euros.
We go back with mixed feelings of elation and disappointment but I say we're interested and will be in touch when we give back the keys and retrieve my passport and deposit.
On the drive back to Chooz the mood becomes less optimistic.
Can we really afford it? Yes, at a pinch.
What about the loo? Even if we take off the door it's not going to be wide enough.
The kitchen? Well, huge let down, but we could manage with a cooker, fridge-freezer and a table.
We really didn't think it would be so difficult to find anywhere. Jay is due to go back to England tomorrow and return with the furniture on Sunday.
What alternatives do we have?
Plan A - take house and move in on Sunday
Plan B - I'll keep looking, bring furniture over in hopes and resort to storage if necessary.
Plan C - rent somewhere in England until we find a place here.
Arrive at Chooz rather depressed. Jay cooks some crevettes but they are awful.
He makes a spaghetti Milanese but my stomach is tying itself in knots. I can't do it justice and end up admitting to feeling queasy.
Phone CC and use up an awful lt of units. Gerard knocks on the cabine (phonebox) and tells me to ring J.Y. (I'd arranged to stay with them in Charleville once Jay went back to England as I couldn't househunt from Chooz, 40 miles away)
It seems no-one will be home till after 8p.m. tomorrow so I'll have to wander round on my own till then. Great! Tell Claudine about the house we saw - she says 'take it - there's not much choice at the moment'.
Ring the Bear - briefly. Say I'm feeling sick and so get away with a short call. (At this stage I still haven't told him I have left him.)
Actually, I'm feeling really sick now - yuk! Awful evening - try to drink a weak cup of herbal tea and so to bed.
A ghastly night full of panic attacks, butterflies and deep despair, not to mention nightmares involving toilets, tape measures and kitchens.
