CHAPTER 6 House Hunting

Early in 1985 Jane and I got married. The following year we had a baby daughter, who we named Sarah. A work posting to the USA and the new addition to the family caused my Francophilia to go on hold for a few years, even though Jane seemed to share much of my passion for things French.

My brother Dick mentioned that he was thinking of buying a house on the Mediterranean island of Cyprus. The conversation had lead me to decide that if I ever bought a house abroad, then the South of France would be my chosen location. I couldn't quite understand the point of having a holiday home in northern France, since the weather in Normandy and Brittany tends to be as miserable as that in southern England.

In the spring of 1989 Jane mentioned that she had some spare funds, saved from her house sale, which had taken place when she originally moved in with me.

She agreed to contribute some of this money towards making our French dream a reality. It was not enough to cover all the outlay, especially when the cost of legal fees, repairs and furnishings were taken into account. But it was enough to make a healthy dent in the total anticipated bill.

Grasse is situated on the steep Southern slopes of the Alps. During the holidays of my youth we had been treated to spectacular views of the Mediterranean from the terrace of the villa. I already knew that properties in Grasse and all places nearby, were massively more expensive than our budget would run to.

I purchased a map and looked for locations in the South, which seemed to be at a similar elevation and distance from the sea as Grasse was. It was pretty obvious that the eastern side near the border with Italy was out out of the question. Names like Monaco and St. Tropez immediately conjuring up visions of huge luxurious yachts, casinos, film stars and fat bank accounts.

The centre of the Southern French Mediterranean coast around the Camargue seemed to be completely flat. In fact I already pretty much knew this to be the case, from my previous visit there with Jane and Jasmine. On that occasion the furthest West we had travelled had been Montpellier, which because of the traffic, I had viewed as an obstacle, rather than a place to admire.

Books were borrowed from the library, which allowed the climate of the various regions of France to be analysed. This information combined with research into the terrain, relative prices and required facilities had indicated that the Languedoc Roussillon region would be our target area.

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