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Moving to France
Estate agents in France - Part 2 - Bad times (names changed to protect the guilty)
“Robert, what’s that noise?” I asked as we approached the riverside mill. “Just some machinery that comes on occasionally,” he answered soothingly.
We had met Robert at a property exhibition in Harrogate. He seemed pleasant enough, spoke excellent English due to his previous work experience in England and he also said he had property to rent. At the time we had not fixed anything up for rental. He seemed a useful contact so even though by then we had made rental arrangements he was one of the first people we contacted for an appointment to look for property on our arrival in France.
We had supplied him with the list of criteria and he seemed to have looked through his portfolio to highlight things which he thought might interest us in our price range. So far, so good. As we were browsing through his files we noticed a large photograph on the wall depicting a mill which was clearly within our price range. “What’s the background on that Robert?” He told us it had been sold to a South African consortium but they had delayed in completion so he had just received instructions from the owner to put it back on the market. With the benefit of a more cynical hindsight we might have asked if that was the case why was there a picture of it displayed so prominently in his office. Off we trotted to view some other properties - and the mill.
I quite liked the setting on the river Dropt with the town of Duras sitting on the hillside above. Lynne was dubious because she thought the setting looked a bit depressing and also there was a disused unattractive building between the colonial-style old house and the river which obscured the view of the river. I was attracted by the fact the house was in basic good shape and the rooms were huge within it. As we explored the first floor I heard again the distinctive whine of an electric motor from the other side of the river but could not see any obvious evidence of industrial activity from my vantage point on the first floor. I raised it again with Robert and he said that he thought it was associated with the farms on the other side of the river. I was still curious.
Outside the property was a weir and the low water level made it possible to walk along the weir and hop onto the bank on the other side of the river. I walked up the path opposite the property to get a decent viewing position in the direction of the intermittent noise. As I got higher I saw the unmistakeable shape of …………….. settlement tanks for a sewage works! “Robert that looks like a sewage works to me.” “Oh that,” he replied, “it’s nothing to worry about as it’s only a small facility with pumps that come on for a short time during the night.” We looked at him incredulously as we did a mental calculation of the sewage output from the town of Duras into the facility not so conveniently-located on the opposite bank of the river. Our interest in the property took a vertical downward drop and even Robert sensed our disappointment. Fortunately we had followed him in our own car to the property so it was easy to make our excuses and leave him to lock up and secure the property ready for his next naïve clients. We wonder if the mill is still for sale but oddly enough we have not been in touch with him again.
Boris was another gem. Friendly, of east European origin, and immaculately turned out in a suit. He had made three appointments. Our first appointment was at a property with a magnificent view of two industrial-scale silos which obviously serviced the needs of local grain farmers. Additionally the owner had started to build a swimming pool in what used to be a large barn with the roof removed. We have seen this idea before but not previously as badly executed as this. Looking at the general state of repair of the property we told Boris it was not worth wasting ours and the owner’s time in viewing the inside of the property as a purchase was not even a remote possibility. The second property was unremarkable and we passed quickly to the third which gave us food for thought. The setting was fine and the house was spacious. A separate gite revealed an amazing museum of cinema and other 50’s memorabilia, including two rows of red velvet-clad cinema seats in a historically-faithful home cinema complete with vintage reel projectors. The kitchen contained various ancient but functioning white goods including an Arthur Martin (now Electrolux) ‘fridge and lethal-looking ancient food mixers. The occupant was apparently a cinema projectionist from a nearby town who had a collector’s interest in old things. We wandered outside to muse on this and other aspects of the property when we heard the loud noise which turned out to be a passing train. We moved to the edge of the property and discovered a previously concealed railway cutting. We asked Boris about this. “Ah I am so glad you asked me about that. It is a commuter line which carries two trains a day and they are scheduled to be withdrawn in September 2007.” Unconvinced we carried on exploring the property when ten minutes later we heard another train. “Ah Boris that must be the second train.” He nodded, apparently oblivious to the note of sarcasm in my voice.
posted by Larroque Gites at
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