A conversation with our very pleasant and friendly landlady prompted us to look at other apartments where we might stay when (and if) we return to Montpellier. She is able to rent this unit at twice the price during the summer so no wonder she wants it available from June to September. Also, it we would like to have some of our "stuff" around if we are here for longer periods of time so maybe it is time to have space which is ours 12 months a year.

So our project of the last two weeks has been to look for a new place to put our slippers the next time we come back. And we know just the place too, a 32-unit apartment right next to the river, which we have admired for three years. We would, of course, want one of the southern exposure units on the upper floors with views of the river, perhaps of the sea and open to the sky. So off we went, only to find that the gate was locked and no one in the least bit interested in why we were there. We did see three older women also licking their chops and admiring the apartment.

Since the quality of housing stock in downtown Montpellier is modest, at best, there are about 250,000 other people who admire this building and would like to live here. There is one available unit, with a maximum of one year rental— and it is less expensive than our current furnished rental, but it does require—as do most rentals—a refrigerator, dishwasher, washing machine and stove, a pension of at least 2700 E a month as well as our exit in a year.

Can you imagine moving your refrigerator and stove every time you move? That is how it is done here.

Can you imagine that the French require that a pension be three times the monthly rent? You can be a billionaire but if you don't have a pension of 2700 E a month, you cannot rent here.

The area in which we live, right next to the tram with its huge open spaces, has an excellent seafood restaurant, a ten-minute walk to symphony, opera, art cinema, and downtown shopping. But green spaces, charm and warmth? Not on the outside!

There are several apartments for sale in this region of Montpellier. For example, there is a 330,000 € two-bedroom 900 square foot apartment on the third floor of the building below with a good size terrace that opens to a quiet courtyard.

Here is the view..

The apartment that we are presently occupying is south facing on a quiet tree-lined street so is perfectly sited with patches of green. Unfortunately there is no private outdoor space.

Real estate offices in France are just a bit different from the USA. Pretend you are selling your house. If your home were in France, you would list it with all the real estate agents you could find and at the same time list it as for sale by owner. Only if a real estate agent shows you a house and you sign his paper saying he has showed you a house, does he get a commission. There is no master listing of homes or open houses. Few signs that indicate a property is for rent for for sale.The real estate agents will not have visited most of the homes that they show in their windows.

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There is no way to tell if your next-door neighbor has put their house on the market. Real estate agents hesitate to give you an address of a site you have found on the web so there is no easy way to walk by a unit that is for sale or for rent unless you are accompanied by a real estate agent. Unbelievable.

We have made it to the inside of two apartments, visited countless real estate offices, stalked our favorite buildings, snuck in when the gate was left open and stuffed mailboxes with our flyer. What a great learning opportunity. We are actually conducting these interviews in French and receiving pleased and positive feedback for our efforts.

We have relaxed nightly by watching the Olympics on commercial free French TV. Because there are no commercials, there is less money. Because there is less money, there seems to be less coverage. Also, at present the French are much better at cross-country events such biathlon and the other Nordic events, thus the Olympics coverage in France for five of the six last nights has consisted almost exclusively of cross country skiing with a mix of ski jumping and alpine.

We continue to speak French at dinner…Bob’s French is blooming like flowers in spring.

For those of you who follow his scientific career, this morning he received a proposed agreement between the University of Washington and a research and development group associated with the University of Pamplona in Spain. They are interested in picking up some of the pieces that got dropped by investors in the US last winter when in two months the funding changed from 13 million dollars to 0 as the bottom fell out of the investment market in the US ((61% drop) and the bankers scooped in billions of US tax dollars in order to be able to position themselves to have individual bonuses of 13 million dollars at the end of 2009. Now Spain may get the benefit of this innovation. Who knows.

Oops, my politics are showing. Time to stop. See you in two weeks!