March 14

Our first trip skiing in the Pyrenees! Great friends, conversation, hotel, sunshine. Yes, the snow was a little on the light side even at 5000 feet elevation. We went cross-country skiing the first day when the conditions were a little icy and tough on our friends who are new skiers. The second day we opted for snow shoes and were able to go at a faster rate.

 

 

No sooner had we returned from this dusting of snow in the Pyrenees than it snowed eight inches in Montpellier. Our newsman said he had never seen snow in March. Of course, it was lovely.

After looking at over 1,000 ads for apartments for sale in our zip code (there are over 4200 total available at the present time not counting those for sale by owner), writing to 20 friends, posting signs at the patisserie, and stuffing 50 mail boxes, we actually visited six and this afternoon will sign an agreement to buy the sixth.

This purchase is a gift of luck. We sold our house on Bainbridge Island before the crash, bought a sweet little condo at less than half the price of our first house, and now have the opportunity to use the rest of "our house money" to buy a place in Montpellier. So we essentially have traded one wonderful home for two lovely apartments: Winn East and Winn West. Our plan is to spend nine months here and the three summer months on Bainbridge Island each year.

Why this particular apartment? First, we wanted a quiet place close to the center of town. Which is an oxymoron. At most 20% of the apartments in this zip code are protected from the noise of motorcycles. So that leaves about 800 apartments—often studios since this is a college town. Eliminate another 10%. The sun beats hard in the summer, so the southern orientation of an apartment is critical. Eliminate therefore 50% of the remaining units. Montpellier has 300 sunny days a year so living and being outdoors is a major reason for being here. Everyone wants a terrace big enough for eating and for some reason, that feature is almost entirely absent in the older buildings. Eliminate 80% of the remaining housing stock. We also want lots of light and an elevator (that eliminates another 50% because even though Montpellier is young compared with Nimes, Adge, Arles, etc it is still about 1000 years old). Now we have only 15 to visit. Of those 15 most will be too expensive. So we visited probably all of the apartments that were close to meeting our criteria.

The 65-year-old woman who lived there had had stomach cramps, was hospitalized and one month later died of stomach cancer. The agent had convinced the bereaved children to reduce the asking price by nearly 10% in spite of its newly remodeled kitchen. We saw the photos and decided that it was very likely that this unit, with its large balcony overlooking a forested park, 5 steps from the river and the tram, would sell in one day.

 

Another couple was waiting to see it as we left. Two more after that. We went to the real estate office immediately and offered full price. We signed the papers and now and have 7 days to back out penalty free.

People go into shock at times like this. We are no exception. When we showed our apartment to three of our French friends, our behavior showed where our “safe” places are. Bob wandered around with his checklist.  I asked the son, a vice president of a bank, to help me count electrical plugs, forgetting that the real estate agent had extended himself to set up a phone call with the condo association president. One friend wandered around with a camera taking photos of the closets—on my instruction. Fortunately, our two other friends just visited quietly with the owners.

So, tomorrow about 2 PM we will start a two or three month process be the proud owners of a 100 square meter apartment on the edge of a park des Berges du Lez (The banks of the Lez). They left us a newly remodeled kitchen, all the appliances, a bed, the lighting fixtures, and all of the kitchen plates, pots, pans and utensils. So we will start next fall with a table, something to eat with, something to cook with, a bed and chairs.

In a week or two spring comes to Montpellier and the streets will be thick with buyers. We feel we have once again been very lucky, almost as lucky as we were when we found our water front property on Bainbridge and Paul VonRosenstiel agreed to both design and build our home on that property.

It is scary, but it feels right. We still have seven days to change our mind without the need for excuses or penalties! More later...