We re-visited Emma last summer, six months after she purchased her holiday home near Sourdeval, Manche 50 Normandy. Natasha caught up with her on a glorious sunny day in her garden….
So it looks like you spend a lot of time in the garden don’t you?!
I’ve left the garden as much as possible so I can see what comes up each month but sorting out water and electricity I suppose those were the main things to take care of. But yes, I love the garden.
As part of our service, we put those into your name – so how have you found arranging the practicalities of things?
There have been some hiccups – not with the water, just with the electrics. There is an English speaking line for EDF and they are helpful, however, it depends who you get on the line! With regard to organising the Linky machine, I couldn’t do that straight away – they needed 3 weeks notice which was sorted but then they discovered a problem with the tree. However, they were on it that day! The same guy that came to fit the Linky machine, came back within an hour with the cherry picker – the lot!
So you have found it fairly efficient?
Yes I have.
We spoke about a chimney quote and that has been arranged (now all installed) and in August people are off. By and large, I have found services and trades very good. The hand out you put into your folder is really useful and the fact that you vet the trades is a great help.
I am living in another country and I have to respect the values, the rules and the systems – so my advice would be to go to the Mairie, ask the questions and speak French. So, when I had this thing about the hornets nest, I went to Sourdeval. I spoke French they spoke English – the lady behind the counter was lovely.
She advised me to go to Brouains town hall and gave me the address but it is not open everyday. So, I went back to Sourdeval and I spoke to another a lady, explained in French she said in French that they must have a telephone number. In the end, she gave me an email address and the mayor was here within an hour and a half and met me at my house in August! It’s a live hornet nest.
I don’t have a French telephone number it is essential but you have to do things in the right order. A French telephone number is the last thing you can get as I needed to have French bank account – well this is what Orange told me. In any event, I went with Credit Mutuel in Sourdeval who organised a French bank account for me. But at the moment, I am using my neighbours phone number for text confirmations from providers eg EDF, etc.
Edit – this will depend on the provider and who you are speaking with – we have had clients who have been able to use a UK bank account and there is a link to Britline below whereby you can set up your French account whilst living elsewhere. Natasha suggested other mobile phone providers as well such as free.fr (link below).
Whilst Interviewing Emma, the chap arrived to remove the hornet’s nest who did so free of charge as part of the service the commune provides. Natasha was then given a guided tour of the house and Emma’s plans and works carried out to date.
I am reusing loads of stuff – like the shelving unit which was outside so I brought it in, a lovely old work bench here.
How often do you visit the property from Guernsey?
I have to look after my parents and work so at the moment I come for a few days at a time. For this reason, planning and organising trades can be difficult but not impossible! I have had positive experiences with your trade list.
Is there anything that has overwhelmed you or you have not been able to manage?
No. I think it was (as I said in my first interview) just sending that first email to enquire about buying in France. Once I had done that and actually had the keys in my hand….the Notaire was great and all my experiences with the French have been very positive. One of my best friends is French and she has been super helpful and she would read through all the information about the diagnostics and would sit down and read it thoroughly.
You have to expect that there will be a lot of forms but it can be a very easy process if you just read and translate – you know with technology (google translate, Deep L) you can translate anything!
Do you think the thought of doing something is far more daunting than the actual reality of making a move like this? If you had of known there was a hornet’s nest and the tree needing attention for the linky meter etc – you may have been more overwhelmed? What do you think?
You do adapt to your surroundings and over the last 10 years as a person I have developed my resilience, adaptability, flexibility – they are all those characteristics that you need with what life throws at you. The problem is there but there is always a solution. It might not be the solution that you want but there will be a solution. You just have to work through it.
So, 6 months on, you are very well integrated and if you had no French, I believe you still would have managed just as well.
The people here are really friendly and I am contributing to the local economy – I buy things locally, I visit the supermarkets in Vire, I find places to go – lakes to go swimming in with the kids, biscuit factories, Lac de la dathée for a walk/music nights etc.
What are the favourite places that you have discovered?
Lac de la Dathée is great for a walk and it is a shame you cannot swim in this lake. Then I found a lake about 50 minutes away (Lac de Rabodanges) this is a man made lake. I swim at home so I have to find water! There is a supervised swimming area and there are two lifeguards present at all time, a merry-go-round for the kids, a restaurant, walks, you can hire paddle boards, kayaks etc. There are so many more places that I want to discover.
I have got the Vide Grenier book and there was one in Perriers-en-Beauficel so I went there. I haven’t, as yet, been to the many music nights at Lac de la Dathée. Natasha listed all the music nights that are going on in the summer.
This is great, so you have really started to discover the area!
I have also been on many of the Normandy selling sites (there are many Facebook groups you can join in this region) and I am very much into buying secondhand and recycling – so I went across to the Mayenne to buy a freezer from an English couple. Driving through the countryside – I drove through Mortain which I had many times before and saw the open air swimming pool. Why had I not seen this before?! So there is always things to discover. The other place I have been to is Cara-Meuh- there is a huge farm about 50 minutes away and it is a working farm and you can walk around. You can have a tour of all the old fashioned milking equipment which was really interesting as I kept saying “I’ve got one of those”! I learnt a lot and there is a shop there where you can buy the fresh cheese and milk that they produce and all this caramel! And just as we were leaving, there was a great restaurant where we stopped for lunch.
Brilliant! Overall it seems you are very happy with your house and time here – would you like to live here full-time?
I have to be patient and I would like to be here at least more than two days at a time. This would have been the longest time I have been here which is 18 days and my family love it here too.
We hope you enjoyed this little update and thank you so much to Emma for giving us a little insight into her renovation project and her journey thus far!
