During the autumn of 2021, in anticipation of the colder months ahead, we moved rentals from the beautiful old Pigeonnier in the countryside to ‘La Grange’, a recently converted apartment within easy walking distance of Eymet centre-ville . Two car journeys and we were done – we were still living a very simple life. Once again, the owners who lived next door were really helpful and very flexible as we moved towards completion dates on both the sale in the UK and the purchase in France. Ironically it was the sale of our 4-year-old town house on a new development in Framlingham that caused us the most stress, but it completed early in November giving us time to get the funds cleared and transferred across to our notaire in France ready to complete our purchase here about 4 weeks later.
We benefited from a better exchange rate than we were planning for which was a real bonus. I looked at several currency-exchange companies and, after a little negotiation, agreed a good deal with Smart Currency Exchange who were very helpful and easy to deal with. Nat West bank allowed me to remotely authorise (by fax of all things) the whole transfer in one transaction, and I kept a ‘paper-trail’ from the sale of the house to the arrival of the funds in my HSBC France bank account so that I could demonstrate to our notaire that everything was above board as a move of our principal residence.
I used a very helpful insurance broker in town here to sort out our house insurance ahead of the completion date, and after some incredibly painful (because my French was so limited and I had no confidence) phone calls, I managed to line up internet, electricity, gas, water/drainage, household waste disposal and a truck load of firewood ready for when we moved in. As luck would have it, I was also able to arrange to have all our stuff shipped from the UK to arrive on completion day – the last delivery slot they had before Christmas / New Year.
On completion day, just under 6 months after first arriving in France, we met the estate agent and the representative for the vendor at the notaire’s office where we spent an hour or so walking through the contract step by step before signing the final Acte de Vente, and the house was ours. As we left the meeting, I notice I had a missed call from the removal company who, it turns out, were now only 15 minutes away from arriving at the house having driven down through France. Sure enough, within half an hour of getting the keys, our furniture and packing cases were being unloaded into the new house!
That was 6 months ago, and we are now into our third month running the B&B in the house. Eymet and the surrounding towns and villages are now back in full swing for the summer season with the return of the night markets and marché gourmands. Last weekend the annual Occitane Félibrée fête was held in Eymet which brought thousands of visitors into the village so there has been a real buzz about the town amplified by the 30+ degrees that we have at moment.