Vaucluse Dreamer

In 8 days time we should be at the Notaire’s office in Apt, on the verge of signing the final paperwork ‘Acte Authentique’ for our new house in the Vaucluse.

As you can probably imagine things are a bit frantic at home as we are trying to get everything ready to take with us in the car at the same time as making sure we have as much as possible organised for the Summer’s bike ride and the fact that we will not both be together in England again until mid-late September!

Friday saw another big step in the transfer of the final funds to the Notaire’s holding account. I know billions of pounds are transferred between accounts on a daily basis and it all seems to go without a hitch, but for some reason when it’s your life savings heading towards paying for a dream then it certainly isn’t without worry. After checking the Notaire’s account number several times we eventually pressed the button and the money disappeared from our account.

I can’t help but have visions of Mike Teavee in Charlie & the Chocolate Factory being broken into millions of pieces and transported in the air above his parents’ heads only to appear (much smaller) in a TV on the other side of the room. I can only hope that our funds appear in the Notaire’s account on Monday in the same state that they left us and we won’t really be able to fully relax until we hear that they have.

So all being well we will be loading the car with ‘just in case’ supplies to see me through the first few days until I can start to buy the things that we will need to really turn the house into a home. Effectively we’ll be starting from scratch having to buy everything we need as (furniture-wise) we’re only taking a blow-up bed, an old chair and a chest of drawers with us, but that is part of the fun and I already have planned in visits to various Brocante markets & Vide Greniers – a great source of information on where / when these are taking place is  https://vide-greniers.org/

Having been together for approaching 30 years our home is filled with pieces that we have gathered over the years, each piece having a story attached to it that means it is an integral part of our life together. The new house is a new chapter and we’re not tied by those previous memories in France, so it gives us the chance to furnish a house in a way that we perhaps can’t at home. If I fancy using an old door or shutters as a headboard then I can, likewise I know the boys are keen to find an old classic racing bike to display on a wall (certainly not something that would fit in our décor at home!), but would likely look great in our new place. We can enjoy the process of finding pieces that suit us now and start turning the empty, but beautiful shell that will be our little place in Provence into a home that reflects who we are now.

So there we are – the pile of things that we need to fit into the car grows daily – from my sewing machine and box of ‘silversmithing’ tools to pillows (we need good pillows!) and a camping stove (just in case we cant get gas on the first day).

The biggest problem I have at the moment is convincing my hubby to get together a tool-kit to take with him – his tool store is extensive and spread across many different areas around the house and he has plenty to be able to take all that may be needed to do work in the new house. In fact he has an amazing ability to spread his tools even further & then finds himself unable to find the one thing he was looking for, which needless to say is usually hiding in plain sight just in front of him. At the moment sorting out his tools is too daunting a task, but I’m sure it will be done by 3am next Sunday morning when we open the gate and start our new adventure.