The expert

this is the gite rural where we stayed for the month of September, lost in the wilderness

(another backdated post from September)

Everything seems weird right now because we are still waiting for the response from the bank. Everything is in limbo until we find a place to live. Meanwhile the bank sent an expert out to evaluate the property and based on his evaluation they will give us an answer. We feel the house is a very good deal given the small town and what we've seen around it for similar prices. We know that in just a few months we can completely change its problems and whip it into a more presentable house, paint and cleaning can do wonders. But the expert didn't seem to see much potential in the house and was an old man who grimaced a lot and took pictures of places where the house was at its worst. When he left we felt worried. Our efforts to sell him on the house were fruitless. He wouldn't give us any clue either as to what he thought, he only said that having all of the extra land attached to the house was more apt to subtract to the value than add to it. This left us with a giant "huh?" because the amazing thing about this house is its acreage (about 1 and a half) and its little apple orchard at the base of the land. Based on his evaluation we will have our answer tomorrow. I hope he saw some merit in the house.

This weekend the in-laws came for a visit and we got to show them the house. They felt about the same way as the man who did the evaluation but I know they like new construction and feel that we may be getting in over our heads again. This house costs about the same as theirs and they can't understand why we'd want a house without a proper bathroom when we could have new little one story for the same price. We really aren't fans of new construction. It was a trying weekend for many reasons, mainly because on Thursday night before they were to arrive I slipped on the stairs at the gite and sprained my foot. I spent the whole weekend cleaning and cooking on one leg like a stork with my foot swollen and black. My foot contributed to my moodiness and it's better today but I still can't walk properly.

Tomorrow Little S starts school and I am going to start driving which also means taking Seb to work. I've never driven in the region Parisian and I'm a little paranoid about it. Seb works in the banlieu (regional suburbs) and I'm worried about getting lost and ending up in central Paris at rush hour. If it were just me I wouldn't care as much but I have the kids and I'm really not supposed to be driving the company car either. There are a few bad scenarios running through my head that I don't even want to think about which is why I bought a gps this weekend.

Little S seems excited about school and his only worry seems to be where his school is in relation to where I'll be. I've tried explaining it but it doesn't make a lot of sense to him. I think he'll find the school day in France to be really long. I drop him off at 8:30 and he doesn't finish until 4:30 which is eight long hours. Of course he comes home for lunch for a short stretch in the midday but not he has to go back. The school day, like many things in France, is really drawn out. I wish it were shorter!