les Davey de France

They offered. We deliberated. We accepted. The compromis de vente (agreement to sell) will be signed on Friday by the buyers and on Saturday by us (because I am tied up on Friday from 15:30 till close of play) I need to make an appointment with the notaire as soon as possible. We are now looking actively for something to rent. We were wondering whether to move further into Bordeaux and try to find a flat in the centre of town, or whether to stay in Pessac where the living' is easy and stuff. This past week has greatly helped in our deliberations. Catrin takes the tram from our home to the campus, and from here to her department at Montaigne the tram is nice and clear, you can get a seat and it's all very civilised. From Montaigne into the centre of town it's AMAZINGLY crowded! I mean you're stuffed in like neaps in a haggis when the oatmeal swells. It's tight. Very tight. So we're going to look in Pessac. We're not guaranteed to find in Pessac, bu...

Thanks for your prayers. We are deliberating.

Just so you can see how things are going - somewhere in the region of 25 people there.

It was quiet. Very quiet.

"They keep talking about work that needs doing..." "Well it does, dear. When we bought it we knew it needed rewiring. Now it needs other things, too. We've never done it, we've never been able to do it and we never will, but it still needs doing."

Bordeaux is hosting an international fireworks symposium this week. This meant that on Monday evening there was the most colossal fireworks show you ever saw down at Quinconces. We had some friends visiting from Wales and Catrin was at the University till almost 8, so we high tailed it into town on the tram aiming to synchronise our passage through Montaigne-Montesquieu. Hah! We bargained without the DROVES of students who were all catching the tram at about 8. Because we got on at Alouette we were comfortably seated deep in the heart of the carriage, but nearer the doors the students were snugger than sardines when there's a glut of fish and a shortage of tin. They have increased the frequency of trams between the campus and the city centre, but I am reliably assured that the evening trams are always stuffed like mama's cannelloni. So our dreams of synchronisation vanished like bubbles in a greasy bowl of washing-up. Catrin caught a later tram. And ended up by th...

The blog has been quiet lately, mainly because of comings and goings. So look out for a sudden flood of updates! So what about this house move? We're still waiting for that one special person with that one special chequebook. Last weekend there was a flurry of activity with two estate agents from the same company vying to get their clients' second visit in first so that if the client made an offer it would block the other. This was very entertaining but has not yet proved fruitful in terms of an offer on the house. Meanwhile Catrin has started at the university and we've learnt a bit about public transport to and from the campus. This has encouraged us to think in terms of attempting to rent on the Pessac side of the campus rather than on the Bordeaux side. I'll pop something on the blog about the fireworks soon and you'll see why!