In the fall, we were back in the US to see the boys graduate their respective basic trainings – Logan at Fort Jackson, SC for the Army, and Brady at Great Lakes, IL for the Navy. Along the way, we stopped in Pittsburgh to see my family. Ralph and I had independently noticed a house posted on Facebook Marketplace, one so beautiful that we both felt it was worth inquiring about. This was notable because Ralph had been sending me links to homes for months – and frankly, I didn’t think any of them were special. In fact, it had been a source of tension between us in these initial stages of digging around online…

According to Ralph, I’m picky. I call it discerning. Why settle? After all, we’re looking for our forever home!

Technically, there were lots of things we’d agreed upon – like this wish list:

• 150m2+ of surface area (1,615 sq ft)
• 750m2+ of land (8,000 sq ft)
• 3+ bedrooms
• 2+ bathrooms
• Character – interesting tiles, working fireplaces, cool beams, etc
• Mood – great lighting and high ceilings
• Location – walkable to shops, restaurants, and public transportation

And perhaps a pool, some outbuildings, and if we were really lucky, a view! We had almost all of these things in our German unicorn house, and we wanted to love our French home just as much…

Anyway, the listing was for a stone townhouse with a glorious fireplace, a practical kitchen, and a medieval charm that you just can’t replicate today. There was no yard, but it was in a lovely bastide town called Lauzerte and walkable to shops and restaurants. Maybe there would be a public park for Phoebe? So I reached out to the seller and that’s how our conversation began…and we agreed to see the house upon our return. 

Within days, I booked my ticket to Toulouse and invited a friend to come with me. Ralph wanted to go, but he’d already been out of the office for three weeks, and didn’t think he could take leave again so soon. 

That was just fine though, because Jen was the perfect companion for my first house-hunting trip in France! She’s an interior designer with an eye for beauty and a love for all things French. I warned her that this would be a “seat of the pants” type of trip, as I wouldn’t have much time to research and plan. 

I started looking for other homes for sale in the region and found 3 more:

• A house with a yard and a pool near Nîmes
• A “maison de maitre” style of house in Bagnols-sur-Cezè near Avignon
• A contemporary house on the edge of a vineyard in Ansouis  

Initially, I hadn’t wanted to look at homes in the South of France because the summers are getting progressively hotter. But that’s how it panned out and I figured this trip could make for a good “warm-up” round. 

So…what would it be like to actually start this process of seeing homes in person? What would be different from house hunting in the US? What adventures would we have along the way?

More to come…