It was barely a month since my first trip with Jen, and now Ralph would get to experience the ups and downs of house-hunting in France. 

Anyone who knows Ralph knows that he doesn’t get excited easily. He’s impatient and finds tasks like this frustrating. If he had his way, he’d buy the first thing with a roof and four walls and check it off the list!

To maximize Ralph’s vacation time, we set out the day after Thanksgiving, leaving our trusted dog sitter with all the leftovers. I was bummed that I wouldn’t get to make my fave leftover turkey egg rolls or white bean turkey chili, but Rebecka’s from Brazil, and was really excited to try these new American foods. A cultural experience! 

The car was packed and it was time to go. Cosne-sur-Loire was a 7-hour drive away in the Centre-Val de Loire, meaning we could realistically expect it to take 9 or 10 hours with stops. A long day, but one bright spot is that rest stops in Germany and France have legitimately good food. Forget Slim Jims and chips, you can actually sit down for meal, or grab something delightful for a quick bite. In fact, it’s so remarkable that a friend of mine once took a pic of the fresh options she found at a gas station to send to her dietician!

The drive was uneventful, and about an hour from our destination, we started weaving through these old villages. As the sun set, the dark shadows made them look hauntingly beautiful.  

We arrived at our lovely 1930s-themed bed and breakfast at 6:30 pm. I was super excited about staying two nights, because the reviews were fabulous and we’d be hopping around from place to place for the rest of the trip. But as I approached the door, I noticed the entire building was dark. I rang the bell and no one answered. Panic set in…

I called the innkeeper and he was surprised to hear from me. Oh no…

Could this be another instance of the “Auslander tax?” That’s what Ralph and I call it when something gets lost in translation…it’s German for “foreigner tax” and even though we’ve lived abroad for 3 years now, it keeps coming for us!

So here’s the scoop. Earlier in the week, I’d called to check on the reservation because I believed I’d booked it twice. 

Why, you ask? Because the week before I discovered that I’d booked two rental cars for a work trip in Maryland. Could I have done this again? It felt like I was losing my mind! 

For a bit of context, fall is a very busy season for me work-wise and I’d been weaving these house-hunting trips in between loads of international travel. If you saw my calendar it would make your head spin! But I was determined to take every opportunity to find our forever spot. I knew that having this crucial piece of the puzzle figured out would make our transition so much easier, and the clock was ticking. 

When I originally called the innkeeper, I explained that I thought I might have two bookings. One with Booking.com and one with Priceline. He checked and said that I could cancel the Booking.com reservation. In true small-town fashion, he knew the realtor and she’d mentioned to him that we were coming to see the house. He was also friends with the owner. I felt relieved and mentioned that I glad we could sort it out and I was truly looking forward to seeing the house and staying at his bed and breakfast.

It felt like not everything was getting across but enough, ya know? 

And so that’s how we ended up not having a reservation when we rolled into town, because unbeknownst to me, Booking and Priceline are the same company. Still, they both sent me separate emails about the reservation, and it was all very confusing. 

I mean, did you know they were the same company?! 

Anyhow, the innkeeper told us he’d be back in an hour and gave us the code to get into the bed and breakfast. He could host us that Friday night but was fully booked for Saturday. So luckily, we had a place to lay our weary heads after a long day of driving. 

It wasn’t long before our gallant host arrived. He made us a reservation at another inn for Saturday night and dinner reservations at the best restaurant in town, and my anxiety was diminishing. 

We placed our bags in our room and freshened up. It was almost time to head out for our reservation. Most restaurants in France won’t open until 7 pm, and this one didn’t open until 7:30. To kill time, I convinced Ralph to leave a little early to walk past the house. This is harder than you might imagine. While I was giddy with excitement, Ralph was more like “We’ll see it tomorrow, what’s the rush?”

But I’d been deep into the research, “walking” down the streets with Google StreetView and imagining what it would be like to live there. I needed to see it with my own eyes. 

So I guided us there from memory, navigating the dark passageways and pointing out various sites. Like the location of the weekly market, the river, and the direction of the train station. It’s a wild experience to know a town before you’ve ever set foot in it!

The house was on a narrow street, right up on on the narrow sidewalk with a towering gate. This is one of those things you see in many old French towns: the houses are built to the edge of the property line. Why? I don’t know for sure; honestly, it’s not my favorite. But I guess it leaves more room for a backyard respite.

It was hard to tell from the map if the house was divided, but we could discern from the window coverings that it was a single-family home. WOW. 

With that mission out of the way, it was time for dinner at Bistrot d’Anatole, a family-owned restaurant. I am consistently blown away by how affordable it is to have a multi-course meal in France. To be fair, we’ve lived in some ridiculously expensive places over the years, but at this bistrot, you could get a 4-course meal with an appetizer, starter, main, and dessert for €40. And when Ralph tried to add a tip, they wouldn’t let him because the service was included. 

Bellies full, we went back to the bed & breakfast for a good night’s sleep before what promised to be an exciting day!