What a difference a day can make!

Yesterday I was chatting with some girlfriends and the topic of toiletries arose. As in “lawd have mercy how did we end up with all these things?!” That must have stuck in my craw because I woke up at 0400 thinking about all our toiletries, bedding, and other random stuff and how it wasn’t going to fit in the bastide house we liked. Would it be a cluttered mess? And if we bought all the furniture, would it feel like it wasn’t “us”?! Panic ensued, because neither one of us enjoys decluttering. 😱

I fell back asleep and then woke up again with an anxious energy. We had a day of house-hunting planned and I’d only seen one listing from the house I originally contacted the realtor about. Was it going to be a total waste? Would this realtor take my list of wants and actually find us the unicorn we were looking for? 

We got to the first house and the rez de chaussée was perfect – spacious and elegant. Plus, the yard had a pool with a neat little pool house that would be fun for entertaining. But the roof needed work and the second story required new flooring and windows. Some of these roofs run €100k and with new windows and carpeting it would be safe to estimate an additional €200k. Not cheap at all! And, it wasn’t walkable to anything, either.

As much as I loved the vibe of the first floor and the yard, I was grateful it was so easy to say no.

Still, it was profoundly disappointing. This was one of my favorite houses on our list, and it was our last day of house hunting. Based on the conversation Ralph and I had over dinner the last night, I had a sense of trepidation about the bastide house. Maybe I was subconsciously wishing that a different house would rescue us from having to sell everything we owned. This one, however, would not be it…

Feeling deflated, we drove about 10 minutes to the second house. As we got out of the car, I found myself distracted by multiple flocks of geese flying overhead. No one had ever seen anything like it before. “Incroyable!” said the caretaker who opened the gate to the house. Then once we stepped through the gate, Ralph and I caught sight of the view. The house overlooked the Dordogne river and it was yet another incredible sight.

Just as my heart began to pound with excitement, the realtor pulled me aside and showed me her slip of paper with all the listing info. She whispered, “This one is a bit out of your budget, but it ticks all the boxes so I hope you don’t mind me showing it to you. It’s not listed anywhere…”

I laughed and told Ralph not to like it too much. Famous last words…😜

To make the long story short, we LOVED it.

It is the unicorn we’ve been looking for and more! 

It’s walkable to shops and restaurants. It’s on the river with amazing views. It’s from the 1700s yet every single bit of work has been done to the highest standard. The layout is fabulous with a bedroom on the main floor and space for guests. It’s 40 minutes by train or car to Bordeaux, and less than 20 minutes to Saint-Émilion. And it’s wired with fiber optic so I can work from home with ease! 

Yes, it’s more than we intended to spend. However, we’ve seen enough houses to know that places like this don’t come around often! It would be an amazing place to host family and friends, ensuring we’d never be lonely in a new country.

Looking back, when we lost out on the first house we put an offer on, people said “things happen for a reason.” It didn’t feel like we’d find anything better. But now we have! Getting this house would make up for all of that drama.

So cross your fingers and say some prayers for us because we’ll be putting in an offer!🤞🏻