House update Friday 15 Mai-evening

The two houses we looked at today both had major issues.  The larger more expensive house needs a brand new kitchen.  The refrigerator was being held together by duct tape.  The second house, located on the Avenue des Etats-Unis(United States), was a good size but the owners have very bad taste in decorating.  The main living area has yellow striped wallpaper with yellow/gold tiles on the floor.  One of the upstairs bedroom has orange carpet.  There was also quite a bit of wear and tear on the walls and carpets.  The living area was very nice with large windows looking over the garden and a large fireplace in the living room.  There was also a terrace that connected the living room to the dining room and kitchen.

After looking at these two houses we returned to our first choice from our previous visit and we met the owner.  A very nice french man who speaks english.  After walking through the house again we put in our dossier and we have to wait until Monday to hear if our dossier is accepted.

House search update-Friday 15 May

We are looking at  2 more houses this afternoon at 1400.  Both look nice but they both have issues.  The nicest one(from its listing) is very expensive, but huge(260 m squared).  based on what we have read and heard it is our first choice but only if the owners are negotiable on the price.  We are holding out hope that because we are anglo ex-pats that they will be willing to take a lower price with the knowledge that we will take very good care of the house and be good tenants.  We have been given an ultimatum by the owners of the first house we looked at the other day(the only one which we have an interest in renting).  They did want an answer by Thursday evening but we have asked to meet the owners this afternoon(after we look at the other houses) where we expect them to request that we either accept or refuse their lease offer before we leave.  The biggest worry about this house s that there is a small, shallow pond in the backyard and Julia is especially worried about Samuel falling into the water.

It is official(for I think the 4th time).  We ned to move out of Paris and into the burbs. Went to the market this morning with Samuel in the baby bjorn.  The aisles at the market are relatively narrow. When I neared a group of women that were blocking the aisle(one with her elbow on her hip) I said, loudly and sarcastically, Pardon, and they did not move, I said it again and still no movement.  I wrapped my arms around Samuel and lowered my shoulder and pushed my way past them.

I am not happy with my reaction.  I never like it when I lower myself to the standards(?) of others.  I hate what I have allowed this city to do to me.  It has allowed parts of my character that I thought were buried to reach the surface and I am not proud of that fact.

Little things that we noticed when we in the burbs the other day.  The tables at the restaurants are not as close together.  When we weer leaving one house a women was walking down the side street with a baby in a pushchair. When she got close to our car, we ceased trying to get Samuel into his car seat and closed the door so that she would have enough room to pass. She passed and said "Merci"  something that I have not experienced on the street of Neuilly.  Did I mention that we could actually hear birds singing.

TTFN

House search

We looked ata house in Neuilly(where we currently live).  It is located in a private drive.  The highluight was a sun lit dining room and a terrace with green plants.  Unfo0rtunately the 4kitchen was in the basem5ent 5an5d the hou5se had v5ery li5ttle sto5rage space.

Disclaimer-I do know how todvz ffe spell. Samuel is  helping me type this entry.

We spent half of Wednea\sday looking at houses in Le Vesinet.  We found the perfect house. unfortunately the owners, who are American, are only planning on renting for  1 year and we cannot commit to such a short lease.  Another house we looked at was very nice.  large rooms, a sunlit room in the basement that could be used as a massage room.  Very nice garden that we would share with the owners.  Negatives are that there is a pond in the back yard which worries us with Samuel and that the terrace, where the grill would be located, is a long ways from the kitchen which would make it hard for me to grill dinner, cook something in the kitchen and watch Samuel all at the same time.  This house is not perfect but fulfills most of our needs.  We will return to Le Vesinet on Friday afternoon to resume our search.

Samuel is now chewing on the wireless mouse so the typing should improve.  During our house search yesterday we both noted how quiet and peaceful the suburbs were.  We were able to hear the birds singing.  A sound that I had forgotten.  I was disturbed by the noise that I encountered when arriving back to our apartment and leaving the metro station.  Le Vesinet is only a 25 minute RER and Metro ride from where we currently live.  So visits to Paris are very reasonable from the burbs.

Please return soon for more updates.

Picture blog

http://thechartersabroad.shutterfly.com/

The above is a new blog we have created where we can post all of our pictures.  We will post individual small pictures to the blogspot blog but we will, eventually, post all of our pictures, both old and new, to the shutterfly blog.