House Purchase Offer

Week 6 in France 9/7-9/13/2025

Welcome to the 34th post of our Baby Boomers Move to France blog.

Super busy week this week. We picked up our car from Limoges drove home, then turned around and spent 2 nights in St Germain de Confolens and explored the area for houses and towns that will fit our home needs. Believe it or not, I can hardly believe it, we found a house that we put an offer on.

Things on the agenda this week:

• House hunting is still on the agenda this week in the Confolens area.
• Sight seeing
• Finalize our car purchase
• Update the French Culture and Lifestyle section with new things we have learned

Why a Blog?

If this is your first visit to our blog, we will try to keep the story of our move to France interesting enough to bring you back each week. Long story short, we are a couple of “Baby Boomers” moving from Venice, Florida and starting a new chapter of our life in the French countryside as retired expats.

As we shared our move plans with friends and family, we were asked questions about who, what, why, when and where, so we figured that there is enough interest to share the experience. So, we started this blog. Our plan is to publish a brief update on our life in France every Sunday. Hopefully we answer some of those questions and keep answering more as we work our way to our new life. We will also include thoughts on the lifestyle and culture of our new home.

After a little over a year of planning and fretting we moved to France on 1 August 2025. We are completing our 6th week and starting on number 7 in France.

Finalize Our Car Purchase

WoooHooo!!! We picked up the car Monday. We drove to Feytiat, a suburb of Limoges to the dealership, signed a bunch of papers and received the keys. The whole transaction took less than an hour. The last time that we bought a car in the states it took about 3 hours.

They sell all kinds of cars at this place. There was a Porshe in the showroom with a price tag of over 234,000 euros (275,000 USD). I didn’t see the tag on the Ferrari. Even though they had those fancy cars, they still treated us like royalty and even gave us a gift, chocolate of course!!

We took the rental to the Limoges airport and turned it in. Kind of a fiasco, but we managed. We went into the building there; it seems like a nice airport. Similar to Regional Southwest in Florida or John Wayne in California, I think. We wondered around looking for the Enterprise rental agent. A nice guy from Ireland (could have been Scotland) noticed we were a bit lost and directed us to the rental car office. As we thanked him and headed towards the office he stopped and asked us, “Why did you leave the states?” We told him that there were a number of reasons and without getting into details we knew he was asking about Trump. According to just about everyone that we talk to about our move here, the consensus is that there has been a large influx of Americans since last November.

It is only about a 95 mile drive to Feytiat, but it takes well over 2 hours to drive there. I think you average about 35 or 40 miles per hour on narrow winding and hilly roads. I’m starting to get a little used to the roads though. There were a couple of stretches of very nice toll roads too. On the way back to Duras we avoided the toll roads and got a load of scenery. We stopped in Périgueux for a late lunch. Super busy city. You might remember we stayed in Périgueux for a few days back in April of this year. We were researching the Dordogne department at the time.

The car is great. I got a workout shifting through 6 gears on those roads and it seems like 100 round abouts. The little 3-cylinder turbo charged engine did very well. EB drove it this week and is getting used to driving a manual transmission car again. My research verified it is a very reliable car built for the rough roads of Romania.

There is lots of room in the back seat. I have the drivers seat set at a comfortable driving position for me and you can see that there is 5 or 6 inches (a fist and a couple of inches) of extra room in the back seat.

I figured out how to open the hood and took this picture. (Sorry it is turned 90 degrees). Left side of the picture is the front of the car. I think I can figure out what about 30% of the stuff in here is. The car is built on a Renault chassis, and you might be able to detect some Renault parts in the engine compartment. I think that I mentioned, Renault owns Dacia.

We got our 7 year driving records from the Florida DMV and forwarded them to our adviser at French Connections HCB to follow up on our auto insurance. I’m hoping that she can work with the insurance company and get our insurance premium reduced before next month. I’m pretty confident that this is going to happen and we will let you know what the annual $$ for the insurance comes to at that time. So glad we have someone to manage this for us as all of the French legal documents are in the French language.

French Lifestyle and Culture

Strikes

Strikes are scheduled for the 10th of September. It is called the “Block everything” (bloquins tout) strike. As I understand it the strikes are in protest of the Prime Minister Francois Bayrou’s national budget plan to slash almost 44 billion euros from the national budget and reduce the deficit. This includes removing two national holidays, a freeze on pensions and 5 billion euros of health cuts.

I guess strikes in France are kind of a cultural thing. The strike culture has been cultivated since the 18th century. Strong labor unions and grievances around poor salary and benefits fuel the strikes. It seems the strikes are usually planned around the peak tourist season of the summer. The tourist season (June – August) is just about over now. Duras is already quieter. That said, the best time to visit France is during spring (March to May) and fall (September to November) when the temperatures are comfortable and there are fewer crowds (and kids are in school!).

Money

The currency in Europe is the euro. I remember the first time that I came to Europe on business back in the 80s.
Each country in Europe had its own currency. France had the French Franc; Germany had the Mark and England had the Pound. At the time I was traveling to all three countries on projects with the Airbus consortium. I ended up with some of each currency when I returned home from those travels. While England is part of Europe, it is not part of the European Union since Brexit. France uses the Euro as well as 19 other members of the EU including Germany.

In France you collect a ton of coins. There are 1 cent, 2 cent, 5 cent, 10 cent, 20 cent, 50 cent, 1 Euro and 2 Euro coins. Then of course, paper folding money i.e. banknotes are in 5, 10, 20, 50-, 100-, 200- and 500- Euro denominations. The euro was introduced on 1 January 1999, but the actual coins and banknotes were launched on 1 January 2002.

On the bank notes pictured below you can see reference to the Latin EURO, the Greek spelling and the Cyrillic alphabet spelling as a result of Bulgaria joining the EU. There is a whole lot more to study about the creation and design of the euro, but you get the idea.

Chicken Wings, Potatoes, and Duck

We had a chuckle this week and I gotta tell you about it. We were at the market, our local Carrefour, for a short list of groceries as we will be traveling this week so just need some easy meals. We had had some really good chicken wings a couple of weeks ago from the deli section so we thought we would try them again. They come pre-seasoned in a microwavable package with a clear like stretch wrap over them. Easy to see. Elizabeth picked up a pack and she added a pack of microwavable potatoes too. The label is in French, but she went by the looks. She showed the packages to me, and I said, “Looks good to me”. Into the shopping cart they go.

We got home and started to heat everything up and we found out that the chicken wings were actually potatoes. The seasoning was good. Really, they looked like wings in the package. So, we put what we thought were potatoes back in the fridge for the next day.

The next day EB had a couple of chicken breast cooking and took out the potatoes to go along with them. Wellll, Elizabeth took out her smart phone and fired up the translator and realized that what we had was a meal including potatoes and duck. We decided to save it for lunch the following day.

Moral of the story, bring your translator to the market until we learn more French.

I must say that the potatoes and duck meal was really tasty with a glass of red wine. We now have another really good meal option. Maybe not knowing the language is a good thing.

House Hunt and Offer

Abzac

On Thursday morning got up early and skipped our coffee and croissants in order to get to Abzac in the Charante department in the Nouvelle-Aquitaine region by 10:45. It is about a 3 hour drive from Duras. Abzac is a very small but quaint town. The house is a holiday home for a singer that lives in the UK. She has put some really nice touches in the house, and everything was renovated (roof, electrical, kitchen bathroom) and it included all the furniture too. This house didn’t make the cut primarily because there is no outside space although there is a “garden” about a block away that is part of the house deal. The garden is next to a garage with lots of car repairs in progress. The garage would buy the small plot of land for 2000 euros. Also, a big deal breaker is there is no boulangerie, but you can buy your baguettes at the post office. It is nice that the house is in the village, but there just isn’t enough life there for us. I will say the neighbors were very friendly and super international (UK, Swedish, Americans, Finland).

This was a private sale; the neighbor let us in and showed us around. Our agent did meet us there and was very informative.

We had lunch in a really cool little restaurant in Saint Germain de Confolens and were off to Besse.

Besse

Our Leggett agent, Teodorina (Teddy) stayed with us the rest of the day and we followed her to Besse where we visited the next house on the list. Teddy is from Bulgaria but has lived in the US and Europe for many years and is very knowledgeable about the local housing market.

This house has GREAT potential! It is in fact 2 houses with a small courtyard separating them. Both houses are just 1 bedroom, but all on one level and immaculate. Big negative, no boulangerie, no restaurants, no other amenities within walking distance.

We said that we would keep this one on the short list for now.

Chateau-Garnier

This was a larger house that had good bones but needed a lot of work and was very near the top of our budget. No bueno.

All of the above towns sere spread roughly an hour from each other so after this viewing it was time to call it a day.

L’Isle de Jourdain

This is big house on a big chunk of land with fruit trees. Elizabeth had set this viewing up with the owner, so we were on our own. Luckily, he spoke very good English. This house had some potential, not too far from a very nice town and the Vienne River. A diagnostic inspector was there checking out the electrics in the house. The owner informed us that the wiring would need upgrade as they don’t currently have a “ground” in the upper floor. It had too much land and was already at the top of our budget. New wiring would cost a bunch so scratch this one. Also, the roof was original to the house and at 70 years old it would most likely need replacing soon and a roof is THE most expensive renovation of houses in France.

We met up with Teddy at the Intermarche (big supermarket chain). I put gas in our car, and we followed Teddy to Chabanais.

Chabanais

A short drive to Chabanais. We were a little early for our viewing, so we parked in the lot in the middle of town near the river and had lunch and a beer at a nearby popular sprots bar and cafe.

After lunch we walked to the house. This is a super cool house at the right price. It is walking distance to the village. It was probably built in the 1800s but has been upgraded throughout. It includes solar power that supplies about 70% of the current electric power consumption. The garden is compact and includes a grape arbor with lots of tasty grapes. The garden includes strawberries, tomatoes, eggplant and other edibles as well as roses and other flowering plants. Absolutely gorgeous. We would have to learn about maintaining and nurturing this garden. There is a small shed for garden tools. This is all on a small slope with nice steps and pathways throughout.

Inside, the house has totally been insulated and very well maintained. The master bedroom has an ensuite bathroom. The guest room has a Murphy bed and its own small ensuite bathroom too. The kitchen is fully fitted except we will probably need to buy a refrigerator. The living room is cozy and comfortable. A spot for a woodburning heater in the dining room and living room is all set. We would likely fit one in, but there is no rush.

Then there is an awesome “summer kitchen”. We both said, “Wow” when we walked in. We liked it, but we still had 3 more places to see. So on to Pressignac, Vayres and Lessac.

Pressignac

Holy smokes this is different. This felt like we were stepping back in time to the home of a very eccentric artist of the bohemian persuasion. Very eclectic, open and “rustic”. This was at the top of our budget and wouldn’t fit our rather old-fashioned mentality. Way out in the country on some very narrow dirt roads. Definitely not gonna work for us old folks.

Vayres

Another place at the top of our budget out in the country. By now we are understanding that we want a place within walking distance of the town. I got turned off by the fact that it wasn’t ready for a viewing. Nice parcel of land but after we went inside and no electricity was turned on, we felt like they aren’t serious about selling this place. Not even close.

Lessac

This house is above our budget and a bit big for our needs. Again, not close to town. We were not impressed with this one either. I think that we were comparing it to the house in Chabanais. I’m sure that is not fair but what can I say?

The Offer

You probably guessed it, the house in Chabanais won our hearts. We made an offer on Saturday. We don’t expect to hear anything before Monday afternoon at the earliest. We wait on pins and needles.

Yes, we woke up Sunday morning second guessing ourselves, but after coffee and a croissant we are sure this is our French home. Hopefully they will accept our offer and then there will be a flurry of activity jumping through the administrative hoops to finalize everything.

We are happy that we have a place to stay that will be close by during all of the final paperwork and additional furnishing. Saint Germain de Confolens is less than 20 minutes from Chabanais. Our Airbnb host has said that we can stay as long as needed. We still have about a month and a half in Duras then we will move to Saint Germain de Confolens for the interim.

You may be wondering how many houses we have looked at. Not counting the zillions that we looked at online we have actually visited about 13. Not a ton I know. But when you know you know. I think that this house will sell pretty quickly. They have just recently put it on the market. Someone might have beat us to it already, but I don’t think so. The truth is many houses stay on the market for months and months here. I don’t think this one will. All that said, research says the buying season is pretty much over for this year. I just think this house has a lot going for it, is at the right price in a nice area.

EB has already been thinking of ways to put our stamp on it. She always has ideas of how to make things better. You just gotta love her.

We have been feeling some urgency about finding a place to land so if this house works out there will be a sense of relief. We were told that the owners usually leave to travel in December and would like to conclude the sale before they leave. All good for us.

Next Week (la Semaine Prochaine)

We have a couple of things that need follow up:

• Finalize our house purchase offer.
• Start the paperwork for the house. I’m thinking most of it can be completed over the internet.
• Hire a Notaire
• EB sign up with “SmartMoney” a currency exchange company

Signing off for the week

As always, we sign off wishing you all a good week and remind you to take care of yourselves and your family.

Keep in touch and leave questions, suggestions and comments below. We really enjoy hearing from you. Your kind and encouraging words remind us that we can do this.

We had some cooler weather this week with a little drizzle, rain and overcast sky. Next week is supposed to be in the upper 70s for the highs and low 50s for lows and a little more sunshine midweek.

A bientot (see you soon)

Mark and Elizabeth Beiley

Babyboomersmovetofrance.com