We were owners of a house in Burgundy,  for almost 20 years, our marriage in this house had taken place in the summer rain, rainy marriage: happy marriage. This house meant a lot to the family and we had exceptional moments there, but we sometimes put the fireplace on the road in August. Wishing to celebrate my 50th birthday at the end of June which I will not tell you the year, I invite all my friends to a happy birthday weekend while outside of course, and there 14 degrees at the end of the evening, rain the next day ..... In short, the raindrop that broke the camel's back, having a second home that you pamper every weekend, and having to endure the repetitive vagaries of the weather ... frustration.

 

In the wake of this disappointment, we decide to leave for 8 days in the south TO DECOMPRESS and POSSIBLY LOCATE THE SUNNY PLACE THAT  COULD WELCOME US IN A FEW YEARS TO ANTICIPATE A WELL-DESERVED RETIREMENT, remember this sentence, it is from there that CA will become funny ... SO AFTER  A FACTIDIOUS SELECTION, (we all think we know the French Riviera, but in fact without being native, we do not master anything at all), here we are:  

    -first stop the Lubéron and the magnificent village of GORDES, I'll pass you the details, but the conclusion:

    very good for  holidays but live there all year round ... wind, harsh winters, isolation .... No

    -second stop: MARSEILLE: a little impressed by the reputation of the city we discover the surroundings of the Old Port, Notre Dame

    guard, the Mucem, the restaurants of the Corniche ... superb ... but we want greenery.

   -third stop CANNES, hotel near the Croisette, at the end of August, the weather is superb, the bulk of tourists have returned to the          capital:  

beach, relaxation, jogging, walks, we forgot our research and we try to make up for the summer that the north has stolen from usthis       

    One morning in order to embellish this unique moment of the first coffee, I took a catalog in front of an agency, friends   

    told me that the interior was to be preferred, VALBONNE, MOUGINS, ROQUEFORT LES PINS, BIOT, CHATEAUNEUF DE GRASSE, OPIO .......

    An ad catches my attention, why I no longer know, too expensive for me, but I call my colleague from Valbonne, and   

    as La Fontaine would say, TOLD HIM A LITTLE NEAR THIS LANGUAGE,  

 

Hello Sir, I am one of your colleague from Paris, I am on vacation in the area, I saw the XX advertisement, I would have liked to visit this Villa but I am warning you, I am not an immediate buyer , I am more in the process of locating a sector that we like, and especially to know what I can claim with my budget which itself has not yet been defined.

 

The fellow-member, charming, replied that he was quite available, doing the same job, I told him that it would be a waste of time, but he confirmed to me that he did not mind and we made an appointment for the next day late morning.

 

The day of the visit when the morning on the beach is so cool, I say to my wife: I can cancel if you want and we enjoy the sea! Decision: let's go, setting the GPS, is it where Valbonne ?, never set foot !! We discover the beauty of the hinterland and we arrive in a magnificent and quite surprising little village. Presentation at the agency, the southern accent of my colleague still resonates in my head, we get in his car and off we go from roundabout to roundabout through SOPHIA ANTIPOLIS. I worried about the duration of the journey, he explains to me that the surface of the communes is always quite substantial. Arrived in the field, we park in front of a field or we guess a construction in a surrounding jungle. An ageless lady greets us from afar, the agent informs me that the nonagenarian owner only comes for the holidays, the house is in its 1980s juice, but the architect of the time had a fairly modern vision of construction, on one level (build for ground flor living, as we say in English) with 2 bedrooms upstairs. When we reach the upstairs balcony, we remain stuck in front of the panoramic view: I don't know that there were imposing massifs in the region !!!, the Prealps and the Gorges du Loup confided to us the colleague , in fact you can see from Mont Agel to the suburbs of Grasse ... The swimming pool is dotted with rust spots, trees obscure part of the view. My brain is already starting to renovate the villa.

 

We leave disappointed, a bullet between our two eyes, what an idea to come and visit a house when we are not in the timing of the purchase and whose budget is greater than its possibilities. How to buy later a villa that will not have this VIEW?

 

The next day, we are invited to have dinner with friends in BIOT, setting the GPS, it is or BIOT, turns, roundabouts, we arrive: we tell about our escapade the day before, in fact they live 800 m from the estate or the 'we made the visit. They would have told me it is 15 terminals we would not have raised eyebrows !!!!!

 

On the highway back the next evening, my wife asks me, do you think we have a chance to have this house and I text back: we are as lucky to have it as to land on the moon if I put a boost !!!!!

 

If it's too long you skip a few paragraphs !!!!

 

We are putting our Burgundian house up for sale, a very beautiful restored farmhouse with swimming pool and everything you need, except that it is located in a very small village whose only notable fact is that a certain Abbé Deschamps, founder of AJ AUXERRE, was born there.

And for the first time, the real estate professional that I am remembers the three rules of real estate investing, THE LOCATION, THE LOCATION and THE LOCATION ... It is better to have a dilapidated maid's room at the in the middle of the 16th arrondissement than to have a superb property lost in the  limit of the Puisaye. In fact I don't really know what price we could expect.

 

The real estate agent calls me back the following month telling me that the house is still for sale, his professional eye has clearly seen our interest, I explain to him that I am trying to anticipate our project but that the conditions and the timing do not can never be at the rendezvous for the famous villa.

 

Time passes and the unfavorable fall for real estate sets in.

 

I watch advertisements without ever finding the sight that amazed us, no visits to our Burgundy house

 

A month later, the agent calls me back and tells me that a compromise has just been broken, that the owners are ready to accept an offer, but again I decline even if the price has fallen by 10%.

 

A friend from the village calls me one morning and tells me; it seems that you are selling your house, I am interested, we are organizing a visit for the next weekend, but I am sure he will buy it and I call VALBONNE, and I make an offer 10% below his last price.

 

He calls me back the next day and says: CONGRATULATIONS and I tell myself Mr .... what have I done !!!! I take plane tickets with a plumber friend, a friend who knows how to do everything and we come to see again this house which has bewitched us. We are in December, the swimming pool is a duck pond of dark green colors, it is raining, the outdoor furniture is piled up in the living room, the garden is fallow .... wow !!! In the end, a lot of work, (Insulation, double glazing, terrace, air conditioning, kitchen, electricity ...)

But for 7 years, not a single second of regret.