French Renovation – Finding Our Space and Place

Our Space, Our Place

It seems like a century ago with this post as we have since sold the studio but fun to read what we did!

We finally arrived having driven over a couple of days in a massive rental car with lots of household stuff. We had carefully planned each room, using Feng Shui rules where we can, including managing some challenges. Our apartment was a tiny one-bedroom place on the first floor of an old French apartment building. We had furnished the kitchen/lounge area, the bathroom and the bedroom which you will see in later posts.

Location, Location, Location

I am a strong believer in the universe connecting you with your goals, although not always in the timing we wish! We decided to find the place first and then the apartment. We connected with various estate agents sending them our wishlist. We explored the Languedoc area near Narbonne, looking at places in small villages and towns, such as Pezenas and even Montpelier, but nothing sang to us and we returned without finding the place. We even considered Spain and recalled a lovely holiday near Sitges. We visited and saw a range of apartments and although it is a lovely area, we knew in our hearts it wasn’t our place.

Our key wishlist:

Warm weather and with easy access to the beach and a major airport
No renovation needed – been there, done that
A sense of light and space, even if small
Cafes and shops nearby
A sense of community
A dream of traditional buildings mixed with modern functionality
Ideally France as we both had enough French to get by
A town which offered more than a summer season
Easy to clean and lock up

Back to the Drawing Board

We went back to our original plan and considered the key French airports along the Cote d’Azur that we could easily fly to and booked a holiday. Having emailed various estate agencies, we particularly connected with two agents in a small town with both understanding what we were seeking. While we loved the coastal cities and all they have to offer, we were instantly drawn to this small town and it checked off all of the wishlist in one way or another. We had narrowed our viewing down to five apartments with two on the top of the list and a ‘wild card’.

Selection

We saw the wild card first and fell in love. It ticked all of the boxes, even if on the small side. We went ahead and visited the other four thinking that our two favourites would easily match our needs but found that work needed to be done. One person’s idea of renovation doesn’t always match another! We revisited that night to make sure and that was it.