Linda's Journal
April 2002

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April 3rd, 2002

It is so beautiful in Paris right now with tulips coming up and trees flowering. The temperatures have been in the low 70's and the skies blue. I see on CNN that we can expect rain, but this week has sure been great.

One of the flowering trees

Holly, the sister of my daughter in law, came to visit on her Spring break and we walked all over Paris. I don't think I've ever seen so many people here. The streets were all packed with people. We did all of the usual tourists sites. Had a good time.

Holly at a cafe in the Marais

This Saturday Maurice and I are off again to see what we can find in Provence. Stay tuned!

April 5, 2002

Yesterday, I went with my friend, Chris, to explore a new area she had read about in the 19th arrondissement(district) here in Paris. It was a another perfect spring day with the temperatures in the 70's-a great day to walk around a park.

The park is called Buttes-Chaumont and was made back in Napoleon III day in an effort to beautify the area. He had parks done all over Paris and I read that after 17 years more than 600,000 trees had been planted. This park had some parts of it dynamited, some parts formed with land fill, and some artificial parts added to existing hills. The park has a man made lake, two bridges going to a 50 meter island in the middle topped with a little Greek temple, or folly, a grotto, waterfall, and all sorts of plants. It is a beautiful park. I plan to go back there with Maurice for a picnic someday.

Here is a view of the island and temple

Afterwards we walked around the area and found a great Russian church made mostly of wood.

I love the little blue bulb

Chris had read of the oldest Jewish cemetery in the area and we had a horrible time finding it. It was supposed to be behind some door, and after opening many doors and questioning many people, we found out it was on another street. We couldn't get access to it as the door was locked but a very nice lady who lived in the building actually took us up to her apartment to let us see the cemetery from her balcony. How nice was that?

We also saw the last remaining drawbridge in Paris spanning a canal, one of three in the area built for drinking water and more shipping lanes by Napoleon. It is very lively along the canal with cafes and a cinema. It was a great day.

April 7, 2002

It was Sunday and realtors don't show houses on Sunday in France so we did a little exploring. It's great driving along little country roads past vineyard where the few new leaves are just starting to show. It won't be long until it is all green and the tourists are packing the roads.

Our first stop of l'Isle-sur-la-Sorgue a little town full of waterwheels left from the time when the village was known for industry and textiles. The town has canals everywhere, as well as the river Sorgue itself. It's now known for its antiques and we were there on market day with stalls and tables full of antiques as well as fruit and vegetables. There was an interesting church in the middle of town, too, very gilded and rich looking.

A photo of just some of the wisteria that has started blooming here.

Waterwheel

Lavender for sale in market

The little of village of Roussillon was next, a little red village perched on a hill. The soil is rich in iron oxide so all of the buildings has red or ochre tones. At one time a lot of mining was done here as it was the source used for paint in ochre shades but that ended when chemicals were discovered that do the same thing. We had a nice lunch here and walked around looking into the little church, looking up narrow alleys and seeing great views in all directions.

This view of some cliffs nearby reminds me of Santa Fe.

Some steps I liked in that red tone seen around here.

April 8, 2002

This is the day we started going around Luberon with Realtors. We started out in a neat little village called La Tour d'Aigues. I wish we could find a place either there or near there but everything we saw was either by a busy road, too small, too old, or just not exactly what we are looking for.

The castle ruin at la Tour d'Aigues

We looked at several places near Mirabeau which is a nice village. One place had a fantastic back yard with trees and a great terrace but this was where the traffic whizzed by. We couldn't get inside but it only had two bedrooms anyway. We also looked at some land on the top of a hill with a great view of Mirabeau and this is a possibility by farm equipment is stored nearby with a big storage building that may be turned into apartments at some date. I wasn't too excited by it for some reason. The next place had a pool and a terrace but the inside was small and dark and I don't see the point of buying such a small place when we've been talking of a home with more size so when we have family come we don't feel like sardines.

Maurice and I felt a little down after these visits as nothing really seemed like what we wanted. After lunch back at the gite where we are staying near Ansouis, a village I like very much, we went with another realtor. He took us to a house in a place called a Motte d'Aigues. After seeing d'Aigues attached to the names of many villages I asked what it meant-it is Provençal for water. This house had a lot more potential but needed lots of work. The thing that bothered me the most was that the heating was done by burning wood which in turn heated water pipes that went throughout the house. This may be efficient but it just didn't sound like my cup of tea. And there was only one bathroom and the tub, sink and toilet were in a violent green color. Lots of horrible green wallpaper, too. Still, it could be fixed.

When the reactor took us up a mountain to a little village called Vitrolles en Luberon, which is a cute little village and showed us some property we finally said, this may be it. The land is covered with olive trees and wild thyme which we could smell as we walked on the property, there was a great view of blue mountains in the distance and there were sewer lines and a paved road already established. A couple was walking around picking wild asparagus. It reminds me a little of Northern Arizona with the hills and greenery except you don't see olive trees there. The elevation of the property is around 1500 and I guess it can get a little chilly in the winter. The last time I was in the area in January there was frost every morning.

April 9, 2002

Another day looking at houses. We saw two that were okay but just not the one that makes you say, "This is it." One had the front door at what I would call the back of the house. The yard had lots of potential but needed major work. The second house had a great living room and fire place, but the kitchen needed work and there was only one bathroom. The owners had added rooms that sort of went on from one of the bedrooms. It had a nice terrace but was sort of squashed up against a hill and had a sharp drop off in the front of the house.

The owner of the gite where we are staying sent us to the house of a cousin and it was fabulous with a huge terrace, swimming pool, big house, enough bedrooms and bathrooms, even a part that had a little bathroom and kitchen to itself. However, it was 100,000 Euro more than we wanted to spend, but it was still a bargain for the size and, well, splendor of the place. A realtor told us later that it was in a flood plain and that explained the price. If we could figure out where to get the extra money it was sure tempting.

We have decided to buy property and build much to my horror. I've never had a good experience building. The realtor even had an architect come out and walk around the property with us to give us some ideas and we will probably use her to design our house. She took us to a house being built that she designed and it looks like she can design something for us that we will like. I told her I wanted huge door going outdoors to a terrace and was told that in Luberon you can't build a door any larger than a certain dimension. What a strange concept. I didn't ask her why. I guess they want everything to have that "bastide" Luberon look with small windows and doors and tall walls to keep it cool in the summer.

Afterwards we walked in the area around our gite and got some great views of vineyards and a nearby village called Ansouis which I wish we could find a perfect place near. With the TGV high speed train coming to this region prices have shot up even more than they were before. The realtor said it was absurd.

Ansouis near our gite

April 11, 2002

Well, we did it. We plunked down a deposit on the property we saw. It was a strange experience for me, signing the papers. The property was an inheritance to 4 people so they had split it into 4 parcels. Two of the family members were in the office where we made our deposit. I, of course, am used to how property is sold in the States. There are no computers, no forms with all the usual legal stuff already written and blank spaces to fill in. Everything was written out by hand by a legal guy. Lots of French being spoken and I entertained myself playing with the cute dog of the legal guy. I want one like it-so cute. Finally, we signed the papers. Now, we have to get some plans drawn up and submit them to the little village near the property and they have to decide if we can build on that property. A lot of the Luberon is national park and they have to make sure not too much is being built on. We can only build a certain size house-square footage and height. We have to have our plans and request turned in by the end of June and, possibly, we will have permission to build sometime in September. Time marches to a different tune and rhythm here. It usually takes a year to build a house. Should be interesting.

I want this dog. Her name is Pistache.

April 11, 2002

We went back to the property today and tramped around. It is a nice piece of property. We decided to go up to the Mairie up in the village and see what our chances were of getting approved to build. The village is very small, only a population of 150 people, but it is cute and brightly painted. We met the mayor, a nice man, and he said if the owners put in some sort of sewage line we won't have any problems.

The mayor owns a little olive tree orchard near our possible house and said he takes the olives each year and has olive oil made from them. We have a few trees on our property but I don't know if they will survive what has to be done to clear the property. We can always plant our own. Sounds like fun.

Next we went to a model home show to get ideas of plans and builders. We found a nice one but don't know if that is the route to go or to use an architect in business for himself along with a local company. Lots of decisions to make.

The view from our site.

April 27, 2002

It's been a quiet week for me. I've been re-exploring some places in Paris. I think I like the Marais the best. There is so much there-tiny winding streets, interesting churches, cute shops and cafes, and lots of museums. There is a building which looks like a castle that was once the official home of the Catholic church was had it's main headquarters in the little village of Sens, many many years ago. It is really great looking

Here it is, in the middle of a neighborhood.

I also went back to Picpus cemetery, a really small little place which has a great air of serenity.

A blue door at the end of a path in Picpus

I took a friend up to the top of the Samaritaine department store where there are fabulous views of Paris and was experimenting with black and white, and sepia photos. It was partially cloudy and the sun came out just over part of Paris and lit up Sacre Couer, like God had singled it out for a blessing.

Sacre Couer in an island of light.