Actual genuine TR - April 2021
 

It’s been a long time since I’ve posted on here but it’s been a long time since I travelled.

Last Summer, foreign travel from the U.K. was allowed but quite frankly we were surrounded by people who did so and returned bringing back new and interesting strains of Covid. This included one fool who visited Dubai (because he had had a hard year)(as if we all haven’t had a hard year) , went to a 2020 NYE party attended by 600 people and managed to bring back a virulent strain which infected at least 20 people. We skipped last year and spent our time in The Highlands where unbelievably it reached 23oC with few midges.

April 2021 - this is a cautionary tale for any Brits considering immediate travel ...in short don’t.

We have been sat on cash for two years , not sure in which direction to go. In terms of business, we have weathered the pandemic quite well but it’s been very tiring physically and emotionally. Dealing with the public IS NOT EASY.

We have tried to book a house rental just South of Saint Emilion (Gironde) twice. Last year, it was booked all summer, in November last year we tried to book for the this summer coming but the agency had closed their book due to the constant cycle of taking deposits only to refund.

In March 2021, I sat poking round the usual GreenAcres property porn on a Sunday morning saw the same house ...strange , GreenAcres only deal with sales. The house was for sale.

To cut a very long story short, it had been placed on the market late on Friday afternoon, by 3pm on Monday I had an offer accepted. We knew the area really well and the French system works beautifully for buyers. Vendors accept an offer and are bound immediately but buyers can pull out up to 10 days after signing a Compris de Vende, at which stage you have to pay a deposit.

OK , I bought a house off GreenAcres without seeing it.

The only other person I’ve ever known do this , was a friend from school who made zillions in the city and bought a house in The Bahamas unseen. He turned up to The Abacos, went to the local bar, got smashed then asked the barman for his house keys, only to find the house was on a speck of land and he hated water....all good fun.

For us , the offer was the easy part. Europe has been a pendulum of cases over the last 12 months, We get it, Spain get rid of it, France gets it, then Germany, we each in turn lockdown and then reopen, so the cycle goes.

When I made the offer, leaving the U.K. was not possible and entering France wasn’t either. Then over 4 weeks the legal work progressed and we were pushed into a corner. Were we actually going to pay a deposit without seeing the house?

Post Christmas, the U.K. had huge numbers of “the Kent strain” which has ended up in France and the US. By the end of March, and following a very long lockdown, our numbers had fallen to low levels. France then allowed entry and the U.K. accepted buying a house as essential travel. The window had opened, I spent the next two days organising the trip and believe me, unless you are making a life/death trip or one involving a large amount of money, then it’s not worth it. I took a PRC Covid test at a private airport full of dusty, private jets - the owners aren’t using them as they can’t be bothered with the logistics of travel.

I am extremely cautious around the subject of Covid - I’ve lost three business contacts through it and seen a number of people seriously ill. It is not to be taken lightly.

To minimise my risk, I planned to drive from Manchester to Bordeaux in a day via The Channel Tunnel and return the day after. That’s what I did!

I spent £575 on private Covid tests , the U.K. government doesn’t accept NHS tests.

The timing of the tests is dire, it’s like a military operation and if at any stage you are let down then the pack of cards falls and the trip fails or worse - you are left in a pickle. Thankfully, I used MedicSpot who were very professional and all four tests were issued, returned and the results emailed without fail.

Another heads up to Brits, Brexit has complicated matters , you need an insurance “green card” to take your car to Europe. As a third country, Brits now need to prove their car has adequate insurance. The documents can take weeks to obtain.

The Channel Tunnel is great, very efficient. For those who haven’t used it, it is a train tunnel , in as much as you drive your car into a train which transports you through the tunnel. Perfect in a pandemic environment, as the is no contact with other travellers.

The drive down (900 miles) was a breeze. The French toll roads are now so expensive, only crazy Brits buying houses use them. I paid around e100 in 2 days for the return trip. Scary amount.

i arrived at Saint Emilion around 3pm after a very long day which started at 5am. I was so glad we didn’t buy near the town, it’s picture postcard but a very false environment. A huge tourist trap with a social feudal system of a few billionaires owning vineyards costing £1m a hectare and the rest of the population being the downtrodden farm workers. It just feels like an over exploited corner of the planet.

We are 15 minutes South and across the Dordogne in Entre Deux Mers, much calmer , larger vineyards and normal people!

The house was just like the pictures, 150m2 of lovely French country style , a pool , lovely gardens and 400m2 of undeveloped barns. Tweeting birds and much peace, I didn’t feel like going back home.

I spent the night at a lovely local hotel which a e100 a night was very good value : La Girard, Caplong

Awoke in the morning, got in the the car and drove the 900 miles back home.

A thrilling Trip Report it isn’t , no museums, opera, wine, restaurants or beaches. Just road, lots of roads.

But in a pandemic ... it was a trip.

Did I feel guilty for going ? No , as in two days I met 3 people, and for that pleasure had four Covid tests.

Would I travel again before the U.K. changes it’s policies - No, it’s far too stressful.

We have now paid the deposit and so that’s it stage one complete of relacating to France, now just need to pack my son off the University in two years and then we are off , bye bye Brexit Britain ...I voted with my feet and I’ll never forgive you for what you did.

Here’s to hoping for better times. Good luck all.

Many congratulations on the purchase, and for arranging a safe trip. Thanks for the TR!

I have been considering a move back to the UK if things go south in the US election in 2022. Sounds like you wouldn't advise that? (I'm not sure I have the energy anymore to arrange a move elsewhere now my UK passport is of no help in Europe.)

Cumbrian farmers are great philosophers.

They say “if you put too many cows in a field”.

Well, there are too many cows in this field and they are trying to live lives like the US. It workday when you have open prairies and 000s of miles of wilderness. It doesn’t when you have an island for for 30m currently occupied by twice that.

I want to live in a place where you are judged on the wine you drink for under e10 not the German car you drive over £50,000.

where are you in The States and how is it panning out. We had our first trip to SF blown out of the water in April 2020, Yosemite and all. Took 3 months to unravel the trip. Couldn’t be bothered after that. To be honest, we may have seen enough now, may just settle for red wine and decent cheese. Can’t be bothered anymore with 5 connections and a 36 hour trips to swim with sharks that try to eat you.

I have to say this may be my favorite trip report ever.

MmmePerdu

All I hear are birds not Porsches!

:-)

I have dreamt of this since I was 5 years old , I only ever wanted a house in the vineyards of France.

C’est Ça.

GIRONDE GENSAC Houses for sale

When I was 5 I didn't know there was a France, or vineyards or vin for that matter. But I do remember the moment when I became aware that there were real-life exotic places I could run away to. I was about 10. It's a wonderful thing to have the dream come true.

Congratulations Mr. Caicos. Hats off to you and best of luck.

Great report, very insightful. Enjoy the new house, the new country, the new life.

British... Well done

Nice house you got there. Of course, since you posted it, now we all know where you'll be. Get ready for a zillion Fodorite visitors!

All are welcome!

Beautiful!!
Friends of ours bought an apartment in Paris sight unseen a few years ago. It’s probably easier now with virtual tours and the like, but a risk to be sure. Glad it all worked out & congratulations!

North Carolina. Been here a long time. I'm more worried about the national situation than the state, Our Democratic governor was just re-elected and has done a good job with the pandemic.

wow BC -- that's a beautiful property. Congratulations. Can you really give up Mull and all ?? Though France would be tempting.

Great trip report! Beautiful property-congratulations!

Love your house! It is fantastic!! Thanks for sharing. Congratulations.

Congratulations, BC! Your new home is beautiful!

Even though you didn't do much - drove there, drove back - I found it fascinating. Maybe because most of us are going nowhere :lol:

I'm being a sticky nose, but can I ask some questions? Do you speak French? Just wondered about all the legal papers etc. And did you need a visa to go and live in France? Also are you covered for the public health system in France? Just tell me to naff off if you find this too personal. I'm just interested in the detail. Lots of people on Fodors talk about moving to another country but I think few actually go ahead with it. And in the middle of a pandemic! Wow.

Looks like an excellent purchase. Congratulations. I suspect that you drove 900 km rather than 900 miles.

Congratulations BritishCaicos, how wonderful to be able to live out your dream! Wish many happy years in your new home, with a bon rouge by your side...

Kerouac

you had me thinking for a moment but no 926 miles in all, 300 in the U.K. and 600 miles in France.

KayF

French - I’m getting there and have every intention of being fluent, it’s hard when the people Aquitaine are generally very receptive to Brits and instantly reply back in English. The French property system is brilliant, I hadn’t been aware that one Notaire acts for both sides. In the U.K. we usually have a lazy lawyer for each party both lawyers generally spend most of their time on holiday, fail to communicate and create battles where there shouldn’t be any.

To sign the Compris de Vente we arranged a Zoom call with the Notaire and our vendors who live in Sydney, Australia. They were at 2am and it was good of them to bend their times to attend. Incredible, legal process as we all appeared on the Zoom windows pm the Notaire chaired the meeting with a copy of the agreement in the centre of the screen. She then picked through the 48 page document, fully explaining every clause in English and checked each party was in agreement. At the end of the meeting each party gave POA to office clerks who signed the document for us. What a great and expedient experience. The only down side is this odd period of the searches between exchange and completion, usually around 8 weeks when the local Council is offered the chance to buy the house.

The U.K. is now fully out of the EU , we will not need Visas but are stays are limited to the usually 90 days in 180. It will not be an issue for the first 2 years as we do not have 90 days to spare. When we move over we will apply for full residency. We had private health policies but I’m still not sure about the logistics of health care when we move. One issue that has always prevented from retiring to South Carolina was the cost of health care. Without any established US plan, it would have been prohibitively expensive.

janisJ

Yes, we gave up on The Highaknds, I still have an option on a plot on a hillside overlooking Loch Sunart in Ardnamurchan but the pandemic has focussed many people’s minds. Don’t know what to do with the plot.

just for you


https://cimg2.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fod...3096da7c5.jpeg


No vines unfortunately

Thursdayd

We’ve spent many happy times in The Carolinas, our first trip to the US many years ago, we fell on Beaufort, NC and nearly didn’t fly home p. Loved it. Our latest favourite place are the Sea islands south of Charleston, goodness knows when we will see them again.

Gorgeous and thanks for posting! Do you offer B&B?

BC, I'm glad it turned out well for you. You have a stunning property. Good luck with your preparations to move and please let us Fodorite francophiles know how it's going from time to time. We welcome ongoing trip reports.

Thursdaysd, I have that thought in my mind also. BC, you may find you have lots of American neighbors in a few years.

Thank you, BritishCaicos. What a pretty place. Congrats on the successful sales paperwork and your Herculean efforts. Frances Mayes and Peter Mayle (RIP) would have loved the online part of it! 😁 They might want to warn you about the open invitation to visitors.. lol. Please keep your Fodor''s friends up to date.

FWIW, here's a shot of St. Em. vinyards from my 2016 trip report:
https://cimg4.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fod...4f8051758b.jpg
I sandwiched Bordeaux between 2 Paris stays. May we read more about your France visits!

https://www.fodors.com/community/eur...deaux-1096742/

We edited a few posts. The Lounge is the appropriate place for political discussions. Please help us keep the travel forums a politics-free zone.

And there you have it, the reason why I stopped posting last time.

I’d assumed with an absolutely lack of traffic, you would wish to encourage discussion not delete posts that are not inflammatory, racially toned or abusive.

I am not a child an have no intention of being treated like one.

you’ve lost another poster.

goodbye

That is very heavy handed, some mild discussion about moving abroad based on the outcome of an election. Hardly a reason to remove posts.
Of course comments on moderation are not allowed either, so this post will disappear as well.

Thank you for your trip report BritishCaicos - your house looks great. We sold our property a few years ago, glad not to have to deal with French taxes and utilities anymore, which I found maddening at the time, especially the telecom companies.
Unless we can spend serious amounts of time in a second home, I wouldn't buy one again. But your house looks lovely. Best of luck, hope that we can travel freely again soon!

Tulips

I’m very thick skinned , I don’t care what anyone thinks or would say about me.

I find it incredibly insulting that anyone would delete my thoughts which have never been sexist , racist or abusive (other than to the odd idiot).

This site lost its sense of humour A LONG TIME AGO. it was so much fun 10 years ago.

I don't know what got deleted but the political situation in a given country one plans to visit can be pretty meaningful. Our own local situations can certainly impact our abilities to travel. I don't see how you can fully separate the two. Unless someone writes.[some politician] is an idiot...that's something else.

Sadly, I have to agree with this.

BC, please continue to post about your experiences, I for one have always appreciated your comments and dry wit. As one of the posters said, you can’t really separate the political from our travel questions, especially during this pandemic.

Congratulations once again on the gorgeous property you’ve acquired, you’ll surely be getting many Fodorite visitors now we know where exactly you live...😉

What a dream, BritishCaicos. Thank you for sharing. Congratulations and I hope your lives there are as beautiful as that setting. Sighing over the French doors from the kitchen to the outdoors.

My retirement dream had been long stays in the English countryside, but the scales have fallen from my eyes. There is no there there, any longer. Not in the UK, or the US, or even my other home of Okinawa—and those are political and societal issues that color travel experiences. (Anyone who disagrees should visit Chicago on a protest weekend.)

Please don't leave. I don't 'think' any posts were deleted - just some small edits if I remember correctly. To be fair the same thing has been done on other threads. Fodors lets us post just about anything we want in the Lounge - its a free for all over there. But they've been pretty consistent keeping politics off the travel forums. I think that is a good idea myself - the travel boards are for travel info, not rehashing Brexit or elections or which party is great and which is pants.

(These posts may be deleted since they have also been pretty consistent knocking down discussion of moderation._

OK Janis has explained the new rules which seem to curb social interaction to false environmental but hey ho.

ChgoGal

there are only two places left in the world we want to really see - they are the West coast of The States and Japan. Okinawa was on the agenda as the seascapes look amazing, I seem to remember it’s quite far South in the archipelago? I think we were going to use it as a beach stop over.

thanks everyone else for the lovely words , we had to try to move on in life, just no idea when this is all going to end. We received a letter from our bank indicating that negative interest rates were entirely possible. The charge was more than the Tax Foncière on the house in France. Hence, we had the choice of staring at a bank balance costing us money or staring a picture of a house we couldn’t visit which costs us less money. I think we made the best choice. (I hold no particular political party responsible for the current low interest rates)

Is StCirq still around she’ll hate me , she hated Saint Emilion with every bone in her body!

Used to make me laugh when Pal called her a cave dweller. I miss his unobtrusive wit.

Yes StCirq still posts quite a bit. I'think' mostly in the Lounge.

Please remember that discussion and complaints about moderation are not permitted. We are not deleting some of the above posts that come close to the line to help maintain the flow of the thread. Thank you for the cooperation.

Yes, StCirq detested St Emilion and always said it was nothing but a tourist trap, she strongly dissuaded me from going there when I was looking at the Bordeaux region some years back!