Opening a New Chapter
Thoughts on arriving in France
Go south old man
As most of you know, we have been threatening to leave the US for the wilds of Europe. We have made good on that threat, arriving at Paris’s Charles Du Gaule Airport (CDG) in mid-April.
It is now the beginning of May; we have been here almost three weeks.
For the moment, here is the rural town of Lavaur where I rented an Airbnb to act as our base camp while searching for the place we would like to call home.
We are limiting our search to the lowlands between Montpellier and Bordeaux north of Spain, and the Pyrenees Mountains.
Montpellier is located on the Mediterranean Sea, west of Marseille. A city that offers warm winters, hot summers, and easy access to sandy beaches. There are also a number of wildlife refuges in the area. According to Wikipedia, the University of Montpellier was established in 1220. It has a medical school reputed to be the longest operating in the world. The city has become a technology hub attracting a lot of young people with well-paying jobs.
In the west, is Bordeaux. Famous for wines. The city is located at the head of the Garrone River Estuary, putting it about an hours drive from the Atlantic and the Bay of Biscay. Again, a city offering warm winters, not so hot summers and a great historical region to explore.
In the middle, is Toulouse. Toulouse is hard for me to categorize. It feels like a young city. Lots of hustle and bustle. Lots of things to see and do. It’s also home to Airbus and the European Space Program.
Any one of these cities would qualify as a great place to call home. The climate is agreeable, the availability of healthcare is good, transportation is easy.
I think we are leaning into Montpellier. It has the advantage of having easy access to the Mediterranean. It is on a high-speed rail line that can take us north to Paris, or south to Barcelona. There are a lot of Roman artifacts within easy reach.
Rent or Buy
France has a lot of legislation that favors the people over businesses. Renting is a case in point. Once established with a long-term lease on an apartment, it can be quite difficult for a landlord to evict an undesirable tenant. For this reason, obtaining a lease on good property as a newcomer can be a hassle. Much easier to purchase and be done with it.
Except… as we all know, owning a property brings with it maintenance. As a tenant, the maintenance is up to the landlord. At my age, I don’t want to be bothered with the maintenance. I don’t do ladders so well anymore, and we won’t talk about my fading super strength.
An issue with renting, we are told, is that renting doesn’t build equity. When you fold up your tent, what have you got to show for it? Well, just having sold our home of over twenty-five years, I can safely say owning does build equity. We were able to walk away with a nice tidy sum.
On the other hand, when we purchased that home, our time horizon was so far out that it wasn’t considered. Now we don’t have the luxury of a distant time horizon.
As a retiree, my paycheck isn’t going to increase because of promotions, it is dependent on cost-of-living adjustments and the whim of politicians, god help us.
My current thought is that renting is what we should do. We can buy insurance to cover the newcomer issue that a landlord may raise. There are fees to be paid when assuming a lease, so you want to be happy with the place you choose, but those fees are nothing in comparison to the real-estate fees and other hassles involved with flipping a house.
Achieving the Goal
As a retiree, the thought of winning a corner office with a view across the city is long gone. Today I wish to live a simple life that allows me to explore my world. By moving to Europe, I believe I have greatly expanded the size of my world. Destinations are closer, costs are more predictable. Challenges, there are many. Being distant from family is a big one although technology helps reduce distances today. Learning the language and making friends is another. Joining associations and being active in the community will help with this.
Happiness is an elusive creature. I believe contentment is when we experience more happiness than not. I will have arrived when I can look around and see that my wife and I are content with our lot.
I know I can’t live forever, but damn, I’m goanna try. And dammit if I can make other people enjoy life with me, well then that’s the goal achieved.
Sounds like you are all settling in well. Lots of choices to make. I'll bet it's kind of fun to travel off to a new place. Enjoy until your next writing.