Category: Preparing to go

Getting Back on Tracks

Over the last few months, I’ve let a lot of things to do slip through the net. But today is the day to start getting back on track. Jean-Baptiste is in School, Esther is out for the morning, so let’s make the most of it. I am a fan of GTD (Getting things Done), a “method” with the goal of streamlining your worflow and capture all your commitments so that you can start getting things done and stop worrying about it. The first phase is collecting: you get everything from around the house into one place, before processing it one item at a time.

I’ve already packed some of my books, so there is plenty of space on the shelves to collect. Let’s get started.

House hunting (6)

This is the end of the chapter, we have found a house. It is the one in Pabu I posted about. The landlord has seen the recommendation letter from the mission and is happy to rent it to us. I am going to sign the rental agreement on 29th June, and we hope to move during the first week of August. We praise God for giving us this opportunity. The house is smaller than what we had been looking for initialy, but it will be easier to look for something bigger later, once we are settled in Guingamp.

Next stage is to find a school for Jean-Baptiste. There are two not to far. The first one in Guingamp, about 700m away, the other in Pabu, about 1km away. I’ll phone the Mairie on Monday to see what we’ve got to do.

House hunting (5)

I spoke to the agency on Friday. They seem quite happy to go forward. I may have to go to Guingamp to sign the paperwork in a couple of weeks. That’s really exciting.

God’s guidance often leaves me baffled. We think we’ve got it all thought through and then something unexpected turns up and all you can do is put yourself completely in God’s hands and trust that He will show you the right way.

House hunting trip (2)

When we left Brittany on Friday afternoon, we were left with a choice between a flat and our ideal house. But we had to wait for the landlord of the house to confirm to us by the end of the week, which he hasn’t done. Then, on Saturday, one of the Agencies we visited phoned us to talk about a house available in Pabu, just outside Guingamp. It was completely out of the blue, as agencies don’t usually phone back, and it got us really excited. It is a modern house, five years old. It has three bedrooms and a big living space as well as a small garden. We’ve asked Emmanuel and Maria Hartiel in Guingamp to visit it for us, and will keep in touch with the agency. We are keeping the option for the flat open though.

We’ll keep you posted.

House Hunting Trip

We spent the week from 31st May to 4th June in Guingamp to look for a house. We camped in Begar, a few miles North of Guingamp in a quiet campsite. The weather was fine, except for the Tuesday when we had a lot of showers. our old tent resisted the assaults of two young boys, and the Brittany rain.

We visited two houses and one flat. One appointment had to be cancelled at the last minute because Maxime had hurt himself and we had to take him to the hospital.

The first house was in a great location, right in the centre of Pabu, a small village about 2 miles from Guingamp. There was a school around the corner, library… The school was bilingual Breton/French, which could have been interesting. But some of the rooms were very small.

The second house was our dream house: four big bedrooms, a good location, brand new as well (in fact it is still being built). We had a look around the building site with the landlord who was very friendly. He told us several people were interested and that he would let us know by the end of the week. We haven’t heard from him yet, so must assume that he has found someone else.

The flat was amazing. It was huge (130 m²…), with high ceiling in an old building. It was right in the centre, a few hundred yards from the train station. There was a big loft under the roof. It is still a valid option, but can we live in a flat after living in a small house for a few years? We still have a couple of days to decide.