Is it me or is it the chilled out nature of the French but replies to estate agent back and forth are super slow. Sometimes I email and they don’t answer the question. So I end up sending same message again. I don’t want to the agents to think I’m annoying lol
For example I signed offer letter on Saturday and I was hoping to get a response if the sellers have signed from their side. But didn’t get a response. I have sent other messages asking for certain docs and pretty much ignored. And when looking at their website can see they have 2 hour lunch breaks! Super chilled! So I was waiting most the day refreshing my mail every half hour lol then had one email back about something unrelated but didn’t answer the most important question. Sorry for the rant lol
I’m very eager to get the COMPROMIS DE VENTE signed soon as possible so i can at least breathe knowing the seller can’t back out! That’s my only worry now that’s keeping me up at night. Soon as that is signed I will chill out and take it easy but for now I’m stressing because I really really want this property!
It took over a week to get out argreement counter signed and a year for the sale to be completed after the money was sent to the notaire.
I was told by the notaire’s secretary that they just don’t answer repeated emails if nothing has changed. And if you ask for something they don’t think is needed at the time they will just ignore that too.
Aound here (12) everything stops from 12 to 14(or 15hrs). Also many businesses don’t open at all on Mondays and my favourite DIY store has just decided to no longer open on Saturday afternoons - but you’ll get used to it all and hopefully eventually find it a rather good convention.
One of the reasons we like France is the quality of life here. Don’t try to move here and expect it to be exactly as you are used to as work-life balance is more important here. So glad I now longer eat a sandwich in 10 minutes hunched over a computer!
But if you try to build relationships with people you can get great service. It’ just not automatic.
They just said various offices were taking a long time to get back to them. We weren’t in any rush so maybe if we pushed more it would have been faster but from their answers I doubt it.
That was the soul-destroying worst! Remember returning to the UK after living in another two hours for lunch country and being horrified to discover how the workplace had changed.
The opposite happened to us. We had builders working on the house and at 12 they would of course head home, only 15 minutes away, and return two hours later to continue working. After a while a change occurred. They brought lunch with them, ate in situ, and went home at 5.30 rather than 7.
I remember, long ago, a letter in The Times whose author, writing from the Inns of Court, suggested that ‘a magnum of claret’ was the perfect accompaniment to a two person working lunch.
An auberge in the next village does a four course weekday carte de jour with 250cl [sorrry ml!]of wine pp for €15. Have no idea what this does for local post-prandial productivity…
I went out for lunch today and had two pints of an excellent ale Stewart’s ESB, I recommend it. However, I then found myself dozing in Boots while my wife had her eyes tested. Heaven knows how working people cope after a large lunch. I suppose if you are a regular drinker, you get used to it,
Two pints of beer must be a huge volume of liquid for a S Frenchman’s bladder! I think it’s over six years since my last pint (the last time I was in the UK) and I’m sure that volume, which once would not have been unusual, would now be daunting…
My friend moved over here, stayed with us until her sale went through, told her about lunch in France. She got locked in Brico Marche for two hours over lunch!!!
OH used to have to pay for his employees to have daily lunches in restos, it was part and parcel of either that or reimbursing them in pay for said meals. I used to go and join them sometimes and it would be nothing but workers in most popular places but they all seemed to leave just before 1.30pm as did we. I think we did get some tax deducted in the accounts yearly for this but it was in their work contracts and expected being France with strict employee laws.
Given you say you signed your offer letter on Saturday (i.e. the weekend) and that you posted this post on Monday, I don’t think you have allowed much time for anything to happen.
My purchase took about a week to get all the preliminary documents signed once my offer was accepted. Then I had an appointment about three weeks later to sign the documents that completed the sale. I was told that this was super-quick . . . . .
Churchill is reported as having said "A magnum is the perfect size for two gentlemen to have over lunch, especially if one isn’t drinking.”
He is also quoted as having stated “Remember gentlemen, it’s not just France we are fighting for. It’s Champagne.” He went on to say that he drank Champagne with all his meals - “My tastes are simple, I am easily satisfied with the best.”
They don’t make 'em like that any more . . .
