When it was time to head home to the UK, we were about an hour into the journey when we pulled off the autoroute to make the call to the estate agent to make an offer… by the time we had reached Calais that evening, we had agreed on a price.
Sorting out the basics
We borrowed funds from a French bank and endured what seemed like an endless stream of paperwork by fax and email. We used a specialist bilingual solicitor to assist with the purchase (money well spent for the peace of mind) .
We signed the “compromis du vent” in September which also acted as a second-viewing. We also met a local builder to talk through our plans for renovating and an electrician to obtain a ‘devis’ (quote) for the re-wire.
Just before Christmas 2005, we returned to Mazamet to sign the ‘act definitive’ (the final part of the sale which ended with the handing over the keys to 4 rue Pasteur.
As we returned to our new home and entered the vast and empty property, the reality soon sunk in and so began three years of renovations; many sleepless nights, a flood and a fire.
Meanwhile we continued to work in the UK where we enrolled in evening school to learn French.
By Easter 2009, the year we both celebrated reaching 40, and after countless trips to check on progress, we were made the move to France permanent. By then we’d made many friends with our neighbours, French and English, and found Mazamet a friendly, welcoming place.
Open for Business
We set up a website to promote our B&B named La Villa de Mazamet and less than a week later our first guests arrived.
We invited the Mayor and the local press to an opening day. We printed flyers for local businesses offering a favourable rate and we encouraged every guest to leave us a Trip Advisor review.