Cognac or Bust

Well, Cognac wasn't actually on the agenda today, but plenty of other things were.

We rose late, poking our noses through the curtains and finding grey skies and fog...lots of fog.
Yesterday the fog burned off by 2pm, and the sunshine was gorgeous. I had high hopes of the same today. We ate a late but hearty breakfast, knowing we mightn't be getting any lunch for a long time. We packed snacks and did end up eating them in a parking lot, lol.
We left the house around noon, hoping like crazy that the fog, which had become thicker in the meantime, would clear in time for us to view the prospects ahead of us.

We decided last night that we really needed to stop looking at houses on the internet, and get out there and see them in person. So, having identified a couple last night before bed (not a brilliant thing to do, I might add...brain worked overtime all night as a result!), we wrote down the details and off we went...towards Angouleme.
Angouleme is 47ks from here, which isn't much in the scheme of things. We are seeking somewhere there are good medical facilities, transport (TGV line from Paris), good Commerces (as they say here)...shopping/hardware stores...basically everything you could want...and with some privacy and a little bit of land for our veg. garden. How hard can it be? Trust me...just as challenging here, as anywhere else in the world.
We have spent months, perhaps years, searching for our next home (here, there and everywhere), so today was a bit out of the box.
Our first house to check out was in north east Angouleme near the new Espace Carat, which is a brand new Cultural Center. Quite an amazing building. Modern! I didn't get a photo, and neither did Waz...too busy navigating! We took main roads there and then the ring road around the city center, so that we didn't actually GO to Angouleme, but around it.
On the north side we turned down a skinny street (nothing new here) with chicanes, which is also common here on steep or straight streets where they want to slow the traffic down. The home to view was very close to it's neighbor, which was obviously built by the same contractor. Not very attractive to us.

We have had to really think about what we expect to live in, knowing that we are used to a certain standard of living and we like our privacy.

The second home was going to fit the bill more, and we are working with a realtor now to discuss our visit there WITH him in attendance so we can access the property. Lots of possibilities with this one.

I have some photos but shouldn't show them here...well, why not?

Getting there was lovely. We felt stressless, happy and our wellbeing index rose 100%. We are in Cognac Country here. Vines forever.

 Winter Wheat crops and Turnips in the foreground.

 Love these trees lining the road, everywhere.

 Ok...Here is our first look in real life. The grey line on the side of the house that has been 'plugged' is where electric lines have entered the house. There is an electric box at the bottom of it, so one would think?

We like the light stone of the façade. The land is optional in several different sizes, so we will decide that when we meet the realtor there. It needs some renovation and interior decoration...new kitchen/bathrooms...typical updating. At least you get what you want! it also has an apartment underneath in what used to be a double garage. Plenty of ideas for that space, apart from keeping it as an apartment.
From the curb, it looks like so many homes in winter. Damp! Winter is the best time to buy a house. You can identify many problems at this time of year! Spouting, damp in basements, in eaves, ceilings walls, roof cavities etc. We have seen so many horror stories that we wouldn't want to touch with a barge pole.
This home is made of stone and has a slate roof in apparently good condition. We will inspect that minutely, you can guarantee!
 The property isn't small, but we dont want small. We like large open spaces, green space and preferably a view. This has a green view, rather than a far view over fields, which we were hoping for, but then we havent bought this house yet...there is plenty of time to find the right house for us.

 Having sussed out the house we took a tiki-tour around the next town. This is an old Well. From all appearances, it still works! Typical of the region, this is only 3kms from the house we looked at. It is where we might do our food shopping. There is a large SuperU here and many other commerces, as well as medical, transport link and cultural center.

 The town from the parking lot of the SuperU Supermarche.

 Satisfied with everything we had seen, we went back to the house on the way to Cognac, our last stop on the 'Tour'.
The sun had come out in the meantime, and the views were stunning. Part of the journey was on highway, and the rest was along rather slender D roads. Those secondary roads that we mostly take.

 After viewing the house, we went up one of the roads going up the hill behind the small town. This lovely home had stunning views over the surrounding fields...just like we want! This is huge however.

 This is the view opposite the house above. Lovely?

 Another town. Those Plane Trees will be lovely when they have leaves.

 The closer to Cognac we came, the more vines, the more distilleries we found...of course!

 We couldn't decide if this was an old building been refurbished, or someone had a wet dream!

 Driving into Cognac we got a good feeling about the place. Drove through the new part and into the Old Town.
On the way we spied a McDonalds! I know...here we go again! Seriously, it was 3.45pm, our snacks had long since been digested and we were in desperate need of a LONG coffee, and FOOD! We ordered a 9 piece chicken McNuggets, a large fries and two large lattes. 12 euros please. Ouch! Wolfing that lot down, alongside the many French kids/teenagers we departed for the old town.
We crossed the big bridge over the Charente River, which is like so many rivers at the moment...In Flood!

 Looking back across the Charente River towards the Chateau de Cognac. What an extraordinary building. It looks a bit gnawed at, close up...you will see photos later!
The new Promenade is actually baracaded, but that didn't stop the many Sunday walkers, today. The river hasn't breached the new seawall, thankfully, which would undo all the wonderful stone work.

 One of the Old City gates (portals), alongside everything that is Hennessy Cognac. Most of the buildings around this area belong to the makers of this iconic brand in Cognac. The old buildings have been beautifully restored.

 Looking downstream you can see how much water is covering places it shouldn't.

 This woman later caught a fish...small, but a fish nonetheless.:) We were curious to know what kind of fish you would find in such a river. It had a yellow stripe, is all we could see from the bridge.

 Fun mosaics along the promenade. Not sure what the lizard motif is all about, but there are several going in along this walk.

 The portal looks like it needs a good clean, like so many buildings in the old City.

 Another restored Hennessy building.

 I poked my camera inside some glorious wrought iron gates, for this shot. How lovely!

 The Chateau de Cognac isn't in very good repair. It backs onto the Hotel de Cognac, where you can stay, and also where they begin the tours of the Hennessy properties.

 The top of one of the fountains. So much grime covering the stonework. What a shame.

 Some restoration work has been done, over the centuries, to the Chateau, but it could do with some more money being thrown it's way.

 Directly below the Chateau are what look to be Roman Baths. There was no sign saying what they are, and we may be quite wrong in our assumption there.

 Satisfied that we had seen enough for one day, and travelled plenty, and faced with more than an hour's journey home, we set off just after 5pm.
The sun came out over the fields, and we couldn't help but take photos. Stunning!

 A large Maize Silo on the outskirts of Cognac.

 Yes, that is retreating fog, in the background. It didn't retreat quite enough, because the sunshine was short lived. We made the most of it.

 Grape Vines in the foreground.

 Our GPS could have taken us a more direct route home, but we enjoyed the D roads more than some highway. We did take one detour, but I did one of my famous 3-point turns to return to the designated road.:) I am also famous for 'off-road' travel, U-turns, going up roads the wrong way, ok...risk-taking in general. I hear some pretty heavy sighs coming from the Navigator's seat:)

 Isn't this sublime! The fog closed in quickly after waz took this photo.

 Just after this photo, we were back in grey and heavy fog. Nearer to home, I kept getting light flicks from oncoming cars, and I got a bit paranoid about my lights being on high beam, but things became clear not far along...Cops! Radar detectors pointing the opposite way, and up a long hill. They had just pulled someone over when we went past. I stick to the speed posted, as I had a bill for 90 euros for being photo'd doing 4kms over the speed limit, last year. The fine was received in the mail in Jacksonville, 3 months later. lol. Be sure your sins will find you somewhere in the world.

 We arrived home just on 6pm. It obviously took longer to get there than it did to get home. Good job!
Our neighbor is back...this is his Aston Martin!

Well, dinner was formerly frozen personal Pizzas I picked up in a Patisserie in Riberac last week. Good thing I thought to thaw them, this morning.
I think we will have a day at home tomorrow, to catch up on some house work, laundry and just pottering around. A walk might be good too, as long as it isn't raining.
We now have an appointment with the Realtor to view that house on Wednesday. I'll let you know what we think. More photos then too!
Night night.