The Housing Crisis in France Part 2

Well, we have been here seven weeks now and it's been a steep learning curve.  Interesting for me has been the - quite sudden - falling out of love with Montpellier.  Unexpected to say the least!  I don't know if it's me and I am no longer hip and pert enough for such a young city, but I find myself stomping around disgruntled by the dirt, the hoardes of people, the disgraceful defacing of historic buildings by graffiti (I've asked residents about this and apparently French people don't mind graffitti - say what?? I think the council are just lame/lazy) dog poo festering everywhere and a general feeling that if Montpellier were a person she'd be a grubby, harried, over taxed, under age, single mother on benefit - with a creative streak. 

Compare this with the fresh, optimistic and pristine face Nîmes presents to the world, and it's a push over.  Again, I am happy to accept it could be that I'm just too old to find grimy old Montpellier wearing its cloak of vibrancy attractive. But give me Nîmes any day!  This city feels like it's interested in life, not taking it for granted.  We loved the spaciousness, the shining streets, the Roman remains and the quietly confident cafés.  The Haussmanian edifices just begged to be lived in, and the exhuberant fountains beckoned in the sparkling sun. Yes! Yes, we thought, we shall live here.  Bring it on!  Then we found out about the bull fights.  Nîmes is France's biggest bull fighting city and the 150,000 population swells to one millon twice a year as blood lust afficionados throng to the city.  Oh, dear.  We didn't even realise bull fighting was big in France, never mind that it is overtaking Spain as champion of this barbaric ritual.  All this takes place in the stunning Roman Arena; might as well bring back public executions as far as we are concerned.  Okay. Nîmes is out.

What about Avignon?  In lovely Provence?  Beautiful, with a song dedictated to its bridge, endless ancient history (of course), wide, impressive streets,the papal seat from the 14th century, quirky cobblestoned quartiers, on the banks of the majestic Rhône.  A strong contender, and no bull fighting. Great. What about a place inside the old city walls with a garden? Um, maybe not. What about the Mistral howling through the streets and driving the inhbitants famously mad in winter months? Oui, you can count on it. Okaaay. Back to the drawing board.

So we turned our attention to St. Rémy de Provence. Picture perfect town, full of quaint streets and charming squares, not to mention affluent inhabitants and eager tourists. Pretty much the story book French town. Fab, we both liked it, plus Roly and Pepper were most popular with the locals. And, result! They were serving FREE WINE in the market square - our kinda town! Rushed home to research available properties in any budget never mind our own, and found, wait for it - two (2). Seems St. Rémy de Provence is popular with many culture and free wine liggers, not just us.

Sommières is well situated, half way between Montpellier and Nîmes, in lush countryside and another Roman settlement with a typical bridge, a walled centre, a ruined medieval castle and a square so charmant it looks like a movie set.  Excellent. Oh, and a rather fabulous chocolate shop. Double excellent.  So far it's still high on our list as a strong contender. 

Visits to Toulouse and Marseille are still necessary - we need to see as much as we can - and another foray into Béziers is probably a good idea. We would like to find that place that really is 'it', the one that feels like home, the right fit. We are possibly being too fussy, too picky or too un-French in our mindset, but after the huge upheaval necessary for such a big overseas move, why not hold out for the dream location?  

Maybe we will grow accustomed to the idea of the Mistral (it does cover pretty much all of the South of France), turn a blind eye to poo and graffitti (or turn vigilante, equipped with paint, rollers and copious poo bags) and come to view La Corrida as an integral part of the Midi lifestyle (highly unlikely). Every place has its pros and cons - Sommières is prone to flooding and a lot of their postcards seem to feature bulls running through the cobbled streets à la Pamplona - and we could still be viewing everything through Hollywood movie eyes.  Or Aussie eyes. I do miss Target a bit. But I'll get over it. I guess it's all part of gradually Becoming French.....