Well, we said we were only going to blog if something noteworthy happened, and last weekend it did so I’d best tell you about it. Here’s the story of our recent trip to Gujan-Mestras. This is is one of the towns that make up the Commune of Arcachon in Gironde, and it is where Marie and Christian are currently staying while they are house-hunting in the area.
They rang us in the week to ask if we’d like to visit and it was obvious that they were going crazy with boredom down there as we couldn’t get there soon enough. We’re both very busy with work so couldn’t leave before the weekend, so we drove down on Friday and stayed there till Sunday. The drive took 2h 30 mins including a quick stop so it was quite painless, and we found their place easily.
And what a place it is! The story is that Marie’s brother in law was a property developer and he bought up an old abandoned château in Gujan-Mestras, right on the bay of Arcachon itself. The château is sat in huge grounds, on which he obtained planning permission to build a whole estate of new homes. The château itself is still there, and is apparently now used for private functions and events. The surrounding homes were all designed by fancy architects and so each one is impressive and unique. The brother-in-law sold off all the plots, but some time later, purchased one of the homes that he felt had the best views overlooking the bay.
He and his wife did live there for a brief time, but they also had a home in Bordeaux so now the place is mostly rented out. While the house is certainly stylish, it felt very sterile and cold with its steel and chrome kirchen, white walls and huge windows. In fact, cold is definitely the word: the weather out there was no better than in the Dordogne, where is has rained a phenomenal amount latterly. In addition, there were strong winds, so we spent much of the trip indoors huddled around a stylish but not very practical stove. The house is furnished – all stylish, uncomfortable chairs and bizarre lampshades – but all of M&C’s stuff is in storage, so they’re having to rough it – albeit in some considerable style.
We did get out for a walk on both the Friday and the Saturday, to see the local port and stroll around the bay a bit but otherwise stayed indoors. Matt brought his keyboard and me my guitar, so the three of us got in some jamming while Marie made us dinner. We introduced them to the card games Continental and Anna Purna after dinner, and had fun getting caught up.
Their big news is they have found a place and had their offer accepted on it. It is in the northern part of Gers so puts them quite a ways from Bordeaux, which was always their intention to be near to. However, the house itself ticked all their boxes and more, has a big garden for Marie to get stuck into, and even has a pool. They hope to be in by the end of the year but it all depends on the paperwork. We left on Sunday after a very filling lunch of enchaud de porc with purée de pommes de terre and had a painless drive home.
And that’s the story of that.