House hunting gets serious: 6 houses today!

I started my day with a walk through Duras's outdoor market and found myself some provioions for the rest of my stay. I bought 2 small goat cheeses, 2 types of olives, olive breadsticks, a basket of strawberries, 2 pears, yogurt,milk and coffee. This should get me through breakfasts and light suppers at the house, assuming I eat a big lunch out each day. Today's lunch was at La Terrace, which has outdoor seating in full view of the chateau. The plat du jour was a veal cutlet with mushroom sauce with sauteed veg and an herby polenta cake. Delicieux!!  I enjoyed also a quarter litre of local rose'.

So, houses: you know those illustrated kids books that are divided into three sections so you can flip parts back and forth and end up creating different animals by changing the top, middle and bottom?

Well, I feel like all the houses around here should be presented like that so, for example, I could choose the kitchen of one, the bathrooms of another and the terrace of a third and come up with the perfect house. Each of them has some obstacle to deal with, it's just a matter of what type of obstacle I am willing to put up with, I guess.

I will show you the best of each place, and briefly tell you the worst:

House 1, Monsegur:

This is a gorgeous, modern apartment with everything brand new on a beautiful street. Look, Luisa, even the countertops are your favorite marble. The problem is that the builder renovated an old house into 4 apartments, and they share a commom, small courtyard. So no privacy for outdoor space.

House 2, Monsegur:

Okay, so this one has a sweet, private courtyard, and is fully modernized on a nice  street, but it has only one small bathroom, no storage for bikes, the only place for the washing machine is outside and the spiral staircase is very narrow. Also, the current owner is a smoker and the smell permeated the house.

House 3, Monsegur:

Beautiful private outdoor space and very nice facade with cute white shutters, but needs a complete refresh: new kitchen, new baths, paint.

House 4, Duras:

 This is Monsieur Robin, who just happened to walk by as we were looking at the clocktower house, which is the one I primarily came here to see. The house is lovely, perfect condition. I might want to make small changes, or add a rooftop deck at some point, but it really doesn't need anything changed at all. I have included Monsieur Robin because we were so lucky to have him stroll by and say Bonjour. All 4'9" of him on a good day. He used to live in the clocktower house and it makes him happy to look at it each time he takes a stroll through town. He told us that his family ran a boucherie (butcher shop) in that house in the 1930s and he reminisced about having to jump off the second-floor balcony, using the ropes and hooks for hanging meat to escape to the pavement below, when his father was fast asleep. He was very animated, with lots of pantomime, when describing this. He would then meet his girlfriends at the chateau grounds for a night of ooh-la-la . . . He asked me to guess his age and I knew he was quite old, but flattered him by guessing soixant-huit (68). Non, he laughed, then took my palm and wrote the numeral 90 with his finger. What a memory. He continued to tell us stories about life in town during WWII and I really didn't want it, or him, to end. What a lively, happy character! So the clocktower came with a wonderful look back through l'histoire de Duras.

House 5, Duras:

Beautiful renovation, has everything except outdoor space--there is none except a narrow strip of sidewalk in front, where the real estate agent said it's possible to put a small table and some potted plants.

House 6, outside Duras: 

I didn't take pix because I did not like the location and I started sneezing the minute I walked in.