The Dating Game

House Hunting is a bit like The Dating Game. Remember the series? The host Jim Lange would introduce the bachelorette to 3 bachelors hidden behind a screen. Lucky bachelorette would ask questions of bachelor #1, bachelor #2 and bachelor #3 and their clever answers would be the lever to win the all expense paid date.

Farrah Fawcett, Suzanne Somers, Yvonne Craig, Lindsay Wagner, Leif Garrett, Tom Selleck and Lee Majors were all on the show before they became known actors.

We inadvertently created our own series "Dating Game, The Home Edition" by interviewing all the available house candidates, French style.

House #1, House #2, House #3 tell us why I should be attracted to your curb appeal?

French realtors come in all varieties but the common denominators and unspoken rules are:

• There is a the sacred hour of 12:00 - 2:00/2:30, don't contact them and to be fair that is the rule in general in France. Lunch hour is not to be disturbed,

• They don't work weekends,

• They don't look for any real estate outside of their own regions or existing properties,

• They don't share listings with other agents,

• The locations of listings are top secret,

• There are a lack of photos in case you can somehow determine the location of the listing by a photo detail, kind of like a blind date,

• They don't call you back after assuring you they know exactly what you are looking for.

Just like The Dating Game!

Many agents never got back to us, some did and there were a few that did an outstanding job. 300+ homes were reviewed online, 30 homes were personally viewed, 40+ agents were contacted, 25 agents responded and all along we knew it would only take 1, the right one.

Homes we have visited in the Home Edition, even an old water mill we could only see from a distance.

Our compiled list of what was important to both of us for our next home:

• Access to Toulouse and airport

• Near our friends in Guizerix

• High ceilings and 2 floors

• Walking access to boulangerie to buy fresh baguettes

• Near a University

• Not too big

• Little remodeling work for a ready to move in home

• Unrestricted view

• Trees

• Open Kitchen

• Atelier space for creative projects

• Pool

• Good energy rating

• Movie theater

So many of our visits were a bad date you can't wait to escape. We needed a lifeline to rescue us. A few For Sale signs along the road were visited.

What was our common complaint about most homes?

• Not as advertised,

• Been empty a long time,

• Too remote,

• Too much work to do,

• Not a bit as advertised,

• Too close to a working farm,

• Wrong size bathrooms and/or kitchen,

• Too expensive,

• Too cheap-what's wrong with it?

• Not at all as advertised.

The first photo of the property I saw at "Le Terme" in Fourcés, France was a bad joke, no one had thought to clean the kitchen up for a photo shoot to sell their property. It wasn't a "coup de coeur" or love at first sight as many told us would happen, but a strong force compelled us to this diamond in the rough.

Le Terme could mean several things, the last property in the town of Fourcés as in a terminal or as one person pointed out this area was Roman outposts and it could possibly mean a thermal spring existed here. Just a few miles away is a huge Roman villa-Seviac with numerous links to Roman occupation.

The sign of the pineapple is at the front gate to welcome anyone to a happy home.

Le Terme drew us in probably because I love a good story and this property had a story to be told, layers to be revealed, some mysteries to be solved, a few hidden treasures to be found and a whole range of historical events that this house has been a witness to.

The date stamped above the front door is 1771 but historically it was probably built before then. The year aligns to a few years after Napoleon's birth, when the US was starting to flex its need for independence from Britain, Salieri debuts his opera Armida in Vienna and James Cook returns from his 2 year voyage to the Pacific on the HMS Endeavour.

Le Terme has a treasure trove of trees including an Atlas Cedar and 21 olive trees to Youssef's joy, several out-buildings for future work: chickens, artistic endeavors, movie theater and a bamboo grove to my joy.

Move in ready, not yet. There's good work to be done to bring it up to a proper energy rating, rework kitchen and bedroom spaces.

We won't have possession until the end of January 2024. The owner, the French Cultural Attaché to Buenos Aires and Madrid, has agreed to sell but that's not the end of it in France. SAFER is an organization that governs any area near agricultural lands. This society determines if anyone else in the agriculture community would want the property. More than likely, as the property possesses no farm land just lots of old buildings and trees, no one will want to purchase it.

I have a Wendy Flintstone flashback with my stone kitchen sink and fireplace.

One of the many benefits of this area, besides the very friendly people, outstanding grapes for growing wine, and gorgeous sunsets is the home we are currently residents in while we plan our future home.

Our hosts, Maryvonne and Erich, have an astounding property complete with horses and a potter's studio, Maryvonne being a renowned artist. We feel so fortunate and have already been welcomed with open arms.

This adventure wouldn't have been possible without Sara and Eric our real estate agents who insisted we were meant for the Gers Department and it was just a matter of time before it found us.

They are the lifeblood of the two villages of Montreal de Gers and Fourcés which are both on the Most Beautiful Villages in France and a big center of Armagnac, an alcoholic beverage made from white grapes and a big part of Gascogne culture. They also worked very hard not following the typical French methods, always willing to go an extra step.

At the end of the grape harvest there is a big festival and dinner to honor the hard work by all villagers before the grapes go to distillation. A special drink is created from Armagnac when it is burned in what is the "Tradition of the Flame" and then served as an after dinner drink. It marks the end of the harvest and the changing of the seasons.

Once we have the house keys, The Newlywed Game begins.