Construction
has finally started on our new house.
After months of waiting, our building
permit is proudly displayed and the builders are digging in. On the first day
we were so excited we ran out with cameras prepared for an official
groundbreaking ceremony -- if not a ribbon-cutting by le maire, at least a smile from the guy in the digger. We got neither. In fact, all they did
the first day was drive the truck to the lot and leave it there. That has been the
story of this project so far: a
lot of waiting, a flurry of excitement culminated by a short burst of activity.
Then repeat.
At first
everything happened very quickly. In a matter of months we sold our house,
bought a piece of land, finalized the plans and got the bank to agree to lend
us a rather terrifying sum of money. What
we did not bargain for was how long it would take to get a building permit.
“It’s
really a formality,” reassured our builder when we met to sign the plans. He
had already built a similar house on a neighbouring lot and seemed well versed
in the fine print of the zoning laws in our new town. “Normalement, there
shouldn’t be a problem.” A word to the wise: "normalement" often spells disaster in French.
They did
eventually get moving and you might even say the earth moved....the excavation appears to be complete.
We are now
the proud owners of a big dirty hole.
Now things
have gotten quiet again as France huddles under the blanket during the coldest
weather we have seen here in years. Cross my fingers and pray for an early spring!
