Atherton Family Notes

OK, so I’ll admit it. I picked the first house I went to see. When we moved to Germany, we complained because there was only one house to choose from, this time there were tens of houses in our range. But I still chose the first one.

But there’s a reason. Our relocation consultant called me on Wednesday and told me that they knew of a house that seemed perfect for our family. But it probably wouldn’t stay on the market long, and the next chance for us to look at houses was going to be March 1st.

So Thursday morning I went out to see the house. It’s located in St. Gregoire, a small community just on the northern edge of Rennes. The house is in a nearly new subdivision and is significantly different than our previous accommodations:

• It’s almost twice the size. That’s going to be nice.
• The house has 4 small bedrooms, but even the smallest one is bigger than the girls room in Niedereschach. None of the rooms have closets, but there is a fifth room upstairs that appears to be designed as a common walk-in closet where everyone’s clothes are stored. One of the bedrooms is on the ground floor.
• It has a yard. Yeah, we’ll have to take care of it, which we didn’t have to do in Niedereschach, but at least there is someplace for the kids to play. The yard is even fenced in.
• It has a basement, which will give us the storage space we didn’t have before.
• It even has a garage.
• It’s within walking distance to the girl’s new school…and the ground is flat.
• It’s only 7 minutes from a good size commercial center, including a Géant Hypermarché.
• It’s a short distance away from a park with a petting zoo, swimming pool and an indoor ice rink.

Now, the bad news: It’s not furnished. To some extent, this is actually good news:we won’t have to deal with taking care of someone else’s stuff for two years like we did in Germany. On the downside, in France, “unfurnished” means no fixtures. The ceiling lights are just light sockets hanging from bare wires. There are no cabinets at all in the bathrooms. There’s no refrigerator, no dishwasher, no washing machine, no dryer, no phones, no lights, no motor cars, not a single luxury. Like Robinson Ca-… Well, ok, it’s not Gilligan’s Island, but we’re going to have to do some work to get this place habitable.

Actually, one of the other reasons this house seemed like a good deal for us is that it does at least have kitchen cabinets, a stove and an oven. In many French rentals, you don’t even get that. I checked on a decent set of cabinets at a furniture store tonight, and those are about a $4500 cost adder on average. More, if you care what they look like.

For comparison, this house is about 143 square meters in size (1287 square feet), not including the basement. Our house in Indy is about 233 square meters (2100 square feet), also not including the basement. Our house in Niedereschach was about 80 square meters (720 square feet) including the spot under the stairs where we stored our Christmas tree.

Oh, and there’s one other piece of good news: Thomson is renting the place for us. That means we don’t have to worry about the rent payment or the deposit. Maybe by the time we move out of this house, Sabine will have returned the deposit money we paid on her house.

Here some pictures of the place:

The front of the house. The front yard is really tiny, and is mostly taken up by concrete.

The Back Yard.

The kitchen. Notice the holes for the microwave and dishwasher. The refrigerator will go between the sink and the door.

Refrigerators in France are typically free-standing like American refrigerators and unlike German ones, which are typically built into the cabinetry. This means that French families typically have bigger refrigerators than German families, but those refrigerators are still smaller than American ones. However, at an appliance store, I did see a side-by-side refrigerator with ice and water in the door. Really. I was completely surprised. The label described it as “Volume Grand Type Americain.” Those crazy Americans and their apishly large refrigerators.

The living room. Yes, that’s a fireplace.

According to our agent, we may be able to take possession of the house as early as March 1st. If that’s the case, I will probably extend my trip here another week so I can get our stuff sent here from Germany.

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Today I visited one ofthe most famous non-WWII sites on the coast of France, Mont St. Michel (webcam), an Abbey located on a small island in a bay just off the coast of Normandy where it borders Brittany.

Mont St. Michel has been a religious site, off and on, since the 8th century. The “off’ part was after the French Revolution, when the Abbey was converted into a prison. It stayed that way until 1863, when it became an Abbey again. It’s not clear to me whether there are any monks currently in residence.

It’s a dramatic view, and can be seen from miles away. I was still about ten miles away when I passed by a hotel that had a sign saying the rooms had a view of the abbey. I thought they were kidding (or that I was misreading the French) until I looked the other direction. Sure enough, there it was.

Mont St. Michel rose to prominence when it became a pilgrimage site for people who believed it to be a vision ofthe perfected post-Apocalypse Jerusalem, the city on a hill. To be sure, though, the pilgrims of that time were arriving at a much smailer structure. The abbey has gone through at least 4 major revisions, each time becoming a significantly larger structure, including a number of significant military fortifications that both protected the island, and allowed the island to protect the mainland from attack. In fact, some of the most classic looking elements are actually 20th century additions, including the statue of the Archangel Michael onthe top of the steeple (which itself is part of a late 19th century restoration effort). There is a model inside the abbey showing how the statue was installed using a helicopter.

The Statue of St. Michael on top of the Abbey.

With the story ofthe pilgims in mind, I was stuck by the sight of all ofthe souvenir shops that now line the path leading to the abbey. The pilgrims of old who got this far had already crossed through the bay on foot, and risked their lives in some of the most dangerous and unpredictable tidal currents in Europe.

So I couldn’t help but think the shops along the route today were a little like the moneychangers in the temple. Of course, that didn’t stop me from shopping there.

The being said, I was amazed at the number of visitors to the abbey today. Keep in mind that it is February, it was a dreary day, and less than 45 degrees outside with a 20 mile-an-hour wind blowing steadily. Still, by the time I left, the parking lot was nearly full, and it was getting hard to navigate the narrow streets. I read that nearly 2.5 million people visit the abbey each year.

Remind me not to go back during the summer tourist season.

The abbey itself is an amazingly large but austere affair that is the history of a long struggle with the island. The top of the island actually penetrates the abbey, and on more then one occasion, the island has tried to dislodge the abbey. In fact, one of the crypts contains huge 15-foot-diameter pillars designed to prevent a repeat of the event in the 1400s where one of the chapels collapsed.

But while architecturally impressive, the buildings themselves are rather plain and very dark inside. Of course, it was built by a group of people who spend their time looking inward, not outward, and they chose this site because of its isolation, not because of its natural beauty.

On balance, though, it’s definitely worth the trip. The views are amazing, and the history of the
place makes the visit satisfying.

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Near the Mont St. Michel. I found another intersting site today: A graveyard for some 11,000 German soldiers who died in France during WWII. Of course, the french countryside in this area is littered with gravesites for fallen soldiers

At first I was a little shocked by the presence ofthe site, and surprised that the French would allow such a thing.

But it does have a point. The grave sites are maintained by a German peace organization. Besides providing information to the families of the dead about the final resting places of their brothers, uncles, cousins. fathers, or sons, the site serves an educational purpose: that war is horrible no matter which side you are on.

There is an inscription near the entrance that says something like (I’m paraphrasing): “Healthy and safe people do not remember how terrible war is. If they did, they wouldn’t separate into groups and pursue conflicts. Heathly people don’t know the truth: no one believes the injured, and the dead can no longer tell.”

I was especially moved by this book excerpt that was presented in the information section of the memorial:

The memorial itself is arranged in a circle, and looks almost like a barracks. Each of the 68 crypts holds up to 180 soldiers.

The fact that places like this can exist on French soil reflects well on the people of France.

Mont St. Michel, seen from the graveyard.

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