The search begins

After the first few tentative searches in various windows I made a timorous approach to the secretary of one of the local Immobiliers, who fortunately spoke a little English and was pleased to give me details of the properties we had spotted. Armed with only the briefest of details (we soon discovered that Estate Agents in France were not particularly fulsome in their description of houses at that time) we went away to consider the possibility of making a purchase, and the die was cast.
A visit to one Agent was soon followed by a visit to the second, who also was most helpful and spoke rather better English.
Appointments were made, slotted in between visits, after all were were just on holiday, and in due course we were taken to view various properties.
We looked at a Presbytery in the village of St Orse only to be told the next day that the vendor had taken it off the market and was selling to a friend!
We were taken to a house next to a farm in the middle of the apple growing area. There was some question concerning the access, and the possibility of re-routing it to avoid the farm and approach the house from the other direction. This would involve negotiations with the farmer to purchase a strip of land on the other side of the house.
That together with the fact that being in the middle of orchards, my wife was concerned about crop spraying and other unforeseen hazards, meant that it too dropped off the list.
We visited another house/farm which was vacant and in the process of being restored, but which lay immediately alongside the main road, and didn't quite fit into our image of a French Idyll. Still needed a lot of work to complete, and make habitable.
The very large barn overlooking the river and facing a small Chateau on the other bank was tempting, but with no services connected and a huge amount of work to convert, it seemed too large a task to undertake.
After all we were just on holiday!
We were then introduced to another "house" by the second Agent who described it variously as "A Monastery" or "A Chateau", and which contained some huge and magnificent fireplaces. At this point we really were becoming seriously interested, but also, for me anyway, a little overwrought by this exercise. But it was Thursday, and if we were to follow up on this we needed to move quickly, and so an appointment was made for the Friday afternoon.
Being impatient and more than a little curious we drove to the village that evening to have a preview of the house, and soon found it without any difficulty. It was rather difficult to decide just how much of this enormous building was "for sale" and almost impossible to discover what the rooms inside would look like, if in fact there were any rooms. The most daunting aspect of the property however, was the height and condition of the roof. It clearly needed a lot of work, only one section had been recently repaired, and the whole exercise seemed totally impractical.

Friday morning was clear, but with gathering clouds. It was the last day of the holiday and we had planned to visit Brantome for the market and perhaps a visit to the Abbey. This delightful small town known as the Venice of the north, is perfect for a day out, with lunch in one of the many cafes along the river.
The appointment we had made to view the "chateau" seemed to me to be quite inappropriate, since my initial reaction on seeing it the night before had convinced me that it was too large and expensive an undertaking, and I was intent on cancelling it. My wife on the other hand was determined to see this interesting house, having made the arrangement, and so with some reluctance I drove back to Excideuil to keep our rendezvous.