The Notaire

When we bought our French house all those years ago the purchase was dealt with by the local Notaire (solicitor) and took a lengthy five months to complete.  We finally met with Monsieur M and the vendors in his dusty office in the local town to complete the transaction.  In France the Notaire acts for the buyer and the seller.  Monsieur M didn’t speak a word of English and our French was very limited so we were a bit bemused by the whole process.  We all crowded into his office, Sarah, Kat, Paul and me, the estate agent, the vendor and her two sons, and the Notaire.  Dozens of documents had to be read and each one signed or initialled; I think it took over an hour before the keys were handed over.

This time we used an English speaking Notaire.  She was not like Monsier M, not in the slightest!  Dark haired, pretty and petite, Madame Notaire was wearing a low cut t-shirt and shorts when we first met her.  She whisked us into her modern office and proceeded to talk us through the selling process at a breathtaking pace.  Paul had brought his folder of house documents and she pounced on that straightaway.  Paul tried to protest but she was definitely not going to hand anything back to him.  He was dumbstruck! The meeting passed with the fury of a whirlwind; she showed us out of the door and Paul and I just looked at each other in a complete daze.

Needless to say Madame Notaire is a force to be reckoned with and is extraordinarily efficient.  The signing of the Promesse de Vent was set up electronically so we only had to sign one ‘screen’.  When we enquired about a Power of Attorney (as we won’t be in France for the completion) she just shrugged her toned shoulders and informed us that it had already been set up and everything was in place.  Amazing!

I have to say that women like this make me feel totally inadequate.  She has a husband and young family and probably runs a quick marathon before breakfast.  Clever, brilliant with a successful career.  And she lives in a chateau.