Integration from day one
On 15 October 2024, it was finally time to go to the notary and get the keys. When we signed the preliminary deed of sale in July, we spent almost 3 hours at the notary’s office, and this time it took ‘only’ an hour and a half. Both times we were not offered coffee, tea or water: something unthinkable in the Netherlands. The transfer tax in France is very high and the notary had an explanation for this: in France you are sure that the property is really yours because they look back for 30 years. So there is no chance of someone coming along one day and claiming your house. “In England, it can happen at any time,” says the young notary. Well, that can come at a price, can it?
We had planned to take a few things with us to spend a week getting used to our new home and preparing for the big move (in November). And it was a good decision. The house was far from ‘broom clean’, as we call it in the Netherlands. On top of that, we found a wasps’ nest during the inspection round. So we hurriedly called a man from a pest control company, who was very customer-oriented as he came the very next day.
Cold shower
That evening, Rob took a cold shower: it turned out that the thermostatic tap was connected the wrong way round. Hmmm, was this a hidden fault? Luckily, Rob was able to fix it. And in the same vein, we also had other unforeseen expenses. We had anticipated the ‘unforeseen’ expenses, another tip for future emigrates. But rest assured: we are not a good candidate for the Dutch TV show called ‘I’m leaving’ .
Bank
The second day we went straight to the nearest bank to open an account, as we thought that was a priority. It didn’t work to open a bank account online, but after 2.5 hours in the agency it seemed to work. The women were friendly and we laughed together. We were very patient despite all the work ahead of us: we had chosen France, and then you get culture as a gift! Unfortunately, after 4 weeks we still could not transfer money to that account. Unfortunately, after 4 weeks, we still couldn‘t transfer money to that account and that’s when we ended our trust in that bank. And started searching again (1). If something clearly doesn’t want to happen, don’t force it, is our motto.
Cows
And later in that first week: cows in our garden! There are cows on either side of our property and these cows had found a hole in the fence. How do you get a cow out? You don’t. But it did prompt me to contact the farmer, who put some additional stakes in the ground the next day. Let’s hope it stays there.
Rendez-vous in the city hall
Moving to France requires a lot of preparation. Nowhere have we found an off-the-shelf checklist that works for us, because we don’t have a ‘standard’ scenario. In the meantime we have become all-round experts. We had decided that we wanted to register officially in our new town, so we sent an e-mail to the town hall. And yes, we got a personal appointment with the mayor! We spent an hour together in the ‘wedding room’, getting to know each other and exchanging phone numbers. The cheese, caramel waffles and Dutch ‘pepernoten’ I had brought with me were served at the council meeting a week later. Well, sometimes you have to do something to become a famous Dutchman. We did what we could!
In the first week we had more adventures than a whole year in the Netherlands: settling in goes fast!
PS: (1) There were still two French banks we could not access online, one because we did not have a French (counter) account and the other because we did not have French ID. Fortunately, the fourth bank (a commercial international online bank) welcomed us as customers!
Conclusion of the story: every day we encounter new obstacles before we can anchor here. It teaches us to be patient and solution-oriented. We chose this life, this is our own creation. So don’t complain, hey! .
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