And we're off...

The last two weeks have not been easy, though at the same time they could have been a lot harder. God provided for us amazingly in our two weeks' flat-hunting in Nancy. For a start, we were able to leave our kids in the very capable and loving hands of their French grandparents. Half of me was happy to have some time away with Marc, but as the time got longer it did get harder, and at least I knew they were enjoying themselves.

On arrival in Nancy, we had a flat to stay in (some friends who were away) and a car to get us around (another friend who offered us her car). And lots of friends to catch up with, which was great.

The difficult part was the flat-hunting. We soon heard from other people that it has got more difficult to rent because of changes to the law. Agencies don't want to take any risks at all, and we are not ideal candidates. We are used to not fitting into categories, but in some contexts people are willing to listen and to do their best to accommodate us (no pun intended!). Not really in this case. Our last payslips show our pay in Benin, which is a lot lower than our pay here in France. We do have a document from SIM attesting to our higher salary, but it also says we'll be in France for "at least a year", which agencies tended to read as "a year", also not an incentive for renting to us.

Having always had the impression in Benin that "everything would be simpler if we were at home", I was faced with the unpleasant truth that things can be just as difficult at home as elsewhere!

So the first two flats we hoped to rent fell through, and when we went to the third agency, a week after visiting flats, and having spent most of that week just waiting to hear from agencies, I was feeling pretty discouraged. If it had just been us in the equation, I wouldn't have been too bothered about it taking a while, but I knew we needed an address to be able to register the kids at school.

But at this third agency, as she asked us to remind us of our surname, she wrote it out and then said, "Oh, but I already know you! You lived in rue Emile Gebhart ... I used to work for the agency you rented from!" I immediately felt much better knowing that we had a connection with her, and that she knew we'd been good tenants before (and Marc for another 3 years before our marriage). It still took a long time to get everything done, because the agency wanted a guarantor, and so papers had to be sent back and forth to Marc's dad, but at last on Monday we were able to sign for our flat.

Things moved fast after that, as we rented a van to pick up some furniture which is being lent to us, and more which has been given to us, and with help from friends from church got it moved into the flat. It was an odd feeling to only be seeing "our" furniture for the first time as it arrived in the flat! On Tuesday we picked up some furniture we'd bought, and with help from friends got most of the furniture put together again. I was even able to make up the beds before we left for Paris on Tuesday afternoon to go and pick up the kids. And another friend went to the townhall to get our kids signed up for school ... it is such a blessing to move somewhere where we already have friends in place!!

When we arrived at Marc's parents, we had a wonderful reunion with the kids! Lots of smiles and cuddles!

We then drove back to Nancy on Thursday morning, spent the afternoon and evening with friends, slept in our new flat overnight, had a quick forest-then-shopping trip on Friday morning, and came away again for the weekend to stay with Marc's brother and his family in the Vosges.

At some point I expect we'll come down to earth...

Waiting...

Marc and I are now in Nancy, having arrived here last Tuesday. We are staying in the flat of some friends who are away at the moment, and another friend has been lending us her car. We are very thankful for this, especially as flat-finding has turned out to be a longer process than we thought.

We found a flat we liked easily enough, but then discovered that (probably since new laws have been passed recently) we had to give in a form with a whole lot of documents to be able to "apply" for the flat. We asked how long it would take, and the receptionist was a bit vague, and said that her boss was on holiday but they were still sending her things. She was sympathetic to our situation ... but that isn't going to help much!

We have been enjoying catching up with friends - and it sounds like the kids have been having a lovely time with their grandparents near Paris - but the wait is getting frustrating! While we appreciate the novelty of having some child-free time, I am starting to miss them, and don't like the idea that I don't know how long it is until I'll see them again! (We can't really bring them here until we have a flat and a minimum of furniture.)

Anyway, I am trying to trust that it will all fall into place in God's timing, because I know it will, whether it is this flat or another!

Here are the two of us in Place Stanislas: