OUR NEW HOME IN NICE

When Steve and I were making our plans to move to France, our first consideration was a place to live that we could afford. Steve was more skeptical than I was. He was convinced we would not be able to afford anything fit to live in.  I, on the other hand, had lived in various homes in Los Angeles, in various neighborhoods.  During the time that I was working as an actress, I worked as a real estate agent (eventually becoming a broker) as back-up. Thus, I knew to look for help – a real estate agent in Nice.

After an extensive search, I heard about the site www.angloinfo.com. I created a page on that site and began posting comments regarding our upcoming move and our need for help. I got several responses, one of which was from someone named Andrea Emond. She was a Canadian, living in Nice. She said she would be glad to help us.

Andrea and I began corresponding back and forth. That went on for almost two years. Our plans changed so much that I was afraid Andrea would get disgusted and disappear. But, she did not do so. At some point, she realized that a major stumbling block – other than Steve’s obtaining his Italian passport – was a place to live. So she began sending us setups regarding properties that were within our budget, knowing that there were still a lot of snags to our getting on a plane. When we began to see what was available and prices involved, Steve and I both got excited. We could afford Nice.

In 2015, we made the decision to move by November 1^st. We made one offer that did not fly, but the second offer did. We leased a furnished three-bedroom, one bath condo in an area called Cimiez, starting October 1st. That didn’t mean anything to us, but Andrea said it was one of the best neighborhoods in Nice.

(Note: Unfurnished units sometimes don’t have complete kitchens – no stove, refrigerator, etc.  And, long-term lets are difficult to find. Nice is a short-term rental town. AND, international moving companies are expensive.)

We decided to unload our all of our furniture (except for my Steinway piano).  We sold all of the furniture, both of our cars (2 BMW’s), and lots of personal items. THAT was very difficult for both of us to do – that’s how much we wanted to make the move. I am posting a picture of Andrea and her partner Slav (http://www.home-frenchriviera.com/).

Below are some “before” pictures and “after” pictures of our condo. We have done some more things since these pictures were taken. And, I am not including all of the rooms.  But, these give you an idea of whom we met, what we saw, and how we have begun fixing it up. We’ve ended up using some of the landlord’s existing furniture, but we got them to take away most of it, including all of their personal items, like pots & pans, dishes, towels, and such.  The unit now is warm and cozy.

We bought pieces at Habitat (https://www.habitat.fr), on the French version of Craigslist(https://www.leboncoin.fr/annonces/offres/provence_alpes_cote_d_azur/) and at a donation outlet named Emmaus (http://www.emmaus06.fr/). We shipped my Steinway piano, artwork, kitchenware, clothes, and linens.  

This is the incredible view!!

Best, Jay