Old Shoes and Death Taxes

September 18, 2015

     It has occurred to me that I do not have a single pair of dress shoes here.  If someone were to ask me what life is like here, I could sum it up by saying, "You'll have no use for them."

     So the contrast between New York --where (no pun intended) the fabric of life is stylishly woven-- and Caunes could not be greater.  I have clothes here I could only wear if I traveled to Paris --I would be laughed out of Caunes if I wore them.

     Which almost happened last Sunday, when I was invited to a luncheon in Villeneuve.  It was cool enough that I thought summer wear was not necessary, so I wore black leggings, a black shirt and a snug Western-style black leather vest with alternating bands of red and black fringe.  Thinking boots with the outfit would be too much, I settled for black espadrilles.

      One of my hosts is an artist, so I thought a bit of imagination in dress would be positively received.  And indeed, my hosts appreciated the outfit, which I said made it impossible to mistake me for "anything but an American".  However, everyone else was dressed in conventional off-the-rack summer wear.

      I recently co-hosted a lunch to introduce a Dutch couple moving to Caunes to people already living there. The idea was to use my house, which is large, rather than that of my co-host, which is very small.  I showed everyone around from top to bottom.  At the end of the house tour, the wife in the Dutch couple commented, "Your house is 'out of the box' --I like it!"  Well, I've put a lot of thought into the environment I wanted to create, and I was willing to bring items from New York, because I knew what I would find here would be junk, or terribly dated.

      It's the natural beauty that makes living here worthwhile.  This morning at 7:45 a.m. I took Beau on a walk on the Voie du Pont Casse.  It was cold and clear and sunny --perfect weather.  Later I went for a bicycle ride to Villeneuve and back, returning via the longer route, via le Tinal d'Abrens.  The weather made the ride easy, and I may go out again this afternoon.

      Nonetheless, living here year-round would be trying for someone used to the ready availability of services and products New Yorkers are used to.  For instance, earlier, chasing a ball Beau pushed under my silk-covered love seat, I smeared an upholstered arm with lipstick.  Fortunately, I'd brought a "Tide" stain-removing pen with me a year ago and I was able to quickly remove the stain.  Otherwise I would have damaged the love seat permanently, as no one in the vicinity of Carcassonne offers the kind of "steam cleaning" people in New York, Philadelphia, Boston and Washington, D.C. take for granted.  Which is also why the quality of the furniture tends to be cheap --no one offers cleaning services, so why spend on better items?  And with per capita income the lowest in all of France, few residents of l'Aude have it to spend, anyway.

     That no one ever throws anything out is one of the things I like the most about France.  That means it is possible to find people who can repair things, but the wait for the good artisans can be very long.

      So in a sense, the more relaxed attitude of the French is born of necessity.  With fewer people who do work at a high level available to the average person, no one allows themselves to become too excited about delays and long waits.  My friends at La Marbrerie just learned that their plan to build a small hotel has been put on hold for the near future while the conflict between the local authorities and the authorities in Paris gets ironed out.  The delay was foreseeable because although the architect complied with one set of regulations, the others also governing the project are in conflict.  The project is stalled until an even higher level of the French bureaucracy can adjudicate the controversy.

       Lastly, the inheritance taxes are confiscatory.  For even close relatives, inheriting real property carries a tax of 35% of the assessed value of the property.  Anyone else inheriting real property must pay 65%!

       So I won't be here forever.  In fact, I'll put the house on the market once the renovations are done.  It could take years before I find a buyer, given the state of the French real estate market.  The only ray of sunshine in that sector is the news that for the first time in twenty-five years, everywhere in France it is cheaper to buy a house or apartment than to rent.

        Which may mean I will find a buyer in less than four years --which is how long it took the previous owners of my house to find me.