Not what it says on the tin

The details on the website indicated that the property was 30 minutes drive from Carcassonne. I drove back down the mountain like Sebastian Loeb at his best (the French 5 times world rally champion for those of you struggling with that name) and it still took me an hour and a quarter to get back here.

What is it with estate agents and completely misleading information? Earlier this week was the "Oh no it doesn't flood" blatant lie and today I find that time is indeed relative to your rally ability and the slowness of the second hand on a dodgy Turkish Rolex copy. My watch might be having difficulty keeping up with real time but it's nothing compared to the time estimates of 'agents immobilliers'. Doctor Who couldn't have got back any quicker.

As you will have guessed, I went to look at another property today. It's not right for us but it is in a stunning location if you are not expecting guests. It was three miles to the end of the drive - i.e three miles from the turn off from the side road that was ten miles from the nearest village and fifteen miles from the nearest boulangerie. I would have hated to get home and find I had forgotten to collect the baguettes on the way.

I am quite used to the country roads here and my driving style could be described as fast if you are faint-hearted (if you can, imagine playing V-Rally on Playstation). Besides it was a glorious sunny day and the wind was in my hair and I had guests arriving back at 42rvh - so I had to get back. I think the average punter in a Opel Zafira hire car stuffed full of luggage might be a bit more circumspect - it would probably take them two hours from Carcassonne airport.

So - too far, too remote, too isolated, too much work needed - fantastic place though if you had the money and weren't bothered about guests and running businesses. It's an 18th Century farmhouse in gorgeous ochre stone that sits right on the top of a mountain with the most spectacular views in every direction. It has structurally sound walls and has had a new roof put on it, but because it's as old as it is and has never been updated very much it still looks like the animals live inside in better conditions than the humans. The whole interior needs completely ripping out and replacing - a massive job for anyone.

Because of it's age it is also protected by 'Monuments Historique', which means that one couldn't put new doors or windows into it or extend it. The problem with that is that every door is built for someone five feet tall and all the windows are very small too so that natural light, even on a glorious Autumn day like today, is at a premium.

I stood there and watched the butterflies zig-zagging about, marvelled at the eagles soaring overhead, listened to the cowbells from across the valley and tried to picture the pool and the garden and the terrace. I was constantly swishing the flies away (despite the 800m altitude this was still farmland) and have a multitude of nettle stings on my ankles from the overgrowth around the house.

As always one has to weigh up the good and the bad, the positive and the negative. Nowhere will be perfect but it has to have a lot more going for it than against it and sadly this place falls into the latter category.

We will keep looking of course and I am off to see somewhere else tomorrow. As long as the agent hasn't been misleading anyone it should be perfect - I will reserve judgement on that though for 24 hours in light of recent experience.