… more ruins this morning, I have made an Executive Decision (and an Executive Decision is, as we all know, a decision that if it goes all wrong, the person making it is executed.
I’d seen an interesting apartment not long after I came here and started to have a look around.
The building is out on the headland right by the old walled city and was formerly an army barracks. There are three of these buildings here and after having stood empty for many years they are being restored and converted into apartments.
And tastefully converted by people who clearly had a good idea about how a multi-occupancy building should be arranged.
The apartment was 38m² and on the first floor, at the back unfortunately.
It’s those two windows just there, the right-hand one of which is just above the signs on the signpost there, and the small window around the side.
No balcony or terrace though, although there is private parking for Caliburn.
There’s a modern, heavy front door with al kinds of security fittings and an entryphone, which is really good.
But the steps up to the apartment itself are really impressive. Not very tall (of course people were much smaller in the 17th Century), very wide and made of solid stone. There are even carvings in them from the days when it was the French Army that was billeted here.
That’s my apartment from door right up there, on the first floor. There’s really two flights of stairs and a half-landing. There’s a lift too, but that goes from half-landing to half-landing and so that’s no good to me, is it?
There are two rooms here. One is a really big room that’s about 25m and tons of room to do just about anything I like in it. Within limits, of course, because it’s only to be used as a residential property.
It faces east and so it catches the sun in the morning, but not unfortunately in the afternoon. And that can’t be helped. And I do like the wooden floor
The kitchen is total rubbish, just like almost every apartment kitchen that I have seen in Granville. But it did manage to fire my imagination and I can do something with this for not very much money.
And look at the real stone facings on the wall. It’s a proper stone wall with insulation and plasterboard faced over the top. It reminds me of home and that’s another reason why it appealed to me.
There’s a small bedroom, which is fine by me. I don’t want a bedroom except for sleeping in, and there’s only going to be me anyway so it doesn’t really matter all that much.
and I’m rather disappointed by the floor. I thought at first that it was a wooden floor but in actual fact it’s a false lamitate, and a cheap laminate at that too. But you can’t have everything (and believe me, I’ve tried)
However, another advantage of this place is that there’s a built-in wardrobe here, complete with shelves and a few hanging rails.
There isn’t much in the way of storage facilities, but I only have a few clothes these days anyway, so there is plenty of room left over to stock whatever else needs stocking and for which I’m not able to find any other place to keep it.
The bathroom is the right size too, not too big and not too small. And it’s been refurbished quite nicely too.
I’m not impressed by the bath though. I would much rather have a shower so that I can use the extra space for something else, but I’m not prepared to argue about it.
There is plumbing for a washing machine though, and that’s quite useful.
The toilet is separate too, but then that’s not going to be very much of an issue because of course there’s only going to be me in here.
But anyway, chatting to the estate agent, she told me that this place was still unlet although someone else had been to see it and quite liked it.
And it is I suppose the best that I’ve seen to date and the rental is within my budget, and being totally fed up of seeing more ruins, and living out of a suitcase in depressing surroundings, I took a decision and signed on the dotted line.
After all, it is right in the shadow of the city walls by one of the gates. And I do love the building – it really has the right kind of impressive style that I want.
I could move in straight away too, except that there’s no electric. And for that, I’ll have to wait until Friday next week for that. and that’s dismayed me.
But not as much as the question of the internet. There’s a two-week delay for that, and that’s going to be difficult for me.
However, I set to work and managed to unload half of Caliburn today, as well as going around the shops in town.
There is in fact a sea view from the apartment if you are prepared to do a little bit of contortionism, but just around the corner 50 yards away is a very lovely public garden right at the top of the wall overlooking the harbour.
This looks like the ideal place for me to go and have my picnic every day when the weather is good, and being in the lee of the buildings it’s actually quite sheltered from the wind.
There are a variety of ways down to the modern town and shopping facilities. Apart from the three roads, there are several sets of stairs and ramps that lead you off in all kinds of directions
I took one set of stairs only to discover that this seems to be the longest way round. There are several ways that are much shorter than this.
And if I’m feeling the strain of the climb back up the road with my shopping, there’s a bus service and the fare is €1:00
While you admire the view from the top of the stairs, i climbed down to the bottom and went into town.
I organised the internet, changed my bank over to the branch here, and went to the Post Office to complete a redirection service for all of my post.
Hopefully that will end all of this confusion that has taken place over the past 18 months with my mail. What with one thing and another I’ve not been getting it.
The whole of Granville seems to be built on cliffs and rocks, and while I was out on the promenade speaking to the guy at the Electricity Company, this person came flying by overhead.
It’s not something that I would recommend around here with the roofs and chimneys and rocky outcrops either, and luckily he didn’t have an “unfortunate encounter” – at least, while I was there watching him.
The walk back up the hill to the old down took me along the walls that surround the place, and there I encountered a drawbridge, or pont lévis as they are called around here.
But as for me, I can well imagine that with my reputation they will start pulling up the drawbridge and running down the portcullis now that they know that I’m moving in to the vicinity. Sentries patrolling the walls too, I reckon.
So having worked myself to a frazzle with half of Caliburn unloaded I came back here for a coffee and to relax before tea.
and now it’s bedtime. And I’ll probably sleep for a week.
