Move-In Day in Uzès

Patience.

Remember when I said one of the reasons for moving to another country, out of my comfort zone, was to learn to be patient? On move-in day, my patience was stretched to the limits. Never ask for something unless you really know you want it. Starting with move-in day, photos are far better than words. However, let me set the stage.

The apartment is in a 15th-century building in the center of the historic district of Uzès. As with most residences here, the ground floor doesn’t count, so the floors start on two (etage 2). My apartment is on etage 3. All in all, there are 55 steps from the ground floor to my apartment.

Now imagine “two men and a truck” carrying two 7′ x 5′ armoires; two 4’x3′ Victorian chests –one with a detachable marble top; a 36″ round table; and four chairs up the steps and spiral staircase. The good news? The armoires could be disassembled. Nevertheless!

What’s so hard about this?

Hauling furniture up the winding steps to the “tower”

At last!

Imagine another “two men and a truck” crew arriving with a king-size bed mattress. A feat of imagination, ingenuity, and brawn. One of the men imagined a third climb to the top, nicknamed the apartment “l’ascension.”