The search does continue, of course, but it is painstakingly slow and cumbersome. We search for land on the Internet, then we email for information (i.e. address) and then we travel to Belgium again to take a closer look, if we can find it. And almost all of the time the lots are not adequate. Mostly it’s a south facing issue. This is the most important factor and has to be near perfect, so no buildings, slopes or trees may block the sun, but the south will also be our main view, and we do like a nice view…

We figured that our current line of action isn’t working well enough, at least not quickly enough.

So, this weekend we are spending the whole weekend in Belgium. We leave Friday so we can have an early start on Saturday without having to travel for 3 hours before we can start. Also we keep going until it gets dark, go back to the hotel and try again on Sunday.
The area in which we want to leave is around Bastogne and that’s where we focus our attention. We’re going to drive around and look for “For Sale” signs. This may sound odd, but a lot of the land is sold without broker intervention and these lots you’ll never find on the Internet.
We’re gonna try our luck. Systematically browsing the web and playing it via the realtors obviously doesn’t work for us, so a change of tactic is prudent.

Sun Tzu said: “Security against defeat implies defensive tactics; ability to defeat the enemy means taking the offensive.”

We’re taking the offensive…

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It was a Saturday like many before, except now it was raining hard. We figured we’d beat the rain on our way south, but by the time Antwerp was reached the decision was made to head back home, it was to wet. Funny thing was that it was the second time that day we decided not to go on another quest.

After switching driver and finding our way back to the highway the choice to head south was made.., again. This time we stuck with it, and that was a good call.

As usual Laila prepared the trip by finding potentials on the Web. Feeding the information into the TomTom is as easy as pie and then we drive, in this case, for another two hours.

The first lot was messy (many, many tree stumps) and facing the wrong way (i.e. north). The surrounding area was beautiful and it did lie on a dead end road, but it just didn’t cut it.

The second and last lot, we wouldn’t visit the third, was hard to find. For some reason the brokers always give the wrong location on the map and/or the wrong address. Don’t know why, it just is…
Anyhoo.., we did find it and does look promising, I might sound a bit cautious and that’s with good reason. We do not want to get overly exited.., again.

But, it seems a nice big piece for a reasonable price, no utilities and facing south-east.

It used to hold trees and there will be some, or maybe a lot, tree trunks there. But the site has been.., ehhh.., dormant for quite some time. A lot of stuff is growing there for at least since winter. This is positive for us, ‘cause the longer a site is on the market, the stronger the need to get rid of it, we hope we can knock a bit of the price…

For now we will contact the broker, ask a few serious questions and if, or when, they have positive answers we will contact the local government and see if can actually do what ever it is that we’re gonna do…

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While following the set rules and the predetermined route, between lot #2 and lot #3, we stumbled upon a “En Vendre” sign… which goes to show.., one can’t, or shouldn’t, plan everything.

With screeching tires we came to a halt. It looked promising. Because we were oriented properly all day we could tell it was facing south.., and it was on a hill.

Lotte (our architect) and Laila were out of the car first. After parking, I joined them.

It was big and it was indeed facing south, I know, I brought a compass. The view was clear, no buildings, no trees, no hills, a clear view for miles.

Just Maybe

There was a number on the sign, Laila called, the man even spoke Dutch. The land was for sale, big and affordable… the catch? So far, there isn’t one… it even takes a smudge under three hours to get there.

Lotte was already visualizing everything, Laila kept her sanity (and still does) and tries not to hope to much and I think this might just be real…

We contacted the local council (with a nice letter in French), they have to wait for the proper documents to come through in order to respond to our request. We have to wait… no choice but to wait.

So, has this story a conclusion.., sadly no. But, let’s hope that Seeking Land part IV will be the last…

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Find land, get permit, buy land, and build Earthship.., that’s the idea…

So we made a second run, this time we passed through Belgium and along the way decided that the Belgium Ardennes are no longer an option.., everything points to the French Ardennes. And it’s not just the feeling we get, although important, it’s also the money.., it’s just a very big difference.., about half… well something like that.

Then there is political stability, the French way of living, better roads, the countryside is more beautiful and we think we have more chance of actually obtaining a permit.

There’s a great deal of people moving away form the rural areas in search of better times, mostly to the cities. This means the smaller villages suffer and the locals welcome new arrivals, for obvious reasons. And that’s good for us…

We visited a couple of lots and about half was really interesting. Some villages really “feel” nice and we think we could easily make a home there. Of course there is a matter of cost, size and how reachable it is. We did find one lot which was really interesting. A bit pricy but the broker gave us some hope. Any real developments will be posted…

So, a bit about the Ardennes.

I know in Holland everybody knows “the Ardennes” and most of them have been there, or in that area at some time, mostly in the Belgium Ardennes, but hey…

One reason for its popularity is nature. The hilly structure of the area limits agricultural development and thus remains nicely forested.

The Ardennes has its own historical value with strong ties to both World Wars. The many monuments and remembrance statues are a constant reminder of these wars and the strategic value of the area.

Even the Netherlands have laid claim to the area in various times and under various flags, as Spanish Netherlands, the Austrian Netherlands and the United Kingdom of the Netherlands, eventually ending up with just a bit of wet lowland.

So in the traditions of old, we reclaim the Ardennes.., or at least a small part of it…

Source: Wikipedia

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I visited the Earthship in Normandy last week. A request for help originated from the Trott family and resonated all the way through to silly old moi. And as Kevan is the European representative for Earthship Biotecture he is the man to meet. So, in a spur of the moment kind of way we decided that I (Rogier) should travel down to Normandy and check out this mystical thing called an Earthship.

I drove down on Monday, during the day and made good time. I even arrived a bit earlier than expected and visited the Earthship before heading of to Diane’s B&B (Cinq la Ruelle), which, by the way, turned out to be a most excellent choice.
Now, I have seen the Earthship before, I’ve read the blog and got a few books on the matter, so I knew what to expect.

But, seeing it for real does add an extra dimension to the experience. Obviously a lot is already done on the house, in fact, it’s nearly finished and thanks to the blog and fotos/dvd shown by Kevan one can get a good sense of the labor that went into creating it.

So, my primary objective was to make contact with Kevan and Gillian, the rest was secondary to that.
Now, it must be said that one has to be a little nuts to start a project like building an Earthship. Granted, it is a house, and people are building those all the time, but most of the time they pay somebody else to build it. And even if they do it themselves, building an Earthship has its own set of challenges. The building permit for one is in most cases the biggest hurdle (or mountain) to overcome. Then there are the resources (i.e. tires, bottles, cans). Of course, anything can be bought and delivered to your doorstep, but that kinda defeats the purpose of an Earthship.
Anyway, my point is that the Trotts are a bit nuts too, but in a good sense and not dissimilar to Laila and myself, which makes for a good foundation.

My time at the Earthship was spend working, on various little things, and talking. A lot of talking. Similar minded people make for good conversations on the various topics which mark an Earthship.., environmental, ecological, biological, sociological, monetary, and more…
Three students from Holland (Lotte, Joris and Niels) slept in a little tent and were interested from a scholar point of view, Steve (a Brit living in France) from a career point of view, Robert (also from Holland) from a personal point of view, like us, he wants to build his own Earthship.., somehow.., someday. Then there were two British guys, Will and Nick. Will having his own renovation company and Nick.., ehhh.., well Nick is just a very open minded man who’s motives remain a mystery…

Anyway…, it certainly was a worthwhile experience. I met nice people and had good conversations. The Earthship remains an enticing future. After visiting another one for real, it confirms the feelings we have since we first became aware of the concept.

We definitely want to build, and live in, our own Earthship.., we will make it happen…

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We gaan met een auto en niet alleen naar Afrika, nee…… we gaan van
het meest noordelijke puntje van Europa, Nordkap, naar het meest
zuidelijke puntje van Afrika, Cape town. Van cape to cape dus. Maar ook
weer terug…

We weten dus dat we met een auto gaan, maar verder nog niets. Vanwege de
vaak onstabiele situaties in Afrika is het nog niet duidelijk welke
route we gaan nemen.

Inmiddels zijn we wel al flink aan het sparen, en het internet aan het
afstruinen voor informatie. Het plan is om eind dit jaar al een auto te
gaan kopen zodat we die helemaal naar onze zin kunnen maken en om alvast
de komende tijd te oefenen en alvast wat lol te hebben.

We zullen voor deze reis alles op alles zetten, de lessen die we geleerd
hebben tijdens de vorige reis zullen we hier goed kunnen gebruiken.

Het huis zal dus verkocht worden, het was wel prettig om een huis te
hebben bij terugkomst, maar vehuren is niet echt een prettige situatie.
Het is niet een zorgloze situatie.
Ook qua werk is het beste wanneer dat opgezecht wordt. Eventuele
tijdsdruk voor terugkomst is niet wenselijk…, ook al was het de
laatste keer comfortable en was alles goed geregeld met Pink.

Dit keer gaan we voor de ultieme vrijheid….

We hebben inmiddels www.capetocape.eu bestelt en hopen dit domein dit
jaar te krijgen, hier zal dan een professionele site gebouwd worden waar
we onze avonturen op zullen plaatsen.

Voolopig houden we jullie je op deze website op de hoogte van alle
plannen en eventuele veranderingen daarin, je weet immers nooit…

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