A Roof Examination

This is a long story, hopefully I can shorten it and keep the most frustrating portions intact for your enjoyment. We bought the Grande Maison last August...2006, it took until Novemberf to close, delay after delay and the damned problem of money transfers reared their ugly head time and time again. That said...we successfully DID get the money here and thru magic and much French wringing-of-hands the money got into the right hands. The house became ours. We, however weren't destined to open the front door as the new owners until we returned to France in late March. We gathered the keys from the real estate agent and we were IN! The dust hasn't cleared since! About two weeks AFTER we arrived we received an estimate for the replacement of the roof, it's gutters and affiliated attachments, drains, roof slates etc. 19,000 Euros. For what?! A ROOF!? You have GOT to be kidding! They weren't kidding, the roof was failing and indeed was dangerous so we were told, as pieces were falling off of it and could decapitate someone on the sidewalk below! We had NEVER been told by anyone of this condition (s), not the previous owner, her son or the attorney or our real estate agent! No one said a thing! Good grief! It could have collapsed and killed hundreds during a protest parade! But no, it did not collapse and actually doesn't leak much either. Nonetheless a detailed reading of the estimate yeilded 19,000 Euros worth of repairs and replacement. Shit! So at 6pm last night in came a different roofer with his own ideas and his own inspection, he pronounced the back roof of the house "bon" (good) and the front "malvaise" (sick/bad). Now this IS progress! Much shaking of hands and a promise to return with a Euro figure Semaine Prochain...next week. We will see then what another number is. The joys of living here never cease to amaze me. I love Paradise, I think.