Whirlwind of activity

Hi everyone. I wanted to say thanks for your interest and for all the 'positive thoughts' you have sent me during my search for a fond de commerce. It's been a tumultuous couple of weeks. I thought I had finally found a good start-up place (which I didn't even have time to write about yet), but as quickly as I stumbled across it, I "lost" it to another guy, faster at the draw by leaving a deposit check. Yes, the fun of real estate. I picked myself up by the bootstraps, continued pondering my current options, and even started to explore others. A week later I couldn't believe it when I received a phone call saying that the shop I had wanted was available after all - due, apparently, to credit problems of the prospective buyer. Perhaps a sign of a tightening banking system? Who knows, but suddenly luck seemed back in my favor!

We're now in the process of finalizing an offer and trying to confirm that the landlord will approve of the changes we'd like to make to the place. (If not, it's back to square one...) Yesterday was an interesting day. I met a kitchen designer and a wine vendor, thanks to our new friend from Chevreuse (more on his restaurant later). This morning I have an appointment with an architect, thanks to another American friend in Paris. Things are moving, hopefully not prematurely. I'll certainly write more about the new place after it's a bit more settled (I'm hoping for the best). For now, I wanted to say, please continue to keep your fingers crossed & send more of your positive thoughts my way, s'il vous plaît!


:/dma