The French dejection
PARIS couple make dream move to PAISLEY and find rancid flat with manky knickers on bed, filthy fridge and dog food on the sofa
FORMER HOME Paris
A FRENCH couple who moved from Paris to Paisley for their retirement had to be rescued from a grimy flat they’d rented.
Rose-marie Dardelet Foulon and her partner Eric Dine quit the French capital for a new life in Renfrewshire after falling in love with the town.
But their Paisley version of a Year in Provence ended up in misery as the two-bed maisonette in the town’s Neilston Road turned out to be filthy mess.
They’d been duped into the rental after the online Gumtree video avoided showing the mess the flat was in. The previous occupant had even left a pair of knickers on display in a bedroom.
Rose-marie, 68, gave up after spending hours trying to clean it and felt trapped in the manky flat. She said: “It really was the house of filth.
“We even had underwear hanging up. I don’t know how anyone would think they could let out a property like this.”
The pair were disgusted after finding dog biscuits on the sofa, a rug soiled with urine and cupboards overflowing with junk. And when former English teacher Rose-marie issued a plea for help on Friday, her call was answered by chairwoman of Paisley First, Colette Cardosi.
Colette said: “I am here to promote Paisley and I had to do something. Rose-marie chose to come and live in Paisley over everywhere else in Scotland.
“They were just so excited about a new home in Paisley and I couldn’t just stand back and do nothing.”
Colette helped Rose-marie deal with the French Embassy and concerns over coronavirus quarantine regulations.
And she checked the situation with police as the couple feared breaking quarantine after arriving from France.
Rose-marie and Eric, 46, an IT expert, are now spending the next 10 days’ isolation in a comfortable flat in the town. Colette said: “We managed to get them into a nice rented flat after two nights in emergency accomodation.”
It had been Rose- marie’s dream to retire to Scotland since she was a teaching assistant in Dundee in 1974.
But it was Paisley she fell in love with on a trip last year – snubbing Glasgow for being too busy and packed with tourists.