Taking the Slow Road

(3 of 3)

Last spring Kenny and her husband rented a furnished apartment in the center of Salisbury, England, over the Internet. Even though they are highly experienced at the rental game, they failed to ask enough questions and were stunned once they arrived to discover that the flat was above a noisy carpet shop, the patio looked out on a large parking lot, and the master-bedroom window had a too-close-for-comfort view of the bathroom in a neighboring bicycle-repair shop. "And this apartment was rated four stars by the English tourist board," says Kenny. "The location was good, but the setting was horrible."

Although both the location and the setting were perfect for Conlon and Plumb's Paris apartment, they faced some maintenance problems. Horrified when the hot-water heater shot flames and made booming sounds, they shut it off and boiled water on the stove for sponge baths for three days until French repairmen appeared. "The French have a different sense of urgency," Conlon says dryly. That hasn't deterred the couple from planning a regular sabbatical, however. Who can resist playing English cottager, Parisian apartment dweller or Tuscan farmhouse owner--if only for a short while?