Well we are here! We moved to France and now live in a lovely old French farmhouse not far from Toulouse and we love it! The journey to finally secure our house was not easy but it was definitely worth it. So much has happened to us in the last 6 years that I find it difficult to know where to start? There have been a lot of lows and a lot of highs, but I wouldn’t change anything. We searched for a year to find our dream house and I often ended up in tears after all the frustrations, ‘wild goose’ chases and disappointments. Would we ever find the perfect house? Well no, because as I now realise that is not possible. Our house is not ideal but I fell in love with it the minute I walked inside. It is not big enough, has no outhouses or barns (which we wanted) but it felt right and that is the secret. It was over budget and my youngest daughter, who was with us on this particular search, said ‘forget it mum it’s too expensive’.
We returned to the UK but I couldn’t get this house out of my mind so we put in an offer—and unbelievably it was accepted! So the big decision was made, this was a permanent move to what we did not know?
Just a few weeks after we moved in there was a tap on the door, quite strange as we live in the middle of a field! However a pretty little hamlet was close by and our visitors were 2 elderly French ladies inviting us to join them at the annual St John’s festival (it happens every year in France in June). We, of course, accepted and on arrival were introduced to all the inhabitants of the hamlet including the local doctor. They made us so welcome and I will never forget being shown into the kitchen of one of the houses where strings of sausages were being roasted on the fire. Dogs and children were everywhere and the wine flowed. What an evening and what an introduction to local life. This is what living in France is all about – eating, drinking, family get togethers and everyone so happy and relaxed. The difference to anything we had experienced in the UK was very evident and set the scene for many happy summers to come.
The next interesting event was dealing with our French builder. After only a couple of days of unfinished work he said ‘au revoir’ on a sunny day in late July and we didn’t see him again until September! Countless phone calls got us no response and when he finally turned up and we asked him where he had been he just smiled and said ‘vacances’ (everything grinds to a halt in France in August it seems) and he just assumed we would know that. He had left us with piles of rubble but at least the pool was usable and I had a good excuse for not doing any dusting! His work when finished was excellent, so what could we say?
As our first Christmas approached we were beginning to worry why our French plumber was taking so long to install the heating? We had decided to have full central heating put into the house but hadn’t realised how much work was involved in laying all the pipes. Old stone houses have very thick walls and if you heat them well they are as warm as toast, but if you don’t heat them they are like fridges! We live in south west France which has lovely long hot summers and short winters, but the temperatures can go down to as low as -10 at night! We hadn’t bought any extra heaters as it seemed a waste as we were having heating put in so as the temperatures plummeted all we could do was to pile on the sweaters. Our bedding was so heavy (but the only place to keep warm) that we had a job to sit up! We had a little Yorkshire terrier who slept in her basket in the bedroom and one particular cold night my husband and I both had the same thought and simultaneously sat bolt upright in bed worried that we might find a frozen dog in the morning! We scooped her up and put her in the bed with us which I think she was very grateful for.
Our French plumber was a lovely man and started to feel very sorry for us (I had chilblains on my hands and toes). He promised to get us some heating in time for Christmas and true to his word he turned up very early a few days before with a helper and they worked all day until it was dark. When they left half the heating was working and we were warm; we wished him a very ‘bon noel’ and gave him a hug, it was the day before Christmas Eve.
Living in France is very much like stepping back into 1950’s England. They believe in a more relaxed way of life and of course central to that is lunchtime. Everything closes from 12—2 pm or sometimes 3 pm, but the shops often stay open till 7pm—you just have to go with the flow. I am not at all surprised that they have a longer lifespan than people in the UK. In fact it is very common to see quite elderly French people driving cars and taking leisurely walks in the countryside. Yes they do like their food but they eat small portions and support local growers (or infact grow their own) so of course a lot of the food is organic. They don’t eat between meals and you don’t see a lot of overweight people.
There is undoubtedly a lot we can learn from the French way of life. I have a saying ‘if a Frenchman finds that he has a leak in his roof he will go and get a bucket rather than mend the leak straight away, then he will go out for lunch!’ Thinking of moving to France? My advice is to take the plunge, it will be the best decision you ever make!
You may also like these related posts:
- France property owners ‘could enjoy trekking’
- ‘Greener living’ with a property in France
- Autumn festivals could be incorporated into a France property trip
- Property in France ‘perfect for lovers’
- A property in France brings you closer to its biggest winter event
I really enjoyed reading about your move to France, we moved to Lanzarote in Spain nearly 10 years ago and it took me back to those early days of frustration with the siesta and slow pace of life after the 24/7 one in the UK. I wouldn’t change a thing and we set up a business to help others make the move, living abroad is the best decision we ever made
Three years ago I bought a cottage in Brittany, with the intention of updating it and then (early) retiring there. Firstly the new government debarred me from joining the French Healthcare system, thus putting up my cost of living considerably; the “rates” have gone up threefold; and the builders I hired wrecked the place (yes, I do mean wrecked; it went from habitable but basic to totally uninhabitable, no water, damaged electrics, broken fittings, and they even made the woodburner unuseable by trying to burn loads of plastic packaging in it); this despite them having a good reputation and being properly registered! It then took a year to sort out the legalities, they were made bankrupt, but none of us creditors are likely to see any money back because they’ve done a runner. So now I’m having to pay over again to get things put right. Final straw, given my used-up capital, is the exchange rate; I can’t now afford to move there all things taken together, so I’m going to have to give up and sell it…at a loss.
So yes, France is lovely, I really wanted to live there, but I can’t; for anyone else, don’t try to do things at remote, you have to be on the spot or things will go very wrong.
I read the article about moving to France, and the reply, with interest. I followed my husband with his job to Holland 25 years ago. Getting into a new culture takes time, but now I almost feel Dutch. However, my four children (two of which grew up in Holland) are now living elsewhere, and it is a different story living in another country when you are older and alone. Do I go back to Great Britain, do I stay here with the great health care system, or do I try yet another adventure and move to Paris near my daughter and her family? We international wanderers are certain of one thing, an interesting life!
I have just read your story, and did enjoy it, we bought a house not far from Thiviers about 5 years ago, but due to my husband needing to work he came back to the uk, and I stayed in France, after 18 months of us commuting back and forth, we decided to rent the house in France out and move back to England, we are now looking to get another property in France and move there, whils’t still renting our original house out, your story has given us a new momentum
i am 35 years old with a young daughter who will be two years old in May. I was born in the UK, my family all live in the midlands, but i moved to live in London to work in fashion 15 or 16 years ago. Up until my daughter was born, I was living a happy fast paced life in the East End. My Brazilian husband and I have begun to see the world very differently since she came along. We have become tired of working every hour and spending the whole lot on bills, rent, food and amongst other things, parking penalties. This city is booby trapped!! We don’t seem to have any money to enjoy simple things or more importantly, the time.
Recently, my husband was attacked quite brutally after a “friendly” game of football. His car was vandalised and it has been the last straw for us. We are hard working, good people and the UK and it’s problems have begun to tire us out. Just this week I stood at a bus stop watching a 14 year old searched by the police. They arrested him when they found a kitchen knife in his school bag. This isn’t how I want my daughter to grow up. Knives, violence, noise, pollution traffic, swearing, pushing, fighting.
We desperately want a slower pace of life, but we don’t want to be cut off completely. The things i would love about London is it’s creativity, its buzz, I have the feeling i can do or learn anything in this city, and it scares me to think about losing that. The reality of day to day life here however, is dark mornings, rain, traffic jams, traffic jams and more traffic jams, noise, pollution, expense after expense and the volume of people.
What also concerns me is I have completely fallen in love with my college course. I am in the middle of changing careers and training to become a traditional upholsterer. I don’t want to leave the UK until i have finished my course but what worries me now is will i find work using my new skills abroad??
I have so many questions but I do know, we are discussing a new life in spain or france. Areas that have come to mind so far are Seville – or surrounding areas, Northern Spain is a possibility, or we love the idea of living in France somewhere rural, but near enough to a city of culture and art.
Does anyone have any advice for us? My husband has residency in the UK. My daughter has a British Passport. I don’t want to be too far from my family. I guess i just need a push.
Many thanks
reading your story you were very lucky ,we live in the vendee in the countryside it has taken us 10 years over 3 to 4 months each year to do a complete overhall of the run down dirty farmhouse that my husband took on [ he must of had a brainstorm] to make it in to a 5 bedroom super family all mod con home it now has become the best in the little hamlet where we live
the french are so jelous of us and they dont like the british just our money our life has been a nightmare t o say the least ,we are now selling up so if you want a house that is all ready to move into
contact us it comes WITH A car and all funiture would I ever do it again NO I WOULD RUN LIKE HELL.