Tell us the truth, now, What's it really like, living in France ?

Over the past few years, the number of residents of the UK who have bought holiday property or moved to live permanently in France has increased dramatically. The large number of programmes on television has done much to fire up interest. As fairly new residents who have moved from Scotland to France ourselves, it feels as if the British are moving to France in large numbers, at a rate of knotts!

However, it is not always easy to get a realistic view of what life in France is really like. Most people adapt very happily, but some are not prepared, and really struggle.

This is our story, an honest account of how it has been for us. Of course, everyone is different, and is looking for different things from their life, but I hope this account of our experience is helpful to those who are contemplating a move to France.

First of all, we absolutely love our life here and have not had a moment's regret about leaving our life in Britain to live permanently in France. It is a wonderful country in so many ways. It has far more space for its population than Britain. The countryside isbeautiful, prosperous-looking, well-ordered and clean; the roads relatively empty of traffic; the climate good; the food excellent; the people polite and friendly But, even after nineteen months, nearly every day brings new challenges. There have, and will continue to be, real difficulties, lots of embarrassing moments, and some shocks. But we have a strong relationship with each other and know ourselves, our strengths and weaknesses well. We are a couple who enjoy a challenge, are not easily defeated, and can laugh at life.

Preparation.
We are probably one of the few people who have never seen a television programme or even read a book about living in France. We had met nobody who had left Britain to set up home here. We had no plan to move to France until June 2002, and by October of the same year, we had moved into our new house in Charente. Why Charente? We'd never heard of it, but the advertisement we read whilst sitting in our conservatory one rainy morning, was for an agency offering to help people purchase property in France. Theywere based in Charente, and said it was a very beautiful area.

The germ of the idea began in March 2002, when we were on holiday in Ireland. We were ready for a change. In our case, all the children wereadults, we had no dependents, and John was of an age where he could retire. If we lived in a less expensive country, earned a small income, and sold our lovely home, we should be fairly comfortable, especially if we bought a much less expensive house abroad, which perhaps needed some renovation. Renovating property was something we were good at, and enjoyed. We were not yet ready to retire, and wanted something to put our energy into that would give us more satisfaction than our jobs had done.

We thought long and hard about leaving the lovely home we had put so much hard work into, leaving family and friends, and wondered if the time was right. We returned to Ireland and almost bought a house there, but there were problems with it and the sale never materialised. By this time, we had gone through the important process of realising that we were going to leave Scotland, and the advantages would be greater than the disadvantages. We knew we could do it. From that point on, there was no going back. The loss of the house we nearly bought was a big disappointment, but we thought the best way to get over this was to find somewhere else even better, with an even warmer climate - what about France ?

"Oh no, we don't speak the language, it would be much more difficult," I said. "Let's go and look, anyway", said John, "but sell the house first so we can buy immediately if we find a suitable house. If we don't, we'll rent, and move around until we decide where we want to live".

So that's what happened. Our house sold in July and we went to France the following week, for one week. Jane and George, from "Fine Property France", had looked out some properties that met our priority criteria. We booked into a hotel, and met up with them soon after our arrival. Our essential criteria were:-

• An old stone built house
• In the countryside with good views
• With an open fireplace
• Ready to move into but with potential to renovate part of the property
• Within an hour and a half of an airport

We fell in love with the second house Jane and George showed us on the Tuesday, put an offer in that day, and had signed the first set of papers at the notaire's office by the Friday. We also fell in love with the beautiful rolling countryside, the huge areas of forest, the fact that there still seemed to be a 'balance of nature' and the friendliness and politeness of the people. We then returned to work in the UK, and started making arrangements to arrive in Charente with car, luggage, dog and cat in three months time, which was the end of October 2002.

(We tend to feel slightly embarrassed when we hear about people who have spent years travelling France to choose the right area, looked at lots of properties, attended French lessons, and read lots of informative books.)

Although this was only twenty-two months ago, there seem to be fewer houses available to buy now, compared with when we were house-hunting. There are lots of British and other Europeans searching for houses to renovate, and a better quality of life. Our local estate agent said 90% of his customers were British. This reflects a time of huge social change that is quietly going on at the moment in Europe.

Knowing yourself well.
I mentioned that for all our lack of preparation and planning, we did feel we knew ourselves well. We had done a list of pros and cons, and knew about SWOT analyses looking at Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats.

I think it's very useful to ask yourself questions, such as:

• Do you enjoy your own company, or do you need people around you?
• Buying a house in the country would mean having a big garden -could you manage this?
• Jobs are hard to come by - would this be a problem ?
• Are you good at coping with change, or do you find this frightening?
• Do you both feel the same about moving?
• Is this the right time?
• How strong is your relationship? If you are getting on each others nerves now, you are likely to find it much worse living in a freezing cold house, or even a caravan while you are renovating your house!
• What about the children - is it really right for them?
• Are you a 'practical' person, who could cope with the aftermath of a storm, a computer continually on the blink.

Moving to a new country means frequently having to cope with the unexpected. Could you cope with frequent unexpected challenges ?

For example you find all sorts of things you are no good at. I found I could no longer make a decent cup of tea, or a sauce with the different type of flour. The new cooker just wasn't the same as the old one, and I felt completely de-skilled in my new kitchen.

I now acknowledge that I am the worst navigator in the world and have no sense of direction. This has caused many angry words, hours of lost time, dangerous journeys up one way streets (the wrong way), and I suspect that "we've just passed it", will be my epitaph. But I wasn't expecting to need skills in navigation !

The weather.
I have never before experienced such amazing thunderstorms as we have seen here in Charente. They are frightening but beautiful. They usually bring with them a deluge of rain that somehow manages to come right through the doors and windows, flooding rooms. Few people get by without rain coming up the tiles and through the roof at some point. We got quite used to having buckets in the kitchen every time it rained during our first year.

Unfortunately, we didn't realise that plugs should be removed from sockets during a storm. Our house had a direct lightning strike while we were in it. All the telephones and the computer were burned out and destroyed. We have also experienced several storms with very high winds. A chimney fell onto the kitchen roof; twice the flashing was ripped off the dining room roof; numerous tiles have blown off the roof and broken; an enormous branch fell from the large tree at the top of our drive, narrowly missing my daughter's car. In January and February it can be bitterly cold, with polar winds. In contrast, July 2003 saw temperatures of 45 degrees.

We had no idea the climate would be like this. We thought the South West of France would be hot and sunny, with mild winters. We have short winters, January to March, but, no, they are not mild! Making sure we have logs for the stove involves a lot of hard physical work. We are very grateful for our under floor central heating for six months of the year.

We were not prepared for the unexpected difficulties, and I often felt de-skilled during our first year in France. John, with the realisation that nobody around us spoke English, wondered if we had bitten off more than we could chew. However, we both knew we could overcome these problems, with time. The house itself, with its extraordinary beauty and wonderful open outlook, the people, and so many other things, kept us going when things were difficult.

Challenges & feelings of loss.
There will be many challenges for anyone moving to France. They start in Britain with selling your home and explaining to friends and family that you are leaving. Some of them may be envious, others upset and annoyed. Relationships are very likely to change. We had several trips back to the UK during our first year, as there was the car to sell, business 'ends' to tie up, daughters' weddings to attend. Each time, I let people down by not visiting them, but the journey was so exhausting, and we had so much to do, that it was very difficult.

Many people choose to leave Britain because of some sort of trauma in their lives. It may be the loss of a job unexpectedly early; disappointment and anger relating to a career; serious illness; a broken relationship; being the victim of a crime. These are painful losses - of identity, status, health, family, or sense of security. They take time to recover from. If it is a sudden, unexpected event, it is likely to be even more difficult to adjust to. Unfortunately, the process of facing up to what has happened, feeling the pain of it, venting the anger, and finally accepting and moving on, needs to be worked through. It is a grieving process and cannot be rushed. The temptation is to get away, make a new start. But although this diverts attention from the loss, the emotions still need to be dealt with, or else they make the first months, even years, in France, a disappointment, as the feelings of anger and disappointment from the things that happened 'before', remain.

Another fairly common phenomenon is that even when a change is planned and very much looked forward to, people can feel a sense of loss for their old house, their old life. So 'the blues' can hit most of us at the time of moving. It is also a very stressful and exhausting experience! John wrenched his shoulder helping the removals men move some of the furniture. He also had toothache. I found just walking up to the house from the barn at the bottom of the drive exhausting! We caught several 'bugs' probably because one is not immune to all the local infections found in a new country.

Removals, bureaucracy and other practicalities.
One of the first 'stresses' may be negotiating with a removals company. (In our case, the drivers arrived at Dover without their passports, which meant a day's delay. Then they refused to negotiate the van through the gate posts and up the drive. They arrived at 8.30 at night. They charged much more than agreed - or tried to.)

Arranging with the Department of Social Security to complete the correct forms to enable you to reclaim part of your health costs, can take a long time and many telephone calls. I eventually received several copies of the form, four months late. Negotiating a service from your UK bank can also be difficult. They would say they would phone back, we would stay in waiting for their call, and they would never ring.

We told all the appropriate agencies our new address and circumstances, but we still find ourselves dealing with problems created by some of these agencies. It goes without saying that we would be sent a demand for unpaid council tax long after telling the council we had sold our property! Only last week, John received a really aggressive letter from the Inland Revenue, threatening all sorts of dire consequences if he didn't pay up - the amount printed clearly on the letter as being owed was….. wait for it……£0.00

Buying furniture and starting work on the new house involves finding your way around, and speaking French. Opening a French bank account can have its difficulties. We found that one bank in the local town could receive your money and have it in your account within around three days, and the other bank, within three weeks. This can be very stressful! Our bank card refused to work on numerous occasions when we were buying furniture and other items, even though there was money in the account. On several occasions we had to return to the bank and ask them to write a cheque then return to the shop. It was embarrassing and annoying. We had no cheque book as we had not realised that we should have ordered one when we opened our account, as this took several weeks to come through.

Quite recently, we found that banks here do not have the same codes of practice that we were used to in the UK. We found out after living in France for sixteen months, that the separate accounts we had opened in order to gain some interest, would, if one of us died, be 'blocked' so the other could not access it, although this was our joint money. When we learned this, we learned that the French inheritance laws would make us both very vulnerable, and that we really should have learned about this on arrival. We have since made Wills and opened only joint bank accounts.

On discussion with the notaire, we realised we should have completed tax forms when we arrived. Although his advice was not the same as some of the articles we had read in magazines advising British people about tax, we at least realised that we should obtain the forms and find an accountant to help ensure we completed them correctly. Obtaining the relevant papers is proving difficult and it remains to be seen if we can complete all the tax forms correctly, and on time.

Fortunately, we had received good advice when we bought the house, and had bought it as a 'Societée Civile Immobilière' which means we avoid the disadvantages of French inheritance laws in this area of our life.

Contrary to what several people had told us, obtaining planning permission for the swimming pool and an outside window, proved to be difficult. It involved finding our way to an office in a nearby city to obtain maps of the area to a certain scale, filling in paperwork and answering various detailed questions. It took five months altogether before a decision was reached.

The position of women is very different in France from in Britain. For example, when we bought our car, the insurer automatically put the insurance in my husband's name. Our interest-bearing savings account was also automatically put in his name. Only bank accounts in his name were put on the internet. When I asked to have the account under my name put on the internet, I was told that my husband would have to come to the bank and request this, or sign his consent. I couldn't believe that I needed his permission to put my account on the internet, and felt extremely angry. A female friend of ours bought a house in her own name, but the notaire addressed her partner throughout the negotiations, although he was very clear that it was not he that was buying the house.

Settling in - people and relationships
The 'plus' side of these early weeks was that shop assistants were extremely pleasant and polite, and deliveries were very quick - we were always given a time within two hours of when an item would arrive, and they always kept to this. Local services, such as the council cutting our high grass banks, and emptying the rubbish in the middle of the night, (leaving no mess) were much appreciated.

Our neighbours were very pro-British, remembering with gratitude the role of Britain in the last war. We have found all our near neighbours charming people. British people in the area who we met in the early weeks were often a very useful source of information about who were good local builders, plumbers etc. I appreciated knowing that these people would be there for us if we needed to ask for help.

I did, however, find it difficult being invited to so many social occasions. Yes, I am obviously unsociable, but during our first few weeks in our new home, we were drawn into some expatriate neighbours' lives to an extent I found oppressive.

Unfortunately, John misses his regular golf with a group of similar standard players whose company he enjoyed. He has joined a course, but has yet to find a group to play with.

Making good friends is one of the most enjoyable things in life, and we have met some very special people in the time we have been here. We have wide-ranging discussions with our French neighbours; a local retired lady gives excellent French lessons and will also give advice and guidance on the many difficulties we come across; local children are unbelievably charming and polite. We have now had time to choose some of our own special friends with whom we have a lot of laughs.

We also appreciate the effort made by the local commune to include its members in a number of social activities throughout the year. We always attend the Remembrance Service in November, which is followed by apperatifs in the village hall. We also very much enjoyed the wonderful meal put on for everyone over the age of sixty and their partners. We attended the annual dinner put on to celebrate The Chasse. It is a good way to meet local people and speak the language. As meals can take several hours, it is very good practice!

Building work
Many people who move to France need help with renovating their property. We do much of the work ourselves, but there are tasks that are too difficult. This can bring many challenges. Although unemployment is a big problem in France, there is a shortage of skilled tradesmen such as builders, plumbers and electricians. Everyone in this area seems to have problems getting work done. It is very difficult waiting for workmen who do not arrive, and almost as hard living your life with people constantly in your home. For me, eighteen months will be my limit, after that I feel I must have my home to myself. John and I have different views about working with tradesmen - I believe in boundaries, and having a 'professional' relationship with someone who is working for you. He prefers to develop friendship, and has a more relaxed attitude, although he will take them to task if they are not working properly. I find it very difficult watching people working slowly - he is more philosophical, and this can cause tension between us.

We know one young Englishman who spent a great deal of time comparing prices, gathering numerous estimates, and then negotiating as low a price for his renovation work as possible. He was very proud of his negotiations. Unfortunately, it was such a hard deal that the builders found it difficult to cover their costs, let alone make a profit. Inevitably, there was tension and bad feeling, and word then was passed around the local tradesmen saying that this man was to be avoided. He now finds it very hard to get any work done. It is, therefore, important to strike a balance, and negotiate a price that is fair for both sides.

We have also experienced problems when we said, "this piece of work is not urgent - just fit us in when you can". As a result one part of our house was in a mess, untouched for many months, and we found it hard to leave it like this. Eventually we had to re-negotiate and set a clear deadline. We have met others who made the same mistake.

Renovating a house can, if undertaken with care, improve the value and enhance the beauty of a property. It can, however, prove to be very expensive. All renovations need to be thoroughly thought out and costed. It is important to set a budget and keep to it. A record needs to be kept of everything that is spent, and receipts kept. (You can claim against tax, for renovation work carried out). Accounts need to be kept in a way that is acceptable to the tax system.

We found that some other British people tried to ridicule us for asking for a price for a job, and from more than one tradesman. It is important not to be embarrassed by others who think they know best - the cost of materials and work can be substantial. Some tradesmen are much more reliable than others.

However, after much hard work, we gain a lot of satisfaction from having transformed two old ruins into a beautiful holiday cottage and a bed and breakfast apartment with all modern conveniences, while retaining the beautiful old Charentaise features.

Visitors
Privacy and a degree of solitude are important to me. John enjoys having people around more than I do. I find it very difficult having lots of visitors. Having spoken to many people about 'visitors', I realise that it is a common problem. Of course everyone enjoys having their best friends and favourite family members to stay, but where on earth did all those 'friends' you hardly know appear from? They never came to see you up in cold Scotland, but suddenly it seems they think, 'Hey, Judith and John have moved to France - we'll get a free holiday there!' It's incredible how brass necked some people can be. I know families with young children, renovating their houses, who have been plagued with non-stop visitors from April to November. We had eighteen visitors between April and November during our first year, which was completely unexpected and exhausting.

Achieving our aims - or not!
John developed bad toothache on the journey to France. The first thing we had to do, therefore, was find a dentist and converse in French about his tooth. It was at that point, I think, that we decided that our aim was not to be fluent in French, but to achieve what we wanted to achieve. It would be a bumpy ride, with misunderstandings, embarrassments and difficulties, but if we achieved what we set out to achieve at the end of the day, it was a success in our eyes. We still feel this.

The car gave us another set of challenges! First of all, we bought it for our new life in Ireland, so it was right hand drive. The headlights blinded other drivers so much that we hated going out in the dark. We had to sell it and buy another in France. The cost of buying was very reasonable, but we lost a lot of money through buying the wrong vehicle in the first place, although it had seemed right at the time. Yes, some mistakes can be very costly, but then you do make many savings too along the way - you win some, and lose some, and cannot get things right all the time.

On returning from one of trips to the UK, we bought diesel that had water in it. It caused major damage to the engine, cost 2,500 euros to repair, and we are still trying unsuccessfully to claim some recompense for this. All negotiations have to be done in French.

It's particularly difficult negotiating in French when you have got something wrong and want to rectify it! Especially on the telephone. We ordered a tank for a gas boiler, then changed our mind and decided it made more sense to go for oil instead. We had paid a deposit already, and ordered the tank. However, after much apologising and sweating, we got the deposit back and replaced gas with oil! The gas salesman was extremely long-suffering with us, and remained impeccably polite throughout, as many local people have been since our arrival here. I would have expected to have had several angry altercations as a result of our mistakes or poor language, but only on three occasions in the past seventeen months have we encountered slight unpleasantness.

Yes, the telephone, it can strike panic into the heart of a new resident in France, but after a year, it isn't nearly so bad! I have myself answered the phone and not understood a single word the person has said, then put the phone down again, blushing and sweating profusely! I always had to answer because John would shout at me that the phone was ringing - he certainly had no plan to answer it!

Which leads me on to another great challenge - the language.

Language.
In our part of France, Charente, very few French people speak English, and you really have to learn French in order to survive and enjoy your life here. It is not just about learning the words, the whole subject of language is complex.Some families have one member who speaks French well, and the rest of the family leave everything to him or her. This can mean that the spokesperson then makes decisions, for example about the childrens' schooling, that it is not their place to make. Being an interpreter, or having an intermediary, can complicate life and change the power and dynamics of relationships within the family. Sometimes it is a child who takes on the role of interpreter. Sometimes one child is of an age where they learn the language faster that their older brother or sister, which can also cause friction if this is not managed sensitively.

In our case, my husband had not had the opportunity to learn a language at school, and in the early months here, was too preoccupied with the practicalities of moving in and renovating parts of the property to make a gite and an apartment, to be able to tackle learning French. Although I had learned French at school, ( I remember clearly as a child saying to myself "Why am I learning this - I'm never going to live in France"), I could remember very little. However, as John kept repeating, "In the land of the blind, the one-eyed man is king", so I, being the 'one-eyed man', had to do all the telephone calls, negotiations with tradesmen and communicate in all sorts of difficult situations. French men prefer to have these conversations with other men, not women. I hated the difficult phone calls, and negotiating with builders. This was always the role John would have had, and there were times when I became very tired of taking the lead role in these matters. Equally, he did not like standing by and leaving it to me. Fortunately, we can laugh about these things, but in a relationship that already has difficulties, this changing of role and power could cause major problems. Fortunately, John's French is improving fast, and I can leave some of these conversations to him now.

I have seen many British people just refuse to learn French. They watch only British TV, eat mainly British food, and never really get to know any local French people. They sit next to other British people and speak English at any social occasion they go to. I suspect this may cause some resentment. I think it is much better to try and speak the language, even if it is full of mistakes. Local people appreciate this and help the communication to work when an attempt is made. Of course, this means you have to be willing to make a fool of yourself, be able to laugh at yourself and be laughed at by others. A French teacher I met said that in her experience, British men had great difficulty learning French because they dislike making a fool of themselves as they tend to be quite vain.

Hard as it is to do this, it is important to introduce yourself to your neighbours and the local 'maire' as soon as possible when you move. Even if it is difficult, sign language is a great thing, and it builds a foundation for a good relationship in the future.

I found that ordinary, 'school' French (which does not teach you to speak), is not very useful. Real life, for us, is about 'bricolage' (DIY), electricity, reading bank statements, coping with the internet help line, and talking to dentists and doctors. I didn't know the words for any of these things.

Constantly talking to people in shops, watching French TV, reading French books, listening to French pop music and the radio, and going to French classes, all help enormously to get a grasp of the language. I'm amazed that I now really enjoy listening to, speaking and reading this beautiful language. Only by understanding the language, do you understand the systems of the country.

It can be very amusing discussing mistakes - I often recall the policeman in 'Allo, Allo' because I think I must sound just like him. There are so many words similar to others, and where one is a rude word, the other not - do you think I can remember which is which? It is very tempting not to dare open your mouth.

I once wrote to our insurance company, after a storm which had left our kitchen chimney plungeing into and destroying the tiles on the roof. I was in a rush and thought 'vol' meant 'vent' (wind). The man came to see me and said had our chimney really been stolen ?

A friend was looking at some jam, and asked the shop assistant if there were preservatives in it. This set the whole place laughing - preservatives in French mean condoms !

Another friend complained that not only had he learned almost no French since arriving here six months ago, but he had forgotten how to speak English !

Travel costs
When we left the UK to live in France, we had heard all about the low cost air lines, and told our family that we were only two flights away and could easily return within half a day if there was an emergency. However, from this side of the channel, it looks completely different. One lot of Scottish friends raved about flying from Prestwick to Poitiers via Stanstead for £15 each return. Others flew from Newcastle to Stanstead for £1.40 When we looked at low cost flights from our part of France to Scotland, the prices were around £500 return. We have driven back to Scotland four times this year, and it has cost about £1,000 each time. This was a cost we had not envisaged.

Other costs
On the subject of costs, most things are about a third of the cost of their equivalent in the UK. For example food, restaurant meals, clothes, diesel, cars, rates. We don't need many things that we used to need, such as smart business clothes, two cars, theatre and cinema tickets.

We love the food here - it is also healthy and without the added sugar, salt and preservatives of so much of our diet in Britain. During the week, the local restaurants serve wonderful five-course lunches for 10 euros including wine, which are very enjoyable. We have chosen our preferred wine and buy it in bulk from the vinyard in St. Emilion, then bottle it ourselves. We drink a bottle every evening at the end of a hard day in the garden, or working on the house. In the summer we eat dinner late, watching the sunset, listening to music, eating our home-grown vegetables and drinking our wine. This is when we think, "This is real quality of life - Why didn't we do this years ago?"

Fears
Fears, both real and imagined, are another feature of our life in France. When we first arrived, those who had been here longer than us, seemed to thoroughly enjoy telling stories of 'sangliers' (wild boar) attacking and overturning cars, killing numerous people; killer snakes hiding in wait for you in the garden; gendarmes sending you to prison after one speeding offence…… Well, we have yet to experience any of these things.

French drivers, however, are something to be feared - on the one hand I have never met a more polite, pleasant race of people, but in a car, they often turn into speed-crazy, dangerous people. I cannot understand how the two go together. There are a lot of deaths on the roads.

Fear of the future, of growing old and being unable to continue with the hard physical work of living in the countryside, is another fear.

We have health insurance (this is not cheap), and our experience of the health service is that it is excellent. I have only been to the doctor twice - on each occasion I have been asked, 'when would you like your appointment' (meaning what time today), - the first time, I nearly had a heart attack with shock at being asked this question - and the last time we were two minutes late and had to apologise for keeping the doctor waiting! This fear, of illness and ageing, would exist wherever we were, and from what I see of elderly people in France, they look a lot healthier and happier than their equivalents in the UK. As for the hard work, or having enough money, we have a house to sell if necessary, and this would be the same worry wherever we lived.

I do feel fear for some of the families who have moved here and do not appear to have the means or the skills to survive. I know of some couples who have gone back to the UK, and gone their separate ways. I know of some children who are bitterly unhappy.

And finally….
Our gite is now taking off, and everyone who has used it so far has loved it. It is an ideal place for a holiday at any time of the year, and an excellent base for house-hunters. The swimming pool is fabulous, the apartment is also completed, and we remain good friends with our tradesmen, thanks to John. We look forward to a slightly less busy future in our beautiful home.

I've expounded at length about the difficulties of life in France, but to us, they are preferable to the difficulties we had before we came here. This is a wonderful country Neither of us would want to be living anywhere else or doing anything else at this point in our lives. By coping with the challenges we now find we have new skills. We are both slim and very fit, we can speak tolerable French; we know how to mix the right quantities of chaux, stone dust and cement for pointing the walls; complete tax forms …….

When John read this account of our life in France, he said if he had read this before coming here, he probably would have decided to opt for Ireland instead! Does this mean that it has been too difficult, or that it is better not to be told too much about the 'reality' and to aim for the dream instead? He is still adamant that he has no regrets.

I do know, however, of families where things are not working out well, and there is an important place for truthful 'real life' accounts, even though one person's problems may not be another person's problems. I hope that our story helps those who are thinking of doing the same thing, and that if they feel it is the right thing for themselves, that they will enjoy it as much as we have.


Judith Fulton, July 2004

Judith and John Fulton live at La Haute Faye, in Charente, South-West France. For more information about their holiday cottage visit their web site www.la-haute-faye.com