My Story #1: It Has To Be France

Our French Life – Where Did It All Start?

Living in France, can I pin point my conscience decision to purchase a second family home in France? No, I don’t think there was a defining moment, rather, a slow building of an idea which gained momentum with each book and TV reality show that showcased others relocating to France.

Travel and French property magazines had me imagining myself in beautiful villages and even redecorating the houses I liked in the ‘For Sale’ sections.   Recipe books featuring French cuisine fuelled my desire to experience the rich culinary delights France is well known for.

I have always loved the beauty and serenity of French gardens, the stylish interiors of grand homes and the seemingly effortless style of men and women’s dress. This however, I admired from a distance because I had never even stepped foot on French soil at that stage.

However even while living so far from France, I dreamt of walking along canals, jostling the crowds with my shopping basket at local produce markets, and enjoying long lunches in the sun with my family around me.

Do any of these pastimes and activities appeal to you? Well, thinking on these activities fuelled my passion and I found reading about others living in France also inspired me.

Inspirational Books On Living In France

I read books about others relocating or moving to France and these were helpful and an inspiring resource.  Read why these books are a great choice for Francophiles and anyone dreaming of living in France in My Inspirational Booklist post.

After reading the above books and watching British TV shows I reasoned that if these people could do it, surely I could. What would stop me? Well, stacks of things could stop me in reality but I decided to continue with my investigations anyway.  I figured that I could work through any obstacles step by step if, and when, the time came.

Making A Start On Buying In France

So the first real thing I did after all this was to take a Beginners French Travel course. I chose a TAFE WEA 10 week course to get started. Well, even getting to the class took a fair bit of organising.

At the time I had a 3 year old, an 8 year old, a 10 year old and a husband who worked predominately overseas. Finding the time to physically get into town for the lessons with all children safely taken care of was a commitment in itself.

Together with taking the WEA Beginners French Travel course and continuing to read autobiographies I started talking to my husband about my dream. It sounds trivial but taking that first step to verbalise what I had been thinking was a move forward. Another leap for me was verbalising to strangers what I planned to do.

I never forget when the TAFE teacher asked us to introduce ourselves and share with the class why we were attending the class and what we really wanted to learn.

I said I really wanted to learn the names of items found in hardware stores for renovating and gardening because I was planning to buy a house in France! The overwhelming display of quizzical unbelief and scepticism only made me more resolute in my efforts!

A Joint Decision To Buy In France

What if my husband had no interest at all? I needed him on board as financially I definitely couldn’t manage without his input and I wanted this to be a holiday home that we all enjoyed as a family and were happy to commit to.

My husband was against the idea of purchasing in France and suggested the United Kingdom as he had spent a lot of time travelling and touring there for business and loved it. This was not the outcome I wanted but figured that the south-east coast of England would be much closer to France for short trips than Australia.

Keeping A Secret

At this early stage while I was bubbling with growing excitement and determination I kept my dreams close to my chest. I had to keep my thoughts a secret as I couldn’t risk my excitement and enthusiasm being pierced by well-meaning family and friends.

You know the ones that want to protect you from financial disaster, extended hard physical work, sacrifices they consider unnecessary, and the fear of the unknown. Yes, they are well-meaning but not want I needed at that stage.

Reflection On Buying In France

At this time I also reflected upon our current way of life and thought deeply on how much I was prepared to sacrifice or change to make my dream a reality. What sacrifices or changes would I need to make? Would I be prepared to work more hours to assist financially and how would this affect our family?

Could we postpone the renovation of our family home to free up resources for our overseas project? Would the French property need to be run as a holiday home business to pay its way?

The steps of first imaging our family in France, forming a plan, executing the many necessary steps, and then eventually putting the key in the front door as the new owners, was a long process (and a much longer one than first anticipated) but on reflection, a very pleasurable time.

So the new chapter in our life started which we call Our French Life, that is, our part time life in Brittany.  Our home is in a small farming village nestled between cow paddocks and maize fields and we love being a part of the community we now call home.

If you want to read more, read our About Us page or head straight into our post on Living in Rural France which tells the story of building our garage with our French neighbours and Aussie friends.