France - A Place To Call Our Own!

I have always had a rather strange relationship with France; like many British people, I had a view of its people that wasn't entirely favourable. Of course, as individuals we all form stereotypical perspectives of cultures we don't understand; that has always been a British failing. As our nearest continental neighbour, France was my first experience of foreign travel, a place I visited frequently and a country I like to think I know well. In the late 1980s, along with my classmates, I travelled to the French city of Arras, our base for a week, while we toured the First World War battlefields. This was the beginning of a love/hate relationship that still lasts today. France is like Britain in so many ways, but its customs and traditions seem a world away from our own, making it a strange, alluring and intriguing place to visit.

Between 2000 and 2004, Darrell and I lived in the beautiful village of Whiteparish, on the Hampshire/Wiltshire boarder, running a business twenty-four hours a day. Initially this was a particularly productive time for us, and we were able to do many things we hadn't done before. Despite the long hours, we managed to find the time to travel to France once a month, driving from our home in Salisbury, to Southampton or Portsmouth, crossing by ferry to Caen and other regional ports, stocking up on cigarettes and alcohol, as many Brits did back then. Both Darrell and I were heavy smokers and paying just £1 for a packet of twenty cigarettes was the draw both of us needed to continue making the journey to France each month. It wasn't too long, before both of us fell in love with this Country and started to make plans for our future.

During our time traversing Northern France, we managed to investigate the local property market, discovering just how cheap it was to buy a home there and when the time was right, we bought a house direct from Hamiltons international Estate Agency, in the UK. During the early 2000s, foreign property was selling to British buyers fast and with our business taking priority, we decided to bite the bullet and buy a small country cottage without viewing it. Not something I would advise anyone else does, but these were different times, and we were determined to jump on the European property ladder, before prices rose too high.

Le Coix, as the house was called, was situated in the beautiful, historic village of Le Lande St Simeon, near Fleurs in Swiss Normandy. This small stone structure was an empty shell, split in two, one half still used to keep animals and the other half for human habitation, although unused for many years.  Visiting our new French Petite Maison, I was struck by the sublime, charming countryside that surrounded the small hamlet  where our new house sat, detached, unfettered in half an acre of land. As the name 'Swiss Normandy' suggests, this was a region that looked and felt very much like Switzerland, the views were breathtaking and the feel distinctly relaxed and laid back. As we drove down the narrow country lanes into the village, I immediately felt de-stressed and nonchalant, breathing in the clean air, taking in the characterful surroundings, listening to the sound of silence.

Both Darrell and I had big plans for this tiny chalet and were determined to restore it to its former glory, but time constraints and life took us in a very different direction. We no longer had the willpower or determination to finish the project and with the business taking more and more time, we left the property in the same state we bought it. Within six years we had sold our French dream as our sights became fixated elsewhere.

Darrell and I have continued to travel to France when we are able - visiting Paris on a misty day in February, sat outside a chic café, overlooking the Eiffel Tower, drinking a cup of coffee and smoking a well-earned cigarette. The odd day here and there in Le Havre or taking my late Grandmother to Calais on Le Shuttle, was part of the course; so many times, we have travelled to our French neighbour, that it has almost become a part of our life together. The food, history, architecture and attitudes have always been a major incentive to return to this inspiring part of the World, again and again. Buying a property, also showed the negative aspects of French life - the red tape, corrupt officials and time-consuming stupidity that made our vision so much harder to achieve. However on the whole this is a welcoming place, that holds some special memories for us both; somewhere I will return to at any given opportunity.

France was my first glimpse across the water, it was the appetizer that introduced me to the wider main course, spread across continents, oceans and time zones. My interest in travel stems from that first trip to Belgium and France, observing how differently our European cousins lived and just how necessary it is to have a broader sense of the wider World. My links to France through family and heritage, will always ensure a fondness that goes beyond my personal views and opinions. The door to Europe has become a catalyst for the journey I am on today, a small piece of familiarity in an ever shrinking globe!

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