Just when you think all is lost, another chapter starts, and so it did for us!! One cancelled sale led to a very quick positive sale straight after !! Now with Christmas upon us we had to move 9 horses and 4 dogs!! Luckily i had a field i rented so that was one thing sorted but we had nowhere to live and no house in France! The ones we had viewed on our last trip over with such positivity were just not right!! His lordship had taken me away from my focused area , South Haute Vienne, with its beautiful landscape, woods and rivers and fantastic swim lakes, to the Charente Martime with its lovely beaches and hefty price tags!! All because he had taken up Kite Surfing after a weeks lesson!! All the gear and no idea comes to mind!! I wondered if we would ever find a beautiful equestrian porperty near the sea without being a millionaire!!
We then decided to rent in the UK whilst we searched over the Chrsitmas and in to the New Year!! Whilst Estate Agents in France like to only give you 10 photos, if you are lucky!! and no land plan, so you never know what is next to it!! I am a dab hand at finding the properties via google maps, ( what a time saver that has turned out to be over the years!!!) but still we couldnt find anything!! Drastic action was needed so we decided to dip our toes in and buy a holiday home in the South of the Haute Vienne, a stones throw from the border of the Dordogne ( i won in the end when the numbers didnt add up!! How many times he Kite Surfs compared to the cost of a house near the sea!! It was a no brainer really !!) We finally found a lovely cottage on its own in the middle of three acres and also with a pool, we also got one with a 2 bed gite for my family to come and stay! The first year, 2022, was hot, really hot!! When they say you cant work after 11am! You really cant!! but stone houses are fantastic for keeping cool so you dont really need air-con, but fans are a must!! We had a wonderful Summer there with the family and the dogs, surving on Schengen rules and a tourist visa! The plan had change, and that was fine, the big move would have to wait! Just 5 or 6 years and in the meantime we could enjoy the cottage for long holidays with the family! What a blessing and it truly was enjoyable,over the next three years, however plans have a habit of changing when you least expect them, and this change was not seen and a true bolt out of the blue!!
The Great French Escape 