La belle vie? No, quelle horreur! Exploding cous cous tins, the rudest post mistress in the world -- and, mon dieu, line dancing! Thought the French dream was for you? Read this, and unpack that suitcase.
Publication:
The Daily Mail (London, England)
Publication Date: 30-SEP-09 |
Format: Online
Delivery: Immediate Online Access |
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Full Article Title: La belle vie? No, quelle horreur! Exploding cous cous tins, the rudest post mistress in the world -- and, mon dieu, line dancing! Thought the French dream was for you? Read this, and unpack that suitcase.(Features) |
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Article Excerpt
Byline: by Melanie Jones
FIVE years ago, 47-year-old Melanie Jones and her husband Robert, 50, a production buyer, moved with their children from Surrey in the south-east of England -- to the south-west of France. Today, the Mail publishes extracts from Melanie's journal, in which she paints a hilarious picture of the realities of the French way of life -- and explains why they moved back home.
The Big Decision 'WHAT would you say if I told you I'd found a way for you to take half the year off and have no mortgage and no school fees to pay?' I ask my husband one spring evening in 2003 as we sit in the kitchen.
'How?' he asks. 'We move to France. I speak French so that's not a problem. Simple.' And so begin our plans to leave behind the rat race, the long working hours for Robert, and the private school fees for our two children, Ciaran and Emily, then aged nine and seven, and 'Live the Dream' in France.
Well actually that's not quite true. Robert's answer is a resounding 'No'. But after a campaign of persuasion, he's won round. Finding the perfect house proves more difficult. We're gazumped on the first, and the second falls through after the vendor ingeniously suggests that we buy the house -- and that she continues to live in it.
In desperation, I arrange another trip, this time to the Tarn et Garonne, Midi Pyrenees. It is December 2003 and the region is shrouded in thick fog as we -- literally -- stumble across Le Mas ('the farmhouse'), our new home in France. It is half the price of our old home and set in stunning, rolling countryside.
The Dream Home WE MOVE in on April Fools' Day 2004. An omen if ever there was one. The previous owners were artists and every spare...
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