| My reasons for coming to France? Less stress, not | | | | sell it. Meanwhile, I had to put up with a French builder |
| working 9-5, better schooling for the children, better | | | | who just didn't understand French! No matter how |
| weather, having more time with the family, a bigger | | | | many times I asked him not to smoke in the house, he |
| house, smaller mortgage, being closer to nature to | | | | continued. I started to hope that the obligatory cigarette |
| name but a few. | | | | hanging from his mouth would drop onto his nylon shirt |
| I came to France in January 2002 with my husband | | | | and shrink wrap him! Oh and the best thing of all he did, |
| and two children aged 12 and 14, two rabbits and two | | | | it was very creative, he ran out of sisal carpet so he |
| budgies (the children refused to come unless they | | | | cut little squares and did a patchwork effect on the |
| came too). There was no heating in our rented house | | | | landing! Less stress? (Sigh) |
| and although we had been told how warm it was here, | | | | Eventually the house was sold and I moved into my |
| we endured temperatures of -25 that first winter. | | | | son's apartment. It was only meant to be for a little |
| Better weather, um, I was reserving judgment on that | | | | while but when my marriage broke up, I was stuck |
| one. | | | | there with 2 new kittens, 2 budgies and a moody |
| We found a house, got a cheap mortgage until the | | | | teenager. So much for a bigger house. |
| Bank pulled out 2 days before we were due to move | | | | On top of that, I was also trying to get my career as |
| so we ended up borrowing from a different Bank and | | | | an artist off the ground so found myself sitting at the |
| paying way more per month than anticipated. A | | | | kitchen table surrounded by canvasses and paint. |
| smaller mortgage? This wasn't looking good. | | | | Working 9-5? More like 5-9. At least I enjoy what I do. |
| Six weeks into our move, my husband is offered a job | | | | After 6 months I found a little house to rent with an |
| in Vienna, Austria and was leaving that week. He had | | | | attic room and views over the vineyards. Here I |
| been due to start a job here. 7 months later, my 13 | | | | thought I could paint and reflect on what to do with my |
| year old daughter decided she couldn't possibly live | | | | life. I hurled myself into my art and people actually |
| without her friends and went back to the UK. 4 years | | | | seemed to like what I was doing. A year later, I took |
| down the line having been separated from my | | | | part in a small exhibition in Fayssac where I met my |
| husband for the most part, my marriage broke up. | | | | new partner. Joe who is Hungarian, speaks English and |
| Better schooling for the children and family time were | | | | lived just 10 minutes down the road! He's also a |
| now also off the list. | | | | musician and a website designer. When I'm not painting, |
| Oh well, onwards and upwards as they say and I still | | | | we play music together. He plays the guitar and I the |
| had son to consider who was doing brilliantly at school | | | | saxophone. |
| and well on his way to getting his Baccalaureat. | | | | We moved and bought our own house to get out of |
| Despite not speaking French, he was thrown into the | | | | renting. During our move, my daughter was diagnosed |
| French system. He didn't have to redouble and | | | | with Stage 4 Hodgkins Lymphoma. She had to give up |
| seemed to integrate really well. He is now doing his | | | | school and underwent almost 9 months of chemo |
| Masters at Nimes University in Environmental | | | | therapy. Thankfully, she has now been in remission for |
| Psychology and well on his way to taking his | | | | 2 years. She too is at University taking her teaching |
| doctorate in Sweden the year after next. Reason to | | | | degree. She's off to Canada this summer to work as |
| be cheerful number 1. Better schooling for one child at | | | | an au pair. She's just brilliant with little ones and I know |
| least. | | | | she'll make an excellent teacher one day. Another |
| Whilst living in our "dream" home, we had a chimney | | | | reason to be cheerful. |
| fire, two 20 year old trees blew down in a storm, we | | | | We also launched a community website for anyone |
| lost half our roof in another storm, my cat got run over | | | | creative. It takes up much of our time but we love |
| and "la pièce de resistance", I and the house were hit | | | | seeing all that creativity every day. The members are |
| by lightning! I had just finished renovating it when the | | | | a fantastic bunch so it's a real pleasure to run it. We |
| beautiful new inox tube that cost 700 euros and no | | | | get much support from them in all that we do and |
| one would ever see, got hit by a rare type of lightning, | | | | proves that it's important to give in life. |
| conducted through our kitchen, arced in my direction in | | | | Like most artists, we struggle to pay the bills but we |
| the living room where I was standing in bare feet, | | | | live in a beautiful country, do what we feel passionate |
| threw me in the air and caused nerve damage to my | | | | about and live in a better climate. I guess the moral |
| feet. Being closer to nature? I didn't want to be that | | | | here is, be careful what you wish for, it might just |
| close! | | | | come true only it may not be exactly how you |
| Now that the house was totally annihilated, we had to | | | | imagined it! |