Real Life Stories of France

La vie est belle....or is it?

How 46 Wheelie Bins Helped a Family Move to France

One of Britain’s foremost overseas removals companies, Burke Bros Moving Group, regularly help people move from the UK to France, but on this occasion they received a very unusual request from Steve Hill and his family, who were planning their move from High Wycombe to Toulouse in South West France... more...

'Within our first two years of wine-making in France we'd won nine awards'

Jo and David Cowderoy moved to France to realise their long-held dream of creating their own wine. Here, they tell FrenchEntrée how they did it... more...

'The French love English roses!'

Despite no professional horticultural experience, Charles and Charlotte Liddell moved to France and opened a nursery selling David Austin roses. Here, Charlotte tells the story of their first year - and gives their tips for growing roses successfullymore...

'The mad English keeping some very strange animals!'

No, we're not in South America but in south-west France! When Margaret and Brian Venables arrived here they needed to earn a small income until the day their pensions kicked in. After a disastrous foray into renewable energy, they found success with an exotic animal more...

'How a life-threatening illness led to a successful business in France!'

Sally Stone and her husband, Mervyn, planned to have a holiday home in France. Then he was diagnosed with cancer and, a little later, she was made redundant, and they were forced to completely changed their plans. Here's their storymore...

'We knew the Brits would love our sausages but the French do too!"

After finishing university in the UK, Oliver Jenner and Amy Jones decided that the best place to start their sausage-making and pork business was France. It has become a huge success... more...

'My wonderful French life'

Artist and chef Tessa Baker has led a seriously eventful life - from the time she spilled to wine on Lauren Bacall to sailing around the world. Here she describes what brought her to France and how she has found happiness here more...

'We work harder than we've ever done before - but we still love it in France'

Linette and Stuart Smith had never run a restaurant until they moved to Brittany. Over the past year they have learned the hard way what makes a restaurant work - but they have no regrets more...

'From France to Mali with love'

After a holiday in Africa Chris and Solange Price returned to their home in France determined to raise money to help a poverty-stricken village in Mali. Here Chris tells the amazing story of how they have transformed lives. more...

'I thought France would be like England but with a French accent. I was in for a shock!'

British-born Liz Turner has lived in France for the past 27 years - since she met her husband on the first stop of a trip around the world! She now lives in Paris, and takes an amusing interest in the two cultures more...

'We love living in France but we're returning to the UK'

Almost two years ago, Julie Thirkettle, her daughter Joanna and baby grand-son, Alfie, moved to France in search of a new life. Since then they have started up a hugely successful B&B, Alfie is confidently bi-lingual and Julie and Joanna have made lots of friends. So why are they now returning to their native Yorkshire? Julie explains... more...

'It's Marrakech meets Barcelona in France!

Like Britain there are parts of France with strong immigrant communities. For expat Angela Billows, living among Moroccan emigrés and gypsies makes for a great French life - with plenty of spice! more...

‘'The French thought my onion chutney was bizarre - but now they love it!'

Chef Chris Lacey and his partner, Jane Marks, gave up a successful – but exhausting - life running their own restaurant in Britain, to live more quietly in France. But that hasn’t stopped Chris cooking up a storm… more...

As the fire got hotter and hotter, we tried to save what we could'

After foot and mouth destroyed their equestrian business, Corrine and Donald Dingley left England for France where they started a chambre d'hote. But one summer morning they woke up to see flames raging... more...

'A English gamekeeper in France is like a French chef in London...'

When Jim Holloway took a game-keeping job in France he planned to stay just a few months. A couple of decades on, he is still here. Every winter he dons his tweeds and calls his Labradors to run a typical English shoot for the French aristocracy - with more than a little help from his wife Jane more...

'I decided to take the risk of my life'

When Ros Weston returned to France with friend looking to buy a house, she realised that she too would like a place in the country where she had spent many happy times. Here's how she found her dream home in Finistere, Brittany more...

'To enjoy France you have to fit it'

Wanda Glowinska-Rizzi had long wanted to live in France. She has finally made it to the Creuse from England via New York and Paris - and along the way got married to a French man. She has useful advice for other foreigners trying to live a French life

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'We have a tight budget but we're determined to find something'

Three years after selling their home in the Dordogne, Angela Mariett and her husband set out to find a house and accommodation for a horse amongst the vineyards in and around Bordeaux. It was an exhausting experience... more...

'At this point, I wouldn't have believed what my mother told me, let alone an estate agent!'

Chris Cleveland and his wife had set their hearts on an old house with blue shutters. So how did they end up with a new build in the Vendee? He tells their tale... more...

'I didn't speak French but the way he was waving his arms seemed threatening'

Today vintage car enthusiastes Bryn and Lynda Adams are happily ensconced in France - however, their love affair with the country began with a road-side argument with a gesticulating Frenchman... more...

'We've celebrated out first year together in France!'

A whirlwind romance found Bob Thompson and Jude Aldinger starting a new life together, leaving Cambridge for the Dordogne more...

'Our neighbour's chimney was split like a banana skin'

Nicky Newsome and Steve Bodman had planned to live in the Limousin with their horses, dog and cat. But ticks, flies and violent thunderstorms sent them north to Normandy
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'We wanted to experience another culture'

Although their friends and family found their decision strange, Karen Gottlieb and her family have no regrets about leaving small-town America for a year-long sabbatical in southern France. more...

'Who knows what's around the corner?'

Patricia Wilson and her partner, Nigel, had long thought about buying a second home in France. But it wasn't until Patricia had a breast cancer scare, that they finally decided to take the plunge.Read on...

'We bought a derelict cottage - now the work begins'

In 1996 Bruce Rushin won a competition to design the then new two pound coin. The prize money was the foundation of a fund for buying a property in France. Finally, in August 2003, in the middle of the notorious French heatwave, he and his wife went property hunting in central France. This is their story... more...

Looking back after four years in France

A true tale of one family's decision to leave Britain and head for France in search of a mortgage-free bigger house with more time and space for family life. Not to mention lorries heading backwards down hills, battles with French bureaucracy and building up a dog-breeding business... more...

'We wanted to find some peace'

Debbie Jones and her partner, Pete, left north-east Scotland to start a chambre d'hote for people with learning difficulties. This is their story more...

It never ceases to surprise me...

10 things you might not know about life in France