How Moving to France Made These Expats Healthier and Happier

Living in France has been truly life-changing for these expats, who are all healthier and fitter than they’ve ever been before, they tell Gillian Harvey

Before the Covid-19 pandemic, Billy, 58, and Sandra Moffat, 56, spent much of their time travelling for work. The pair ran a legal management consultancy company, which meant long hours on the road and at desks. However, the pandemic opened up the world of remote working and changed everything. “We suddenly realised we could work from anywhere,” says Sandra.

The realisation led to a property hunt, initially in the UK. “We visited a house in the Lake District and the owners were moving to France. It got us thinking and we expanded our search area.”

The couple settled on a 17th-century stone house on an acre of land in Chouppes in Vienne, near Poitiers, from which they now work as independent management consultants. They were looking forward to adopting aspects of the French lifestyle, but weren’t prepared for the health benefits of living in a rural location.

“After lockdown, we’d put on a lot of weight,” says Sandra. “We both had health problems too. I had an arthritic hip so couldn’t exercise much. Billy had diabetes, high blood pressure and raised cholesterol. We were both obese.”

However, over the years since their move, both have found their weight reduce significantly, with little conscious effort. “We’ve each lost exactly 32kg,” says Sandra. “It’s happened completely naturally, without our really setting our minds to it. We put it down to both the healthcare system here and the lifestyle we’re now living.”

After their move, within six weeks of seeing a surgeon in France, Sandra was given a new hip. And fewer hours on the road have meant more time outdoors, walking and looking after the five cocker spaniels they’ve adopted since their move. “My new hip has meant I’m much more mobile,” says Sandra. “And Billy’s weight loss and improved fitness has meant he no longer has to take medication for his high blood pressure or diabetes.”

But how could moving to France have such dramatic benefits? “For a start, there are no takeaways near us,” says Sandra. “Before, we were travelling a lot, leaving at 6am and returning at 9pm. We’d often grab a takeaway as a result. Now, working from home and without a local takeaway, we’re cooking for ourselves at more reasonable times.”

“We’ve each lost exactly 32kg – we put it down to both the healthcare system here and the lifestyle”

The local markets also mean that the couple are eating more seasonally, choosing fresh fruit, and veg, less red meat. Plus, they’re now the proud owners of five cocker spaniels who have ensured that both are active on a daily basis.

“We also have more regular mealtimes, rarely snack, and have learned to savour our food the way the French do. We no longer guzzle and go. Taking our time means we’re more in tune with our bodies and aware when we’ve eaten enough.

“We’re also more relaxed generally. I feel better than I have for decades. I don’t wake up in the morning thinking ‘here we go again’. I have a spring in my step straightaway. The change is phenomenal!”

When Angus and Sarah Cameron, 52, moved to France in 2003, it was to fulfil a long-held dream of running a vineyard. Both worked for an airline at the time – Angus, now 55, as a pilot, and Sarah as cabin crew. “I got a degree in Wine Studies from Brighton University in 2003, and we bought a vineyard in the AOP Fronton region, which we ran until 2018.”

While managing a vineyard was quite an active pursuit, after the couple’s two children were born in 2005 and 2008, Sarah wanted to find a way to get fitter. “If I’d still been living in England I might have taken a class,” she says, “but in rural France there are very few options, so in 2012 I decided to try jogging.”

To her surprise, Sarah found she really enjoyed hitting the road. “I wasn’t sporty at school and hated PE – I used to hide in the bushes!” she says. “So nobody was more surprised than me when I realised I was enjoying myself.”

In 2013, a friend suggested they compete in a 10k together for fun in Montauban. “I thought I’d come last, but I came eighth out of 387 female runners. When I mentioned this to another friend, Mike, he suggested I sign up for the Sauternes marathon with him, just seven weeks later. We’d run together and aim for five hours.”

“But when the day came, he had to drop out due to injury, so I ran at my own pace. To my astonishment, I finished in three hours and 32 minutes and came seventh, which qualified me for London and Boston.”

Sarah began to learn more about pacing and nutrition in an attempt to get her speed up. Then in 2019, she took part in a 24-hour race in Albi – running 215km, which qualified her for Team GB. “I was overjoyed!” She represented GB in a six-hour race in Bordeaux in August 2020, and was selected for the 24-hour European Championships the following month. Sadly, these were cancelled due to Covid.

Shortly afterwards, in 2021, Sarah had an accident. “I came off my bike and had to have a hip replacement.” Despite her injury, Sarah was determined to run again and has since completed a marathon and a few ultra marathons with her bionic hip. She finished an 80km race in November 2025 and won a 12-hour trail race in the Aveyron last February. But her pace isn’t as competitive and she does suffer some pain.

However, this doesn’t stop her running for up to five hours most mornings, and she now works as a coach in the afternoons, alongside her support role in the GB 24-hour management team. “I take my daughter Taliyah, 18, to school, then run in the Pyrénées or the Gorges d’Aveyron. Then it’s back for a siesta and coaching in the afternoon.”

Sarah’s running has also inspired husband Angus, who was already into fitness, to try his hand at marathons and triathlons. “I think if I’d stayed in the UK, I’d have been going out with friends and wouldn’t have had the same motivation. But we live in the middle of nowhere, and as a result, I became an international-level athlete. I credit France for changing my life for the better.”

“To my astonishment, I finished the race in three hours and 32 minutes and came seventh, which qualified me for London and Boston”

Sophie Hargreaves, 38, and husband, Will, moved to France in 2020, after he was made redundant. “Will was working in the wine industry supplying restaurants, many of which were completely decimated during Covid. I was working as a housing officer, but fancied a change,” explains Sophie.

Originally, the couple had been looking at properties in the UK, but wanting to purchase both a house and land, they gradually started looking at places further afield. “We’d always talked about having some sort of farm and living an outdoor life,” says Sophie. “Eventually we found the perfect property in Deux-Sèvres and moved over there in December 2020 to start farming alpacas!”

At the time, Sophie was suffering from chronic pain after sustaining a back injury in 2015. “I tore a disc in my spine, and while I’d had treatment, I’d been left in terrible pain. The only way to deal with it was to take a lot of pain medication. In the UK, I’d been under a pain management team.”

Sitting down to drive or working at her desk seemed to exacerbate the pain, so Sophie hoped that, on moving, she might be able to practise a little more self-care. But she didn’t expect to experience the dramatic improvement she did. “When I first came to France, I went to the GP and explained my history,” she says. “He was happy to prescribe painkillers. But I began to realise that I was barely taking them,” she says. “Previously, I’d know immediately if I missed a dose, but my pain had eased considerably.”

Sophie credits much of her improvement to her new more active role on the farm. “I’m often moving and rarely sit still,” she says. “Being my own boss, too, means that I can listen to my body and choose tasks appropriately.”

“I had hoped for some improvement on moving, but nothing could have prepared me for the dramatic change. Just a month after we arrived, I was bashing a fence post in with a 16kg post knocker. Will just couldn’t believe it.”

The reduction in pain and end to her reliance on pain medication have also meant that Sophie has been able to become a mum, something she wondered whether she’d be able to do. “I had my first child, Emilie, in 2023, and I’m currently pregnant with baby number two,” she says. “I’ve actually found my back pain clears up almost completely during pregnancy, which is the opposite of many pregnant women!”

While Sophie’s injury hasn’t healed – “I’ll always have to be more careful than the average person of my age” – her new lifestyle has worked wonders. “Working on the farm means my muscles are stronger, which really helps with spinal injuries. No two days are the same. I’ll be filling buckets, cleaning the fields, feeding the alpacas, or moving 12kg bales of hay. The range of movement has really helped. Living in France has been life-changing.”

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Lead photo credit : © SOPHIE AND WILL HARGREAVES, SARAH CAMERON