Search Results for: travel writing

How much land is there altogether?’ I asked. ‘About thirteen acres,’ said the estate agent. ‘Whatever would you do with that much land? It’s an awful lot to upkeep.’ I grinned. No problem! ‘I’d keep llamas and fly balloons!’

A dilapidated, rat-infested stone barn might not be many people’s vision of a potential dream home. But for Richard and Al, the cavernous, oak-beamed building in a sleepy hamlet in the Limousin region of France is perfect.

Tussles with French bureaucracy and fierce storms do little to dampen their resolve as they immerse themselves in this quiet corner of France. Told by a well-intentioned if often hapless do-it-yourselfer, Richard’s hilarious and heartwarming tale of a new life in France resounds to the Gallic refrain, ‘Bon courage!’

Maggie wants a house with lots of light. I need one with character. And what we do have in common doesn’t help either – we’re both stubborn.

When Derek and his partner Maggie decide to escape to the country, they don’t opt for the simple life. Instead they set about converting an old Cotswold stables in Stow-on-the-Wold into their dream home. Over the next two years, they wage guerrilla war on the Planning Office, are cursed by everything from collapsing walls to poison gas, run out of money, and meet some very strange characters – till in its final stages of construction, the place unaccountably floods.

This essential dictionary and phrase book provides every term you need to know when buying, maintaining, renovating or building a home in France.

Accessible and comprehensive, it includes the technical words you won’t find in an ordinary dictionary for tools and equipment and every aspect of painting, carpentry, roofing, plumbing and drainage. It also equips you with terminology for planning structural changes such as extensions and determining boundaries. An appendix of emergency phrases will make this a book you’ll want to keep by the phone at all times.

Whether you own a home or work in France, this book will help you talk to French tradesmen with authority and avoid costly misunderstandings as you pull down the language barrier brick by brick.

Sam and Bud were ordinary first-time homebuyers in their early thirties. Their intention, in moving to France, was to create a simple life in a place where they could spend time with their children. The home they actually bought was a 17th century chateau in the Loire valley with over thirty rooms.

Chateau Du Bonchamps had been the seat of noble families as far back as 1507. With only modest savings, Sam and Bud launched the exciting project of restoring this extraordinary building to its former glory. Over several years they renovated 10,000 square feet of house, installed countless bathrooms, painted 156 windows, put the 40-acre park and gardens into some semblance of order and started a bed and breakfast against resistance from the locals. Their hard work prevailed; their chateau quadrupled in value.

The things we dream do not always fit nicely with the realities of everyday life. This is an insightful glimpse of what it truly means to leave everything behind to pursue a dream.