Life is better in Brittany and Normandy

In the UK we have a town centre house on the Sussex coast. Life around us is what you you might expect from our position... articulated trucks make TK Maxx, Sports Direct and McDonald's deliveries at unsocial hours, revellers walking home after late licence bars fold in the early hours... We've even had inebriated folk nestling down in the corner of our garden to sleep it off. This is probably one of the aspects that makes our house in Brittany such an oasis by comparison. There you can hear a pin drop during the day in lulls between bouts of birdsong or watching the circling Buzzards, the murmurations of Starlings - I think that's October... and, of course the 2 or 3 tractors a day which seem to be far more plentiful than cars. I even saw Peregrine Falcon parents teaching their offspring how to hunt, plummeting down at 100mph and then pulling out to ascend and do it again... then their kids having a go... A magical day . All are a welcome alternative to the domestic UK

What's in store if you find a house you want to buy... There are a number of ways you can house hunt in France... •  Visiting Notaire's offices in whatever region, town or city you are drawn towards. •  Visiting Immobiliers whose websites you may have found.... •  Driving through areas of the country that have an appeal and calling into    Immobillieres or Notaire's offices on spec. •  Surfing the internet and browsing property portals and websites. It is so very convenient...  But it's good to know who you may be dealing with and a little (if not more) of how the system works. You've happened upon this article because you're looking for a house using the latter method. That's great. Naturally we think we offer a comprehensive and well informed way of viewing... allowing you to scan through a thousand or so properties across Normandy and Brittany from the comfort of your computer, laptop, tablet or smart-phone. We work with around 20 agents ac

For seventeen years now we have been to-ing and fro-ing between Worthing in Sussex and our house in Brittany. It's fair to say that we've had our money's worth. And, since it cost us £12,000 just 10 weeks after we first saw it, then each visit has cost us just £125. Brilliant! Mind you the cost of the ferry crossings would buy the house twice over and on the way to a third! Eek! And then there's Cost of the renovations... Well I don't suppose we have spent more than a total of £75,000 including the purchase price. And the joy we get from each trip is immeasurable... from simple walks along the towpath of the Rigole to the Son et Lumiere at The Abbey of Bon Repos (it's an annual must to see if I can improve on the previous year's photographs). Even in December we have eaten lunch in the garden... on the magic bench  ... Evenings having had dinner or barbecuing fresh sardines under the tenty thing in the courtyard and probably having just a little too muc

It's probably all that kissing! They are dropping like flies in France! An epidemic is defined by 165 cases in every 100,000 head of population. And figures show that France currently has a whopping 905 in every 100,000 going down with it which means they are on red alert. It may be nothing more than an established custom, a way of saying hello or goodbye - and most do it without thinking, on auto-pilot. So they are bringing it on themselves. I'm also sure that, as distant cousins, and quite cold by comparison, us Brits are definitely less affected by 'la grippe'. But, having been supplied with a vaccine designed for last year's strain of flu which has apparently mutated somewhat...this winter's jab has not had the desired effect and so many of those in high risk groups are being left without the protection they hoped for. All I can say is, that for our French friends, as Valentine's Day looms, then probably the whole nation will be spreading the v

If your experience of buying a house in France is anything like ours was back in 1999 then you are embarking on one of the most exciting phases of your life... It might be my age, but the more I hear about life in the UK compared with the way things used to be (the need for reporting just about everything negative on 24 hour rolling news might have something to do with it) then the less I like it right here - right now . But Brittany and Normandy offer a lifestyle very similar to that of the UK the way it was back in the 1950s (yes, unfortunately I am old enough to remember what that was like! but I did look at it through a child's eyes ). The pace of Breton and Norman life is very leisurely, the roads are good, no actually - they're great ( NO Road Tax) and comparatively empty too - and the folks you encounter are friendly (if you are keen to integrate) if not they'll wonder why...because everyone is eager to give you a welcome nod, a smile and a "bonjour&qu

Yes... renovation at a snail's pace ...That's how life in Brittany has seemed so far for us. Most enjoyable of course. And all of the peripheral stuff that goes on, the 'time off for good behaviour' when we knock off at 4 O'clock in the afternoon for a drive to the coast for Moules Marinieres or to Lake Guerledan for a woodland walk around the lake; you have to have a sense of balance - so progress can sometimes be painfully slow over time with intense short bursts and, yet tempered by gentle relaxation. We spend around two months of each year there in bite sized (two week) chunks. Infuriating at times because I always feel that we don't have sufficient time 'at the coal-face' to get the required amount of work done each trip. It's a slow burn toward job satisfaction. But first I have to roll out once again... that we have done 6 return trips each year for 16 years now. So that's 192 crossings of La Manche (that's what our French cousi