Get more


inspiration from readers’ stories


completefrance.com


Forest of dreams M


Riverside Le Rémbucher is surrounded by forest


y life in France became a colourful tapestry woven with the threads


of divine coincidence. Call it what you will: kismet and karma, fate and providence. Stitched together with passion and ardor. And as the French say: ‘Le Bonheur est parfois caché dans l'inconnu’ – luck and happiness are often tucked away in the unknown. More than 20 years ago, we


moved from a quaint shoebox house in the Auvergne to a petit château in the beguiling department of Creuse. It was a leap of faith. The ramshackle manor was called La Creuzette – most likely after the French word creuset, meaning crucible or hollow-shaped object. Think colourful cookery pots! Nothing was hollow about


the château except for a couple of big and costly surprises waiting for us when we began the restoration process to transform the magnifi cent old lady back to her days of glory. The mammoth task took


my partner Hardy and I 20 years and a few tears. The wailing mainly came from


Louis’ previous château abode


our bank manager when we arrived unannounced at his desk, begging for an extension to our already hefty loan. We should have made the necessary appointment with his secretary, who would have, as usual, informed us that he was out of town for a few days – even though his car was parked outside the offi ce. With Herculean eff ort, we


eventually built a sought-after holiday destination at La Creuzette. It was singled out by the glossy Figaro magazine as one of its coups de coeur at the time. Our magical journey resulted in the publication of


78 FRENCH PROPERTY NEWS: July/August 2023 The forest near his current home


three books and several TV series about our escapades in the French countryside. To crown it all, more than 30 families have bought a property in and around Boussac since our arrival. The locals are ecstatic about the fi nancial and creative injection into the local community. The estate agents gleefully wring their hands in anticipation each time the southerners arrive. This happens like clockwork in the European spring. Time waits for no one, and


20 years later we started to dream about living life at a less hectic pace. The unspeakable


MUSHROOMS GALORE We were sure we wanted to stay in the Creuse area. It is truly one of the most natural and unspoilt gems of the French countryside, a region full of surprises. The extensive oak forests


are something to behold. They off er shelter to various deer and, of course, champignons! In autumn, patches of mushrooms appear in the damp, fertile soil in the woods and forest around our village: chanterelles, girolles, cèpes, mousserons, morilles, pieds de mouton… to name but a few of these delicacies that appear in steaming stews.


word, retirement, began to feature in our conversations. To cut a long and winding story short, we sold La Creuzette – to friends who fell in love with the estate after they visited us one splendid summer. I always thought there could – or would – be no life after our petit château, but we had to move on. We were still involved with a few activities there, but the hunt for a new home had to begin in earnest.


Miracles do happen if you wish hard enough, says author Louis Jansen van Vuuren, who is living his best life, sustainably, near a woodland paradise in Creuse


Page 1  |  Page 2  |  Page 3  |  Page 4  |  Page 5  |  Page 6  |  Page 7  |  Page 8  |  Page 9  |  Page 10  |  Page 11  |  Page 12  |  Page 13  |  Page 14  |  Page 15  |  Page 16  |  Page 17  |  Page 18  |  Page 19  |  Page 20  |  Page 21  |  Page 22  |  Page 23  |  Page 24  |  Page 25  |  Page 26  |  Page 27  |  Page 28  |  Page 29  |  Page 30  |  Page 31  |  Page 32  |  Page 33  |  Page 34  |  Page 35  |  Page 36  |  Page 37  |  Page 38  |  Page 39  |  Page 40  |  Page 41  |  Page 42  |  Page 43  |  Page 44  |  Page 45  |  Page 46  |  Page 47  |  Page 48  |  Page 49  |  Page 50  |  Page 51  |  Page 52  |  Page 53  |  Page 54  |  Page 55  |  Page 56  |  Page 57  |  Page 58  |  Page 59  |  Page 60  |  Page 61  |  Page 62  |  Page 63  |  Page 64  |  Page 65  |  Page 66  |  Page 67  |  Page 68  |  Page 69  |  Page 70  |  Page 71  |  Page 72  |  Page 73  |  Page 74  |  Page 75  |  Page 76  |  Page 77  |  Page 78  |  Page 79  |  Page 80  |  Page 81  |  Page 82  |  Page 83  |  Page 84  |  Page 85  |  Page 86  |  Page 87  |  Page 88  |  Page 89  |  Page 90  |  Page 91  |  Page 92  |  Page 93  |  Page 94  |  Page 95  |  Page 96  |  Page 97  |  Page 98  |  Page 99  |  Page 100  |  Page 101  |  Page 102  |  Page 103  |  Page 104  |  Page 105  |  Page 106  |  Page 107  |  Page 108  |  Page 109  |  Page 110  |  Page 111  |  Page 112  |  Page 113  |  Page 114  |  Page 115  |  Page 116  |  Page 117  |  Page 118  |  Page 119  |  Page 120  |  Page 121  |  Page 122  |  Page 123  |  Page 124  |  Page 125  |  Page 126  |  Page 127  |  Page 128  |  Page 129  |  Page 130  |  Page 131  |  Page 132  |  Page 133  |  Page 134  |  Page 135  |  Page 136  |  Page 137  |  Page 138  |  Page 139  |  Page 140  |  Page 141  |  Page 142  |  Page 143  |  Page 144  |  Page 145  |  Page 146  |  Page 147  |  Page 148