REAL LIFE


The Jones family exploring the delights of the local area


“We quickly learnt that the east was much more expensive than the west, which is how we eventually arrived at Perpignan”


the option to come back if it wasn’t working. And we could move anywhere we wanted in France (providing it had good internet). I hardly know anyone who has chosen where they live because it’s nice. Almost everyone lives where they live because they were born there, or they moved there for a job or for a partner. Dan was offered a fully


Most weekends when they first moved were spent on the beach – “It felt like we were on holiday!”


remote technical writing job with a company based in the Czech Republic. “We’re moving to France!” we excitedly told our families. That night, I stayed up Googling various French cities and booking language lessons. The next night I cried about leaving all my friends and family, a job that I loved (leading art projects in primary schools) and a fun side-line being a comedian on the northwest comedy circuit. This state of flux continued for the next eight months. It was exciting to have


the whole of France to choose from, and we quickly started narrowing it down. I disregarded all of the north because I wasn’t going to learn a whole new language for the weather of Cornwall. I’d rather just move to Cornwall. We wanted to be by the sea, and the Mediterranean seemed to be the best bit. If you’ve ever turned up at a beach and


realised there’s actually no beach because it’s high tide, let me recommend the Med. It behaves like a massive lake. We quickly learnt that the


east was much more expensive than the west, which is how we eventually arrived at Perpignan, the furthest west and south you can go along that southern coastline.


PRE-MOVE DECLUTTER Then the big house sort began. Every single item we owned needed a decision on whether it was staying or going. Our bins were overflowing and this led to one moment of madness when I was found aggressively trying to shove a large rusty frying pan into a public bin next to our local bus stop. Another low moment was when I was sat on my sofa reading to my kids when a guy turned up to buy it. Sorry kids. A month before we left,


Dan flew over to try and find us a house to rent. Ideally, we would have set up a load of house viewings in advance, but that seemed to be surprisingly difficult. Dan had one full day to find a house. Miraculously, he completed the task by 10am! The second estate agent he visited had a house that had just come on the market and wasn’t yet online. “If you want it, I won’t show it to anyone


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There are opportunities to enjoy winter sports too, in the nearby Pyrénées FRENCH PROPERTY NEWS: September/October 202341


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