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Gary and Pauline's home in Morlanne, Pyrénées-Atlantiques Against all odds


The fates were against Gary and Pauline Marshall moving to France, but fi nally the couple prevailed!


I


n July 2021, Pauline and I arrived at what may be our fi nal destination (well, the one before we fl y, hopefully,


skywards). Our journey began 11 years earlier, back in 2012 when we lived in St- Margaret’s-at-Cliff e, a Kentish village nestled on the edge of the White Cliff s overlooking what we Brits call the English Channel – with direct views of the clock tower in Calais on a very clear day. Little did we know that our journey would be turbulent, challenging at best, and end at the beautiful Bearnaise village of Morlanne


in the Pyrénées-Atlantiques. We had never heard of the village before and possibly, until the publication of this article, it was one of the best kept secrets in France. Despite my good fortune as


a teenager of holidaying each year near Fréjus on the French Riviera, I had never planned to move across the Channel, although I have lived and worked in exciting far-fl ung places. Then, in 2012, Pauline and I took an extended break in Corrèze. I had recently walked out of a job, intending to enjoy the moment before redefi ning


80 FRENCH PROPERTY NEWS: September/October 2023


my work life. It just happened, more by fate than design, that my ‘moment’ developed into an almost permanent sabbatical: yes, I’m still on it... While in Corrèze, we


experienced one of those holiday ‘thoughts’ enjoyed by many but usually forgotten within days of returning home – ‘let’s move over here permanently’. Back in the UK, our holiday thought lingered, in fact, it grew into a well- devised and researched plan (all of which eventually fell by the wayside, primarily because we’re both instinctive creatures


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