REAL LIFE
they bought the building in 2020 just as the Covid pandemic struck, which gave them plenty of time to get to know their surroundings. “This building dates from the
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late 1400s and is said to be the oldest in Audierne,” explains Freya. “It’s just behind the tourist offi ce in the town’s old quarter and is listed because of its proximity to the church. The Bosser family owned it for the previous 100 years, and in the 1950s the tiny front area used to be a shop where they sold butter, milk and eggs, and later crêpes to take away, so lots of the locals have very fond memories of being sent here as children to go and buy their daily dairy essentials!”
The café is in a quirky building in the centre of Audierne
“I prefer it when the café’s busy; when it’s quiet, the time drags on – a bit like sailing when there’s no wind!”
a couple of ‘horrifi c’ language exchanges back in school. “We were a bit nervous
about moving here because of the language: I had school- level French, which I’d mostly forgotten, while Marcus had practically no French and is dyslexic, so we knew the language would be a challenge. In around 2015, we’d reached a point where we really wanted to have a home – not just because we’d had our son, but because we really wanted a base with a workshop and a garden so we could have a family life and pets. “In the UK, we’d been
based in the southwest ports and initially hoped to fi nd somewhere in Cornwall, but it simply wasn’t within our budget, so we looked further afi eld. We considered other English-speaking countries, but I hate fl ying so that immediately eliminated
Australia or Canada! Through our sailing trips, we’d come to know west Brittany and especially Douarnenez, which hosts a major maritime festival every other year, so we started looking in that area and were lucky enough to fi nd a house nearby with a workshop and plenty of space, as well as a berth for our boat in the town.”
LIVING ON DRY LAND Freya admits that the fi rst few years of life on dry land – in a foreign country – were tough. Initially, they were still sailing for months at a time, which made it harder to make friends locally, and the language barrier didn’t help. “Learning French has certainly been the hardest part, and trying to make friends as a 35-year-old but speaking like a fi ve-year-old is utterly frustrating.” Their son was fi ve years old when they moved to France
and being surrounded by adults had already given him a good level of English. Attending the local village school meant he learned French there and started to read and write with his classmates, becoming completely bilingual. He now feels more French than English. “After a couple of years of
running the business from this side of the Channel, we decided to sell the boat and do something new. We knew we’d need to make a living and to be honest, we weren’t 100% sure what we would do. I was exhausted from the sailing business and we needed some time to take stock.” Eventually, the couple fell
in love with a quirky corner building in the centre of Audierne, a harbour town on the far western coast of Brittany, about 20 minutes from Douarnenez. Using the proceeds from their boat sale,
SERIOUS PROJECT The couple started by renovating the upstairs rooms, creating a spacious apartment they plan to rent out at a later date, possibly for holidays. They loved the character and history of the old building, and spent a lot of time updating the fl at above because they knew that if they did pursue their business plans, there would be no time for renovating the apartment later on. “Part of me always knew
what it was going to become,” admits Freya. “Like a lot of
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All the cakes are homemade FRENCH PROPERTY NEWS: November/December 2023 57
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