Why France?

A couple of days ago I was asked this question by a friend.  The answer probably goes back to my childhood, when my parents and I went on a package holiday to Lourdes, kindly paid for by my maternal Grandmother.  Aside from the religious aspect of Lourdes, it is a pretty town which we enjoyed exploring.  That short holiday gave us a taste for France and all things French.  So after spending several years holidaying here, firstly camping and then graduating to a caravan, we decided to think about buying a home here.  A lot of hard work and money saving on the part of my parents, and myself to a lesser degree, has enabled us to achieve this dream of living in France, plus of course a little bit of luck.  It’s hard to say whether we actively chose this area of France, or it chose us.  Although it’s quite rural where we live, we are within striking distance of places like Poitiers, Niort, Angoulême, Limoges and Bordeaux, so we are not completely cut of from the outside world.

We spent several of our annual holidays in the South and West of the country, and we have always liked the climate, the people and the general ambiance of the area.

Hello world

This is my first ever effort at something like this so please bear with me.  I would appreciate any constructive comments or criticisms on the content and my style of writing and presentation.  My aim is to give an insight into my life as a disabled Englishman living in France. I’m not really sure what to write about at this moment, but, I will make the effort to keep this updated.

I suppose I should say a little about myself first of all.  I am 44  years old, confined to a wheelchair, and live with my retired parents in Southwestern France.  We moved here in November 2006 and absolutely love it.

Life is calmer here and more relaxed than the UK; people take time to say hello and pass the time of day with you.