Dear Val,
We've just had our one year anniversary of moving to France and are definitely not homesick. Our children are settled at school and are speaking French with a fluency that I hope to achieve one day. We love our Quercy stone house, our gorgeous garden, and the sunshine that allows us to enjoy it. We spent Sunday celebrating our daughter Poppy's 5th birthday in the garden with a bunch of her school friends. A garden party, in February! That wouldn't happen in England! And big rural French gardens, with barns and stables and bread ovens, are so much more fun for hide and seek. The French children had never played pass the parcel before and really enjoyed it! We spent the Saturday of Poppy's birthday weekend riding around the beautiful countryside with friends in the next village, the dogs running ahead of the horses, the horses happily breaking into a trot on their first big ride after the winter, and animals, adults and children all relaxed and happy, enjoying the fresh air and sunshine. I see our move to South West France as an opportunity to give my children an innocent, idyllic childhood, and hope that by bringing them over here as young children I won't have to face the difficult pull experienced by retirees, who have to choose between homes and friends here in France and family back in the uk.
Xx
Debbie
Val says a good point Debbie, the children will be integrated and so will you.
