Last year we moved our young family from the bright lights of London
to Parisot, a small village in the Tarn-et-Garonne region of France. Although
we knew the village well (I had been coming here on holiday since I was 6) we
were worried that village life wouldn’t
suit us as we feared it would be too quiet after the hustle and bustle of a
capital. But having lived here now for 7 months we are more than suited to our
new lives, and Parisot has surprised us as for such a small village there is
always something going on.
The village has all you could need, with its own two bakeries, shop, café, restaurant, hairdresser, post office, médiathèque,
football pitch, swanky still new looking medical centre and school. In the
mornings you can choose which bakery to get your bread and croissants from
before dropping the kids off (or not) at school. On Friday mornings you can buy
your local groceries from the village market, fresh fruit and veg, cheese,
fish, meat and obligatory wine! Most other things you can pick up from the
local shop and if it’s the weekend why not
treat yourself to a patisserie from the bakery which does very good cakes! Drop
off your letters to friends and family in the post office before stopping off
in the médiathèque to return your french cookery book and
pick up the latest English title (yes many village libraries have an English
section.) On walking around the village you can practise your French greeting
your neighbours, discussing the latest mayoral candidates (a hot topic at the
moment) and the gorgeous weather that is set to stay for at least the coming
week.
For lunch, you can head up to the Belvedere and eat while taking in
this view. Granted not all villages have this view but most have pleasant
picnic spots that out of holiday season are often underused. After lunch you
could head back to the médiathèque for French lessons or a life drawing
workshop. Or you could take a walk down the back route to the village lake
where you can take in the beautiful French countryside, feed the ducks, walk
the dog, pick wild flowers…….(fill
in the blank!)
Early evening an apéritif
in the café is a must before
heading to the restaurant for dinner. A reasonably priced three course meal of
a traditional French menu prepared by the chef. If it’s the first Friday of the month you can then head back to the café for the monthly jam session with instrument
in hand or ears to listen. If exercise is more your thing you can head to the
salle des fêtes
on a Tuesday evening for Zumba or if you enjoy singing you can join the village
choir which rehearses every Thursday and is having a concert very soon! If you
enjoy really getting involved you could help out at one of the annual village
festivals, be it the art or village festival in August, or the literary festival
in October.
Granted village life is not for everyone but for us as a family it’s been great. There are still times when we
feel like we’re the only ones
around, especially during Winter, but it’s been lovely to have neighbours to get advice from and share a meal
with. Choose your village carefully as each is very different and not all as
active as Parisot. But if you are planning to move to France we would thoroughly
recommend it as an option and there are often very nice places just outside
villages (within walking distance) as within!
Becky
Val says Becky has her own blog http://www.lafamillebrown.com/
comments to taglines82@gmail.com
Val says Becky has her own blog http://www.lafamillebrown.com/
comments to taglines82@gmail.com
