The children were older and wanted to stay in the UK, so they did. It didn’t take us long to realise that we would never have the patience to wait the five years we had planned before we could emigrate, so, we decided to move as soon as we could. To cut a long story short, we fell in love with our ruin on April 1st! Having made the decision to go, and as we were both self employed, we decided to take an extended Easter holiday and scheduled to look at four more houses. It had plenty of land and sounded interesting so we decided to fly over and see it.
Not being at all impetuous (!) one of the first stalls we came across was for a property agency in Loire, as we looked at the folders Michael saw a dull coloured property in what appeared to be a grassy meadow. By the end of the honeymoon we knew we wanted to live in France.Ī set of ‘fate’ circumstances meant that we were in Birmingham when a French property show was on we attended, vaguely aiming to look at houses from the Loire to Limousin. When I remarried Michael, our honeymoon was spent in France – luckily as soon as he stepped foot on French soil he was hooked too. My work enabled me to pay the mortgage when my marriage broke up but I decided I needed backup so qualified as a Garden Designer.Īt 14 I had been on a school trip to France and fell in love with it my one treat as a single parent was to drive my old van down to Folkestone and catch the then Sea Cat to Boulogne for the day, driving back up the M20 late the same evening. I loved the work so took my R.H.S and qualified in Horticulture then started my own business. When Chris and Michelle reached school age I managed to get a job during school hours at a plant nursery. I worked as a secretary until my children were born. If I wasn’t exploring the fields with our Labrador I was on the horse, and at school I was a member of the ornithology and wildlife groups. As a teenager I finally had my own horse and felt that all my dreams had come true. I rode as soon as I could and we always had a dog and cat. I’ve loved all animals but especially dogs and horses for as long as I can remember. I have been so lucky throughout my life, I had an idyllic childhood in the Essex countryside and there was much more of it then! Susan tells how she came to leave the UK for France and how she met a wonderful dog who became the star of her book…
Today’s post comes from the lovely Susan Keefe, author of children’s book Toby’s Tails who lives in Le Mans, Pays de Loire – home of the famous Le Mans racing events.
0 kommentar(er)
