In the Beginning..........

Preamble

Purpose
The purpose of this blog is to record and share my experiences as an Englishman living in France, Provence. Why? Well, lots of Brits have made or are contemplating the same trip and maybe some of what I write will be of interest to them; and I may learn something, too, if I get any feedback.

Location
France is a big country and regions are very different. Provence covers a pretty big area in itself so precise location is significant. I live in a little village (~900 population) called Mollans sur Ouvèze in the Drome department. Forget Peter Mayle; I'm well north of his location in the Luberon. Mollans is situated between the Provencal plain to the south and the foothills of the Alps to the north. It's much hillier than the Luberon, culminating in Mont Ventoux (6000ft) which is just a few miles from me. Mont Bluye, in front of my house, rises to 4500ft. The climate tends to be colder in winter, overnight at least, but similarly sunny; and hot in the summer.

Me
I'm 67, divorced, two kids (children no longer), retired, spent my working life primarily in IT after a couple of years teaching at Summerhill and at the Lycée Charles de Gaulle in Sénégal, the latter through VSO. My French is quite good (Spanish rusty, Occitan rudimentary). No doubt more about me will emerge through writings in the blog.

How I Landed Up Here
Back in 2000, I accepted an invitation from some friends to come out this way with them on holiday. They were planning to buy a house and wanted some French language support for the legal business. At the time, I was speculating on selling my house in Reading (too large for me alone) and moving somewhere else. That holiday made me think of France as a possibility. I spent holidays the next two years exploring the south of France, mostly along the gorges/valleys of the rivers Lot, Tarn, Aveyron, Ardèche. I ended up staying with my friends, who live just outside Mollans, and a walk round the village revealed a house for sale which I could afford to buy without first selling my house in Reading. Being a singleton, I wanted to be in a village or town rather than isolated on a hillside somewhere, however spectacular the views. So I bought it as a holiday home, thinking I could always sell it if it was a mistake. I then spent several months in successive springs, summers and autumns here before deciding it was where I wanted to be. So I sold my house in Reading and spent some of the money doing this house up as a permanent home.

What persuaded me to stay? Primarily, the people. Just about everybody in my street (la bourgade, as it's known locally) is open, welcoming and good company, as are many others in the village. I've come to think of that as maybe the most important factor when moving to a small place and yet it's something you can't gauge without living in the place; difficult if you're buying blind And, of course, there's the climate, scenery, food and other attractions that derive from being here. Two wet English summers helped confirm my choice.

The main lesson I can draw from this that might help others is, if you can, to get to know a place before putting down roots. Either buy a holiday home that you can afford to sell again if necessary or rent for a period; better, several periods. And visit at different times of the year. Nowhere (in France) has glorious summer all through the year.

My House
My house is a small old village house, built of stone ~1870, attached on both sides to other houses. Noise from the houses either side is not a factor; the walls are simply too thick. Which helps enormously in keeping the house warm in winter (overnight temperatures go as low as -12). It's basically a straight up and down with four medium-sized rooms built one above the other. There was a temporary bathroom tacked on the back at the bottom of a small patch of steeply rising land. I've had the temporary bathroom demolished and have built out at the back to give me a new bathroom beside a sizable store room and, above them, a large living room fronted with patio doors that lead on to a small terrace. The terrace is backed by an old stone wall with steps in one corner leading to a small garden. The other outside space is a balcony off the front living room on the first floor that will accommodate four people comfortably. Outside space is at a premium in old village houses and the weather from spring through the autumn commands you to be outside a lot of the time.

The house fronts on to a narrow road on one edge of the village, some 300 yards from the village centre. There's very little traffic through the village and a great view across the river Ouvèze to Mont Bluye from the front balcony and the bedrooms above.

So, that's for starters...................................