I have no idea how some of the books in my spare bedrooms arrived there. My Good Life in France by Janine Marsh is subtitled “in Pursuit of the Rural Dream”. Those of you who dream of living a pastoral life or renovating a house someplace in Europe after reading Peter Mayle’s A Year in Provence or Frances Mayes’ Under the Tuscan Sun, might find this delightful. When Marsh describes the three types of expats who move to France, including the ones who buy derelict property to renovate, I have to agree with one of her comments. I think they’re all slightly mad.
It was only meant to be a three-hour trip from England to buy cheap wine in France. Janine Marsh, her husband, Mark, and her father made a quick summer dash to France. But, when the cafes and restaurants all closed, and they had no place to eat, they ended up wandering the countryside, and looking at property for sale. They did find a derelict property in northern France with nothing to recommend it except the view out the back window into the garden. Really, the house was falling down, and it was an empty barn with dangerous steps and hobbit doorways. But, something about the view. Janine fell in love with it.
In summer of 2004, she convinced Mark to sell his beloved Jaguar, and they bought the property in the Seven Valleys in rural France. That first summer, they made the quick trip over every weekend to work on the house. When Mark’s sister died, though, he was ready to chuck their life in England. He wanted to move to France, and build their life there. But, Janine loved her work almost as much as she loved her husband. It took a week of arguments before she agreed to go, too.
One of the chapters actually sums up their life in rural France. It’s called “The Art of Small Steps”. They learned to work on the house, to talk with their neighbors, to maneuver the politics and life there. They gathered animals around them, dogs, cats, chickens, ducks. They visited other towns for the markets and festivals, and celebrated anything and everything with their neighbors.
In 2011, Mark tired of Janine answering one question after another for friends and expats. She decided to write a blog called “TheGoodLifeFrance”, and she watched it grow in popularity. She might live in rural northern France, but she has friends all over the world from her blog.
Janine Marsh says “The good life is all around if you take the time to find it.” Some readers will enjoy the book, and envy Mark and Janie Marsh. I think their life in rural France sounds like hell.
Janine Marsh’s website is https://thegoodlifefrance.com/
My Good Life in France by Janine Marsh. Michael O’Mara, 2017. ISBN 9781782437321 (paperback), 256p.
FTC Full Disclosure – I have no idea how this book showed up in one of my spare rooms. I think they just appear.
Oh, Lesa, this is priceless. A fixer-upper is still a fixer-upper, be it in France or Timbucktoo, and like you – I am not interested. (I laughed out loud at your FTC disclosure).
Well, it’s hard to give an FTC statement for a book I’ve had for six years, Kaye!
Mud and poop and a fixer-upper and a foreign language and governmental forms. Nope. Not interested.
LOL! 👍
As much as I enjoyed A Year in Provence, this is so not for me. First of all, Jackie wants comfort, not a fixer upper. And at this stage of life, neither do I. Plus. there’s the whole foreign language thing. My French (such as it was) hasn’t been used in more than 25 years, so …not acceptable.
Pass.
I’m right there with Jackie – comfort, not a fixer upper. I feel the same way about my Spanish. It wouldn’t work anymore.
I’d pass on the lifestyle.
I fully agree — the fixer-upper life is not for me. Young people have the interest and energy, but when you have a lot more years behind you than ahead, you just want to be comfortable with the least possible effort.
What will you do with all those books of mysterious provenance when you move, Lesa?
No, too much work for a fixer upper. ARCs will find a sad disposable home, Sandra. Books will go to the library book sale.
It sounds awful Lesa!
I know so many people who did this a few years ago (before we made the brilliant-not choice to leave the EU – many of them had to return to the UK at that point).
My friend sister has lived in rural France for many years. Things are very very different there – the entire ‘commun’ is run by the mayor, who has immense power, both formally and informally. Issues can get out of hand very quickly. Also inheritance laws are totally different in France, and a lot of one’s property reverts to the state, regardless of one’s will or anything else. My friend’s sister is a lot older than her, and lives alone. It’s becoming a difficult situation as she becomes infirm -my friend is her only close relative and lives here in northern Scotland. She does not want to move back to the UK.
And I wouldn’t want a fixer-upper anywhere! Horrible thought! Even my friend Heather, who is having a new house built from scratch, is regretting it very much – what with covid, Brexit and goodness knows what else, it’s taking YEARS longer than they initially thought, and of course prices for materials are rising all the time. Labour is also very hard to find, and knows its worth – we recently paid over £800 for about five feet of pointing above our porch, and the other quote I got was £1400.
So I am with you on this one (as on so many things…)