Charente life - time to sniff the flowers

Some of you may know that in my former life I was lucky enough to have two jobs simultaneously. 

First as Group Marketing Director and secondly as the Director in Charge of Chesterton's head office in Brook St, with around 200 people in the building.  I think the latter role was given to me as the Chief Executive knew I had a father from Scotland & mother from Yorkshire and would therefore keep a tight rein on the purse strings.

My office used to look out over Claridges and it was a pretty spoiled life.

I had a PA who used to organise my diary, a team of people making sure the office ran smoothly and an accountant to help me add up the numbers.

If my computer started behaving badly I'd pick up the phone and someone from the IT helpdesk would arrive before I put the phone down.  I could eat in the Excecutive dining room (choose the menu even) or send out for sandwiches.

Life is so, so different now.

I work by myself from an office in my garden - make my own coffee, type my own letters, get my own baguette, install my own ink cartridges and wrestle with my own Livebox.

This morning I have been writing to the Prefecture and photocopying lengthy contracts.  I cursed when I saw it was 11.30am as the post office closes at mid-day and there's no magical "out tray" that empties itself at night anymore.

Wearily I licked the envelopes down, sighed at having to drag myself out of my comfy chair, picked up the dogs lead and set off on the 150 metre trek into the centre of my village.

On the way I bumped into my neighbour Yves and spent time chatting with him about how the lack of rain was affecting his potager.  Three people tooted and waved as they drove by.  In the post office the lady behind the counter spent 10 minutes talking about Sarkozy's new tax plans and the royal wedding (still).

Coming home I wandered into my garden behind the church and sat on the grass eating cherries I'd picked from the tree followed by strawberries, raspberries & redcurrants that were ready in my fruit patch.

The dog sprawled alongside me, hoovering up the cherry stones and letting out a half hearted woof if the birds came too close.

Hmm - I thought. 

London was terrific, it's the greatest city in the world and if you want to forge a career in property there's no place better.

But as Walter Hagen* so famously said:

"You're only here for a short visit. Don't hurry, don't worry. And be sure to smell the flowers along the way.”

And at the grand old age of 49 I've come to the conclusion that he was absolutely right!

www.cognacproperty.com


*Walter Hagen is the world's third greatest ever matchplay golfer.  Bettered only by Seve and my mate Chris.

Top 10 things I love about our life in the Charente

I've just finished reading the Chris Evans book "Memoirs of a fruitcake".  I happen to think that he's a broadcasting genius who pretty much invented the format that all breakfast shows now seem to take.

He starts each chapter with a top 10 listing and it got me to thinking about the aspects of my life here in rural SW France that I most enjoy.  Some of them would be possible in the UK too.....just sadly not if you happen to be commuting up to the West End with the senior partner of a leading property consultancy demanding his pound of flesh each day.

So here goes:

10. The weather.  It's the 2nd sunniest part of France and that little yellow ball in the sky tends to make me happy.

9. The landscape.  What's not to like about rolling hills full to bursting with vines & sunflowers.

8. Reading L'Equipe each morning in my local café...and teasing the owner about the rugby when England win.

7. The schooling.  So far so good - sadly the girls are saddled with my DNA (and subsequent lack of academic ability) but the schooling is excellent and they're thriving.

6. The dinner parties.  Beef from the Limousin, wine from Bordeaux and the company of some of the friendliest people on earth.  It helps that a few of them own their own vineyards!

5. My job.  Driving through the vines and coming across houses that have stood proudly for hundreds of years.  What's not to like?

4. Being able to eat a sandwich outside in my garden that costs a few centimes to make, rather than raiding "pret a manger" and paying fifteen quid to eat lunch while reading two page memos.

3. Cognac town itself.  Blues festival, lunch at Chez Claude, walking along the river, going to the cinema on a rainy Saturday in winter, taking the kids ice skating....it's a charming town and I love it more each day I live here.

2. That we eat together "en famille".....every single night of the week.

1. The fact that I know the names of all the children in my youngest daughters class and most of them in my eldest daughters too.  I've even been known to take the odd hooky day to go on day trips out with the school.

Sorry if this comes across as "smug" at all....it's not meant to.  Without the experience & money I gained over those 20 years in London then the move wouldn't have been possible.

I just wanted to share some of the best bits about life out here and say that if you're at all tempted to quit the ratrace and do the same thing then it truly can work.

www.cognacproperty.com

Six in ten would like to leave Britain says the Telegraph

"Will the last person to leave Britain please remember to switch off the lights" says Ian Cowie in this article in the Daily Telegraph following a survey of 7,500 people by Aon.

They claim that nearly six in 10 Britons would like to retire overseas, making us the most unhappy Europeans about the quality of life in our home country.

By contrast 81% of French people said that they would be happy to retire in their own country.

This headline seems to crop up every August.  PR people know that it's a great time of year for surveys like this as journalists scrabble around for heavyweight news.

It seems to me that my French friends and neighbours here aren't particularly great explorers and travellers. 

Many of them make the grand trek from the charente to the charente maritime for their summer break. 

You can hardly blame them as we have some of the best beaches in Europe close by and the "Ile de Ré" off the coast at La Rochelle is simply beautiful....but you get my point.

As I have said before life in France isn't necessarily better, it's just different.

It happens to suit our current family circumstances down to the ground.  We love the schooling, healthcare, general facilities, low crime rate and general slow pace of life.  We're really happy here and our quality of life is superb. I'm able to fully participate in my childrens life and, to me, that is worth more than the BMW, big house and big salary I left behind.

However, when the girls go to university or start their career I can think of no better place than London.  It's cosmopolitan, fast paced, fun, full of bright people and it's where the money is at.  I want them to experience both worlds so they can make their own educated choice as to which they prefer.

Ultimately life is what you make it.  If you are one of the 6 out of 10 that want to leave Britain then my advice would be to make sure it's for positive reasons rather than just because you think moving abroad will solve all your problems.

www.cognacproperty.com