Hello ive only just joined the forum but feel imay have something to offer ref living in the countryside,
I now live in the deep countryside here in France dept 23 the crues,
The reason i left the uk was because from the age of 15 i worked
I never didnt have a job and by the time i was 53yrs of age i was asking myself was i working to live or living to work?
I was born in a city "Liverpool" and as all the years passed by i always wanted a place in the countryside "a cottage etc" with enough land to just grow a few flowers /veg/fruit, space to breath fresh air, a place to really give a dog a good life, space for walks and the safe feeling for a dog to run across fields etc,
But i always did know while i tried to find such aplace in the uk on the average wage i earned such a place was only ever going to be a dream and as price of every day living cost rose i knew i had very little chance of ever living my dream.
By chance i went on a holiday to france "what i call the real france (not the cities) but the countryside.
I soon found the countryside homes we're a lot cheaper than i found in the uk and all had land "much more land than i ever expected to find for the prices being asked.
Now a lot of country folk live a simple life and by this i mean waste in anything just isn't good,
Food/heating the house and what a lot of people chuck away the country folk will use and bennefit from it,
The houses i looked at did suit the older french folk who once lived in them "but" the younger people of todays country folk want a few things "shall we say bettered, ie inside loo's, centrial heating, a older home tobe made a little more into todays world.
But these improvements could and in my case be delt with as you go along.
I soon found the little things in country life that is free such as fresh air, fresh fruit growing along the country tracks, summers that are long and peace perfect peace.
What im trying to say is you can have all the countryside has to offer but you'll need to really know what your leaving behind such as in this area any big stores (MARKS & SPENCER) pubs that are open until late at night (9pm and the local village pub is closed during the winter time)
lots of traffic on the roads (if we see more than half a dozen cars per day we're amazed.
The very silence of the night is a way of life for us now, any noise may be from the fox or owl's and the early morning chorus of the birds "but thats about as loud as it gets,
Ive heard ex-pats complain that you have to be brain dead to honestly enjoy the life we enjoy "but to us its just perfect" and after 13 years living this countryside lifr i can honestly say we made the correct choice for us.
But just one question i feel any couple have to think about is this question,
What if one or the other partner should be left alone through death etc, would the remaining partner want to continue to stay and live the country life?
I hope what ive had to say may help anyone who's wanting to escape to peace perfect peace to see a few points they may not have thought about.
Im 67 next week and feel im in good health and both myself and my wife wouldnt give this way of life up for anything, we dont see litter in the lanes we dont hear nieghbours shouting, we dont have any crime in this hamlet in fact its a very calm peaceful life style.
