DISAPPEARING onto the sofa after putting her two children to bed, Liz Murphy felt like she was on an endless treadmill.
She and her husband David would drop off their children Tom and Charlotte, then aged nine and five, at the school breakfast club at 7.30am before heading to work.
6
6
They would then rush to collect the children from the after-school club at 6pm and return to their three-bedroom semi-detached house in Manchester, where they made tea before finishing more work around the house.
“I was a bit of a workaholic,” says Liz, 47, whose job was marketing for a local radio station. We did these nine-to-five jobs, but in reality my hours were much longer than that.
“I was always connected to my computer at home and we didn’t have quality family time.
“When we sat down at night, we were exhausted.”
It was only when Covid hit and they were both made redundant that Liz and David, 55, who also worked on local radio, made the dramatic decision to move abroad.
“The weather was beautiful that spring and we were sitting outside with kids playing around us, enjoying barbecue,” Liz recalls.
“I remember saying, ‘I wish we could do this all the time.’
“Dave suddenly said, ‘We could.’ It was a real lightbulb moment.”
The couple had talked about moving in the past, but it always seemed like a pipe dream.
“I suddenly realized that we were missing out on our children’s childhoods because we were working so much,” says Liz.
“It was like a switch was flipped on me and I just said, ‘Let’s go.’ With the kids still young, it was a matter of now or never.
“We knew we would need a place with vacation rentals since neither of us were close to retirement age and we still needed an income.”
The couple put their house up for sale in September 2020 for £355,000 and began looking for a place in France, where they had previously holidayed many times and loved the relaxed lifestyle.
Every year, more than 20,000 Brits emigrate to France – and numbers have risen since the pandemic. It is the second most popular European destination to move to, after Spain.
Liz and David looked at dozens of properties online and came up with a list of ten. They then spent a week in France visiting them all.
‘As if we had won the lottery’
The fourth visit was to the historic rural village of Lac De Maison, in Poitou-Charentes, in southwestern France.
Amid stunning scenery, it was made up of six 400-year-old houses, two barns, a swimming pool and three hectares of land.
“I had already discounted the role, thinking it was too remote and too big,” says Liz. “We didn’t need a village, but it was so cheap, costing €450,000 (£400,000 in 2020), that we decided to take a look.
“When we arrived, we fell in love. I knew immediately it was the one. You go on a long drive and all the properties are in a horseshoe shape at the end.
When we arrived, we fell in love. I knew immediately it was the one
Liz
“The day we visited, the weather was wonderful and the pool sparkled in the sun.
“It had everything a Brit looking to move abroad could dream of.
“It was already an established holiday rental business and there were reservations for the following year. This was important as we would need the income.
“We canceled all other screenings and made an offer. Less than five months later, in January 2021, we moved.”
With money from the sale of their Manchester home, the couple bought the villa for the asking price, splitting the cost 50-50 with Liz’s mother, Helen Diaper, and stepfather Terry, both 73, who chose to move in. move with them and they also sold the house. .
“We went from a small property with three bedrooms and a small garden to a huge village with all these houses,” says Liz. “It felt like we had won the lottery.”
6
6
The couple only spoke “pigeon French” when they arrived, while the children started school barely knowing a word.
“My language skills were very basic,” says Liz. “We took some online courses before we left, thinking we would deal with it when we got here.
“Both children attended the local primary school, where English is not spoken.
“For six months, they hated it – and they hated us for bringing them here, away from their friends.
“We felt very guilty, but we knew it would be worth it in the long run.
“It’s amazing how quickly they learn. Within six months, they knew enough to survive and are now fluent. They both love it here and say they wouldn’t want to return to the UK.
“Charlotte, now nine, was so young when we moved here that she can’t remember much about Manchester. She considers herself French. Tom, 13, has lots of friends and has more freedom here than he would have at home.
“They spend more time outdoors than in the UK, especially in gardens and the pool.”
The family immersed themselves in the French lifestyle, making friends with neighbors as well as other nearby expats.
The nearest school and store are just under two miles away, but Liz doesn’t mind that. There is just one problem.
“You can’t get a good curry to go where we are in France,” she says. “Other than that, I don’t miss our old lives.
“It’s a real gift to be able to work for yourself. We have to be careful and keep control of our budgets, as there is no set income every month.
“But if we wake up one morning and want to go out for coffee, that’s what we do. There is no boss to hold us accountable.”
The pair renovated three of the properties, spending around £300,000, which also came from selling the family homes.
‘We don’t regret it at all’
“We lived in a caravan for four months, which was difficult,” says Liz.
“We had to spend a lot of money on things like electricity, water and pipes. We welcome traders, but we ourselves work hard to save money. We learned a lot from traders and also by watching videos on YouTube.”
However, with properties dating back to the 17th century, there can be costly problems.
It’s been difficult at times, but it’s a gift to be able to share this experience with my best friend
Liz
“Last winter we had a water pipe leak and had to hire excavators,” says Liz.
“The rain was torrential and we were knee-deep in water trying to fix it.
“It was one of those moments where we wondered if we had done the right thing and thought about packing our bags and going home.
“A few weeks later, everything was resolved. We don’t regret it one bit.”
That summerThe couple’s three holiday homes are almost full and they have big plans for their village.
“We want to continue the renovations and start improving our own home,” says David.
“We would like to start installing solar panels and be self-sufficient energy.”
Despite the challenges, the move brought the couple closer together.
Liz says: “It’s been difficult at times, but it’s such a gift to be able to share this experience with my best friend – and it’s lovely to see children grow up so close to their grandparents.
“The sun isn’t bad either. We certainly don’t miss Manchester’s gloomy atmosphere.”
6
This story originally appeared on The-sun.com read the full story
