Originally from the UK but lived in the Isle of Man for over 20 years. We arrived in France in 2002 and bought Gone Fishin', the sixth house that we viewed. Fortunately with our daughters approval who lives happily in Cornwall with her partner Alan!
Gone Fishin' was originally a tobacco farm, the property nestles on its own 22-acres and is over one hundred years old. My the previous owners it was sympathetically renovated and brought up to date.
Our contribution to renovation has been mainly cosmetic, making it a more "cheerful house" and adding more colour and character to a wonderful established garden and orchard.
We were ready for opening proper in 2005 with the approval of the Mairie in Aiguillon ( our local village).
Because our home Gone Fishin' in the Lot-et-Garonne is so large with a separate entrance to another part of the house, we decided to turn that part of the property into the self catering gîte/accommodation and we installed a new bathroom and kitchen as well as doing all the decorating. For the garden we produce 95% of all our own plants and have six hens (which we call 'the girls'!). We share the eggs and any produce from the kitchen garden or orchard with our guests,for free of course.
All this is for us a great source of enjoyment as our guests appreciate fresh food and a colourful and tidy garden.
If you are thinking about coming to live in France we would be happy to pass on any information you think you might find useful or you can just talk to us for a bit of reassurance... it's a lot easier than you might think!
We managed it, and we look forward to meeting you soon.
