Moving to Burgundy

The big move!

After a terrible house move in England and just one too many snarl ups on the M25 our decision was made, Burgundy was no longer just the place we went to for holidays we were going to make THE BIG MOVE!

We already had a small cottage in Cote D’or, but if this was going to work we needed something much bigger that could sustain a business and maybe room for a pool.

The search was on and soon we found a half renovated B&B in a small village in Yonne across the road from it was another small cottage that we could run as a gite all we needed to do was seal the two deals together and our dream would become reality.

WRONG! We had our offer accepted on the B&B but decided to hold back on the cottage to see how the funds went. Good move, the English couple that owned the B&B pulled out a few weeks down the line leaving us with our house sold in England and a lorry load of goodies for our new B&B. We came anyway and moved into our holiday home and restarted the search.

On a cold February morning we were shown into an overgrown, falling down WRECK, that was 3 years ago and slowly we have been transforming it into a holiday home that others can enjoy. You can follow our renovation journey at our website WWW.TheOldCafe.com

Our French Life

Renovation is hard work and sometimes seems neverending, but the rewards far outweigh and problems that we have so far encountered, the roads are so quiet here in the villages that our daughter who is now 9 cycles to school everyday, something she could never have done back in Blighty.

We have made many French friends here and everyone in our village has bent over backwards to help us fit in. We also try our best to help them when ever we can, supporting any local events and showing your face goes along way. I think the worst thing anyone can do when moving here is to shut themselves off, integration is the key.

If you are contemplating a move like ours and are not sure think of the practical things first, just because your dream home in France has roses round the door and lots of lovely original features inside that will not pay the bills.

You must make sure you can support yourselves once you are here, whilst it is a much better lifestyle electricity, petrol etc etc still have to be paid for. Well that’s the boring lecture over, come and investigate the area, if you use and English agent they can help you with the practical side of things and also introduce you to others who are striving to achieve the same as you. We have met lots of English since being here and our social life is far better than it ever was in England.

Hopefully your new life will be as happy and successful as ours, so what are you waiting for you only get one chance so go for it.