Wednesday 7 January 2015

Renovation project - Is the French lifestyle better than the UK?

Renovation project - Is the French lifestyle better than the UK?

Well I now have my office and a new wardrobe. Now all I have to do is sort out my clothes, I seem too have so many and such a large size range, I had mentioned that I had lost quite a lot of weight, it is only as I sort through my clothes that I realise just how much weight. I also now don't need a big walk in wardrobe to myself as I have just given away over half of my clothes.


Maybe it's time to go for a big shop, oh wait I can't do that as we are now keeping a tight reign on our expenses to make sure we have enough to see us over winter, especially if we are not going to open full time. We can't have everything and the holiday was far more enjoyable than some new clothes any way (plus my daughter gave me some really nice new stuff the last time I visited, I feel a bit odd that my daughter gives me clothes rather than the other way around, but I now have some designer clothes that fit me and don't just sit in my wardrobe looking pretty!)

In case anybody was wondering I have not followed any magic diet plan, life in France is just so much healthier, in the UK we worked long hours and often ended up buying a takeaway (try and get one of those in Brittany if you can!) but here no matter what time you finish work unless you go to a restaurant you are going to have to cook something and going to have to use fresh ingredients, you have to look really hard to find processed food and it costs a fortune.

So we eat lots of fresh fruit, fresh veg, good quality meat (you should try the sausages, nothing like the ones in the UK as they are made of meat!) and we cook from scratch, so many of my old friends will be fainting now, yes Jenny Lovett cooks meals from scratch with fresh ingredients!

I also go for a walk every evening with my friend and her dog, so as I said no magic diet just a really healthy lifestyle. I feel so much better in myself and I am almost back too the size I was before I had my accident years ago.

And as these are the regular views on my walk you can understand how easy it is to make the effort to go daily
Huelgoat forest

Huelgoat forest

Huelgoat forest

Huelgoat lake

Huelgoat lake

Huelgoat lake

I think this has to be one of my favourite bits of living in France, the food is just amazing as is the lifestyle, it is so much more relaxed and laid back, yes even when you think everything is going to go wrong the stress does not seem to hit you as much as it does in the UK, because you are surrounded by people who are relaxed and laid back and have the time too talk and visit.


If you are considering this move and still having dilemma's then maybe this could be the tipping point, even at the roughest moments, life is better here, obviously I am talking about life in a picturesque village not a main city but here are a few comparisons:

Finistere, Brittany
UK
3 bed. 2 bath house with garage and gardens approx £74,500
click above to see what I mean
3 bed. 2 bath house with garage and gardens
I dread to think
Nice bottle of wine approx 2 - 3 Euro’s (£1 - 2)
Far more!
Fresh baked croissants 90 cents
You can't buy comparable in the UK (not even n the finest ranges!)
Fresh king prawns between 7 and 11 Euros (£5 - £8) a kilo
Are you sick with jealousy yet?


This is a very small comparison table, but you get the picture



6 comments:

  1. Inspirational! We've booked the ferry back to Brittany for March. We're staying for six weeks this time. I can't wait! I've found that being in France made me want to cook meals from scratch even now I'm back in the UK. I don't usually cook much but it's changed my attitude towards cooking. Even though we live in the country in the UK it's much more stressful here and it seems so much noisier....roll on March and the peaceful french countryside!

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    1. Hi Maggie, thanks, it really is so much easier to be healthy here. have a great time when you arrive and feel free to pop in and say hello :)

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  2. Well said - I lost a lot of weight in France just because processed food wasn't an option. But the one thing I really miss is the bread. There is no bakery where we live (in reasonable distance) so it's Tesco or Hovis - no comparison. Wish we could have stayed in France

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    1. Hi so good to hear from you again, I hope you are both well
      If we are ever passing your way I'll bring a nice selection over to you :)

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  3. yet again another great blog, good for you it sounds like you two deserve to be happy

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    1. Thanks so much, hope to see you both over here at some point :)

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