My dream for the last 5 years has been to move to France to live in the sunshine surrounded by beautiful countryside in a home I can call my own and put down some roots. Quite literally I want to ‘lay my hat down’.

Next year this will become a reality and I am so excited I could literally burst. It feels so close that I can almost smell the air and the French countryside. Its something that means more than I can express , a feeling of belonging somewhere that as yet doesn’t exist but I know is there. To some this might be hard to imagine but to me its tangible.

For all of my life I have moved around a lot. I have lived in many different countries and many areas of Britain. I’ve never been afraid to ‘move on’ if I think it will add to my life experience or move me forward . Even when I was a single mum and my friends and family thought I was crazy moving my son from school to school, I knew that the path I was taking although not easy was the ‘right’ one and I stick by that.

I do not have any regrets ….. Ok I have one, not buying a house in London when I had the money for a deposit in the bank and it was £75,000 for a two-bedroom apartment with an outdoor area! Now you see… I just wasn’t ready to commit to having a mortgage, it scared me more than anything else to think about losing my ‘freedom’. Hindsight is a wonderful thing and looking back I do wish my parents had encouraged me to get on the property ladder, but I also wouldn’t be where I am now. Every turn in life, every choice I made was the right one because I am here now, where I am supposed to be.

My star sign is Cancer and apparently I am a real homebody and yet I have rarely felt settled. I know that when we find our dream place in France my husband and I will feel that we can breathe a sigh of relief and that even though the hard work will just be starting it will be the most amazing grounding experience for me.

I want a place with some land to be able to follow my desire to become more self sustainable and I would love if possible to rescue a couple of horses. I adore horses. My husband would like a couple of dogs (big ones) and I have found out through reading various books about people who have moved to France that you end up adopting animals from neighbours and bringing them home from local markets… Can’t wait !

I will be able to paint the walls in whatever colours I choose. I can go to Brocante’s and pick up pieces of French furniture and antiques. In many ways it will be like starting from the beginning again for my husband Dan and I. We will have been married for eight years by the time all of this happens and we are so ready to make a real home together.

It really is very exciting for us.

My husband is an architect and we want to have a Chateau that is a little bit different from everything else on the market and use our joint design skills to make something that oozes style and glamour. This will be our USP when advertising the Chateau as a Chambres d’hote and venue.

We are going to look at some potential properties in July when we go on my birthday treat road trip through Spain and over the Pyrenees into south west France.

I will be blogging about that and the journey to live in our dream home as and when it happens .

Have you done anything lately that scared you? or are you planning on doing or getting involved in anything that will push you out of your comfort zone? I would love to know…

Escape to the Chateau!