The move to France.. a little Q&A

Back in May last year we did a little interview for the folks at French Entrée magazine about our move to France and the set up of le bezy.

We often get asked about the move and the journey which has led us to where we are now so here’s a few snippets from the interview below!

As always James and I are really happy to talk and share our experiences so far so just drop us an email if you’re thinking
of going down the same path and have any questions.

Happy reading!

Tell me about you..

We are James and Amy Carter both 35 years old and have been together since March 2002. We have a vizsla called Ted who will be 10 this May and 4 cats. James’ background is from the motor trade with BMW and had worked for them since leaving school and my background is in event management, hospitality and marketing.

  • From an early age of around 10 or 11 James has always wanted to live abroad and he thinks that school holidays in France are what triggered that yearning. It’s very difficult to put a specific reason on why France but think it’s a culmination of the romance, laid back, outdoor lifestyle and lack of ‘keeping up with Jones’ attitude that you find in rural France.

  • We had our offer accepted in May time 2018 and the purchase completed in the following August. The whole process was fairly straightforward. We had an excellent estate agent and the Notaire was super helpful and was understanding of my not so polished French.

  • I pretty much moved in straight away. It was daunting because it was just me and Ted our dog. James was still working full time abroad, so it meant that I had to set up everything here at the house. The agent here helped a great deal, but it was in at the deep end for me! Not sure I’d repeat that part, but it was certainly an experience.

  • This was actually one of the first properties we’d seen on a 3 or 4 week trip in April 2018. Although we liked it as a home we were originally looking for somewhere that would give us enough space for multiple gites. However we soon realised our budget wouldn’t stretch to that kind of property so we opted instead to look for somewhere we could turn into a boutique b&b. This place suited that perfectly. We looked at lots of properties across a wide area in the Aude(11) and Ariege (11) departments. We found a lovely property deeper into the mountains but it was right at the top of our budget and needed money spending to make it work for us so had to rule it out.

  • We are both originally from South East Kent and lived and worked in Canterbury until we moved to Abu Dhabi in early 2014 for James’ work. I left Abu Dhabi in March 2018 but James stayed on until January 2019.

Tell me about the property

Le Bezy is in the Aude department but very close to the border of the Ariege. We are 50 minutes South of Toulouse and the same from Carcassonne, so we are really easy to find despite our rural location. We are surrounded by beautiful rolling hills and valleys, farmland and forests.

When we purchased the house, it was advertised as a 5 bedroom but in reality it was really only 4 and one of them was accessed by passing through a bedroom and under a supporting beam. We now have a total of 6 bedrooms, 5 of which are for guests! We fell in love with the stonework and exposed beams and saw great potential in the large garden and plot of land that came with the house.

  • As mentioned above we had looked at a multitude of properties within our 4-week trip in April in varying states of decay. Some were total wrecks and others looked fantastic on the outside but when viewed needed more or less a large overhaul to achieve what we visualised. As we pulled onto the drive of Le Bezy especially on our 2nd viewing we knew this was the one!

  • We had to stick to our budget. On TV you see people talk about budgets and then up them by 50 or 100k but we weren’t in that fortunate position on our house hunt.

  • In the main farmhouse we knew we needed to make it work for us and the business we wanted. We needed 5 bedrooms for guests as well as making the property more energy efficient as it had previously been used as a summer residence.

    We had done some renovations on a house in the UK years ago but nothing on this scale. Builders here in France can be expensive and we were quoted some crazy prices for the work we wanted. James left his job earlier than he had planned to so we could start the renovation ourselves. We had a local builder come in for a few weeks at the very start and James worked alongside him. After that we pretty much had to roll up our sleeves and learnt as we went (apart from the specialised electrical and plumbing works). We ended up putting up all the new walls, plastering and finishing the work ourselves. The builder was always at the end of the phone if we needed advice and even was kind enough to lend some tools for us to be getting on with.

  • The look at Le Bezy has been created by us. We wanted to create a space which is homely, quirky with an eclectic mix of pieces. We tried to create somewhere we’d be happy to spend a long weekend rather than just a bed for the night. We’ve always had an eye for something a little bit different and knew that we didn’t want our rooms to all be the same. We also wanted to take advantage of all the local brocantes and believe it’s better to reuse and to be more sustainable than buy new. You can pick so many unique pieces each with its own story to tell. Some need a complete overhaul and I’ll spend hours sanding and painting and others are just perfect the way we find them. It also never stops; we are always picking up bits on our travels locally and I love nothing more than bargain hunting at the brocantes and vide greniers.

  • We have so many; I love our gorgeous bijoux guest bedroom, even though it’s smaller than our other guest rooms it’s a beautiful space and our wildcard room in terms of the amount of head scratching moments it gave us during the renovations. James really likes the main ‘Club Room’ in the farm house; its the perfect social spot for eating, drinking, relaxing and getting to know our guests. There are also doors out into the garden and balcony from the Club Room and can be the perfect spot to contemplate the slow pace of life we are trying to promote.

    In the garden we have a hammock setup on an old pear tree with far reaching views over the pool and distant hills – when we have a spare moment its ideal to while away the hours with a decent book and glass of red.

  • Firstly, the draw for us was the countryside and mountains. We are both lovers of the great outdoors and frequently hit the mountains on our road bikes. There is nothing better than a pedal in the fresh mountain air. The area is also blessed with a rich history from medieval towns and villages to Cathar Castles and beautiful weekly markets. There is always a new path to hike or village to discover and from April to October there are numerous village fetes, music festivals, flower festivals and all the good food and wine we all know France has to offer.

  • Do your research but also don’t expect to find the perfect property. No matter what your budget is there will be something for you to improve or think about. There is so much choice that you could spend years contemplating a move. Try to visit the area in different seasons to get a feel what it is like during Winter as well as Summer. Stay open minded – we were not coming here to retire so knew we needed a property that work for us as a home and a business.

  • For us it was moving the money from our UK bank account into the Notaire’s. There are so many horror stories out there and pushy companies. Do your research and use a currency broker that you feel comfortable with. We used Transferwise and could not fault them at all.

Tell me about your B&B business

We have the Farmhouse which has 5 guest bedrooms, one of which is purely for 2 people, but the rest can accommodate an extra bed to sleep 3. We have the large ‘Club Room’ which is purely for our guest’s enjoyment. We also have a swimming pool for guests to use in the long hot summer months.

We are conscious of a certain stigma that comes with B&B of a high turnover of 1 night stays, a multitude of do’s and don’ts and lace table cloths. We hope we have created a space where people can come and switch off from their daily lives, take time for themselves, enjoy the surroundings of Le Bezy and explore the lush countryside. We wish to attract guests who enjoy the outdoors and the finer details we have put into the rooms. From cyclists, walkers, yogis and nature lovers we believe there is something to quench their thirst for exploration and disconnection.

  • We are still a very new business, so we are excited to see how the future unfolds. We are working on some exciting yoga retreats in this coming year and now that the inside of the house is pretty much there, we will be concentrating on rejuvenating the kitchen garden. We also have a plot of woodland next to the house that we’d love to turn into a nature space where we can perhaps hold dinners or star gazing or simply allow our guests to ‘just be’.

  • We have no regrets, and long may that continue.

  • Complicated. It is not straight forward, but we have found that the French even struggle with it too. So, don’t let it put you off or get you down. Just keep asking questions and failing that there are companies or individuals that offer a hand holding service.

  • It was super exciting getting the keys to our new house and life in France, but what was really great was the first morning after the interior renovation was finally completed and not having to get up put on ‘painting clothes!’.