A couple of months back JMG and I popped over to France to check out a couple of wedding venues. During our trip - en route to Sarlat - we stayed with a friend of mine at her beautiful house in Rodez.

On arrival Kay treated us to a walnut salad and homemade quiche. It was delicious! Life in rural France is kind of like stepping back in time. Kay’s village, which she writes about on her blog: My French Year, is such a quaint little place. But the thing that surprised us most was the fact that the majority of the houses in the village are now uninhabited.

It is thought that the younger French generation wish to live closer to the city or beach rather than staying at the family home. So when elderly relatives pass away, houses often get left for years.

There are so many villages like Pech Bernou, across France, with the kind of romantic, tumbledown houses and pigeonaires, that someone like me - who dreams of doing a Grand Design - would snap up in an instant if they were situated in the British countryside and at such reasonable prices!

Kay told us about an old farmer friend of theirs that lives in the village that is currently renovating a pigeonaire for less than £50k! It was breathtaking. Another wonderful thing about life in France, and something that I have heard so much about from Kay, are the vide greniers and brocantes! Or as we would call them, carboots or attic sales held at local street markets.

You must have seen the programme on the tv where some British guys went over to France to an antiques market, filled their boots up with cheap-as-chips vintage finds and then sold them for hundreds if not thousands of pounds to unsuspecting buyers. Kay bought me a 1970s dress shirt that looks like it’s been made out of Liberty print fabric - I love it! It has a slightly longer collar than modern shirts and is tapered at the waist to fit.

How I wore it…

Over a printed maxi dress, tied at the waist to give it a cropped effect, with my Topshop rose gold studded sandals and Marc by Marc Jacobs Havana sunglasses. 

Next time I’m in France, Kay has promised to take me with her to a local vide grenier to see what other bargains we can find. I can’t wait!

House for sale

If you’re interested in moving to France, Kay & Jon currently have their house up for sale. Find out more: frenchhouseforsale2014.wordpress.com/about

Photography © Lucie Kerley / jmgcreative