Stuart & Kate were interviewed by Homes Worldwide here is what they said:

Name: Stuart and Kate Nuth and daughters Megan and Emily

Age: 36, 35, 6 and 4

Job: Back in the UK, Stuart was a sales rep while Kate was a full time mum. They now own a gite complex

Where: They moved from Felpham in West Sussex to a small village called Fosse in the Pyrénées Orientales region

Contact: www.pyreneesgites.com

Lots of people watch programmes like A Place in the Sun and No Going Back and dream of a life abroad, but few people have the courage to act on it. Stuart and Kate Nuth had always wanted to spend more time with their daughters, Megan (6) and Emily (4), and seeing other couples take the plunge on their TV screens every week was just the encouragement they needed to try it for themselves. They now run a successful gîte complex in the Pyrénées-Orientales region. 

French Magazine: What first attracted you to a new life in France?
Kate: Stuart had a demanding full-time sales job travelling around southern England and we both dreamt of a life that would allow us to spend more quality time together as a family. We wanted our two girls to enjoy a carefree childhood. We’d also been watching the TV series No Going Back and saw lots of other couples doing it, which just made us think, “We can do that!”

What preparations did you make before you went out?
Researching the area and gîte rentals was crucial to the move as the gîte complex was going to be our only source of income. We made sure we were perfectly situated in the heart of the Cathar country and surrounded by beautiful countryside, castles, thermal spas and rivers, as well as being just one hour from both the ski slopes and the sunny coast.

What do you do now?
We’re the proud owners of a small gîte complex so we’re responsible for all the maintenance on the property, such as cleaning and gardening, but most importantly, ensuring that all our customers have a memorable stay.

How have you found the process of setting up a business in France?
After agreeing to buy the property, we built a website and made sure it was operational before we signed the acte de vente, which meant we were fully booked one month after we moved in for Christmas. Within six months of arriving, we set up our ‘micro enterprise’ with help from the local chambre de commerce. We discovered that the French really love their paperwork, but we’re now fully ensconced in
the French system.

Where do you live? Describe your property.
We’re based between the two small villages of Fosse and Le Viver, which is a beautiful place right in the heart of the countryside. The property comprises an ancient watermill and three cottages overlooking a small stream. It sleeps a maximum of 14 people on a self-catering basis.

How did you go about finding your home?
We spent many evenings searching the internet, looking at mainly private sales to avoid paying high agency fees. Within one year of deciding to move and after multiple viewing trips, we found our beautiful watermill and cottages and signed for them.

Did you have to do much renovation work on your property?
Although the gîtes were bought as a running concern, they were in need of some serious renovation and updating. We’ve now replaced all the kitchens and bathrooms, renewed all the furniture and linen, cleared the gardens and repainted throughout. It’s improved our painting and DIY skills immensely and it was certainly interesting juggling it all with two small daughters in tow!

What have been the main challenges about the move? In hindsight, would you have done anything differently?
The main challenge has been the language barrier, especially on the phone. Also, moving here in winter wasn’t the best as we encountered more difficulties than we would normally, including six weeks of snow. It was the coldest winter in 34 years, with burst water pipes and temperatures as low as minus 15˚. We did start to wonder what on earth we’d done!

Could you speak the language before you made the move? How have you improved your language skills?
We arrived with only the French we had learnt at school, which enabled us to communicate on a basic level, but I’ve enrolled on an intermediate French course to improve my skills. Luckily our daughters are both fluent as they attend a French-speaking school.

How have you benefited from the move? What do you like most about your new French lifestyle?
We’re really living the dream now: we have a lot more quality time together as a family and we’re here for the children a lot more. It’s great being your own boss as you can have time off whenever you like and there’s no peer pressure. The added benefit is that life in France comes hand-in-hand with a sense of community spirit.

Have you found it easy to integrate into French life?
As we live on the outskirts of a small village, we try to organise apéritifs at our place every year for the village. We also know all the locals by name and chat to them regularly. After living here for three years, we now have more friends out here, both British and French, than we did back in the UK.

Do you find that you go back to the UK regularly?
We manage to get back once or twice a year to catch up with friends and family, but it’s always very hectic and we’re glad to come home for a rest afterwards!

What do you miss about the UK?
Obviously we miss our friends and family but cheap flights make it possible for us to see each other often. We also miss other little luxuries, such as popping out for a takeaway after work, and things such as marmite and baked beans!

Describe a typical day…
It involves getting our daughters ready for school, feeding our animals (we’ve got two goats, two cats and sheep) and taking the dog for a walk. We usually have a little time to put our feet up with a cup of tea before we have to tackle the many jobs on our daily list to get the gîtes and gardens ready for guests. Summer is the best time of year because, other than changeovers on Saturdays and ensuring that the guests are happy, the rest of the week is ours!

Is your move permanent or do you plan to return to the UK?
At the moment there’s no chance of us going back as we’re all very happy here, but we’d never say never.

What would you say has been the best thing about your move?
We’re only in our mid-30s and most people ask us what retirement is like!