A British woman who moved to the south of France 23 years ago says she loves the slow pace of life in her five-bedroom house in the country.

Barbara Simpson-Birks, 74, and her husband were busy running their own businesses and raising two children in the Peak District in the late 1990s.

“It was very stressful,” she told The i Paper. “To get away from the stress, we bought a house for £50,000 in a village in France in 1998. We would come to stay in it three times a year.”

A couple of years later, after their youngest child turned 21, the couple moved permanently to the terraced property in Clermont-l’Hérault, a small town 40km west of Montpellier, near France’s southern coast.

“It dated to about 1156,” Ms Simpson-Birks said, describing the house. “It had four bedrooms and two bathrooms. It was right next to a bakery, so you could smell the bread baking in the morning.”

The current property is on a quiet lane where just 10 other families live (Photo: Supplied)

The couple, with a view to retiring, sold their first French house in 2004 for £139,000, making an £89,000 profit. They invested the money in another 6,650 square metres of land and set about building a bigger property they could both live in and rent out to guests looking for a rural holiday.

“We knew if we built our own house, we could design it any way we wanted,” Ms Simpson-Birks said.

They started the building work with two cottages, which they lived in while the main house was constructed. “We had to sell everything that was attached to our two businesses,” she said.

The finished house, completed in traditional style, featured five bedrooms, four bathrooms, a swimming pool, fountain, terrace, courtyard and sprawling garden complete with chickens.

Ms Simpson-Birks and her late husband designed the home themselves (Photo: Supplied)

“It has a great, big sitting room with a hanging fireplace that comes down from the ceiling,” Ms Simpson-Birks said.

When her husband, who passed away three years ago, became unwell with Parkinson’s and dementia, she sold the two small cottages the couple had initially built.

“They’re very nice neighbours, but they only come every couple of weeks,” she said. “Other than them, my nearest neighbour is 50 metres away. Only 10 families live on our lane. I love how quiet it is – living here on my own doesn’t worry me at all.”

Not far from her home is the “beautiful, vibrant city” of Montpellier. “It has theatres, ballets, and operas,” she said.

The house has a swimming pool, fountain and courtyard (Photo: Supplied)

Meanwhile Béziers, a city on the sea’s edge, is just a short car ride away as well.

“I’m going there on Friday for lunch with a friend,” she said. “We’ll have food in an old shack on the sea that has fresh fish.”

Over the last two decades, Ms Simpson-Birks has enjoyed the slower pace of life offered in the French village.

“I was running ragged in the UK,” she said. “Here, I’ve got time to just stand and stare.”

On Wednesdays, she visits the local market, where she buys fresh food, including a variety of cheeses, fruit, olives and vegetables.

Clermont-l’Hérault lies 40km west of Montpellier and a similar distance from the sea (Photo: Supplied)

Although food tends to be more expensive in France, it is generally better quality then you’d find in the UK, Ms Simpson-Birks said.

“It costs to produce good, fresh food, and we’ll pay for it. The French eat healthily and are not afraid to spend money on quality. Neither am I.”

Food is enjoyed slowly in France, with people taking time to eat their meals.

“The average worker will have a proper meal at lunch,” she said. “Then they go back to work and come home around 7 for another proper meal. They wouldn’t just have a sandwich at their desks.”

Wine is fabulous in France too, Ms Simpson-Birks said, and costs a fraction of what it does in the UK. “You’ve got to pay so much for good wine in the UK because of taxes,” she said. “I can drink a €6 [£5.20] bottle of wine that would cost £20 in the UK.”

Ms Simpson-Birks lives on her own but says she always feels safe (Photo: Supplied)

Although wine is central to the French diet, it is rarely consumed to get drunk.

“You just don’t get the heavy drinking here,” she said. “We just celebrated a national French holiday and people were in bars drinking, but no one was drunk. Nobody is sick on the streets.”

Less drunkenness leads to a feeling of increased safety for Ms Simpson-Birks – she can walk down the street without any fear.

“I’ve never had a thing stolen from me since living here,” she said. “I lock my doors at night because I’m here alone, but most of my friends don’t ever lock their doors.”

When she is not hosting guests or working as a wedding celebrant, Ms Simpson-Birks is meeting friends for food or coffee, doing yoga, swimming in her pool and gardening.

She has friends all over France, whom she visits. “The roads are great,” she said. “We haven’t got potholes and the motorways are quiet.”

In her experience, the healthcare system in France is much better than in the UK.

State healthcare in France is not free at the point of use. Costs are covered by a combination of statutory insurance funded via tax, patients contributing through co-payments and additional private insurance.

“When you first come here, you get a card – Carte Vitale – and it will be the most treasured piece of paper you ever get,” Ms Simpson-Birks said.

If she sees a doctor, she pays €26 (£22.50) for a 40-minute appointment, but after scanning the national health insurance card, 70 per cent of what she paid is returned to her account. She also pays €85 (£73.70) a month in private healthcare to pay for whatever is not covered by her Carte Vitale.

The only frustrating thing about living in France for her has been the bureaucracy.

“You can sign 30 pages for the smallest of things,” she said. “Life is great here unless things go wrong, especially when you don’t speak the language well.”

After living in France for over two decades, she has no plans to leave.

“I feel embedded in French culture,” she concluded. “A Frenchman recently said to me that although I’m English, I’m French at heart. He’s right. Although, I’ll always support England before France in the rugby.”