{"id":301057,"date":"2025-07-29T11:22:13","date_gmt":"2025-07-29T11:22:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/301057\/"},"modified":"2025-07-29T11:22:13","modified_gmt":"2025-07-29T11:22:13","slug":"i-moved-to-the-south-of-france-to-escape-stress-in-britain-ill-never-go-back","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/301057\/","title":{"rendered":"I moved to the south of France to escape stress in Britain \u2013 I’ll never go back"},"content":{"rendered":"

A British woman who moved to the south of France<\/a> 23 years ago says she loves the slow pace of life in her five-bedroom house in the country.<\/p>\n

Barbara Simpson-Birks, 74, and her husband were busy running their own businesses and raising two children in the Peak District<\/a> in the late 1990s.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was very stressful,\u201d she told The i Paper. \u201cTo get away from the stress, we bought a house for \u00a350,000 in a village in France in 1998. We would come to stay in it three times a year.\u201d<\/p>\n

A couple of years later, after their youngest child turned 21, the couple moved permanently<\/a> to the terraced property in Clermont-l\u2019H\u00e9rault, a small town 40km west of Montpellier, near France\u2019s southern coast.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt dated to about 1156,\u201d Ms Simpson-Birks said, describing the house. \u201cIt had four bedrooms and two bathrooms. It was right next to a bakery, so you could smell the bread baking in the morning.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"The current property is on a quiet lane where just 10 other families live (Photo: Supplied)<\/p>\n

The couple, with a view to retiring, sold their first French house in 2004 for \u00a3139,000, making an \u00a389,000 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.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe knew if we built our own house, we could design it any way we wanted,\u201d Ms Simpson-Birks said.<\/p>\n

They started the building work with two cottages, which they lived in while the main house was constructed. \u201cWe had to sell everything that was attached to our two businesses,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

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

\"\"Ms Simpson-Birks and her late husband designed the home themselves (Photo: Supplied)<\/p>\n

\u201cIt has a great, big sitting room with a hanging fireplace that comes down from the ceiling,\u201d Ms Simpson-Birks said. <\/p>\n

When her husband, who passed away three years ago, became unwell with Parkinson\u2019s and dementia, she sold the two small cottages the couple had initially built.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey\u2019re very nice neighbours, but they only come every couple of weeks,\u201d she said. \u201cOther than them, my nearest neighbour is 50 metres away. Only 10 families live on our lane. I love how quiet it is \u2013 living here on my own doesn\u2019t worry me at all.\u201d<\/p>\n

Not far from her home is the \u201cbeautiful, vibrant city\u201d of Montpellier. \u201cIt has theatres, ballets, and operas,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

\"\"The house has a swimming pool, fountain and courtyard (Photo: Supplied)<\/p>\n

Meanwhile B\u00e9ziers, a city on the sea\u2019s edge, is just a short car ride away as well.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m going there on Friday for lunch with a friend,\u201d she said. \u201cWe\u2019ll have food in an old shack on the sea that has fresh fish.\u201d<\/p>\n

Over the last two decades, Ms Simpson-Birks has enjoyed the slower pace of life offered in the French village.<\/p>\n

\u201cI was running ragged in the UK,\u201d she said. \u201cHere, I\u2019ve got time to just stand and stare.\u201d<\/p>\n

On Wednesdays, she visits the local market, where she buys fresh food, including a variety of cheeses, fruit, olives and vegetables. <\/p>\n

\"\"Clermont-l\u2019H\u00e9rault lies 40km west of Montpellier and a similar distance from the sea (Photo: Supplied)<\/p>\n

Although food tends to be more expensive in France, it is generally better quality then you\u2019d find in the UK<\/a>, Ms Simpson-Birks said.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt costs to produce good, fresh food<\/a>, and we\u2019ll pay for it. The French eat healthily and are not afraid to spend money on quality. Neither am I.\u201d<\/p>\n

Food is enjoyed slowly in France, with people taking time to eat their meals. <\/p>\n

\u201cThe average worker will have a proper meal at lunch,\u201d she said. \u201cThen they go back to work and come home around 7 for another proper meal. They wouldn\u2019t just have a sandwich at their desks.\u201d<\/p>\n

Wine<\/a> is fabulous in France too, Ms Simpson-Birks said, and costs a fraction of what it does in the UK. \u201cYou\u2019ve got to pay so much for good wine in the UK because of taxes,\u201d she said. \u201cI can drink a \u20ac6 [\u00a35.20] bottle of wine that would cost \u00a320 in the UK.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"Ms Simpson-Birks lives on her own but says she always feels safe (Photo: Supplied)<\/p>\n

Although wine is central to the French diet, it is rarely consumed to get drunk. <\/p>\n

\u201cYou just don\u2019t get the heavy drinking here,\u201d she said. \u201cWe just celebrated a national French holiday and people were in bars drinking, but no one was drunk. Nobody is sick on the streets.\u201d<\/p>\n

Less drunkenness leads to a feeling of increased safety for Ms Simpson-Birks \u2013 she can walk down the street without any fear. <\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve never had a thing stolen from me since living here,\u201d she said. \u201cI lock my doors at night because I\u2019m here alone, but most of my friends don\u2019t ever lock their doors.\u201d<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

She has friends all over France, whom she visits. \u201cThe roads are great,\u201d she said. \u201cWe haven\u2019t got potholes and the motorways are quiet.\u201d<\/p>\n

In her experience, the healthcare system in France is much better than in the UK. <\/p>\n

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. <\/p>\n

\u201cWhen you first come here, you get a card \u2013 Carte Vitale \u2013 and it will be the most treasured piece of paper you ever get,\u201d Ms Simpson-Birks said. <\/p>\n

If she sees a doctor, she pays \u20ac26 (\u00a322.50) 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 \u20ac85 (\u00a373.70) a month in private healthcare to pay for whatever is not covered by her Carte Vitale.<\/p>\n

The only frustrating thing about living in France for her has been the bureaucracy. <\/p>\n

\u201cYou can sign 30 pages for the smallest of things,\u201d she said. \u201cLife is great here unless things go wrong, especially when you don\u2019t speak the language well.\u201d<\/p>\n

After living in France for over two decades, she has no plans to leave. <\/p>\n

\u201cI feel embedded in French culture,\u201d she concluded. \u201cA Frenchman recently said to me that although I\u2019m English, I\u2019m French at heart. He\u2019s right. Although, I\u2019ll always support England before France in the rugby.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A British woman who moved to the south of France 23 years ago says she loves the slow…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":301058,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5309],"tags":[12824,2000,299,20291,36],"class_list":{"0":"post-301057","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-france","8":"tag-brits-abroad","9":"tag-eu","10":"tag-europe","11":"tag-expats","12":"tag-france"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/114936266817278681","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/301057","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=301057"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/301057\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/301058"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=301057"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=301057"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=301057"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}