Our first date was spent in a cosy pub in Brighton’s Kemptown talking about how we’d both love to move to France one day says Nicky Chamier
Happy memories of childhood holidays and trips around Europe in our twenties fuelled our desires. We fantasied about speaking two languages, indulging in French food, even owning our own vineyard.
Years later, in the midst of a pandemic and with Brexit looming, my partner Sam made a decision to leave his business and together we made our dash for France before the doors closed to Britons. We packed up life in our little cottage and then with our 1-year-old son, Felix, and cat, Ted in tow crossed the Channel to our ‘Promise Land’.
Sam got a job in a biodynamic vineyard in the rolling hills of the Jurançon, Southwest France, so we headed there ready for our new lives to begin.
Making the decision to leave hadn’t been easy; we had a life, a home and a community in England and I knew leaving all that behind would be difficult. There were a lot of tearful goodbyes.
