A French Collection by Annette Charlton
Annette Charlton is an Australian with a love of France. She manages her successful website, podcast and social media under the name of ‘A French Collection’. She regularly inspires her followers with news and interesting updates on ‘all things French’.
Annette and her husband, also have a house in France. I contacted her for some further insight into how they have made this possible from the other side of the world. Having toyed with the idea of purchasing our own property in France, I was fascinated to ask Annette about the process.
Annette Charlton on Île de Bréhat, Brittany
Carole:
Thank you for being a part of the French Views community. Can you please share with us the story of your fascination with France?
Annette:
Bonjour Carole and thank you for the invite to join and participate in your wonderful French Views community. Well, where do I start? You know, I’d never ever visited France, but decided one day after cooking French food at home a lot, reading French gardening books and admiring French décor, that I’d like a home in France. It had to be a holiday home because we live in New South Wales, Australia. I had also been watching TV shows of British couples buying and relocating to France and decided I wanted to do that too. So, I guess my fascination with France was an abstract one, having never visited the country before. It was an easy decision to take ourselves to France for three weeks and go look for a home to buy.
Annette with her children and a friend
Carole:
You have a house in Brittany. I know that many English people have chosen Brittany as a place for a second home for its proximity to the U.K. But why did you and your husband choose Brittany? What was your criterium for choosing your French property?
Annette:
Choosing Brittany was very much a matter of how long it took to travel to France. I’ll expand on that a bit. At the time of looking to purchase in France I had a 12 year old, 10 year old and 5 year old. From leaving our home in Australia to arriving at Charles de Gaulle the travel time is around 29 hours before you even exit the airport.
So, because I would be making many trips on my own with the children, and even if my husband came along also, we figured we’d have very tired children by the time we arrived in Paris. This meant that considering purchasing in Provence was out of the question. It would add almost another day before we would at the house and jump into bed. Brittany is an easy 4.5 hours drive from Paris and I figured I could manage to hire a car and do this drive on my own with the children when Paul did not come during the school holidays. For the last 10 years most of our trips have been during the Australian school holidays.
As well as where to buy, the children and weather helped us choose what to buy. We did not feel like holidaying in the heat of the South as we get enough of that in Australia. It was more a list of what we didn’t want, rather than what we did. No large gardens we could not manage, no total isolation, no renovation project – it had to be fully functional and in very good working order and large enough to accommodate guests and visiting family.
Trégastel is just 35 minutes drive from Annette’s Breton home. It is a very scenic part of the Breton coast known as Côte de granite rose or Pink Granite Coast
Carole:
I’m curious to know what the purchasing process is like for Australians. Can you please share information of what happens once you decide on a property, through to taking possession? I imagine it could be quite daunting as even purchasing in your home country is a big step. Who is involved: real estate, bank, notaire, translator?
Annette:
Yes, all of the above. Real estate agents, a French bank or international bank, mortgage broker, notaire and translator. I spent a lot of time translating information I found on the internet with French/English dictionaries and Google translate. We did have all important documents professionally translated for us though. I remember when the process stalled and we could not reach our mortgage broker, and they needed a push along, my husband jumped on a plane and flew to London. He then presented himself at the front door of their office located in the middle of an English town asking questions. That sure pushed things along!
Annette’s pretty village of Guingamp in Brittany
Carole:
You purchased the house in 2009 and how often have you been able to travel to stay there? Do you rent your French property to others, in-between visits?
Annette:
Mostly Australian school holidays have worked best for us. The long Christmas holiday is around 7 weeks so that’s a regular time slot for us. We love the cold and occasional snow our village has had, and it’s a great change from the very hot Aussie summers we leave behind. As each child has completed their final year of schooling and sat for their HSC exams, we have missed going in the September holidays so that they could stay at home and study.
Our French home is really and truly a second home for us. The gumboots are lined up at the back door, baskets of LEGO are ready to be tipped out and played with straight away and many clothes and shoes are a mirror of what we have in Australia. The exception was when the children were younger, we did not leave their clothes and shoes there, because they grew so fast! So, as to whether we rent it out, no, it has always been a second home and she just patiently waits for us to return and love living in her again.
A glimpse inside Annette’s French home
Carole:
What are your favourite things about your house in Brittany and the surrounding area? Do you feel accepted by the locals?
Annette:
We are in love with Brittany. The cooler weather, the lush green hedges and paddocks, the stunning and sometimes savage coastline – and oh, the food. Breton cider, crepes and seafood – delicious.
We are very accepted by our local villagers and always welcomed on each return. I know we are described as “those crazy Australians”, but heck, maybe they are right, and we are a bit crazy, but they love us all the same. Often, we have come home from a day at the sea or shopping to find fresh eggs or herbs waiting for us on the doorstop. This is village life at its best and we feel very grateful for it.
The lovely village of Guingamp located in the Côtes-d'Armor department of Brittany
Carole:
How do you manage the house from afar and especially during COVID-19?
Annette:
Managing the house takes planning and organisation, but it’s achievable. We used to have a cleaning service and garden maintenance service for many years, but now everyone has grown up, we all pitch in and get cleaning done before we leave. All utilities are paid by direct debit, so a French bank account is essential for us.
Covid was a difficult time as Australia’s borders were closed for approximately two years to all outbound international travel. We have friends who made a couple of visits to check on the house during this time and our neighbour always keeps a sharp eye out. So it was with sheer joy that once international travel was allowed, I quickly went over and spent five weeks at the house doing a big clean up and refresh.
Annette enjoying a visit to Île de Bréhat
Carole:
Looking at your website, you also enjoy spending time in Paris. Do you have a favourite area of Paris where you like to stay? And any tips for hotels, dining, and do you have special place you like to visit?
Annette:
I often trip to Paris on my own and I love the 7th arrondissement. It’s so peaceful and I know my way around very well so it’s comforting for me to stay in Paris. I frequent cafes close to my regular hotel, Hôtel Saint Germain des Prés at 36 Rue Bonaparte, 75006 Paris, France. I regularly go to Le Bon Marché and pick up new books each trip – their book department is fantastic! ThePalais-Royal garden l is my reading spot where I stop for a bit and read my new book or the daily newspaper.
Annette reading Le Monde newspaper in the Palais-Royal garden, Paris
Carole:
Overall, do you feel that purchasing a property in France, has been worth the effort and cost? Compared to just taking holidays using long-term rentals and being able to visit other areas of France each visit?
Annette:
It probably is not cost effective, but we really don’t look at it analytically or even give it a thought. It is a lifestyle choice and one of the best decisions we ever made. The cultural opportunities and learning experiences for our children have really shaped who they are.
Something else we’ve done, which may be a little more cost effective is that we have bought two cars. One we keep garaged on the outskirts of London with a mechanic and one at our house in France. We hired cars for years and because they needed to be large for a family of five plus luggage, they were costly. So, we decided to buy cars instead.
Annette in Paris. Perhaps she was writing the book about her French adventure!
Carole:
As you live part-time in France, how has your French language learning journey progressed? How do you keep up your French practice when you are in Australia?
Annette:
Learning French is on my to-do list. We have always been the novelty in our village and the locals like to practice their English on us so learning French has been slow. We’ve got by with a smattering of French and still constructed outbuildings, visited the doctor, travelled, furnished the house and dealt with car mechanics.
I’m very excited to be able to spend more time learning French shortly when I move to France in a few weeks’ time, to live there for three months. Over this extended stay, I plan to improve my French, share more of my daily life with all my blog readers and social followers and finally complete my book ready for the publishers. My book, which shares the journey of our Aussie family becoming French one adventure at a time, is due for release early next year.
A traditional Breton crêpe meal Annette enjoyed in her local Breton town, Guingamp. This is where she shops for clothes, buys food and petrol.
Carole:
When you can’t be in France, what do you do to keep your French connection?
Annette:
That’s an easy one – I live and breathe France and all things French every day on my blog, with my community on socials and by reading and researching books, documentaries and watching French TV.
I am an ambassador for French activities in my local city and regularly meet up with other Francophiles at French Film Nights, at my own events, ‘Le Dîner en Blanc’ and French markets. I love supporting my local community and associations and it certainly keeps the French blood pumping when I’m in Australia.
Carole: Merci beaucoup Annette for sharing your story. You can connect with Annette
through the following links below
https://www.afrenchcollection.com/
http://www.instagram.com/afrenchcollection
https://www.facebook.com/AtTheCollection
https://www.afrenchcollection.com/a-french-collection-podcast-is-launched/
Since our interview, Annette has shared her exciting news. She is about to embark on the first phase of a permanent move to France later this month. Bonne chance Annette. À bientôt!
