Heading south by Pure France property-owner Dilys Morgan

Dilys is a former journalist and popular BBC TV presenter who now writes for a variety of UK publications. Visit her newly created website www.GrandparentsNow.com

"As I sit here in the sunshine on a glorious English summer’s day (yes, even in April!) the terns have returned to the stretch of river where we live, cows are paddling in the Thames, the forecast is set fair till after Easter and I’m beginning to ask myself why I’m packing up to travel to our second home in France....!
OK so I’ll be swapping the terns for the extraordinary sight and sound of the hoopoo and the swallows that descend to take a drink from our pool every afternoon around 4 but what else is it about France that draws us every year ?

When we first considered buying a property in the South, we continually told friends that it was the idea of extending our summers that most appealed. But now, five years on, it feels like so much more than that. We love the slower pace of life, the French approach to good food and eating, the courtesy and politeness of the people living their modern lives in the medieval villages around us, the beauty of the Languedoc landscape, and, of course, the chance to sample any number of wines from the vineyards that literally blanket the countryside – the largest wine-making area in the world.

So what precisely will we gain when we swap our English home for our French one next week? Well, to start with, the chance to relax and wind down, the feeling that we are well out of the rat-race in the gentle southern air. We’ll go to the beach or pass a morning away in a harbour watching brightly-coloured boats bobbing up and down. We can walk by, or boat on the Canal du Midi. We can explore the history of the medieval circular villages which dot the landscape - beautifully preserved so that they take you back in time.

The quality of our eating definitely improves: from the fresh baguettes we buy every morning to the rich flavour of the sun-kissed fruit and vegetables that we buy from the grower a few miles down the road.


Fruit and vegetables direct from the farm

You drive alongside peach orchards and past acres of tomato plants to a roadside shack where you select what you want. Everything tastes better from here and couldn’t be more fresh. We observe French families stocking up on supplies and asking fo a tray cherries to be set aside for them tomorrow. They wouldn’t dream of buying them a day ahead, when they know that by returning in the morning, the cherries will be freshly picked and at their best. We’ve seen a chef arriving in the afternoon to buy ingredients for that evening’s menu. If he can’t see what he wants, he asks for it and they oblige. What a contrast with my mostly UK supermarket shopping habits.....I don’t enjoy the experience so tend to stock up with everything I’ll need for a good few days. And nothing tastes as good.

If we do resort to a French supermarket for basics, we’re impressed by the labelling which tells you where the fruit and veg come from so you can calculate the food miles. I particularly like seeing potatoes in strong brown paper bags to keep them in the dark, but with a net ‘viewing hole’ so you can see what you’re getting. It’s as if more thought has gone into how to keep things at their best rather than just packing them into plastic bags where they rot. And the choice is astounding – at least a dozen varieties of potato, several kinds of onion and shallots, and the cheese! - at least a different one for every day of the year.

Chickens ‘raised in the fresh air’ have much more flavour and far more meat on them than at home, so go much further and produce wonderful fat for roasting potatoes. My taste buds are beginning to tingle at the thought!
Then, of course, there’s the glorious sea-food, lovingly presented on piled-high platters at the many restaurants dotted along the coast. Oyster and mussel lovers are in their element. We once had the treat of going out to visit the oyster beds in the Etang de Thau followed by a ‘brassucade’ – where oysters, mussels and shellfish are cooked over a huge wood stove.

Oyster beds in the Etang de Thau

A market draws us most weekends and it’s always a delight here to be buying from the people who actually grow the produce. Early summer pointy strawberries warmed by the sun are a must.

So there is much more to life in the Languedoc than just the climate, but nonetheless it does play a huge part in our enjoyment. For me, being able to live outside from mid-May to mid-September is an absolute joy and imagine delight of being able to plan barbecues, trips to the seaside, picnics and al fresco dinners in the sure and certain knowledge that the weather will be fine! Bliss."

Related links :

• http://www.GrandparentsNow.com