A leap of faith

Renovating a neglected chapel in Gers has been a labour of love for former royal photographer Jayne Barlow and her husband Alan

- Jayne Barlow

How do you describe being fortunate enough to have a dream come true? If you asked me and my husband Alan that question, you would possibly need a few hours to listen to our passionate answers. Our love affair with France began many years ago, especially for Alan who has spent many happy family holidays on the Charente-Maritime coastline, and we feel very lucky that we now own our own home in the southwest of the country.

When a friend purchased a château in Gers 20 years ago we were introduced to the area around Condom, somewhere we previously knew little about. Although situated less than a two-hour drive from Bordeaux or Toulouse airports there are no problems with mass tourism; in fact, it is one of France’s least populated departments. The beauty of the landscape with its lush green vineyards and sunflower fields complements the fascinating historic architecture of the medieval fortified villages and towns as well as the colourful local markets. The area is often referred to as being the ‘Tuscany of France’.

PROPERTY PILGRIMAGE

In 2007, we started to view properties with the intention of purchasing a small house, a ‘lock-up-and-leave’ holiday home. However, over the next eight years our property viewing became sporadic due to other factors in our lives.

Properties in and around Condom were expensive so we extended our search area to include both the Tarn and Lot-et-Garonne departments. After numerous viewings we were left feeling frustrated at not finding our dream house, especially after we had been told about ‘Escrimis’, a property that was for sale in the same village where our friend had bought a home. It was stunning but out of our price range and it was also the very opposite of small!