Mark COLE's selection of French property for sale

About my area

I live in the Poitou Charente in a hamlet in the commune of Chaunay. Surrounded by fields of varying colours depending on the season and an amass of wildlife from wild boar to badgers, deer to red squirrels, buzzards and many other birds, ideal for photographers and artists alike. Only half an hour from Poitiers, with its excellent airport, Futuroscope theme park, markets, department stores, plenty of boutiques, bars, cafés and restaurants. Chauvigny, a medieval town, is well worth a visit with its “velo-rail” and demonstrations of birds of prey and falconry for the less energetic. The “Vallée de Singes is just a few kilometers from Chaunay, and makes an ideal day out for all our visitors, with the monkeys wandering freely in their beautiful park. Why not have a relaxing picnic in the shade of the trees, while watching the gorillas being fed. There is so much to do in and around our area, with plenty of local produce markets, Cognac, Vineyards, Angouleme and the west coast all within easy reach.

About me

I moved to France with my wife, Della and 12 year old son, Daniel in 2006, in search of a better way of life and more family time; we found it! Having arrived, reality hit and we needed to learn the French language. For Daniel that wasn’t too difficult, he was bilingual within six months. Della learnt the language quite quickly too while working in a local café. Having worked as a business development manager for the past five years and with no French language to speak of, I decided to throw himself into one of every French household traditions of vegetable gardening, something I had never done before, but I became a master, thanks to the help and guidance of my French neighbours. However after two years I was asked to join a local French building company as laborer, where I was taught all the French building techniques and standards and of course now I too can speak the language. We moved to Chaunay in 2011, upsizing from our 2 bed barn conversion.