How did it all start ...in Provence

It’s funny how one experience leads to another isn’t it?

In 1968 Tricia’s family were driving through the north of Spain on an isolated road miles from anywhere when they came across a stranded car which had run out of petrol. The driver, Andrée, and her husband Jacques flagged them down for help. The resulting friendship has spanned decades and saw Tricia learn French with native speakers from a young age.

As a consequence of that meeting, she went on the study French as part of her degree course, including a year at Grenoble University in the Alps. Having met Tricia in the meantime, Derek also developed a love of France and especially the Alpilles area where their French friends had subsequently retired during the early 1980s. A holiday home in nearby Mouriès followed before they took the plunge and left their jobs in England to live permanently in Provence.

Andrée still lives just 30 minutes away on the north side of the Alpilles.