Never too late for new French start

On a house hunting trip to France I bought a wreck of a farmhouse, with a hole in the roof, no hot water, no toilet, no heating or kitchen and mushrooms growing on the ceiling. I did not know anyone and did not speak French.

I slept on the floor and bathed in a children’s paddling pool by candlelight. I spent my time scrubbing with bleach, painting and decorating. The garden needed work and I planned to cover some of it with gravel.
On the Portsmouth ferry I met the man who was to become my future husband. After many phone calls it was time to visit him in the South of France. Weeks later he bought me a wedding ring.

At Fiji airport my fiancé saw a dress he wanted to buy for me. Later, aged 61, I married my soulmate on the beach in Barbados wearing that dress.

We returned to France, where we built our dream home to spend our golden years, happy in retirement together.

Evelyn ROXBURGH, Tarn-et-Garonne