The choice between unsatisfying jobs in the UK and running walking holidays in rural France was an easy one for James Chisholm and his partner Lorna Macmillan
James Chisholm was completely dissatisfied with his job as head of finance with a large business in London.
It just wasnt my cup of tea anymore, he says. As soon as I got into the office each day, my eyes glazed over and I found myself thinking about a life in the country.
For some years, I had been wondering how I could make the transition from a job that was boring to one that was much more fulfilling, and still earn enough money to live on.
Then he met Lorna Macmillan, who had recently returned to England after working in a French ski resort. A human resources executive with a software company in Oxfordshire, she was also unsettled, career-wise. A short while later, James and Lorna decided they both needed a fresh start: a complete change of direction as far as their careers and lifestyles were concerned.
The crunch came when the business James worked for was taken over. They had to consolidate, so I seized the opportunity of voluntary redundancy and a pay-off. Soon after, Lorna resigned from her job and sold the flat she was letting out in London. James moved in with Lorna, who was living in rented accommodation in Oxfordshire, and put his own house on the market.
The idea that had begun to take shape in the couples minds was to run a ski chalet or walking holiday business in France a country they knew well and loved.
We both had fond memories of childhood camping holidays in France and already spoke some French, says James. We ended up spending quite a bit of time travelling around the country and narrowing down our options. The couple started by looking at potentially suitable areas in the Alps, but quickly abandoned any thought of settling there because of the high cost of property.
Also, I didnt particularly want to live at altitude or be covered in snow for half the year, for at heart I am just a gardener!
From the Alps, James and Lorna visited the Pyrenees, the Jura Mountains, the Massif Central, the Ardeche and Provence. The couple assumed that Provence would be their ideal location, but found the area was relatively over-priced and the walking not varied enough for our tastes. So they headed north towards Vercors National Park and the Drome Valley.
As we drove from Provence, we couldnt believe just how good it was. We visited the Col du Rousset, near Die, and watched vultures soaring. We were amazed. We spent six weeks in this area alone, camping in the Drome Valley and looking at houses.
Eventually, James and Lorna spotted a large, run-down house, La Maison Rose, for sale on the edge of the village of Saillans which, they felt, would make an ideal B&B establishment and base for walking holidays.
The Belgian owners had long gone, leaving the keys with a neighbour. It turned out we were only allowed to view the property on Wednesday mornings at ten oclock, laughs James. After looking around the house and reflecting on what we had seen, we had to wait another week before we could return. This dragged on for ages. Its just the way things were.
The former winemakers property, the original part of which dates back to the 1870s, was in a terrible state, according to James, partly because it had been uninhabited for two-and-a-half years.
The electrical wiring for the house had been fitted in a most extraordinary and incredibly dangerous way; the bathrooms were rotting; the floors were knackered; the ceilings were missing in places and the garden was a jungle.
