Real Life: Musician Stevie Farr’s new life in the south of France

A new life in rural Aveyron prompted musician Steve Farr to write his life story…

It all started when my best friend moved to Spain and asked me to have a look with a view to joining him. He and I played saxophones together in the bands for Curly Curve, Paul Young and the Q-Tips, Adam Ant and Paul McCartney. My partner Sue and I went to check it out. We found the Spanish coast covered in tall cranes, building high-rise apartments and hotels, and there wasn’t much greenery to be seen. After several visits that year, we decided on one occasion to drive there through France. Different scenery altogether! Green mountains, lakes, fields of vines, this was more like it. We were delighted to fin out that France was five times the size of the UK with the same population – much more space and a lot less traffic on the roads.

We studied copies of French Property News and found a mill house with 15 acres of land in the Aveyron, which was situated a good distance from both the Mediterranean coast and the Pyrénées – beaches and skiing! Upon viewing the property, we said “yes”, only to be gazumped by an eager Englishman (before we’d signed the contract). Not to be deterred, the south of Aveyron was the place for us.

A couple of years previously, I had changed my career in the music business and hung up my saxophone (temporarily) and was now a tour manager – a sort of ‘walking office’ that every top act needs when on tour. I was working with popular artists from the UK and America. In between times, Sue and I would be armed with FPN and had a great time driving around south Aveyron in the search for our dream property. Eventually, we found our perfect place. A beautiful farmhouse with three acres of land. It had been a rabbit farm with 700 rabbits in stone barns, raised not for their meat but for their fur. The lady who owned it would comb them daily and spin angora wool.

She was now a widow and wanted to sell the property. Her husband had been a tiler, so the flooring had been expertly done throughout. The house had fabulous rustic beams and great big open fireplaces. For this piece of French heaven, we paid less than we would have for a flat in Watford.

Our plan was to do the house up first and then convert the barns into gîtes and add a large swimming pool. Neither of us spoke French, but we soon mastered the words for different building materials. We decided to learn the language within the community, but found our south Aveyron accent was on a par with a rural Cornish accent. I took the opportunity to join a local brass band and played popular French songs at fêtes and bodegas. When we were invited to play at the France versus England rugby match in 2012, England won the match in the last few moments of the game. The crowd were very good humoured when myself and the one other Englishman in the band gave them a loud rendition of God Save Our Gracious Queen.

It was an easy decision for me to write my life story, No Money But What A Life, as it’s been a full one! I had been educated at a strict naval school with the idea that I would follow most of my family into the senior service. My only brother had excelled himself at school and won a bursary to Eton, going on to be a naval officer of distinction. Alas, he never saw our French dream as he died prematurely from cancer. It was easy to write my stories. I’d get up very early to sit on our terrace, and as the sun came up Sue would hear me laughing to myself as I put the words on paper. To anybody thinking of making the move to France, I say this… If it’s in your heart, do it. Good luck!

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French Property News magazine is a must-buy publication for anyone serious about purchasing and owning real estate in France, which offers a unique combination of legal, financial, and tax advice along with in-depth location guides, moving real life stories, the best properties currently on the market, entertaining regular pages, and the most recent property news and market reports.