Contact us
If you want to start up a conversation, please feel free so leave a comment on any post you find here. I always love to receive comments and will reply to any that I receive.
If you don’t want to leave a comment here you can always reach me in these places too:
I am on FaceBook and my profile is here:
On Twitter my ID is richardbarley
My profile page is at www.twitter.com/richardbarley
If you use Google Talk instant messaging you can add richardbarley to chat with me.
Alternatively you can click on this link: 
GoogleTalk
If none of these methods float your boat, then feel free to fill in the contact form below and send your message in that way and I will get back to you.
on 17 October 2008 at 2:38 pm :
[...] Contact us [...]
on 30 November 2008 at 10:44 pm :
I was just curious as to what you thought of the Fat Pandas and heir British Rock?
Your blogs are very interesting and good for families moving to the Vendee
on 1 December 2008 at 7:59 am :
Hi Claire, thanks for stopping by! I’m glad you find the site interesting. Although I have been a bit quiet of late, it’s going to be a busy month coming up so expect to see lots more from me over the next few weeks.
I have to admit I haven’t yet heard The Fat Pandas in action. They have played at Foussais a couple of times since we arrived but sadly we have never yet made it along. I understand they are doing really well however as we know the parents of one of the members. Hopefully we’ll get along to one of their local gigs soon and then I can give a full review
Thanks for reading and keep in touch,
Richard
on 16 December 2008 at 9:21 pm :
Chris Littlefair suggested I visit your blog. We are moving to the french pyrenees in July next year when my son finishes GCSEs. My husband is converting a barn into our new home and we have 46 acres, so are hoping to be virtually self-sufficient. Chris thought you might be able to answer some specific questions I have about continuing to freelance for UK clients, so would really appreciate if you could email me, so I could get back to you.
Regards
Clare Benton
on 24 December 2008 at 10:48 am :
Hi Clare,
I will be emailing you directly after the Christmas festivities. And thanks for dropping by La Vie en Foussais.
Merry Christmas!
Richard
on 12 January 2009 at 3:27 pm :
Richard, Just stumbled on your website. We have a house between Foussais and Puy de Serre and was wondering if my wife or i could give you a call sometime just to understand the schooling in the area as we might move to this house more permanently from suffolk and have 2 girls aged 9 and 11. many thanks. Andrew
on 12 January 2009 at 3:35 pm :
Hi Andrew, glad you found us!
I have emailed you directly, would be more than happy to chat about a move here. Check your inbox
Richard
on 11 April 2009 at 7:06 pm :
Hi,
I enjoy reading your blogs. We are planning our move for next year. We will be visiting the Loire Valley for 5 weeks next month. We had at first eliminated the Vendee as a possibility, but will now be spending a week there. It seems to have reasonable housing and a good climate. I have read it is fairly rural, which we don’t mind, but we know this is relative. We have two children ages 6 and 8. How is the social activity for kids this age and do you enjoy the schools in France? And what is the realistic commute to Nantes and Paris from Fontenay?
Hope your commute situation improves soon.
Thank you for any response, because it looks as though your keeping quite busy.
jinii
on 25 April 2009 at 6:38 pm :
Hi there Jinii,
We would certainly recommend the Vendee! I can’t comment on the housing prices, but there certainly seem to be plenty of houses for sale. And the climate truly IS great. Our heating is now turned off and shouldn’t now be needed until October. It is, after all, the 2nd sunniest region (after the cote d’azur).
Our location is ideal. We are in a quiet hamlet which makes us very rural (there’s a farm next door!) on the edge of Foussais. Foussais itself is a fairly large village with all the basic amenities and is only 10 mins from Fontenay, where you’ll find all the major shops and supermarkets. We are only 90 mins from Nantes and 60 mins from La Rochelle, so the airports are well within reach. We haven’t driven to Paris from here, but I think its about 3 hours or so. Trains are pretty good, going from Nantes, Niort or La Rochelle for instance
The local schools have been great for our kids. Really supportive and welcoming. They have gone out of their way to make us feel welcome and the kids settled in very quickly – they are now well on their way to being fluent. We chose to send ours to the private (cathol:ic) schools, not for religious reasons (as we’re not) but they came very highly recommended – something that has been borne out by our experiences.
There seem to be plenty of things to do for the kids – lots of sports clubs especially. Our schools organise lots of events through the year (we have the annual folk dance tonight in fact!) and most villages have very good facilities.
All in all its a great region to live and we would heartily recommend it to anyone.
If you want to have more of a chat about things, feel free to email me, richardbarley@gmail.com
Regards
Richard
on 12 July 2009 at 7:40 pm :
Hi Richard, I am interested in your comments about the bottled gas there in France,
We have just bought a small house near Ruffec. Charente.
We will be collecting the keys in August and on our first trip over intend to bring a small cooker and grill to use as we decorate, but I am worried that we will not be able to get the bottle gas for it. The one we have connects to the usual sized bottle used on a full size cooker.
Did you manage to get the gas in the end and if so where? Was it in the bigger chain of hardware stores that might be in most towns?
Thanks Veronica ( Ireland)
on 15 August 2009 at 3:47 pm :
Hello
I have thoroughly enjoyed reading your site. My husband and I moving to France later this year or ealry next year and have spent many visits to France viewing properties in the Vendee. We particularly liked the Mervent/Vouvant area and are seeking an old renovated farmhouse with gite or gite potential. I wonder if you are aware of any such properties in your area that you would recommend (or not as the case may be)? Are there alot of touirsts to this area and could we expect to be able to rent a gite out all year or only furing the summer months? Any information would be greatly appreciated.