Years ago, Judith, a long-term Home Base Holidays member (and very experienced home swapper), won a book on travel writing in a competition we ran. Now Judith has put her writing talent to good use and published a very entertaining e-book, 'Chez Mwah: How to Languish in the Languedoc', on her family's experience of owning a holiday home in France. A description taster:
"Part diary, part travelogue, this is the reality of owning a holiday home on a budget in southern France. This is not the posh South of France - not your chic Nice, stylish Cannes or rolling fields of lavender littered with white linen suits and panama hats. This is what's known as the 'Other South of France' inhabited by gnarly vignerons and their tiny grape-laden tractors buzzing about, spilling purple juice on the dusty tracks. Neither is it that dream house of 'A Place in the Sun' with its gravel drive and stone walls swathed in wisteria, a beady eyed old madame tottering out to greet you with freshly baked madeleines. This is a scruffy townhouse with worrisome neighbours and inexplicable leaks."
Do check out Judith's book (Chez Mwah: How to Languish in the Languedoc) - this is a perfect holiday read with loads of ideas, especially if you are swapping to a home in the area.
Judith and her family have made good use of their French holiday home for home swaps too; they'll soon have guests arriving from Bali with a view to swapping homes. A trip to Bali with no hotel bills is quite some perk of owning a holiday home!
'Ours is a 120 year old town house in the friendly, bustling village of Olonzac which is right in the middle of the wine producing area of the Minervois in Languedoc Roussillon.'
View full details of Judith's home exchange offer in France and view more lovely photos. If you are already a Home Base Holidays member, login to contact Judith directly.