Ever dreamed about buying a lake property in France?
Well, Kelly and Paul Copperwaite turned that dream into a reality and did just that. And that’s not all, they also started two businesses as part of their new life in France.
Paul, as a Carp Fisherman, had the experience needed to start a carp fishing business on their Lake. And Kelly had the passion and an idea to create a dog park for other rescue dogs like hers.
But none of it has been easy. It’s been three years of hard graft, and they aren’t finished yet.
But would they do any of it differently? I’ll let Kelly be the judge of that one as she tells us her story.
Buying a lake property in France in the Haute Vienne.
Kelly, your first trip to France was back in 2006 with your hubby Paul, and it was love at first visit. Tell me more about your journey to living in France and ‘taking the plunge to buy’ a home here.
We decided to take a holiday in 2006 with a tent in the boot, got to Calais and decided to go right.
We travelled through France for two weeks and fell in love with it and decided we would love to live here one day.
We spent many years keeping an eye on what was for sale and, given Paul’s love of fishing, decided that if we were to live here, that would be the basis of our income in France.
We were always looking, and when Paul’s Dad sadly passed away in 2017, he left us a little bit of money, enabling us to seriously look at properties.
So over the next two years, we looked at what felt like so many properties, but none of them were quite right.
We needed more money, so we decided to sell our house that we’d just renovated in the UK and take on another project. This would give us the extra money we needed so we could afford what we wanted.
Fate intervened and took them back to France
The evening before we were going to offer on the property in the UK, Paul said that something had come onto the market which looked interesting and that it would be worth looking at.
So we didn’t put an offer in and instead, we travelled to Magnac Bourg and met the Agent for the property.
It was on the morning of the Rugby World Cup Final in 2019, which we watched at a nearby village tabac in Cussac Bonneval with the agent before looking at what is now our house and lake.
The property, in its entirety, is 44 acres and had not been lived in for well over 30 years. The lake, which is 18 acres, was in a complete state,
When we finally moved, we found someone had been to the lake and set up an impressive camp that we suspected was stealing our fish.
We had to literally strim our way into the property to set up the caravan and have never really looked back!
You’ve moved from South East England. What drew you to Haute Vienne?
We didn’t actually have an area in mind, although, to start with, Paul had said it would be better to be no further down into France than Le Mans.
But we kept creeping further South as we loved the area so much.
Moving to France with a dog
But you didn’t come here on your own, did you? You were accompanied by Lola, your Romanian rescue dog. What was it like moving to France with a dog in tow?
Lola had only been with us for five months when we made the move. We were worried as she had spent a couple of days in a van coming over from Romania, however, she was amazing.
We got a big crate to go in the back of our truck and cut a hole in it so that we could get to her easily, and she could poke her head through to say hello too.
On the final drive from the UK, we stopped halfway, so Lola had her first sleepover in an Ibis!
Luckily, because Lola came from Romania, she already had an EU Passport, so apart from a worming tablet, it was easy.
Buying a Lake Property in France as a Business
One of the questions we get about moving to France is about work and whether it’s possible to work in France as an Expat and start a business. Now you’re a glutton for punishment, running not one but two businesses here in France. Let’s talk about the Lake Villedieu business first. I believe Paul has been a carp fisherman for around 30 years, so I’m guessing that’s where the inspiration came from for that.
Yes, because he is such a keen and experienced fisherman, that was the basis of our move to France and what we planned to do and worked hard for.
The property had many, many years’ worth of growth where nothing had been looked after for so long, and we had to get a 20-tonne digger to help with the work.
There were no clear banks and a lot of silt in the lake.
We spent a total of about two years trying to make it look perfect, and we are just about there now!
We knew how popular Carp Fishing was and still is, not to mention the benefits of it. We love to host and have met some amazing people since we opened in April 2023. Starting the business for us wasn’t too difficult. We had a plan, but were lucky insofar as we were residents before Brexit, so didn’t have to go about getting residency in the same way you have to now.
So for us, it was fairly smooth, and we also had help when required from a relocation business.
The story of the Lake Property in France
Like with so many things in France, your lake is steeped in history, being built originally as part of La Villedieu Chateau. Can you tell us more?
I love this story. Hopefully, I’m telling it correctly, as it is second-hand.
Apparently, La Villedieu Chateau was bought by a Lawyer from Limoges for his mistress, who lived there, possibly until she passed away.
As we understand from the current owners, some of her belongings were still in the Chateau when they bought it.
After that, another family had it for a while, and then the family we bought it from had it from around the 1930s.
Another interesting bit of history about the Chateau was that it still has the remains of an old monastery which was a stop-off for pilgrims travelling between Limoges and Brive.
The carp fishing lake isn’t your only business. You also have Dogs Play in France, which I’m guessing was inspired by Lola. Can you tell us more about what it is and how it all works?
Dogs Play in France was born from where we used to take Lola in the UK so that she could have a good run and play off of the lead in a secure area.
Lola is a rescue dog, and she has a hunting nature, we assume from being a street dog, so the secure dog walking fields in the UK were perfect.
We know there are a lot of people here in France with rescues, so it’s a place to take them for maybe a change of scenery or a picnic out.
The field is about an acre and totally secure.
I would love to see it used more than it is, but Lola loves it in there. And we’ve made some little doggy play things, like jumps, log piles and even a tunnel.
Starting two different businesses in France and the red tape involved
Are there any rules and regulations around starting a business like this in France?
It’s not too difficult, depending on what you’re doing.
The lake had to conform to the DDT (Direction Départementale des Territoires) requests. So we had to make some changes and repairs to what was already in place. And we only had two years to complete the work in order to keep our licence with them.
We did struggle to set up the lake business because the size of the lake meant there were questions about who would take care of the healthcare side of things.
Finally, after nearly two years, it was decided the MSA would be responsible for this. So it took this long for Paul to get his Carte Vitale. But we got there in the end!
With my business, it was really straightforward and took around two months, if I recall correctly.
But the dog walking field and the lake at the start were not enough. So Paul does some handyman work, and I’m a Virtual Assistant and Graphic Designer too, which has helped a little.
I wish that I had something already planned and in place when we left the UK, but it has not been difficult to find some work around the area when needed.
Do you have many French clients with their dogs, or is it mainly English?
We have mainly had English clients, but as mentioned, very few. We have done a Puppy Playdate, which was great fun, and a local behaviourist ran a class from there, but ultimately we would love to welcome more doggies.
Living the Good Life in France
What do you love most about living in France?
The way of life! We could not get this work/life balance in the UK. And when I say work/life balance, it’s irrelevant, as it doesn’t feel like work here. Nothing we do is a chore.
In the UK, we never saw one another. Paul worked away basically all of the time, and I worked full-time. We sometimes just smile, wondering how on earth we are this lucky!
Any words of advice for other couples looking to move to France and start a business?
Be prepared for anything and everything. In all honesty, it’s been a lot of hard work to make the lake successful, and we still have a long way to go. We still live in a caravan as we don’t have enough money to do the work on the house yet.
And knowing now what we didn’t know then, we probably would not have bought the lake and invested in a smaller property.
It’s been hard and stressful, and although we’re now seeing the benefits and wouldn’t change a thing, you need to be prepared to do what you have to, to survive.
I also think it’s really important to ensure you can be mortgage free unless you have a steady income from a business that is already up and running and creating an income.
If you have dogs that would love some playtime, or if you’re a keen carp fisherman, check out the links below for how to get in touch with Kelly and Paul.
The Lake Details
- Website
Dogs Play in France Details
- Website
READ MORE EXPAT INTERVIEWS HERE >>>
The post Buying a Lake Property in France | The Reality and the Dream first appeared on Life in Rural France.
The post Buying a Lake Property in France | The Reality and the Dream appeared first on Life in Rural France.
