My husband and I bought our first house in France in September 1998, a “to-die-for”, romantic, centuries-old farmhouse on the Lot/Dordogne border. All of the magic of France, the glory of its rolling countryside, the streaming sunlight which filled our country kitchen at La Bruyere, came to fruition because we followed our intuitions and allowed the wind to fill out our sails.

But, this was not without a plan and a good deal of old-fashioned elbow grease. When we arrived back in Portland, Oregon, a video our Dordogne house in hand, we set about convincing like-minded friends and Francophiles that it would be a marvelous plan to cooperatively own the house, each have 6 weeks of use, and to share the on-going expenses.

Nos trois garcons en France

Our first trip to France was to Ile de Yeu to spend 10 days with my French college roommate. At that time, our sons were 3, 5 and 7 and spent lazy days riding bikes to the beaches and trying out their few words of French.

As our plan was to have our kids become bilingual, all 3 boys attended french immersion classes through the elementary years. In 2002-003, we followed our dream of spending a Sabbatical year in the canal town of Capestang, in the lovely Languedoc.

Here, we stumbled upon a hidden treasure in the Roman village of Montouliers- La Placette or "the little place". With the glorious weather and history of the Midi, and its reputation as an unspoiled corner of France, I made the decision to launch French Property Shares and to allow others to experience the joy of shared ownership.

How is this different from a time share? It is completely different. You own your percentage of the property outright and can easily sell or donate your time to another as well as participate in the appreciation of the property. You typically have the use of 6 or more weeks per year. With a time share you are restricted to specific dates which you can use within certain locations in a fixed number of years.

.

Ginny Blackwell

I’ve had a love affair with France ever since I flew the coop at age 20 and spent a year in Paris studying at the Sorbonne.     In 1981, I finished a Masters in International Business from AGSIM in Phoenix, Arizona.

The things I love about France are numerous, but high on my list is the manner of living slowly.  It’s more about relationships than about than getting the job done. I love the poppies in May, the 2CV citroens, the way the French language connects me deeply to its history and people.

 When I’m not at one of my home shares in the Dordogne or in the Languedoc, I live with my husband Dale and our 3 sons in an historic house in Canandaigua New York, quite a change from our farm in Oregon! We loved the idea of walking places vs the minivan circuit and we are spoiled by having family in town and the lovely Finger Lakes around us.

As Dale says, "We are closer to France now!". See you there...