When successful London banker Janine Marsh was gripped by the (to her) ridiculous idea of owning a ramshackle farmhouse in seriously rural France, she did not toss it off – Ta ta and all that. Instead, she rallied her disbelieving husband, Mark, and before the couple could say so long sophisticated city life, they found themselves lord and lady of a tattered, drafty barn (to begin) that with bottomless love and fathomless challenges became their French country castle. Peopled by an ever-growing menagerie of animals – ducks, dogs, geese, cats – Janine’s unlikely new life is delightfully detailed in her memoir, My Good Life in France, a rollicking read for anyone wondering how it is to go from professional in pinstripes to one who merrily mucks around with Ken the crazy cockerel and Barbie, his blonde chicken mate, not once looking back. Her wonderful website and magazine The Good Life France (the goodlifefrance.com) further tells of the couple’s adventures on the farm, as well as highlights countless sights and delights to be found in France. From wine tasting in Bordeaux to visiting interesting Montpellier, touring a Loire Valley castle to lunching luxuriously in Paris, The Good Life France is a traveler’s resource rich in information, inspiration and, no less entertaining, the antics of Janine’s adopted animal family.

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