Voyage South

When Jon and Mel Alport left Cambridgeshire for a new life in Aude they couldn’t bear to be parted from their vintage river boat Bella Mia which was always going to come with them, as Greg Cook finds out

- Greg Cook

Like so many Francophiles who suddenly find themselves with an ‘empty nest’, Jon and Mel Alport took the departure of their three children for university as the perfect cue to make their own move to a full-time life in France.

Until then, the couple had led a comfortable life in their spacious family home ensconced in a Cambridgeshire village, from where Jon had taken the hour-plus commute each day to London to work in the design industry.

They’d always planned to buy a second property in France and by 2012 the taxing daily routine offered by life in the UK had persuaded them to make a commitment to relocating completely. Their plan was to run a bed and breakfast or chambres d’hôtes, preferably somewhere in Dordogne or around Bordeaux.

It sounds like the after-dinner fantasy of countless other couples, concocted during blissful summer holidays or grey winter weekends back in Britain. That, however, is where any similarity ends.

First of all, Jon and Mel already had the benefit of hands-on hospitality experience, having converted a series of outbuildings at their Cambridgeshire property into successful guesthouse lets.

Secondly, having worked for Terence Conran and Plain English, both have a strong eye for practical design, interiors and otherwise.

Thirdly, as a full-time work project to both occupy and fund the next chapter in their lives, the couple knew they were risking it all to make this a going concern. Finally, they were also committed to bringing one very special member of the family on their adventure – Bella Mia, their beloved 32-foot vintage motor cruiser, previously moored on the Norfolk Broads.