Nothing Ventured Nothing Gained

Having fallen in love with the Pyrénées, Penny and Andy Walker share their passion for this unspoilt dramatic landscape by running adventure holidays. Gillian Harvey finds out more

When dreaming of a mountainside holiday in France, most people imagine spending a week or two in a cosy chalet, deep in the Alps. However, when it comes to mountain holidays, while the Pyrénées do not get as much attention as their more famous rival, it is their authenticity and unspoilt nature that led Penny, 53, and Andy Walker, 45, to choose this as the location for their adventure holidays.

The outdoor-loving couple decided to move to France in 2007; something that had long been Penny’s dream. “The idea of living in France had simmered away in the background of my life for years,” she explains. “When I met Andy in 2004, he soon bought into the dream. We were living in Sheffield at the time, and city life just wasn’t suiting us. Moving to France, with its lower property prices and so much more space meant we could afford a more relaxing lifestyle somewhere truly beautiful.”

However, it took the couple a few years to find their forever home; when they first moved, they overestimated the appeal of living in a remote location, setting their sights on an idyllic cottage at 800m altitude in Ariège.

“We made the mistake of buying in haste,” explains Penny. “The area we chose was beautiful – perfect for a holiday let – but wasn’t practical for day-to-day living or for the activities we found we wanted to do.

“I now recommend to those considering a move that they rent for a while first, just to get a real feel for their chosen area – to see what the realities of living there might be. There are always things you haven’t considered.”

TIME TO RELOCATE