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Some people (probably rather more than will admit to us) clearly think we have lost our marbles, upping sticks and moving to France. And quite possibly we have.
We have found ourselves, however, in a position of unparalleled freedom. Both of us have left our jobs, the kids have left home, the dog died, and shortly we will have no mortgage (or indeed, anywhere to live). For the first time in our lives there is nothing tying us down. This has given us the opportunity to think what it is we really want to do with our lives; the opportunity to "think outside the box", to dare to think beyond what everybody expects us - people like us - to do.
I have had one career in London buying and selling art, and another career in the Lake District running galleries exhibiting art - very conventional, very middle class, very safe. What I want to do now is what I have always wanted to do, create my own art. This is not some sort of early retirement, cop-out or soft option. I intend to pursue this just as seriously, and with the same dedication, as I did in my two previous careers. I know a lot more about art now than I did when I was at art school. I have been involved with art for pretty much forty years, and I have been lucky enough to meet and get to know some great artists during this time. There is a lot I need to learn, but I feel I have a bit of a head start on when I began art school at seventeen. At that age, like so many students, I knew little about life.
How will I get on? What happens if it doesn't work out? As Gordon Ramsay might put it in one of his more eloquent moments - fuck knows! But what I do know is that if I don't take this opportunity to try it, I will always wonder in those dark, self-doubting moments which always occur at three o'clock in the morning when there is no-one awake to tell you how pathetic you're being, what would have happened, what might have been?
Why, though, move to France? After all, it is full of the French, their cars are apparently designed by Leggo, and when they are not eating or playing boules, they are on strike against having to work beyond early middle age?
Firstly because we are fed up with the shitty weather in this country. If you have nothing to tie you down, you can choose where to live, without it having to be near the right schools, or within commuting distance of your job. We like France for its very Frenchness. Where else would people take cheese so seriously, or raise bureaucracy to the level of an art form, whilst at the same time being one of the few western nations consistently questioning the wisdom and legitimacy of American foreign policy? We like the beauty and diversity of its landscape, and of its architecture; we like sun in summer and snow in winter; we like the food, the wine, the markets and watching the world go by from a pavement cafe while enjoying a coffee and Calvodos. We don't want grey any more, we want colour. And, we rather like the French.
For us, there is much more choice in France. Property is significantly cheaper and we feel we are likely to get more of what we want in France than we would in England; a house, separate guest accommodation, a pool and, of course, a studio. Once on the continent it is also much easier to travel to the rest of Europe (for when we do get fed up with the French). No booking ferries or the Channel tunnel. You can just get in your car and go - to Spain, to Italy, Germany, Holland or wherever. And it's not too difficult to get back when we want to.
We will probably lose money, but it is only money that we have made ourselves, and we feel it is worth taking the risk. Jack Dee look-alike city traders have lost billions (of our money) and yet still they seem to be doing OK. Not that long ago I gave up a perfectly good job as a director of Spink's in London. We didn't know what we were going to do then, but things did work out pretty well in the end. Stephen Hawkins may postulate about multiple universes, but we suspect we only have one stretch on this planet. We don't want to let it just drift by in a rut of inertia and cultural expectation. Crucially, both Georgi and I feel exactly the same. There are so many new and different things we want do. And now it's time for a leap-of-faith.
