PARIS TO WINGHAM

Rebecca Pye relocated to Paris to be with partner Gabriel Hurtrel, but craved nature and family time. They found both in Wingham, NSW.

“I met Gabriel, who’s French, in Samoa 12 years ago,” says occupational therapist Rebecca, 35. “After a long-distance relationship, I moved to France in 2012, and we married in Saint-germain-en-laye, in the Paris suburbs.

“Saint-germain-en-laye was wonderful: cobblestoned streets; an ancient castle; a park by the Seine with views of the Eiffel Tower; close to Paris for nightlife. But once we had Oliver, apartment living got hard, and people seemed less friendly. It was a huge decision to leave friends and family, but we felt Australia would offer a happier childhood.

“I grew up in Sydney, but dreamed of being a country kid, and my parents have had a 26-hectare farm in Old Bar for 18 years. So we moved there initially, and now live in Wingham, where I work at the rehabilitation hospital and Gabriel, 40, is an arborist.

“We no longer spend Sundays in French food markets, but take the boat out and feast on oysters in Forster, or go to the Wingham Rodeo. It’s a wonderful life, full of community and nature. We have a border collie, Rosie Sweetheart, two white silky hens and a native beehive in our garden. Oliver, seven, and Hugo, three, love tearing around on their bikes, going out on the boat and spending time at the family farm. Gabriel is a nature lover and is blown away by all the wildlife and native flora.

“Country life is about the seasons and nature. It’s having time to pause and see the beauty in every day. It’s starry skies and frosty mornings, a fire burning and neighbours leaving mandarins from their garden on our doorstep. It’s the children growing produce and collecting eggs. It’s exceeded all our expectations.”

Visit Gabriel’s arborist business on Facebook at The French Arborist.