What would it take to convince you to pack up your life in Houston and relocate to a medieval French village that even most people in France have never heard of?
That’s exactly what the Willick family did when they left H-Town three years ago.
“This started as kind of a long dream we had to maybe do three, six, nine months abroad,” said Jason Willick. “Just kind of just a family experience. Something for our daughter, to just experience life outside of the U.S. There was never really a plan in place, or anything like that. Once COVID hit, we started to rethink, ‘Well what are we doing here?’”
Our journey to the Willick’s new home in Eymet started on a Thursday with an early-morning ride by speed rail from Paris to Bordeaux. The farther we sped from the city the deeper we ventured into the beautiful region in southwest France known for its wine. We then traveled by car through the green, beautiful French countryside. It was a 90-minute trek that took us through rolling hills and vineyard, after vineyard, after vineyard.
Eymet was founded in 1270 A.D. Residents tell us the Thursday market has run almost every week since the village’s existence. With about 2500 people -- the heartbeat of the community is the town square. Newly connected to that lifeline are the Willicks – Raina, her husband Jason, and 13-year-old Juliana.
Raina was able to obtain a work visa in France and continue her work as a professional coach for business owners and entrepreneurs. Jason left his leadership position after 15 years in the energy infrastructure industry. However, maintaining the family’s YouTube channel has become an almost full-time job for him in France because so many people had questions about their new life in France once they started blogging about it. Many of the questions they receive are from people who are considering a similar move.
KPRC 2 anchor Keith Garvin asked the Willicks to contrast the congestion and traffic on the 610 loop or I-10 during rush hour in Houston to life in Eymet.
“Well you can see obviously the congestion, and commute, and backup is usually for the favorite strawberry vendor,” said Raina with a laugh.
They find many other things to appreciate about their new life in the French countryside, like the architecture in the town square.
“A lot of the buildings, some of them are original,” Raina said. “I mean, sometimes we wonder, ‘How is it that sometimes you buy a house from the 70s and it’s falling apart?’ And that thing, it’s been here for 800 years.”
The Willicks have found a classic in their home as well. It’s just a quick, five-minute drive from the town square. Their recently-purchased house in Eymet was built in the 1790s – during the French Revolution. They spent just over $200,000 for the structure that is almost 3000 square feet with five bedrooms.
“We always wanted to restore a historic house, but we always thought it would be in Garden Oaks or The Heights. It turned out it’s in Eymet, France.”
13-year-old Juliana loves it as well.
“Here I have a giant yard, which means that I have a trampoline. Which is one of the things that I’ve always wanted,” she said. “I have a swing set, and I can practice archery and not be like one foot away.”
“I feel like we have the best of both worlds,” added Raina. “We found space and nature, but I still feel like I can get to things.”
To keep up with the Willicks you can subscribe to their YouTube channel.