A House at the End of the Track: Travels Among the English in the Ariège Pyrenees

Fascinating true stories of those who followed their dream to move to France. Intrigued by a scattered English community in the French Pyrenees, Michelle Lawson travels around interviewing Britons who'd moved to the remote Ariège department. She talks frankly with new arrivals and old-timers. Some describe themselves as village celebrities, while others live in social isolation. She speaks with couples who can't imagine moving back to the UK and those packing up to return.
Some are French speakers; others manage perfectly well with just a smattering of the language. And everywhere there's a determination to avoid the dreaded Brit abroad stereotype. This book is a long way from the usual Francophile accounts that describe a move to France from one perspective. A House at the End of the Track is an intriguing tapestry of the hopes, dreams and reality of life in France, in English.
Adapted from an original academic study, A House at the End of the Track is also a celebration of this wild and depopulated corner of Europe. Travel alongside the author as she explores the mountains and learns about the shadow of wartime events in the terre courage of the Ariège Pyrenees.