France: What is life like in Eguisheim?

Readers of this blog will know that our original ambitions for living in France were to be in a medium-size town. So, over a month in, what is life actually like being in a smaller village?

Naturely, the health issues I’m currently going through do add a number of restrictions, but so far haven’t made us think twice about our move here.

Also worth mentioning that la Canicule, or the ongoing heatwave, has made spending much time outside a bit difficult.

Our house

Although we secured our rental on the basis of a virtual tour, taking a bit of a gamble in the process, there hasn’t been a day we’ve regretted it, and we really love the place.

Being an apartment, having living rooms, bedrooms and bathrooms all on one floor has been a real help for me - I don’t know how I’d have managed the stairs at our old house in my current state. It feels spacious and cozy at the same time. Also having a large walk-in shower (with a seat) has saved me from the misery of trying to get in and out of a bath.

The expansive basement means not only have we been able to ‘park’ any further unpacking, but also for us to have a room each down their for hobbies. My music room is a little unfunished due to current circumstances, but Rachel’s art and crafts room is in full swing already.

Over the weeks we’ve added some necessary appliances like a washing machine and dryer (thinking ahead to the winter) but more recently a 2nd hand freezer from Leboncoin which seems to be France’s answer to Facebook Marketplace for thrifty Frenchies that don’t want to waste money. We were originally a bit worried about the amount of workspace in the kitchen but a €67 purchase of a Baker’s Table from Amazon soon filled that gap.

As all rooms have automated shutters we can easily block out the worst of the heat when it hits and ensure the place stays cool. Who needs curtains?

And I can’t mention the house without mentioning our landlord and landlady who have been so helpful and friendly to us and made life here that much easier. I’d like to think it’s an arrangement that can run for a few years.

Our neighbourhood

Our house is located in a deliciously quiet area, on the north-east side of Eguisheim. It’s probably a 20 minute walk (at my current speeds) to the village centre, so we don’t have any sense of tourists. Just lots of cyclists.

We completely landed on our feet with our neighbours - they are the warmest, kindest people. Betty and Michel are directly opposite to us and we see/speak frequently. Michele has taken a real shine to Rachel and looks after her like a daughter. Betty has already included Rachel in her regular hairdressing arrangements!

Right next door to them is the lovely Alice, who is Betty’s mum. She is an absolute delight and so pleased we have moved in. Just yesterday she presented us with a whole basket of plums from her tree.

Eguisheim village

The village itself is insanely gorgeous, and although it is a popular destination for tourists it never feels overrun (unlike parts of Oxford in the summer). There’s a lovely laziness about strolling through its streets

Wine

The whole Alsace area is dominated by the wine industry. Within the village itself we have 20 vignobles each with a shopfront in the village for a sneaky degaustation.

Right now, all focus is on the harvest, so multiple times a day we have slimline tractors with large yellow buckets chasing around the village and surrounding roads. We’ve nicknamed them ‘Whacky Racers’ for their unique designs and amusing appearance.

At the end of this month is the village’s wine festival (Fête des Vignerons) which I’m being actively encouraged to be fit for! If it’s anything like the one we encountered in Avignon some years ago it’s a must-see event.

Beer

For those of us that don’t live and die for wine there are a couple of options.

One is The Little Roof which is very cool and has a good range of beers, but for me is just a little too pleased with itself. Also, there’s no sign of any roof, so baking in the direct sunlight isn’t the best option currently.

By far my favourite place is Timothy’s Microbrewery for the absolute vibe, but also for the lovely owners who we’ve become good friends with. It feels almost subversive having an American bar in the heart of all the vineyard frontages!

On a Friday night they run ‘Englisheim’ to get locals and us english speakers together to get to know each other better but also help with language skills. Love it!

Local facilities

In all honesty, there are limited places for day-to-day shopping in Eguisheim, although the local Boulangerie is pretty good for baked goods and the odd treat.There is a weekly market on a Tuesday which we’ve not made it to yet, which is held in the park close by to us.

The thing is, we are so close to major supermarkets like HyperU and Grand Fräis that tends to be where we go.

However, we do have two banks and dozens of restaurants all easily accessible in the village, which makes our old home in Tolpuddle feel like an isolated hamlet, and the more medieval of the two.

Local Government

The joy of France is that governing is pushed down to the lowest level possible, which means that the Marie has more authority than a typical UK town council.

Our limited interaction with Le Marie has been entirely positive. We had to register as locals just after we arrived, which was wonderfully informal. But while there Rachel mentioned my mobility issues and asked if there was anything they could do. So the very next day we had a monthly permit to park in the main car park for free to make getting around that bit easier.

There’s also a service to check in on your house while you are away on holiday if you give them prior notice. And of course, the pride in the appearance of the village itself means that flower displays, litter picking and weedkilling keep the place looking wonderful.

When was UK local government last like this?

Transport

We were lazer focused on transport options when we were viewing properties, but this hasn’t turned out to be such an issue. Colmar centre is just 11 minutes away by car, and we are close to larger roads to Strasbourg and Mulhouse.

The bus service isn’t that frequent (every 2 hours) which is a stretch for my current level of stamina, but I did today find out about a service organised by Le Marie for subsidised taxis to and from Colmar (€4 cost to us) so we may have to check that out.

In terms of local train transport, as used for our location scouting, we have discount cards to keep costs down, and the Colmar to Strasbourg service is really good. It’s also possible to catch a train directly to Paris from Colmar (as Rachel has done) but I imagine it will be a while before we are back on the trains again.

Language

Not gonna lie - since getting here I’ve not done anything about progressing my French (health issues being the biggest consideration) but once the miracle drug arrives and I’m able to do more/have more stamina I’ll be back at the books.

For day-to-day life it hasn’t been that much of a hindrance. Even in the hospital I was able to get by with most staff, and the more senior doctors spoke very good English.

Rachel, of course, is our main communicator when it comes to anything official. Thank god for her! Her german also comes in really handy as this tends to be the second language for a lot of locals.

Life online

I probably spent too much time obsessing about this before we got here than was strictly necessary.

Having a VPN solves any streaming subscription issues easily. Amazon was a little trickier - I started a new account on amazon.fr, but I can have the site present and search in English. For other sites I’ve been using the Google Translate extension to enable whole pages to be translated.

Banking has been surprisingly good. We went with Credit Agricole which does have an English-speaking consierge service if needed. But the standard banking app is great and easy to use.

We’ve both held on to a UK bank account for receiving pension payments and making regular subscription payments. For me that’s the Wise account, and Rachel has kept her HSBC account since they allow overseas customers.

For me, the medical side of online has been a real breakthough using Doctolib as this puts me in charge of my services. I can search for any professional medical service and book appointments directly with them, filtering by language to make sure I can be understood. My prescriptions are added here so I can keep track of what I’ve been given, and I can also upload any relevant UK medical data I think might be helpful.