A young English couple excitedly unpack their belongings in their new holiday home in the tiny Languedoc village of Morbignan la Crèbe. They are at the start of what will be a 30-year adventure; at the end of it their lives will be changed beyond recognition. Now all they have left to do is manhandle an extremely heavy sideboard up an unforgiving flight of stone steps. 'Why don't we roll it up?' she suggests. He looks at her pityingly, then his eyes widen. Londoners to the core, they gradually find themselves seduced by the charms and idiosyncrasies of the little village. Over the years they will come to love its steep cobbled streets, its medieval walls, the baker who loves dogs and the
épicière
who opens when she feels like it. They will meet the Velcro bird, the stark-naked builder, the neighbour who cuts the phone lines. And when a small brown and white dog walks into their lives, they are quite ready to make their home in the Pays d'Oc.