What does it really take to move to France- and stay?

In this episode, I’m sitting down with Susannah and Hugh Cameron, the founders of Chez Pluie (a beautifully curated French antiques boutique) and creators of Provence Export, a shipping app that helps shoppers get antiques home safely from anywhere in France.

They share the real story behind their move from Australia to Provence, including the unforgettable moment they bought their village house in just four days (yes, really), what it was like arriving with no fixed plan, and how they built a business from a garage logistics setup into a full-scale operation with a growing French team.

We talk about the romantic side of Provence and the realities: French bureaucracy, hiring, taxes, finding the right accountant, and how embracing the French system became a turning point. Plus, Susannah and Hugh share behind-the-scenes stories from shipping priceless antiques around the world, including a truly wild one involving Julia Child’s stove!

If you’re dreaming about a big move, building a business abroad, or just love Provence, antiques, and reinvention, this one’s for you.

More Information about Chez Pluie:

www.chezpluie.com

https://www.instagram.com/chezpluie/

https://www.chezpluie.com/pages/international-shipping-of-french-antiques-and-fine-art

https://catalog.chezpluie.com/at-home-with-patricia-wells/full-view.html

https://catalog.chezpluie.com/eb3ea471-160f-435e-8ae6-3eae990aae9c

Provence Export App:

https://apps.apple.com/us/app/provence-export/id6471974317

https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.export.export

Don’t forget to subscribe, rate, and review if you’re enjoying the show, and thank you for being a part of our journey.

Contact info:

Instagram:

@the_eptons

-Intro and outro music produced by Jeremy Silver-

In this special one-year anniversary episode of Away We Go We Go, we’re taking a moment to reflect on everything this past year has held—both on the podcast and in our life in France. What started as a way to answer questions and document our move abroad has grown into a global community we never could have imagined. From raising our twins in Provence and building family rituals at local markets, to traveling across Europe and back to California, this year has been full of adventure, perspective, and growth. We share some of our biggest “roses” from the year—travel highlights, watching our kids thrive, deepening friendships, and the unexpected joy of creating a home and rhythm here.

Of course, we also talk honestly about the “thorns.” The realities of bureaucracy, visa delays, school logistics, traffic, and the emotional toll of navigating life in a foreign country are very real. Moving abroad isn’t just lavender fields and long lunches—it’s paperwork, hard decisions, and plenty of “what the heck are we doing?” moments. We open up about the challenges we’ve faced behind the scenes and what those experiences have taught us about resilience, perspective, and knowing your “why.”

Most of all, this episode is about gratitude. We reflect on how this podcast has connected us with incredible guests and listeners around the world, and how much this community has meant to us. Thank you for being part of this journey—through the laughs, the mishaps, the big wins, and the messy middle. We can’t wait to see what the next year brings.

Don’t forget to subscribe, rate, and review if you’re enjoying the show, and thank you for being a part of our journey.

Contact info:

Instagram:

@the_eptons

-Intro and outro music produced by Jeremy Silver-

When Jordan heads back to the U.S. for a work conference, Sophie is left holding down the fort in France—and almost immediately, the week spirals into total chaos. A planned support system falls through, illness hits the house, the logistics of solo parenting pile up, and even Jordan’s return home turns into a multi-day travel nightmare. What starts as a string of unfortunate (and eventually laughable) events opens the door to a much deeper conversation.

As Sophie navigates life on the ground in France and Jordan slips back into the rhythms, comforts, and contradictions of being in the U.S., they’re both confronted with a familiar but rarely discussed truth of living abroad: your heart doesn’t neatly relocate when you move countries. In this episode, they talk candidly about what it means to miss home while loving the life you’ve built somewhere else, the emotional whiplash of moving between cultures, and the quiet reality that your heart can belong to two places at once. If you’ve ever moved far from home, lived abroad, or wondered whether missing one place means you chose the wrong one, this conversation is for you.

Don’t forget to subscribe, rate, and review if you’re enjoying the show, and thank you for being a part of our journey.

Contact info:

Instagram: @the_eptons
TikTok: @the_eptons

-Intro and outro music produced by Jeremy Silver-