Life can sneak up on you. One minute you are hustling in a crowded U.S. city, the next you are standing under the French sun, wondering how things got so quiet. That’s what happened to Jennie Vercouteren and her husband, Ward.

They packed up and left the U.S. for the south of France, settling in the sleepy beauty of the Pyrenees. Here is what they have learned and what surprised them most.

Trading Speed for Stillness

Back in Colorado, life was loud. Jennie ran a co-working space for eco-entrepreneurs. She describes herself then as constantly stressed, never off the clock. The rush of U.S. business life was non-stop. France offered something completely different: silence, stillness, and slowness.

But they never really thought they could live there full-time… until one day, they did.

Why They Really Moved in the First Place?

The dream got real when they started looking at homes in Denver. What they could afford was far from where they wanted to be, nearly an hour outside the city. So they asked themselves something bold: Why not France? They crunched the numbers, talked it out, and jumped.

They wanted a different kind of life, and France was calling.

However, it wasn’t just about money. Jennie craved less pressure. Ward wanted more meaning. They both wanted time to think, time to feel like people again. So they packed up and flew across the Atlantic, ready or not.

That First Culture Shock

Life in France moves at a very different speed. In the U.S., people move fast, make friends fast, and do business even faster. In France, not so much. At first, that slow pace frustrated them. Stores close early. Things take time. Bureaucracy feels endless.

But then something shifted. The stillness started to work on them. They began spending time reflecting instead of reacting. As Jennie puts it, that slower rhythm gave them space to figure out who they really are. The frustration turned into a kind of freedom.

Learning the Language and the Culture Was Hard

French isn’t easy. Jennie struggled with it, even after moving. It wasn’t until she joined a local university language course that things began to click. That program became her lifeline. She learned not just words, but how people in France think, feel, and live.

The course helped her find her footing. It also introduced her to a crew of expats from around the world. People who knew what it felt like to start over. Through them, she found community, confidence, and a real connection to her new home.

The hardest part wasn’t the language. It was the loneliness. In the U.S., even when you move cities, you have a network. In France, they had no one. The isolation hit hard. There were days it felt like starting from zero.

Ward, though, had an easier time adjusting. He’d only been in the U.S. for a few years, and Europe still felt like home. But for Jennie, France was foreign in every way. She missed the ease of meeting people, the instant bonds you get in the States. Building a life here meant rebuilding everything.