Rachel and Grégoire Charles love their life in France. Running a French restaurant, feeling part of a community in a picturesque 'village fleurie' sounds like a storybook tale, but it wasn't all plain sailing.

Although Grégoire is French, it was Rachel's idea to actually move to France. "I'd lived in England since I was 19, and I thought I was there for good," says Grégoire. However, as a veteran of Iran, Ireland and Nigeria, owing to her father's peripatetic job, Rachel was keen to try French life and was sure she could settle there comfortably.

"We thought it would be a good idea to have a support network," says Grégoire, "so on our map of France we stuck a pin in Evreux, where my parents live, and drew a 100-mile circle around it. We decided to look for property only in that area and that also took in my sister's place in Caen."

Rachel and Grégoire took quite a while to find a house, because their conditions were exacting. Firstly, they had very little budget, as they were buying the house with an extra mortgage, rather than from savings. Secondly, it had to be rural and with character, and thirdly it had to be large enough for Grégoire, who is a chef, to run as an auberge*. They saw over 30 properties before the right one emerged (from under the estate-agent's desk once she'd realised Grégoire was French rather than English).

La Haute Fermerie was a 16th century Normandy farmhouse of around 250sqm, habitable, but in serious need of repair, but it had everything they were looking for: enough space to create two kitchens (one domestic, one professional) and bedrooms for guests, plus four barns, the largest of which would be perfect as rehearsal space for the couple's connections in London's theatreland. It also had more land than they knew what to do with.

The property had been divided into tiny rooms, which Grégoire almost immediately began to tear down, finding in the process a beautiful stone fireplace, which soared up through two stories, emerging in a minstrel's gallery under the roof. Unfortunately, there were also chickens in the bathroom, and the septic tank, which had been claimed to be perfect, soon proved not to be working at all.

"We engaged local artisans to secure the envelope of the house," says Rachel. "Because they provide a 10-year guarantee on their work. So they did things like the roof and the central heating, while Grégoire installed insulation, extra windows, fixed the plumbing and put up walls where we needed them." This, with all the complications involved in restoring an ancient stone building, soon began to eat heavily into the couple's budget.

At this point, the Charleses were still living in London and popping across to France whenever they could, but after 18 months of to-ing and fro-ing, they moved over permanently. For the next few years, their life, as for many Britons in France, was a bit of this, a bit of that. Grégoire worked in local restaurants and hotels and also ran cookery courses and cooked as a private chef for people in gites, while Rachel at first commuted to work for her old corporate in Paris and Brussels, until the birth of their daughter Scarlet, and then did freelance translation work from home.

Then out of the blue, a new opportunity dropped into the couple's lap - the chance to buy a local restaurant.

"As time had gone by and we were STILL restoring the property, we'd begun to wonder if we would ever get the actual auberge up and running," says Grégoire. "But here was a restaurant, with everything in place, a brilliantly equipped kitchen, etc, and going for a song." It was also in a wonderful location, right on the church square of St Fraimbault, a prizewinner in France's annual 'floral village' competition. The village, although small, attracts over 100,000 visitors a year to see its displays.

Buying the restaurant meant selling the farmhouse but this had quadrupled in value after all the work they had done on it, which left the Charleses with enough money to both spruce up the restaurant (renamed Papillon) and retain a nest-egg for a future property. Meanwhile, they live in the surprisingly large flat above, overlooking the square, with the sound of churchbells every hour on the hour.

"I'd loved being in the deep countryside," says Rachel, "and I thought I would miss it terribly, but moving here made me realise that I was also missing things like car noise and streetlights. I feel much more part of things living in the village. I can pop to the baker's and the butcher, and always see people, even on the days we're shut - it's a nicer way of life."

It's a busy life, too. Their working day begins early, with deliveries of fresh produce from suppliers (Grégoire refuses to use frozen anything in the restaurant), getting six-year-old Scarlet ready for school, which is now just a short walk away rather than a three-mile bus ride, then dealing with the early morning customers for Rachel, and food preparation for Grégoire. Their busiest time is usually lunch, as this is when the French eat their main meal, but evenings can go on until midnight, and they also often cater for local banquets both at the restaurant and the village hall. Grégoire also works as a 'traiteur', supplying cooked food for clients - it's quite normal in France for families to buy in all the food for a party rather than cooking it themselves.

Papillon is a French restaurant, with a strong French client base, but Grégoire provides a broad and interesting menu, including vegetarian dishes, that is a particular favourite with English visitors dispirited by the endless offerings of pork that make up the backbone of much Normandy cuisine. He and Rachel have also developed theme nights, such as Irish nights with a band, Guinness and Irish stew, a French Song night featuring local musicians, and Flower Week, when the Flower Menu offers dishes incorporating rose petals, violets and poppy seeds. From being an almost moribund enterprise when they took it over, the business is now thriving, much to the delight of the local mayor and tourist boards.

Sometimes the Charleses close shop in the afternoon, especially off-season, but more often than not they remain open as a salon de thé ("definitely NOT a bar" says Rachel). Nevertheless, in their limited free time they still manage to pack in a number of interests. For Grégoire, it's classic cars: having sold his Estafette van for a 2CV, he is also restoring a Citröen DS and is currently organising a classic car event for the village in summer. For Rachel, it's popping over to a nearby friend's, saddling up and riding along the quiet country lanes. Scarlet, meanwhile, attends the centre aéré (community play group) in summer, where she learns such esoteric arts as cob-walling, and also goes to theatre school on Saturday mornings.

"All in all, it's a great way of life," says Rachel. "The atmosphere is much more relaxed in France than in the UK and we feel fully accepted by the local community. France is more child-friendly than the UK, too. We might never have had children in London, but here, Scarlet's growing up completely bi-lingual, and has access to the kind of free and easy life that we remember from our own childhoods but which seems to hardly exist in Britain now."

In fact, Scarlet is well set up to continue being bi-lingual, as not only is the 'home' language English, she also now has both sets of grandparents nearby: seduced by the better weather and tranquil way of life, Rachel's parents have recently moved to another village near St Fraimbault.

The Charleses aren't certain they'll always remain exactly where they are now, but there's no doubt that wherever they fetch up in France, their adaptability to circumstances is bound to stand them in good stead.

* An auberge is an inn, with a restaurant that usually has a set menu. The food is often produced on site and the owners may sit down to eat with the guests.