First glimpse at Brittany Higgins’ new life in France

Brittany Higgins has shared her first update from a tiny town in France, where she bought a home after leaving Australia for good.

Brittany Higgins has shared her first update from her new life in a tiny village in France, where she moved late last year to “start fresh” with her fiance.

Ms Higgins and fiance David Sharaz left Australia permanently a few days before Christmas after shouldering intense media scrutiny in two trials — one criminal, one for defamation — relating to Ms Higgins’s alleged rape in Parliament House in 2019.

“No matter how far or how wide I roam, I will still call Australia home,” she wrote on Instagram during a layover, before landing in Paris in late December.

Ms Higgins and Mr Sharaz moved permanently to France last month. Picture: davidsharaz/Instagram

The pair have bought a small home in Lunas, a town of just 650 people in the south of France, and resettled with their cavoodle, Kingston, and cat, Clover.

Nearly a month after the move, on Tuesday, Ms Higgins shared an Instagram carousel full of pictures of her new life.

Brittany higgins shares snaps of her new life in France with David Sharaz. Picture: Instagram

She captioned the snaps with a quote from French philosopher Jean-Paul Sartre: “Nous sommes nos choix”, or “We are our choices”.

“Here are a few of mine as of late,” she added.

The snaps detail her new life in France. Picture: Instagram

“We are our choices,” she captioned them. Picture: Instagram

The first photo showed Ms Higgins rugged up in a black coat with a red bow tied in her hair, walking Kingston along a cobbled street.

Other snaps included one of the Arc de Triomphe in Paris, about six hours by train from Lunas, and others of Ms Higgins and Mr Sharaz on a plane with Kingston, a roast dinner for two and a Christmas tree on a European street.

The couple’s first month in their new home appeared to be a welcome change of pace compared to their final few months of 2023, in which Ms Higgins and both of her parents were called to give witness at a defamation trial brought forward by Bruce Lehrmann, whom Ms Higgins alleges raped her.

Mr Lehrmann has strenuously denied the allegations and is suing Network 10 and Lisa Wilkinson for their coverage of them.

The five-bedroom chateau in Lunas, France that Brittany Higgins and David Sharaz now call home. Picture: Matthieu Rondel

The couple previously said the move allowed them to start anew.

“We’re happy to be here in the South of France and are looking forward to spending Christmas with our pets,” Mr Sharaz told The Daily Telegraph in December.

“And learning to mow,” he added with reference to the chateau and gardens they bought in Lunas.

“It’s been a few long years; Brittany has been through the mill and we want to start afresh. I have family here and we’re learning to speak French.”

“It’s what we’ve been aiming for — a fresh start,” Ms Higgins added.

“A new life in France after leaving Australia behind.”