First pictures: Joyous Higgins, Sharaz arrive at new French mansion estate
If Brittany Higgins and David Sharaz wanted a quiet location far from the events of the last five years, the sleepy French village of Lunas fits the bill.
Brittany Higgins couldn’t stop beaming as she cuddled her beloved cavapoo dog Kingston, and checked on her cat, Clover, after being reunited in their first outing in France where they hope for a “new start”.
Ms Higgins and her fiancee David Sharaz had driven 90 minutes from their centuries-old mansion estate in the sleepy hamlet of Lunas to pick up the animals, which had been in quarantine after the long flight from Australia.
Ms Higgins was overjoyed to be spending Christmas with her pets and said: “It’s what we’ve been aiming for – a fresh start, a new life in France after leaving Australia behind.”
She looked relaxed despite a bout of jet lag and dressed for the happy reunion in smart heels and jacket and carrying a leather bag.
As has been their habit for the past few outings, the couple appear to have again colour co-ordinated their outfits, this time selecting a beige colour to match the honey tones of the dog.
Mr Sharaz said he had family in the United Kingdom and coming to France was a chance to be close to them and to start afresh after “being through the mill”.
He said they were learning French, and then added “and also learning to mow”, in reference to the vast grounds of their home, La Forge, which includes a wildlife pond.
Locals in Lunas say the house was sold earlier this year after being on the market for about a year, but it is unclear if Mr Sharaz and Ms Higgins used any of the monies from her $2.4m taxpayer payout to buy the property.
If Brittany Higgins and David Sharaz were looking for a quiet location far from the madding crowd whipped up over five years by a sexual assault allegation, a political scandal, a rape trial and now a defamation case, the sleepy French village of Lunas fits the bill.
Ms Higgins and Mr Sharaz were spotted outside their new home early on Thursday (Thursday evening AEDT) wearing co-ordinated beige outfits. The pair had earlier arrived in Paris, disembarking from their flight wearing matching black outfits, in contrast with the all-white clothes in which they left Australia, in a nod to the suffragette movement.
Matching the dark mood of their post-flight sartorial choices, the weather in southern France turned bleak for their expected arrival in Lunas, a village of barely 100 houses where you buy your baguette from a vending machine because there are no shops. Rain bucketed down and the bubbling brook of L’Eyraud at the base of the estate the couple is understood to have chosen for their new home – the town’s most prestigious and best located property – had swollen into a raging stream.
Ms Higgins posted on Instagram images taken in Canberra, Sydney and other iconic Australian locations.
“No matter how far or how wide I roam, I still call Australia home,’’ the caption said.
Early on Thursday the lights were on inside the rambling centuries-old home, which is six hours drive south of the French capital and about an hour from Bordeaux, but no one answered the door. A gardener, struggling with a wood chipper, said “David and Brittany were due soon”.
Ms Higgins and Mr Sharaz may not appreciate the backhanded compliments of their French neighbours in Lunas, which appears to be the soul-restoring calm the couple desire after the drama and saga of repeated court actions.
“That nice couple from Australia, the ones in their 40s,’’ said one local, after looking at photographs of the two confirming that they were indeed resident at the expansive house and grounds known as La Forge, on the Route de l’Ancienne Forge in southern France.
Another neighbour, who vouched for Ms Higgins and Mr Sharaz’s friendliness, was shocked to learn they weren’t the middle age semi-retirees he thought, and were a good 10 years younger.
“So young,’’ he said in French. “This is very quiet (area), usually young ones head to Bordeaux or Paris for more life.”
The confusion for the villagers lies in that Ms Higgins, 29 and Mr Sharaz, 30, have found their joie de vivre in the village’s most prominent home which is usually the prevail of mid-lifers or investment bankers.
La Forge is considered the village’s most expansive and expensive house with most others being working farms and small rural land holdings. It certainly has the best location, sitting overlooking a small valley and the church.
There are no shops and the must-have morning baguette is to be found in a vending machine in the village carpark. Supplies are to be found 15 minutes drive away in the 11th century wine and tobacco town of Bergerac.
“How did they afford it?’’ our perplexed neighbour pondered, and then decided that perhaps they were only renting it as he hadn’t known it be up for sale. Estimates as to the value of the house are about 800,000 euros, ($1.3m) he believed.
If Mr Sharaz and Ms Higgins wanted charm, this place oozes with it. From one side view of the house, it appears to be around 15th century with evidence of the large fireplace in the working home where horse shoes and knives were crafted. From the front it appears to be a typical French farmhouse with tasteful green shutters. But from the back the size of the house shows it has been extended and renovated.
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