I love that show. Im now watching Escape to the Country. Some of the same hosts but instead of the continent, the couples are moving to a more remote county within Britain.

I noticed the same thing about the people. They are real. Warts and all.

Some beautiful continental locations. One of the first ones is set in France. I can't get the water wheel house out of my mind!

Thank you for the rec! I've watched some episodes of "Escape to the Country" and enjoyed them; they are so much better than HouseHunters.

As for Big Little Lies. We live on the Monterey Peninsula and are pretty much familiar with every inch of the coastline here. There is not one single solitary home built on the "beach", not one. The immediate coastline is public land except for a few hundred yards near Seaside, hidden behind a sand dune, where there is a small apartment complex (which is where Nicole Kidman's character lives). So no one strolls out of the house and onto the beach here! It's a rocky shore and there's an undertow/riptide. I read somewhere that these fabulous beach house scenes were actually filmed in Santa Monica/Malibu??

LOL, JN, I loved that one too. There were two in that episode that were faves. I also loved the mill in Spain.

I keep elbowing DH while he is watching his Sox and saying, "..just so you know, honey, I am buying a house in ... Dubrovnik ... the Dordogne ... Cyprus."

How about those hefty transfer fees?

I think I did watch some of Escape; must get back to it.

As for the "look", I got chastised for mentioning it last time but it is so noticeable to me. People do not even part their hair right. I think it was IdaClare who said that people should at least look as good as they would for a job interview, which I think nailed my point.

I am also learning all about "lounge diners" (LR/DR combos) and "bathrooms" (only used when it actually is a room with a bathtub) that a "garden" is what we simply call a "yard" and that they call fpl "woodburners". Lastly, why do the entrances to LRs sometimes have a door?

OTOH, so much Americanism (assuming) has crept in ... islands, granite, man caves.

LOL Sable, thx for the tip. Do you find it funny how often the shot is "cue the ocean waves!"

Thanks for the tip! I will check it out!

I used to watch the Brit home and garden shows back in the early 2000s (actually about 90% of what i watched back then was on BBC (it was very different back then) The only reality shows here were American Idol.. and maybe big brother. I LOVED them-- loved the quirky hosts and loved the quirky people. There was an amazing garden design show that had the best host/designer! I wish i could remember the name of it! Now i am reminiscing.. will need to get my acorn.tv fix!

Ooohhh - sounds good - I will check it out!

Added to my list! Thanks! Couldn't continue Big Little Lies, though.

Thanks for the recommendations. Since we moved, we have Netflix on the TVs but I've yet to watch much of anything.

Oh, man. I gotta get Netflix! I seem to be missing out on a lot of good stuff.

DH and I thoroughly enjoy the "Escapes" (especially as an antidote after watching The Americans or Ozark). The "Country" one has given us some great go-to lines: "We're going to start a business" and "holiday let".

We are still waiting for a couple to actually buy a property, but in the meantime we enjoy them all.

I watched a 'house hunters international' episode this summer because my (American) cousin and his wife were the featured couple! They always look like they stepped off a showroom floor anyway, so they seemed 'natural' to me. :)

Oh, and I learned what a "gite" was.

Must also apologize to, IIRC Malcolm and Mary (or was it Anne) of episode 14. A dapper older couple, they looked super the whole episode. She wore a different skirt suit every day and he was always in a jacket and tie. They looked like they were headed to an afternoon wedding. Even the host commented!

We've enjoyed Escape to the Country during our time living in Europe and really enjoy Escape to the Continent. As it has been said before, even their design shows and other house hunting shows are better. I have to keep DH from watching too much as he gets too many ideas on where to buy next, as values are to be found. When you get into the countryside and away from the major cities, the prices just plummet, even more so than in the US, I would dare say.

I loved the mill house in France as well. There is a Series 2, but not on NF yet.

Funny little thing we learned in our house hunting -- in France, an "American kitchen" (cuisine americaine) is one that is open to other rooms.

Mtn, your favorite presenter is perhaps Alistair Appleton, he's been on quite a number of shows. In general, the presenters seem to be willing to inject a bit of dry humor and honesty.

I know, I know, their are so many gorgeous homes in rural Europe for a song. I do imagine maintenance could be hairy. Yes, sigh .... Alistair. All around the househunters and the hosts are far more likable than the fare we have here, my critique aside.

@mtn, I think in certain popular areas there are plenty of services and local people that can be hired to take care of your property. At a Gite/B&B we stayed at, the UK-based owners even had a full time keeper that ran the B&B portion (the former outbuildings) and kept the house/grounds up, while living in another cottage on the property. But there are also services that will manage/watch your property for a much lower fee.

What I do like about these UK programs, as well, is that they begin to profile areas that you might necessarily consider visiting (let alone living).

Sure, even here it is always easy to find caretakers. What I mean is maintenance on things like 300 year old mills that were uninhabited for a few years! Some of these properties are cheap because it will cost a fortune to renovate them.

As far as giving one new ideas about where to visit/buy, I was intrigued by frequent episodes about Cyrpus. Until I looked on a map.

The way the British pronounce French is just awful. Make me nuts! I love the guy telling the clients that their French is not great, but he pronounces Dordogne as Dordoine. Sheesh.

ETA: I should add that, his French aside, the agent is completely charming and utterly adorable and I am available should he decide he want a French tutor.

I saw a HHI on Cyprus, and while it does look intriguing, I don't think I'll be going there. However, when I did a past life regression under hypnosis, I had a memory of a life on Cyprus. I was a shepherd in that life and had five daughters and a fear of the ocean. That's because I was drowned in the life before that when I was a Greek sailor living in Alexandria. That's what I remembered under hypnosis, but who knows what it really means.

I would like to watch the show you mentioned, but I do not want to pay for Netflix - I have too much to watch as it is. I would love to move to Italy and have seen properties on HHI that was incredibly affordable, and I also saw a lot of properties listed as "For Sale" when we visited the small town of Pitigliano.

Thanks for the recommendation! I’m in a bit of a TV rut and am looking forward to watching ‘Escape’. I did enjoy the Country version.

a past life regression under hypnosis

Now that sounds a lot more intriguing that anything on Netflix!

PS

TBH, I had no idea what Netflix cost. One of those things you sign up for and it autobills and the rest is history. I was almost scared to look. Turns out I have this:

Premium for $13.99/month

4 screens + ultrahd

If we go to a movie, it is $10.50 per person here.

@mtn -- gotcha -- but in reality you can get a pretty good renovation done that will minimize maintenance, and part of these managers duties in ongoing maintenance. But you are right, especially with these ruins in Italy, you can spend a pretty penny on reno costs, especially with all the hidden issues (though in many cases, the basic labor costs are far less than in the US).

I agree, lars' past life regressions sound far more interesting. Cyprus' location is a bit challenging, in these modern times.

Yeah, after we our group went to China my friend/colleague who organized that trip had a workshop booked in Cyprus. I passed, but she had no problem getting people to present there.

Watching tonight - what an improvement over House Hunters.

Hi 3katz! glad you like it!

That reminds me, I wanted to show a property from one episode to DH and started to "rewind" the video. He said, "don't bother they will show it again at the end of the show". I told him no, it is not like HH where they film about 8 minutes worth and show it over and over and over again. Really hate that about HH.

I only watched the first episode but it was so different from HH - the people loved every house and didn't spend most of the time criticizing every thing they supposedly didn't like about it. And the homes were so old! Around here we tear them down long before they reach that age - even a magnificent Pillsbury mansion on Lake Minnetonka.