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By Lisa Ennis- Fractional Owner in Vers Pont du Gard since 2010
February 2010: Just l’Américaine
It was a luminous but brisk day, and I’d arrived early for my walk through Le Muguet, watching villagers stroll with their dogs. We were considering fractional ownership, but I wanted to experience the village of Vers Pont du Gard in person before committing to it. I was finally here, sitting on a cold bench in the Place filled with enormous plane trees, feeling the sunshine on my face, and staring at the pretty French stone house we’d only previously seen in photos.
If we returned every year, would we make French friends? Would villagers welcome us into their homes? Would we get to know other owners? Where would they be from? How would our lives change? The day had started well; everyone I encountered gave a smile and a Bonjour. The cemetery had gravestones with last names that were not French. It was important to me to fit in, to learn from the French, to not just be a tourist. Would I become part of the village fabric – or would I always be l’Américaine?
At that time, I couldn’t fully appreciate how the next couple of decades would unfold.
February 2026: Part of the village and still l’Américaine
This is our 17th year of visits, and it feels much as any second home would. We have become close with several French villagers. We have been invited into their homes and have welcomed them to ours. They introduced us to their family, friends, and employees so, when we walk around the village, we inevitably see familiar faces. We naturally find the English speakers from the US, Britain, and Australia. Some of them live full-time in Vers and others, like us, split time across the globe. Shopkeepers, whose names we may or may not know, recognize us even if our conversations are only brief and polite.
There have been alfresco lunches, dinners chez eux, village fêtes, theatre at Maison de la Pierre, concerts in the church, live music at La Grange wine bar, holiday parties with French families, and a New Year’s Day brunch at a nearby château. We’ve met the mayor so upcoming municipal elections – even though we can’t vote – matter.
We’ve met with owners in San Francisco, Seattle, Chicago, Atlanta, and London.
Some have left Le Moog to purchase their own French houses or apartments. While fractional ownership is the perfect juxtaposition for us – living most of the year in a city but escaping to that quiet village life – we enjoy hearing their adventures. It was no surprise we would get along with our owners because they all love to travel internationally. We all have a natural curiosity about the world and don’t mind stretching our boundaries with the uncomfortableness of speaking a second language. But, we realized, these were the ones who went one step further and committed to an investment in memories that is fractional ownership. They said Oui. That makes them special.
Our Le Muguet family fans far from Vers. It surpassed anything I could imagine when I sat in the Place looking at ‘our castle’ for the first time. Yes, I am l’Américaine. But I’m also woven into the fabric of the village now: greeted by name, folded into traditions, part of a community that stretches far beyond Vers. Both identities coexist, and that balance feels exactly right.
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