Three years ago Jason and Philippa Park were consumed by the dream of moving to France, buying a small château they had fallen in love with and starting a new life in the Loire valley.

The two former oil industry engineers, who met while working in Aberdeen, wanted a complete change and decided not only to buy in France but also to turn their new home into a luxury bed-and-breakfast business.

The couple, who have since married and now have a nine-month-old daughter, Verity, below, sold both their houses in Scotland, took a bank loan and sold some shares to meet the £600,000 price for the Château de Charly, which Jason found on the internet. The château, built in 1839, is an elegant Neo-Classical pile in 32 acres on the edge of Charly, near Bourges.

Initially everything went swimmingly as the Parks got their new business under way with some TV publicity from the Five show Build a New Life in the Country. The château's website still speaks of the thrill of those early days; the Parks were the proud “châtelain and châtelaine” of their stately home and planned, they said, to stay for ever.

But after three years of backbreaking work and coming up against the culture clash that faces all but the most Francophile of Britons living in France, this chapter has come to an end. Two months ago the Parks put the château up for sale for €1.3million and are hoping to return to Britain as soon as possible. So what has changed? The Parks have found that their priorities have shifted with the arrival of Verity and other family commitments in the UK. With 30 rooms and an enormous walled garden, swimming pool, orchards and woods to manage, they have found themselves trapped in the estate's clutches. Moreover, trying to run the B&B business means that they rarely get out. Philippa says: “The renovation and getting the place started up has been a lot of work. And with the baby as well, our perspective has changed.”

Philippa, 40, speaks fairly good French but Jason, 31, has struggled, and they have made few friends in a village where many are in their sixties. “We can have a chat and we can communicate,” says Philippa, “but we can't get to know people in the same way as we can in Britain. So we feel a little bit isolated.”

Jason found upgrading the house, on which they have spent £200,000, harder than expected. “It's not for the fainthearted,” he says. “If you are not 100 per cent sure you are doing the right thing, it will be a nightmare.”

The pair have learnt some valuable lessons. Philippa advises anyone thinking of moving to France: “Just be careful about the cultural gulf that there is between the UK and other places. It is one of the major factors when you try to settle down.”

The business is now making a profit and Jason has loved the peace and tranquillity of the Château de Charly. “We've broken the back of this and now someone else can reap the rewards, which is very annoying in some respects,” he says.

The project has been “an enormous learning experience”, says Philippa. “If we'd stayed in Aberdeen we'd still be dissatisfied and still wanting to do something better with our lives. We've come here, tried to do something different and it's turned out that maybe it isn't quite what we want, but that's fine. We'll go back to Britain and do something different.” The Parks are to apply their hard-earned knowledge to a new business, acting as advisers to Britons who want to buy or renovate property in the UK or in France.

chateaudecharly.com

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