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11 months ago
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Brittany Higgins and her fiancé David Sharaz have left Australia behind and will start a new life in a small French village.
The couple said an emotional goodbye to Ms Higgins' mother Kelly and father Matthew, before boarding a flight at Brisbane International Airport on Monday at 11.35pm.
Both were dressed head-to-toe in white - the same colour adopted by the women's suffragette movement - as they boarded the flight to Singapore, where they will transfer onto a plane bound for Paris.
Ms Higgins' was wearing a flowing white dress, while Mr Sharaz donned a cream suite and white sneakers.
The former staffer received about $2.4million in taxpayer funds in 2022 based on claims her political career was in ruins after she alleged she was raped by former colleague Bruce Lehrmann in Parliament House in 2019.
Mr Lehrmann has continually denied the allegations and is currently suing Channel 10 and Lisa Wilkinson for defamation after The Project broke the story.
Ms Higgins and her mother were both recently called to give evidence in the Federal Court, topping off a tumultuous few years for Ms Higgins and her loved ones.
Daily Mail Australia last month revealed the couple, who were renting a newly built duplex in Palm Beach on the Gold Coast, were preparing to uproot their lives for the sprawling countryside in Lunas, near Bordeaux in southern France.
Brittany Higgins is pictured with her fiancé David Sharaz at Sydney Airport on December 6
The couple are headed to the small town of Lunas, in the south of France (pictured)
The town of Lunas has a population of just 650
Brittany Higgins is pictured holidaying in Europe with her fiancé David Sharaz
On October 2, Mr Sharaz posted in a public Facebook group for English-speaking residents hoping to connect with Francophones in the Dordogne region.
'Hello, I'm looking for someone to do some gardening for us over the next couple of months. Perhaps once or twice a fortnight. We're in Lunas,' he wrote.
About a month later, on November 5, he asked members of the same group if anyone could help him fast-track his French language skills.
'Hello! I'm hoping to start to learn the language and while my plan of using French movies with subtitles might work over a decade, I'm looking to speed it up!' he wrote.
'Does anyone know any good French tutors?'
Lunas is relatively remote with a population of about 650 and is part of a collection of small villages known as 'pays des monts et des sources', which translates to 'land of mountains and springs'.
Stone-terraced homes are tucked in the hills on the edge of the River Gravezon and a four-bedder will set prospective homeowners back about €180,000, which is roughly AU$300,000.
In October and November, Mr Sharaz reached out to members of a public Facebook group for English-speaking people around the Dordogne region (pictured)
Ms Higgins (pictured mingling with guests on the red carpet) recently gave evidence in the Federal Court
Brittany Higgins leaves the Federal Court today after giving evidence
Mr Lehrmann has continually denied the allegations against him and is currently suing Channel 10 and Lisa Wilkinson (pictured with Ms Higgins) for defamation after The Project broke the story.
About a week after he requested the services of a gardener in Lunas, Mr Sharaz - who left his media job in Brisbane in February - posted photos on Instagram of various attractions he visited during a trip to Dubai.
In July, Ms Higgins used Instagram to share a series of photos of herself posing outside Palais des Nations, the United Nations' conference centre in Geneva, Switzerland.
'Honoured to intern at this year's @unitednations convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW),' she captioned the post.
The images showed Ms Higgins standing at the front gates of the international peace organisation's headquarters in Switzerland in a variety of outfits as she attended the three-week conference in May.
The couple also went to France at about that time, sharing archived highlights in September from the trip.
In mid-August, Mr Sharaz suggested he was employed in London.
Ms Higgin shared a series of snaps of herself outside the Geneva United Nations headquarters (pictured)
The Maldives escape was Brittany's Christmas present to her fiancé David Sharaz
'Work in London on weekdays,' he wrote on Instagram, next to a clapperboard emoji.
Next to a train emoji he wrote: 'Explore Paris on weekends.'
In October last year, Mr Lehrmann was tried in the ACT Supreme Court but the hearing was vacated when a member of the jury brought banned research material into the court.
Shane Drumgold, the former ACT Director of Public Prosecutions, then dropped the sexual assault charge on December 2 due to concerns over Ms Higgins' mental health.
The following day, and after a single day of mediation, she won her compensation claim against the Commonwealth, which included 40 years of lost wages, even though her allegations remain unproven.
Bruce Lehrmann is pictured leaving the Federal Court
Buying property in France, as an Australian
Buying a property in France means negotiating the intricacies of French property law, and pay a notaire, or notary, to oversee each step.
It is possible to get a mortgage as an Australian in France, but there are restrictions - one is that a mortgage debt should not take up more than one-third of your total income. The second is the mortgage taken out must be at least equivalent to 50,000 euros.
New homeowners are required to pay a 10 per cent deposit, along with various taxes.
Depending on the age of the property, different rates of stamp duty apply. For properties older than five years, the rate is around 5.8 per cent. For newer homes, the cost is 0.7 percent, plus VAT which is about 20 per cent of the property price.
New homeowners sign the compromis de vente - the purchase and sales contract - before obtaining the compulsory property report from the vendor.
Laws are complex and require the buyer to elect someone who will eventually inherit the home. That person is written into the contract.
Buyers must transfer the deposit, plus taxes, notaire fees and the first insurance premium before they can sign the settlement contract.
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