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Former Washington Democratic U.S. Rep. Jim McDermott spent decades working in public service, first in Olympia and then in Washington, D.C., fighting for causes and policies he believes in.

In recent years, he has been able to live the policies he fought for. He just had to move to Europe to do so.

In the last several weeks, and both published pieces where McDermott, now 87, detailed his departure from the state of Washington and his move to the tiny village of Civrac-en-M茅doc, France, about 45 miles north of Bordeaux. republished the Roll Call piece Sunday.

McDermott was quoted in the Post opinion piece as saying he felt at home from the first day he arrived in the French village.

“I relaxed for the first time in years. My shoulders weren鈥檛 all bunched up to my ears,” he said.

According to the Roll Call story, McDermott has free health care and he appreciates that the kids who live in his neighborhood don’t worry about gun violence. He also loves that women have access to reproductive care, specifically abortion.

“I spent 16 years in the Washington state legislature trying to get single-payer health care. Then I spent nearly 30 years in Congress trying to get single-payer. Then I came to France and in three months I had single-payer. Was that mind-blowing? You bet,” McDermott said to .

He made similar points to .

“It was like I walked through an invisible door. Now I saw and felt what it鈥檚 like to live in a community where everyone can go to the doctor. Where children aren鈥檛 massacred by gun violence. It changes everything,” McDermott said.

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McDermott’s political career, before he retired at the end of 2016, spanned over 40 years as he served 14 terms representing Washington’s 7th Congressional District, which includes most of Seattle, Vashon Island, Shoreline, Edmonds and Lake Forest Park. Before that, he was a Washington state senator for over a decade. McDermott, who also is an M.D., was a psychiatrist in and out of the U.S. Navy before getting into politics full time.

After his retirement, he decided to enroll in a two-week cooking class in southwest France. He liked the area so much he decided to buy a small stone cottage and move over 5,000 miles away across the Atlantic Ocean. He also owns a share of a small winery.

McDermott acknowledges the decision was unusual and was fraught with a lack of acceptance from the locals initially. Plus, his French still isn’t great. But he found ways to ingratiate himself in the small community and now feels accepted.

McDermott hasn’t given up on his country

McDermott still owns a home in Seattle’s Queen Anne neighborhood. He even has a view of Elliott Bay and the Cascades. He may have a new love in France, but he still comes back stateside for a couple of months per year to visit his children, grandchildren and friends, the Roll Call piece states.

he remains on top of the issues in U.S. politics thanks to daily conversations with friends and politicians. He also writes emails and sends money to campaigns with the goal of keeping Donald Trump out of office for a second term as president.

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McDermott also said he is a member of , he donates money to Democratic campaigns and he is eager to vote for President Joe Biden again in November.

“Just because I don鈥檛 live there doesn鈥檛 mean I鈥檝e given up on the United States,” .

Steve Coogan is the lead editor of MyNorthwest. You can read more of his stories here. Follow Steve on X, formerly known as Twitter, and email him here.