Brittany Higgins and her fiancé David Sharaz have left Australia behind and are starting a new life in a small French village.
The couple said an emotional farewell to Ms Higgins' mother Kelly and father Matthew before boarding a flight at Brisbane International Airport at 11.35pm on Monday.
Both were dressed from head to toe in white – the same color adopted by the women's suffrage movement – as they boarded the flight to Singapore, where they would transfer to a plane bound for Paris.
Ms Higgins wore a flowing white dress, while Mr Sharaz wore a cream suit and white sneakers.
The former staffer received about $2.4 million in taxpayer money in 2022 based on claims that her political career was in ruins after she alleged she was raped by former colleague Bruce Lehrmann at Parliament House in 2019.
Mr Lehrmann has consistently 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 testify in the Federal Court, capping a tumultuous few years for Ms Higgins and her loved ones.
Ny Breaking Australia revealed last month that the couple, who were renting a newly built duplex in Palm Beach on the Gold Coast, were preparing to uproot their lives for the vast 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 on their way to the small town of Lunas, in the south of France (photo)
The town of Lunas has only 650 inhabitants
Brittany Higgins has been pictured on holiday in Europe with her fiancé David Sharaz
On Oct. 2, Mr. Sharaz posted to a public Facebook group for English-speaking residents hoping to connect with French speakers in the Dordogne region.
'Hi, I'm looking for someone who can garden for us in the coming months. Maybe once or twice every two weeks. We are in Lunas,” he wrote.
About a month later, on November 5, he asked members of the same group if anyone could help him accelerate his French language skills.
'Hello! I hope to learn the language and although my plan to use French films with subtitles could work in ten years, I want to speed it up!' He wrote.
'Does anyone know any good French teachers?'
Relatively remote with a population of around 650, Lunas is part of a collection of small villages known as 'pays des monts et des source', which translates to 'land of mountains and springs'.
Stone terraced houses are tucked into the hills on the edge of the Gravezon River and a four-bedroom property will set potential homeowners back around €180,000, which equates to around AU$300,000.
In October and November, Mr Sharaz contacted members of a public Facebook group for English-speaking people in the Dordogne region (pictured)
Ms. Higgins (pictured among guests on the red carpet) recently gave testimony in federal court
Brittany Higgins leaves the Federal Court today after giving evidence
Mr Lehrmann has consistently 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 requesting the help of a gardener in Lunas, Mr Sharaz – who left his media job in Brisbane in February – posted photos on Instagram of several attractions he visited during a trip to Dubai.
In July, Ms. Higgins used Instagram to share a series of photos of herself posing outside the Palais des Nations, the United Nations conference center in Geneva, Switzerland.
“Honored to intern at this year's @unitednations Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW),” she captioned the post.
The footage showed Ms Higgins in various outfits standing at the gate of the international peace organization's headquarters in Switzerland as she attended the three-week conference in May.
The couple also went to France around that time and shared archived highlights of the trip in September.
In mid-August, Mr Sharaz suggested he work in London.
Ms Higgin shared a series of photos of herself outside the United Nations headquarters in Geneva (pictured)
The escape to the Maldives was Brittany's Christmas gift to her fiancé David Sharaz
“Working in London during the week,” he wrote on Instagram, alongside a clapperboard emoji.
Alongside a train emoji, he wrote: 'Explore Paris on the weekend.'
In October last year, Mr Lehrmann was tried in the ACT Supreme Court, but the hearing was halted when a juror brought banned research material into court.
Former ACT Director of Public Prosecutions Shane Drumgold dropped the sexual assault charge on December 2 over concerns about Ms Higgins' mental health.
The next day, and after a single day of mediation, she won her claim for damages against the Commonwealth, including 40 years of lost wages, even though her allegations remain unproven.
Bruce Lehrmann is pictured leaving Federal Court