To answer your question, no we were not debt or mortgage free. I was 36 years old, my wife 32. We were about half way through the mortgage on our PPR. Instead of trading up to what we perceived to be a more desirable house here, we decided to have a holiday home that was easily accessible (< 5 hours drive from ferry ports and < 1.5 hours by plane), not too touristy or commercial (we are the only Irish people in our coastal town with about 3,000 inhabitants) and decent weather for 6 months of the year. Golf is not popular in the region we are in so I can't comment on that aspect.
Irish high street banks will not lend against any asset (including property) that is held in a different legal jurisdiction. The bank will want recourse against the security against which you are borrowing, so one would have to remortgage against an Irish based asset which is what we did. So in our case we just extended the term of our loan and kept the repayments pretty much the same.
The are a couple of things to watch for if purchasing property in mainland Europe that are different to purchasing in Ireland or the UK. Firstly, if purchasing through a real estate agent abroad, the purchaser pays the agent's fee. In Ireland the seller pays this seller's fee. In France certainly, this is an additional cost to watch out for... you need to ascertain if the window sticker prices states "FAI" which means the sticker price includes the agents fee. Additionally, there is a "stamp duty" equivalent due to the Notaire (conveyance solicitor equivalent) which is an additional cost not typically included in a real estate window sticker price (unless purchasing directly from a Notaire's office)... sorry if that's complicated to follow, but just ensure you are fully aware of all the costs involved. Many people prefer to purchase direct from the seller as it removes the agent's fee (roughly 6-9%).
To furnish the property, we just rented a van, drove to IKEA one Saturday morning and got busy assembling.
For us, it was a lifestyle purchase which I think has paid enormous dividend providing release from a demanding job. A pension is only of benefit if one survives to draw it. If you want any more detail please feel free to private message me as I am not sure this is the right thread for this particular topic.