The Wandering Walters

 We spent a couple days house hunting this week--which in France means we were granted the sum total of 2 properties to tour.  Both were 2+ hours from our AirBnB, and on separate days. There are numerous holidays in France during the month of May, so the business climate is even more relaxed than normal, so we took what was offered, lined up a dog sitter for Murphy, and headed Northwest to see the towns of Moissac and Vic Fezensac. The later was lovely but paled in comparison to Moissac--which lies on the banks of the Tarn River. Its historic center oozes charm and its considerable amenities are all within walking distance. The town holds its place in history due to a large Abbey constructed in the 7th century--and its cloister is one of the best preserved in the world. The house we looked at was one block from the lively square at the entrance of the Abbey, with lots of cafes and shops lining the cobble stone streets. Unfortunately, despite its perfect location, and...

Wish I could say retirement got us out from behind the computer screen, but that's hardly been the case so far. We are still knee deep in the process of getting established in France. While I spend all day scouring dozens of websites looking for our new home, Bill is getting us set up with French phone numbers and bank accounts, car shopping and monitoring the exchange rate.  We went to Beziers last week and toured an amazing apartment on the Allees Paul Riquet that we just loved.  But, I think the cafe lifestyle may be out of reach on our newly retired income, so we have a few other properties we are hoping to tour soon.  Buyers don't have real estate agents here, and the homeowners are present when you tour their home, so we are at their mercy for scheduling.  We've also been slowly learning to navigate the grocery stores. Food I miss from the states (so far):  canned soup, diet Dr. Pepper and brown sugar for making cookies. Things I found in France that help ...

This morning we took a short drive to the tiny village of Camon. Roses are in bloom everywhere in this part of the country, and today Camon (population 150 residents and 400 rose bushes), held its annual Rose Festival. People were carrying out wagons full of rose plants to put in their gardens and lots of other flowers, too. The walls of the town houses had rose vines creeping up over their doors and the fragrance was intoxicating. Since we have no where to plant flowers (yet), we settled for a bunch of fresh asparagus and a pint of strawberries that were almost too beautiful to eat (almost). I have to say, Bill has taken to driving through these narrow and confusing roads like a champion-- a FRENCH champion (which is to say that they don't let the pedestrians hugging the curbside sidewalk slow them down, nor do the endless roundabouts and single-lane 2-way roads). But the real star today was the weather: 80 degrees, a slight breeze and not a cloud in the sky. Unfortunately, s...

Today we packed up the dog and a picnic of snacks, and headed to Carcassone. The medievil old town includes an impressive castle from the 12th century, which sits on a rocky hill overlooking the Aude River. There are actually 2 separate walls that create the castle enclosure, protecting the houses and streets inside it's massive footprint. The inner walls have 26 towers, the outer walls have 19, and the entire enclosure is surrounded by a moat. I'm guessing there weren't many surprise visitors on these doorsteps.      

After spending our first few days in France, stuck behind the laptop trying to get on top of the logistics of moving abroad, we decided enough was enough and decided to spend the day meandering around the rural highways where we're staying. We have an AirBnB rented in Verniolle, France for the first 2 months and then will move to a different place until we find a home of our own. Yesterday, we spent a little time in the nearby village of Mirepoix. If you like to cook, you're probably familiar with making a mirepoix of vegetables (a finely diced trio of carrots, onion and celery). Well, the term originated in this town--which was deceivingly sleepy the afternoon of our visit. Most shops close during the hours of 12:00-2:00 pm, to allow families time to enjoy lunch together. So, we'll go back again, but this time on a Monday morning, when they hold their large weekly market of locally grown food and more. I'm still trying to navigate grocery shopping in France. They do...

WE HAVE ARRIVED!! On Saturday, we drove 2.5 hours to the airport in Chicago, arrived 3 hours early (as required, due to having an animal to transport in the hold). It was not an easy task managing Murphy's kennel, especially since the airline required that we remove it's wheels. With Murphy somewhat frantic inside, the kennel rocked like a teeter totter on the luggage cart--not to mention how challenging it was to tranverse the EXTREMELY crowded airport with a wide load AND 4 pieces of luggage. When we finally boarded the plane, we could hear Murphy barking down in the hold. Thankfully, he settled into the 8-hour flight after awhile, and made it through the trip just fine. Before we left, we hired a private porter service to meet us at the gate in Paris, assist with clearing customs and with getting our bags, giant kennel and anxious dog to the rental car--they don't come cheap, but they were worth every single penny. Even with all their help, it took 2.5 hours before we w...

Murphy's health certificate finally showed up, and our flight is scheduled for tomorrow..... FINALLY. Best birthday present ever.

TRAVEL PLANS DELAYED: We've been temporarily grounded. In order for Murphy to fly to France, we are required to obain a pet passport from the USDA no more than 10 days before our arrival. So we carefully got his exam and vaccines completed, paid the fees, had the vet send the documentation electronically to the USDA with a prepaid overnight envelope (as required) and waited for the passport to arrive. Thanks to government turmoil, the passport has not yet been received -- and there is, of course, no way to contact the agency for a status update. So instead of starting our big adventure, we spent the day cancelling and rescheduling flights, car rentals, airport assistance, and hotels. FUN FACT: if we don't receive the passport in the next 3 days, we will have to begin the 10 day process all over again, including having to cancel/reschedule all the travel arrangements yet again.

It's been quite a journey just getting to this point: Research, research, research—our eyes blurry from reading articles, watching videos, and following blogs of those who made this journey before us. We sold our house and condo in Arizona, then sold or donated most of our possessions. The visa process required us to fly to Los Angeles for interviews. We shipped a few select belongings to France in a shared container and packed two suitcases that we'll live out of for potentially the next six months until we find permanent housing. We arranged temporary housing and rental vehicles while we house hunt and learn to navigate the local highways. Getting our 85-lb Labradoodle, Murphy, to France was another challenge (spoiler: his kennel is the size of a Volkswagen Bug)—which presented its own set of issues. But we're finally here: it's travel day! We're flying out of Chicago on Air France—a quick 8-hour flight, followed by a 7–8 hour drive to our Airbnb in Verniolle, Fra...