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The Wandering Walters

Bill and I are embarking on a new adventure—we have retired and moved to France! I'll be journaling our experiences on these pages in order to keep in touch with the friends and family we love so much. We hope you will come visit us soon, so we can share this beautiful part of the world with you.

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- May 10, 2025

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

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DIY renovations in full swing

- September 13, 2025

The moving truck with our belongings finally showed up, and after living out of a suitcase for the last four months, sleeping in our own bed felt absolutely amazing. We've been working hard from sun up to sundown(ish) ever since--unpacking, painting, wallpapering etc. The plan is to complete enough projects from our DIY list to put our own stamp on the house and make it a comfortable home, and then take some time off to explore the area abit before hitting the phase 2 projects. So for those of you who've been asking for some before and after pictures, here you go: We tackled the library first. This room used to have white/gray laminate floors that Bill had initially planned to cover with new flooring....until we found out that we'd need a plumber to flush our entire heating system to raise the 2 radiators in the room, so Bill could lay the new flooring under them--at a cost of 400 to 1000 euro per radiator! Definitely not in our budget, so we applied a paint wash on...

The Holidays in France

- December 24, 2025

We had a lovely little Thanksgiving in France, despite my mushy stuffing. I met another American a couple weeks ago and he joined Bill and I for dinner. It took some effort to pull the meal together since its not a holiday that France celebrates. I had to roast the pumpkin in order to make the puree for the pumpkin pie (no canned pumpkin here) and we had to drive to Montauban to find a turkey breast. But it was worth the extra effort, as we have so much to be thankful for this year. And, it was especially nice to spend it with new friends. My sister came to visit in December, so we took the train to Bordeaux to check out their Christmas market, and then again to the Marche de Noel in Toulouse. Bordeaux is a very elegant city, with it's neoclassic architecture, wide boulevards and expansive views of the Garonne river. And its very easy to navigate, as you can grab a tram right outside the train station that takes you everywhere you need to go for less than 2 euro. Unfortunately...

The House is Officially Ours

- August 20, 2025

We moved into the new house on August 7th, immediately following the closing signatures on the deed. But, since the shipping container with our belongings may take several more weeks to arrive, we're basically camping here with a couple beds and a dining table that we purchased from the seller, and some kitchen essentials that our new neighbors kindly loaned to us. This arrangement has its challenges: we have no internet (other than from my unreliable hot spot), no comfortable place to sit, and we're in the thick of a record-breaking heatwave with temps over 100*, and our kitchen A/C isn't working and the repairman is on vacation this month. But, moving in now allows us to start ordering furniture and enjoy the swimming pool during this unusually hot summer. What we didn't anticipate, was being stuck in the house all day waiting for the deliveries stemming from those orders (here, you must be home to accept any deliveries) AND we're reluctant to start any major DIY ...