The Wandering Walters

The weather is cooling down and the leaves are starting to turn colors. The Arizona desert was equally beautiful, but this is the first "sweater weather" autumn that I've experienced in the past 5 years, and I'm loving it. We recently started attending French language lessons in Penne-d'Agenais. There are 2 retired British couples in class with us, and we go out for coffee together after our Friday morning lessons. This week, Bill and I stuck around the town after class for a little sightseeing. Penne d'Agenais sits on the Garrone River and is on the list of The Most Beautiful Villages of France, and its easy to see why. It has a midevil section of town that is now home to various artists' shops (painters, sculpturers, glass blowers, etc) as well as cafes and restaurants. There is an abundance of geraniums, petunias and bougainvillea spilling from the planters and window boxes around the storefronts--which added sunshine to an otherwise overcast day. ...

After being housebound for weeks, working on the DIY project list, we decided to take in an Antique and Flea Market being held in the nearby community of Lectoure. I was all fired up to bring home some furnishings, vases and a huge gold framed mirror to hang over the fireplace in the salon. I, unfortunately, went home empty-handed. Very few of the booths, had prices marked on anything, and my inability to speak the language meant I was in no position to ask, let alone negotiate. And let's be honest, that whole bargaining process can be wildly intimidating--no matter the country. The few things I did see that had price tags, were way out of my budget. Because, here's the thing: it may be valued appropriately (how would I know), but its only worth (to me) what I'm willing to pay. So, since this market was all antiques and no fleas, I went home with all my euros. I think I'm more likely to find affordable options in the many thrift/secondhand stores that abound. Also,...

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...

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 ...

We've been waiting weeks for a hint of when the sale of the house will be finalized and we can schedule delivery of our shipping container (currently being stored in Belgium). The uncertainly has been marinating for awhile--add to that a dash of disappointment in our current AirBnB, and a heaping scoop of frustration from months of living out of a suitcase--and it was quickly becoming a recipe for diseaster. Lucky for us, we just received our closing date and its better than what we'd hoped: August 7th. We take possession of the new house in 2 weeks!! If our luck holds, the belongings we shipped from Arizona can get delivered shortly thereafter. No more uncomfortable furniture, no more cooking with limited utensils (goodbye dicing vegetables with a steak knife), no more drains that won't drain or toilets that won't flush. Cooking in this kitchen leaves a lot to be desired: Even though this rental property is located in a strikingly beautiful part of the country...

Boy, what a difference a day makes. Yesterday, we moved into another AirBnB (in Aiguës-vives) and it knocked the wind from our sails. The house had it's charm, but felt too isolated, too tired and worn, too dusty. The a/c didn't work, the propane tank for the gas stove was empty, and the windows were all shuttered making the house dark, musty and hot. How could we spend the next couple of months here?? Although I had numerous texts of reassurances from the host, I could still feel the shift... depression and dread starting to fill the space where excitement and enthusiasm used to reside. The host must have sensed the shift as well, because he texted that he and his wife were on the way to the house, driving from Narbonne (where they live), 30 miles away. They filled the propane tank, brought new towels for the kitchen, and batteries for the a/c remote. They were joyous, bubbly and gracious. They both spoke fairly good English (as well as Portuguese, French and Spanish). The...

Southern France has been experiencing record-breaking temperatures of late, more than 20 degrees higher than the average. Since our current Airbnb does not have A/C, we finally surrendered and found "a little vacation from our vacation rental" in Toulouse. We ran that little a/c unit from morning to night, and cocooned inside the little apartment for a couple days relief from the heat and humidity. We ventured out only to the front gate for Uber Eats deliveries. With the exception of taking Murphy to a groomer for a shave--this is no weather for his heavy coat. It figures that there was a market day happening just outside of the dog groomer's space. It couldn't have been easy maneuvering through the narrow, unknown streets full of pedestrians and bicyclists. I'm frankly amazed at how well Bill does driving in France, especially not knowing how to read many of the street signs. My hero.  Murphy is trying to stay cool - Speaking of driving...... we FINALLY picked-up...