A couple of months have passed, and now we are back in Castillon to see La Maison de L’Amiral！

It was a long day flying from Stuttgart to Barcelona to Bordeaux, but we made the most of it with Spanish tapas for lunch in the airport. We decided not to rent a car to force ourselves to familiarize ourselves with the public transit. This involved taking the tram from the airport to the Bordeaux Saint-Jean train station, then taking the SCNF regional train to Castillon. Good thing we packed light because we had to bolt up several flights of stairs to catch the regional train…but we made it. Whew! 

Now we have a list of apps to download to make future trips easier: 

• TBM – Transports Bordeaux Métropole (for the Bordeaux metro/tram system)
• Trainline – a portal to purchase train and bus tickets across Europe
• SNCF Connect – Société Nationale des Chemins de Fer Français (for French train tickets)

Our reward was to get acquainted with Georgia, the seller of the house. She’d invited us out so that we could learn more about the quirks of the property. It was also an opportunity to see if there was any furniture of hers we wanted to buy…um, yes, please! 

Georgia invited us into the garden to celebrate with Champagne. And it was heavenly! So much has changed since we first came out this way. It was February then – cold and gray. Still beautiful, but nothing like now. Everything is vibrant and the flowers are in bloom. The backyard spring bubbled and the air was perfumed by a literal wall of jasmine. We also learned that we have two magnolia trees, a pear tree, a Pink Lady apple, and a Golden Delicious. And this is just the initial bit of info we’ve gleaned!

One of my favorite moments was when Georgia shared a funny recollection about us from her Italian handyman. Umberto could tell I was in love with the house – no surprise. And while he described Ralph as a man of few words who spoke in grunts while looking at his phone a lot, he accurately surmised that I was the boss of the duo!

Our late arrival didn’t leave nearly enough time to talk about all the things, so the next day, Georgia promised to drive us into Bordeaux.  

On the way into the city, we got the scoop from Georgia on her favorite grocery stores, people to know, and things to do. Like setting up a bank account, which is harder than it sounds. Say some prayers for us, because we are going to give it a real try tomorrow – showing up in force at the branch with someone who speaks French and can push back like a pro!

After our errands were done for the day, Ralph and I found this hole in the wall called Le Petit Atelier des Faures for lunch, which was outstanding. We sat in the window and watched the world go by as our lovely server brought out dish after tasty dish. My entrée was a salad of shredded zucchini with Hollandaise sauce, followed by plat of pork belly, and then quite honestly the best dessert ever – a chocolate mousse with fresh whipped cream and the salty/sweet combo of bit of shortbread – all for €22! This is going on my list of places to send people…

Then it was time to head back to Castillon.

You know, I had my concerns about moving to a small town in France. Maybe it would be hard to make friends. Or maybe people would be frustrated by my rudimentary French. So far, everyone has been remarkably friendly. People smile (this is a big difference from Germany, haha) and correct our French kindly – and with patience. Plus they greet each other (and us!) with a genuine interest. I think it helps to have some other languages under our belts though, because the town is a melting pot of visitors, transplants, and native French. Between the two of us, we spoke French, English, Spanish, Italian, Portuguese, German, and Mandarin today! I think it’s going to be alright…