…and finding joy everywhere
Ralph and I are less than three months away from the big move to France! Finding somewhere to live was obviously a huge piece of the puzzle, but once we found the house, it was time to turn our attention to the next critical phase: visas. For long stays, France requires you to apply no […]
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Our visit is coming to an end, and as I sit at the Bordeaux airport (which, fun fact, is both tiny and surprisingly janky), I find myself reflecting on the last few days. We’ve crossed off some major milestones with this logistics-focused trip — opened a bank account, secured home insurance, and got to know […]
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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 […]
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I couldn’t sleep at all Wednesday night after seeing the house in Castillon-la-Bataille! I google mapped my way around the streets, taking stock of all the shops and restaurants. I learned about the town and got excited to see they’re involving the community to gather ideas for improvement (design thinking!). I found a swimming beach […]
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What a difference a day can make! Yesterday I was chatting with some girlfriends and the topic of toiletries arose. As in “lawd have mercy how did we end up with all these things?!” That must have stuck in my craw because I woke up at 0400 thinking about all our toiletries, bedding, and other […]
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You don’t have to “check the box.” If I’ve learned one thing during our time in Europe, it’s that you don’t have to hit all the tourist destinations to have a memorable time. In fact, Ralph and I have the best times when we just wing it! Take today, for example – our only “full” […]
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Ralph and I covered a lot of ground the last two days and we even found a contender! More to come on that (decisions, decisions) but here’s what we’ve been up to… Yesterday we left Pau and met up with two new friends, Mykle and Doug, to get a tour of Oloron-Sainte-Marie. They relocated to […]
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Some people leap into the unknown, while others take a methodical approach. I fall somewhere in between. When we first started considering the possibility of living in Europe permanently, my curiosity led to dozens of questions. They ranged from straightforward ones like “Which countries could I see myself living in?” to more complex considerations like […]
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We saw three homes on this trip to the Aisne region of France, and while there were things we loved about each one, none convinced us to make an offer. Or more specifically, none convinced ME to make an offer. One had the most beautiful exterior with an edgy blend of modern and traditional, but […]
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Today was one of those days where I really felt the absence of having a buyer’s agent assisting me with the home buying process. Every other time I’ve bought a house, I had an exact location picked out (thanks to the US Government and military orders!). I’d find the best realtor in the region and […]
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Delightfully Disoriented 
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