Reservations have been made

                                       

We just finalized our September vacation, we are going back to France for 3 weeks.  This is our 3rd year in a row going to this lovely country and we love everything about it.  The people, the food, the wine, the croissants, did I say the wine, the countryside, the love of cycling, the tour de france, the history, I could go on forever.  We have been taking French for 2 years now.  It's so hard to learn a language when your brain is so old.  After our first trip we decided that we wanted to move there.  We both love it and life is too short.  So that's the plan, that's our goal, to move to France.  We like to teach children art, paint and do pottery in our our old Mas (farmhouse).  Our first trip we went to Paris.  Our friend in the states let us stay in her apartment (it was her mothers), it was 2 blocks from the Eiffel Tower in the 7th.  A beautiful arrondisment.  We didn't speak the language back then but everyone was very friendly to us.  We both fell in love with Paris but I knew that I didn't want to live in a big city, I wanted to live in the country.

Last year we went to Provence and the Dordogne.  The first week we spent our time in a beautiful farmhouse in Lourmain (where Peter Mayle wrote "A year in Provence").  We stayed in Les Olivettes. A beautiful restored farmhouse.  We then drove West to 1 hour outside of Bordeaux in the Dordogne region.  We stayed in a 100 year Old Bread Oven.  We were in the countryside and this bread oven fed the workers 100 years ago.  The British couple who bought the farm house (Mas) restored the bread oven into a 1 bedroom "gite".  It was perfect.  We took our bikes and road all over.  What a great way to see a country.   We had 1 year of French under our belts, so we were a bit better at speaking.  Although, our first night in Lourmarin Bruce decided to tell the waiter that he'd like him to make the choice for dinner.  What?  Not me....I'm going for the Poulet (chicken).  So, the food came...mine looked like chicken but what was on Bruce's plate?  It looked like a bunch of mushrooms.  Very meaty.  He took a bite and looked at me with a "what was I thinking"...then we saw the cook look out of the kitchen...he wondered who ordered the "vue de rognes".  I tasted it....not good.  Very strange taste, yuck!  There were some people next to us that were speaking french, so Bruce asked them what he ordered.  Oh, "kidney of calf".  Huh?  Kidney of calf.  2 of them loved it and the other 2 didn't.  I didn't and Bruce didn't, but he didn't want to insult the chef, so he ate a little bit.  He NEVER asked the waiter to choose for him again.  Silly American.  We had a fantastic time.  Provence is beautiful, but very touristy.  The Dordogne is a gem.  Rolling hills, wild boars, beautiful villages.  We fell in love with this region.  But, two things were a problem, the first is the weather...it gets very cold in the winter and being from Southern California that just doesn't fly with me.  The second is the area.  It's so remote that we are not sure there would be a town near us that would have the kids who might want to come for art classes.

So, this year we decided to see the Southwest, down by the Spanish border.  We'll fly into Barcelona and drive up to the village of Maury, which is 1 hour from the village of Perpignan.  We'll stay in a beautiful village house called Maison Voltaire.  We'll stay there for 1 week.  Then we'll go North 1 hour to just outside of Toulouse and stay in a restored barn called Le Roucan.  We'll stay there for 1 week.  Then we'll head to Girona Spain and stay in a beautiful place called Raco de Madremanya. We are really looking forward to seeing this area of France.  The weather is nice all year round and Toulouse is a big enough city to have the clientele for us.  We are going to look at some homes while we are there.  We would like to move in 2 years.  The plan is to hire someone to take over our studio and possibly sell it if things go well, that is if we can make it work in France.  If we can, we'll sell the business and if we can't we'll come home and go from there.  Follow your dreams, take a risk...life is too short

Comments

[maureen]

your plan sounds like a good one, we live next-door to an art studio and there is another one on our block. Wednesdays kids dont have school and she schedules tons of classes for wednesday afternoons so that the kids can have something to do and get out of their parents' hair for a while. although i have never been to Toulouse it sounds like a great town from all that i've heard from others. however, starting a business in france is an extraordinary task with all of the paperwork and i assume that you already have access to a visa or have dual-citizenship in order to make the dream a reality. i'm glad you like my blog and it never hurts to talk to yourself - i read the earlier questions on your blog here - kevin costner's daughter was right in field of dreams...people will come. - maureen

[beki]

Oh wow! Your time spend in France sounds wonderful. Good for you for having a dream and making it happen! We should all be so lucky :)

[Melissa S.]

Simply beautiful! Have a wonderful time. Do you have room in your suitcase for me? :)

[swirldrops]

Wow... you guys are an inspiration. And if anyone can make it work, you two can!