Some key purchases

I live in Southern California. Warm weather, the beach, blue skies, very little rain (maybe 5 days a year), never snow....if it gets down to 50 it's considered freezing!

So, I live in these...(have them on right now). These are my born sandals...I love them and wear them every day (I'm kinda a creature of habit). I even bought a 2nd pair because my first pair I have had for almost 2 years, but this is when they are great. They are broken in, a beautiful dark brown leather and so comfy. My new pair is OK...why is that....why is it when you have something you love and you buy another just like it, it's just not the same as the broken in one. I'm going to take both pairs to france, but I'm sure I'll wear my old ones until they fall apart.

Now, we are moving to France in September. Our region the Aveyron isn't Southern California, it has seasons. Seasons! What are seasons? I haven't lived anywhere with seasons in 20 years. Will I survive? Not in these sandals I won't. So, one of the most important things I am purchasing for our stay in France are clothes and shoes for the cold/wet months. I get cold, really cold, really easily - my blood is very thin. So, I was looking at what clothes I have for the winter....well, I don't have any. I don't ski or snowboard or go anywhere that is cold. Bruce and I used to rock climb and I mean seriously rock climb, we travelled all over US, Mexico and Europe climbing, back then I had warm clothes , but we stopped climbing 5 years ago when I injured my arm and those clothes are long gone (some lucky ebayer bought them). So, I picked up a few items that I know will make me a happy girl in the winter.

The first is my new North Face jacket. It's warm, wind & rain proof...I'm sure this will keep me toasty.

The 2nd item are my Sorrel's.....the house we are renting is in the country (not in a village) and it's on 5 acres and we'll be hiking and roaming around with the dogs and I needed something to keep my feet warm and dry and I had a pair of these back when I was a teenager and loved them. These are a good purchase for my tender feet that get cold even here in LA.

The 3rd is another pair of UGGs.. I have a pair here, but they are on their last leg. In the winter I need something to put my feet into on chilly mornings, chilly afternoons and chilly evenings. I need to keep my feet warm (there is nothing better than these), because once my feet get cold I can't warm them up unless I put them under hot water, seriously. I can also wear these to the villages, out and about, etc...great purchase.

The 4th item(s) are layers. We will be hiking and biking and I need layers that I can take off if I get over-heated or put on if I get a chill. SmartWool products are awesome and so I got a couple of these long sleeve layering t's, they are wool but not itchy and so nice and soft.

The 5th item is a new mountain bike. My bike that I have and will take to france is a LeMond road bike. Cycling is our passion, we have taken our bikes to France 2 times. I was worried about the cold months where we couldn't ride our road bikes...I am an athlete, we ride about around 100 miles a week here, if I can't ride in France I'm going to be bummed and that's not a good thing. Where we are going is chock full of mountain bike trails and in the winter when it might be raining, or slippery and we don't want to take out our road bikes, we can certainly bundle up and go for a long mountain bike ride. So, both of us bought new mountain bikes, we will be taking 4 bikes with us to france. I can also ride the mountain bike to the village and not worry about it, it's much much cheaper than my road bike.

The nice thing about taking the QMII is that you can bring as much luggage/things as you want on the ship. If we were to fly we'd pay 200.00 per bike, 150.00 per dog - that's over $1,000. Then I'm sure our luggage will be over the weight limit and we'd have to pay extra for that. The boat doesn't charge you anything extra, we just need to make sure we all fit in the rental car...it might be a bit tight, but we'll make it. We are not taking many clothes, probably just 1 piece of luggage each. If we find we need something, we'll buy it over there.
I'm cleaning out my closest and drawers and getting rid of so much stuff, I even found something with the tags still on it - pathetic!

I think these things will help me make it through the cold winter months in france. Keep your fingers-crossed!

Comments

[b]

I love each and every one of these items! You have excellent taste and I feel confident that with these purchases, you will be both warm and stylish. Truly, I'm a creature of habit as well and live in Uggs during the winter and just a handful of basic clothes. But basic stuff doesn't have to be frumpy. I've not heard of Smartwool but really like the look of their products on their website. I might have to try some of their stuff.

I didn't realize that the QMII allows you to bring as much as you want on the ship. Really?! That is fantastic!!

And just from this post, your new lifestyle in France sounds like it will be marvelous!! ;-)

[Betty C.]

These all look like good purchases, especially if you want to do outdoorsy stuff. I think the Najac area is warmer than Rodez, though. We still haven't had much warm weather, although often it starts in April. Not this year!

[Alisa Rosseter]

B - yes...you can take as much stuff as you want on the QMII without any penalty, that's a big plus for us. Not that we are taking tons of stuff, but 4 bikes gets a bit pricey.

Betty - on my yahoo page I have the weather and I have rodez, toulouse and albi...it always seems that rodez is 10 degrees colder than toulouse and albi. Najac is north of albi but a west of rodez (and a bit south)...the winter month looked a bit chilly in all those places, chilly for me that is.

[Leesa]

LOVE LOVE LOVE all of your items!! I LIVE in Uggs (fake ones and real ones) during the cold season here... I miss my sandals but now- end of May... it's actually warm enough to bare your toes to the open air... I just got back from San Diego (I was there for a month) and even 62F there felt soooo much warmer than 62 here in France.. Weird how that was! Anyhow.. being from So. Cal, too.. I always joked and said my blood freezes at 50F!! That's considered FREEZING in San Diego!! But, now that I've been here for almost 2 years..... I can actually bear the 40s-50s.. I've come a long way, though!!! Seasons were something totally new and foreign to me, too!! Get a really COOL umbrella- something you will NEVER leave home without here in France (esp. in mars)... Borders bookstore has some really cute ones right now... Umbrellas are soooo expensive here and they are mostly one solid color... I bought a purple one at Monoprix for 14 euros and that was the cheapest I found!!! Take care, Leesa

[Becky]

I recommend silk long underwear too. I wore them all the time when we first moved to Norway. IN THE SUMMER!

Sorry I've been MIA ... been thinking about you ... just need to get better and stopping by.

[Alisa]

Becky - ah, didn't think of silk underwear...that's a must! Hope things are good with you and the family..thanks for stopping by.