Settling in to France

Bonjour!

My traveling in Morocco has ended, my husband and three kids have arrived and we are settled into our new home in a small little town in the countryside in France for the next couple months.

I’ve lived, studied, taught, and led tours & retreats in France many times over the past nearly 30 years, but this is the first time I’ve lived here with my own family. Many moons ago when my husband and I were first dating, he came to France while I was teaching here for a brief visit. But despite having worked for a French travel company for over a decade and having SO MUCH French decor, food, and influences all over our home this is the first time my children have experienced France for themselves.

We have made a routine of walking to the bakery (boulangerie) in the morning for bread and pastries. We’ve gone to our first Thursday market to purchase fresh vegetables, meats, seafood, and cheeses all from local farms. We’ve uncovered our new friend’s secret garden (Even though it’s winter, it’s still a joyful place!). The kids are getting a handle on living somewhere that doesn’t use English as their primary language and are learning to solve problems by using situational awareness and a whole lot of pointing at things and saying “merci” and “s’il vous plait”. Everyone is loving that even though it’s a little cool, wet and a bit dreary here for the winter, it’s still much better than piles of snow and below zero temperatures (we’ll be back to that soon enough).

There’s no tv in our new home so we spend a LOT of time painting when we aren’t working and studying. So much so that there will have to be more trips to art supply stores! Bummer ;).

We have adventures planned for the weekends to show our kids other parts of Europe and visit friends while we can. I’m sure we will be putting a lot of miles on our Peugeot while we are here.

Even though we are all still working while abroad, I still have a Master’s Degree to work on, my kids still have school work, and my husband is still managing a double bathroom remodel from over the ocean we are finding more ease in each day and feeling so grateful for it.

I am also LOVING seeing so much more sustainability messaging here in Europe that we just don’t see enough of in the States and it’s rejuvenating my sustainability mission! But more on that another time.

Until then, A BIENTOT!