We have been on a wonderful adventure for five weeks now. It has turned out quite differently than we both thought. In fact, we are heading home in about three weeks. So instead of taking six months to be in France, it is going to be cut short. I can’t complain, because where I am from taking a holiday for two months is incredibly long for most people. It has moved so slowly at times we were wishing our time to end. It has been stressful in ways we hadn’t anticipated, and disappointing in other ways too. Our reality is that to stay in Europe for six months is very challenging. One has to obtain a visa to stay longer than ninety days. This is not an easy thing to obtain. We applied for a French visa way back in June. Haven’t heard a peep from them. After entering France we were told by locals that it is about impossible to get it.

The other reality is that the place we had rented is in need of repair and TLC not to mention internet! We simply could not stay there with those conditions mainly because my husband works remotely (as do I) and needs good internet. We made the decision back at the beginning of October to bugger off so to speak when our first month’s rent was up. Back home we had rented our A-frame cabin to someone who thought they would be there for six months. So we had to come to an agreement with them for our return.

Rural France is many things. It is beautiful and quiet and there is no stress of busy cities with loud noises and pollution. On the other hand after we left our rented cottage, we moved up to Toulouse for a week and we have been enjoying all it has to offer, restaurants, pubs, cafe’s, bakeries, and shops just around the corner. What a beautiful city it is! We have walked at least eight kilometers every day so far. Our exercise routine is back!

Tomorrow we leave. We have a rented car to pick up and off we drive up and over the Pyrenees into Spain. I am so excited! I have never been to Spain except on an overnight train from France to Portugal. We have some Basque friends in Pamplona who have graciously invited us to stay with them a few days.

y la aventura continúa!