One of my favorite American television comedies was Golden Girls about 4 women who shared a house in Miami. Their adventures, and misadventures in the case of character Rose, played by Betty White, always brought a smile to my face. Today at a farewell lunch I was pleasantly reminded of that show.

When we first moved to Atlanta almost 19 years ago, we knew only one person here. To improve on that, it took some trial and error in searching for the right social organization but when we stumbled upon Atlanta Couples Together we hit the jackpot. That’s where we met Jane & Cathy and Kate & Paula with whom we quickly became friends and not long afterwards travel companions. First there was the Loire valley chateau where, like little kids, upon arrival we ran from room to room, cellar to attic, moat to rooftop, investigating this medieval fortress that was all our own for the week. Following upon the success of that first trip we rented an Irish tower castle where each couple had their own floor and then a return to France for another chateau with 10 bedrooms and bathrooms, 3 grand pianos, a swimming pool, and tennis courts.

Big city vacations were part of the plan as well when we found rare 3-bedroom apartments in both Paris and Munich. In the US we returned time and again to our favorite beach-side retreat in St. Simons, Georgia where memories of someone in the process of learning English wished us “Happy Valentine Days!” still make all of us laugh. I’m sure that Bill and I will be giving our new French neighbors similar chuckles as we navigate their language and customs.

Although Carcassonne is 4500 miles from Atlanta, we’ll still be seeing our travel buddies. There’s a lot of Europe to explore and we can walk to the train station where the next adventure begins. As the Golden Girls theme song says “Traveled down the road and back again, your heart is true, you’re a pal and a confidant. Thank you for being a friend.”