Month: February 2016

Life in France

The view

Carcassonne Cité
Carcassonne Cité

Since the lease on our house doesn’t start until March 1, we’re spending a few days in a hotel that is located right beside the Aude River. That alone would be a nice enough location but as you can see from the accompanying photo from our room’s balcony, we have a great view of Europe’s largest fortress, known officially as the Cité. If this had been taken with a telephoto lens you could probably see the roof of our new place just below the turrets on the right. Continue reading “The view”

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Life in France

Looks like we made it

Heather and Bill
Heather’s first night in France

We arrived this morning, right on time, at the Charles de Gaulle airport in Paris. At immigration we got the all-important date stamp in our passport to show when we arrived. We have to send a copy of that with our visa to the Office of Immigration and Integration in Montpelier to complete the paperwork needed to stay here for the next 12 months. Once we got to baggage claim we didn’t have to wait long for our 4 checked bags and to our delight, our fifth and most important checked item, Heather, was at the oversize baggage area in baggage claim. What a reunion that was! Continue reading “Looks like we made it”

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Before leaving the US

Thank you for being a friend

Thanks for the memories! (Photo by Jane)
Thanks for the memories!
(Photo by Jane)

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. Continue reading “Thank you for being a friend”

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Before leaving the US, Dealing with government

USDA Grade A certified

USDA shield
Grade A shield from the USDA website

This morning we had to have Heather at the vet for a 9:10 appointment. That was not a problem when we first made the appointment and lived 5 minutes from the office but since we’re in a hotel over an hour away we didn’t look forward to making the trek during rush hour traffic. As with all other aspects of this move, not to worry. Continue reading “USDA Grade A certified”

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Before leaving the US

Leave a light on; it’s closin’ time

Heather on pier
Heather on the pier

Our Florida vacation is over so it’s time to return to Atlanta for a last visit to Heather’s vet and then all 3 of us can be off to France. For a final look back we all took a walk out to the end of the pier that you see in the featured photo above. Thanks, Cheryl & Pete, for taking such good care of Heather while we were on the road. There’s a Key West tribute to each of you at the bottom of this post. Continue reading “Leave a light on; it’s closin’ time”

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Before leaving the US

Manatees and mermaids

Homosassa springs
Homosassa Springs State Park, Florida

While driving through the Everglades we saw numerous roadside warning signs about crossings of alligators, bears, cougars, panthers, and school children. One segment of the road even has a Roadside Animal Detection System that identifies wildlife approaching the highway and warns drivers with flashing lights of their presence. What we didn’t see, however, were signs for those iconic Florida mammals: manatees…or mermaids, come to think of it. Continue reading “Manatees and mermaids”

Unknown's avatarBob1 Comment