Author: Bob

While living in North, Central and South America, in the middle of the Caribbean and the Pacific Ocean, and now in Europe, my passion has remained the same: travel and meeting new friends.
Life in France

Our first night at home

A view from our bedroom window
A view from our bedroom window

It’s been just over a year in the making but last night was our first night as French residents in our new home in Carcassonne. We’ve been here for a few days already, staying at the Hotel des Trois Couronnes looking out across the Aude river at that magnificent fortress. Now that same castle looks down on us since this house is literally 100 yards below those crenelated walls. I can’t wait to take Heather on her first walk along a road where Romans once tread two thousand years ago. Continue reading “Our first night at home”

Unknown's avatarBob4 Comments
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”

Unknown's avatarBob4 Comments
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”

Unknown's avatarBob7 Comments
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”

Unknown's avatarBob
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”

Unknown's avatarBob2 Comments