Last US Stop, New York City

Well, after 5 weeks on the road, & 6,700 miles by car, we arrived in NY. First stop was to the port in Newark, NJ to drop off our car to be shipped to France. All went smoothly. Chris's brother Jim picked us up & what do you know? He had a new GPS in his truck, & must have entered the NY hotel address incorrectly, so we had a long unexpected tour of downtown Brooklyn (instead of Manhattan) at rush hour. It took quite a while to get back on track & reach our destination, especially because he insisted on continuing to follow the GPS directions to the incorrect address, & we were being pointed in the wrong direction.

The hotel we had booked was not really a hotel, but a "seafarer's mission". We didn't expect deluxe accommodations, but based on the reviews we read, thought it would be bigger & better than the reality. Be that as it may, we were in NYC for a week before flying to France, so all was good with the world.

Here are some highlights from our week:

Celebrity sightings: close to Central Park & the famous Dakota apartment building, who should walk past us, but Yoko Ono. She is a fixture in the neighborhood, so she was able to blend in to the crowd. A couple of days later, in Greenwhich Village, we stood on the corner waiting for the light to turn green, & realized that the actress Laura Linney was standing next to us, having a conversation about stage lighting for an upcoming performance. For a change of pace, we got tickets to a taping of the Martha Stewart show. Though not the most interesting of her shows in terms on content, it is amazing to see what a well-oiled operation she has. Her staff operates with almost unreal efficiency, which is what one would expect from Martha. She looked real good for someone her age who has been through what she faced over the past several years.

Sightseeing: even though we were both born & raised in NY, it's fun to see NY through the eyes of a tourist/visitor, because, in some ways, having moved away so many years ago, that's what we are. The biggest difference between the NY we left 30 years ago & the city now is the apparent lack of danger, crime & rudeness. We have never seen people so polite, helpful & friendly. Places where you would never have gone (Bryant Park, Harlem, etc.) without a gun or police escort are now safe & lovely. Times Square, which used to be wall-to-wall porno movies/shows with runaway girls from the midwest turned into hookers, is now an uber-gentrified family-oriented tourist mecca. Is this a parallel universe? For us, seeing the change is wonderful. New Yorkers seem to take it for granted, as the change has been so gradual that it's hardly noticed.

A couple of the best days involved ferries across the East River. The first day, we took the 5-minute ferry from lower Manhattan to Brooklyn. After walking around there for a while, we walked over the Brooklyn Bridge back to Manhattan. About halfway across the span we saw a vendor selling peeled mangoes on a stick, & we couldn't resist. What a yummy treat! The bridge was crowded with tourists (including a large group of German cyclists) & locals alike, and everyone was enjoying the beautiful, clear fall weather.

We enjoyed the ferry ride so much that a couple of days later we took it again, but went the entire length of the route, bouncing between Manhattan & Brooklyn. Seeing NY from this vantage point is breathtaking. Met a young Belgian couple who love NY so much that this was their 9th trip there. 

                                                 

911 Memorial: We pre-ordered free tickets to the recently opened 911 Memorial. As you can imagine, there is quite a bit of security to go through, but the site itself is moving. It's still so disorienting for us. Even though we used to work across the street from the Trade Center (that's where we met), the familiar landmarks were gone, & many new buildings had been built since then.

 

Metropolitan Museum of Art & the Cloisters: For us, no trip to NY would be complete without a visit to the Met, one of the great museums of the world. We also went all the way uptown to the Cloisters to see the wonderful medieval collections. One thing that we found interesting is that on the way to the Cloisters we took the bus; certainly not the quickest way, but you really do see so much more above-ground than on the subway. Harlem really has been gentrified.

Stopped by Grand Central Station for a drink (it was cocktail hour, after all) & noticed that one entire end of the station was draped in black. It took us a moment to realize that under that black drape is the world's largest Apple Store, & Steve Jobs had died a few days before, so this was their tribute to Steve. Very simple but effective.

In between all of this we spent time with friends & family.

Our last day was a bit more eventful & stressful than we would have liked....Packing all of the things we had thrown into our car at the last minute as we left the Bay Area 6 weeks before, we now had to somehow squeeze them into our baggage allowance for the flight to Paris. In the end, we shipped a carton & threw out some things, including a perfectly good suitcase & a few bottles of good wine. We had pre-ordered a limo to take us to the airport, knowing that gettng a taxi during rush hour in NY is nigh-on impossible. The limo service called us earlier that day, saying that there might be a slight delay picking us up, but they would do their best. Well, it was raining heavily, & after a number of frantic calls to the limo company, they found a driver for us, but fitting all our stuff into a Camry was "interesting." Even after leaving gthe hotel 30 minutes later than planned, we made it to JFK in time, but had to pay an excess baggage fee of $85 because one box was overweight.

We had been warned that service on IcelandAir left something to be desired, but that didn't turn out to be true for us. In fact, even though we had to go through security again during our stopover in Iceland, upon arrival at DeGaulle, we never had to go through customs, immigration or security. This turned out to be a good thing, because in his carry-on, Chris had thousands of dollars of inventory (antiques, antiquities, etc.) which might have caused the French douane to raise a Gallic eyebrow or two.

What North America Almost Was

Anybody who is reading this would probably agree that Philadelphia (our previous stop) is a long way from Montreal. It didn't seem so long when we were in California planning the trip, but in reality, we had to drive through Pennsylvania, Delaware, New Jersey, & the entire length of New York State to reach the Canadian border, & then drive some more. After a looooooong day of driving we arrived in Montreal around 8:30 in the evening, and felt, as always, immediately at home.

The hotel we stay in when we can get a reservation is the Auberge Les Passants du Sans Soucy. It is not the least expensive place in Montreal, but it's definitely a favorite of ours. Wonderful location in the old city, in a building dating from 1712. The rooms are tastefully decorated & the staff most welcoming & accommodating. The breakfasts are absolutely delicious & filling.

Speaking of filling food, we ate lunch at Schwartz's Chacuterie Hebraic. They are famous for their smoked meat, a variation of pastrami, but with a different taste & texture. Absolutely yummy, & definitely not suited to someone who is trying to limit calories, fat or salt, but hey, you only live once! The place was jammed so we shared a table with an Indianfamily (the daughter is apparently a college student there). Her younger teenage brother could stand to lose some weight & get some exercise, yet he ordered the smoked meat platter, which is 24 ounces of meat....& he managed to eat the whole thing. We stared in amazement, as we shared 1 sandwich & were quite full.

The weather was damp & chilly & we both came down with colds, but we still very much enjoyed our time in Montreal. Even so, it was sad to leave this great city, which is a mixture of old & new, French & English. This is what the US might have become if the British had not taken Canada from the French.

From there we drove northeast, & the closer we got to Quebec City, the more French it got. It's quite common to meet people who speak no English in this part of Canada. Upon arrival at the Hotel Sainte Anne, we were warmly greeted. The room decor was a bit strange, but the welcoming & helpful staff as well as the location more than made up for that.

The weather was still rainy, but because of that we were treated to a rare sight: a triple rainbow over the St. Lawrence River. Sadly, we didn't manage to capture the entire thing on our camera, but here's what we did capture:

We spent our time there walking around, revisiting some of our favorite places & discovering new ones, eating great food incuding moules/frites (mussels & fries). We realized that this was likely our final time in Quebec, so we wistfully said goodbye.

The Hotel Frontenac:           



Halloween was fast approaching.....

Louis XIV looking rather regal (or pompous, depending on your intrepretation):

View of the lower town & St. Lawrence from the funicular:

Independence Hall & Everything Else

Our time in Philly was a combination of pleasant surprise & disappointment. On the plus side, our hotel (Alexander Inn) was great....a beautiful lobby, welcoming staff, very good breakfast, comfortable room, etc.The neighborhood (Washington Square) was mostly gay & has interesting shops, restaurants, etc. It's not far from South Philly, which we drove through & saw the most interesting mural painted on the side of a building. On it were pictures of some of South Philly's most famous sons, many of whom were named Bobby (Rydell, Vinton, Darin, etc.) Oh, yeah, let's not forget Fabian Forte, who is probably really named Bobby.

We stopped for a cheesesteak at Cosmi's, which gets rave reviews on Yelp.  Chris loved his, I hated mine -- it is not "girl food".

Now for the not-so-good part of Philly. Some of the most important sites in US history are located in one small area, including Independence Hall, the site of the signing of both the Declaration of Independence & the Constitution. We know this. The guide seemed a little unsure of his facts & tended to think of them, although separated by 15 years, as kind of the same thing. The visitor center complex, including a large very modern building housing the Liberty Bell, completely dwarfs the 18th century site, & the modern style is so jarring. Mixing the 18th & 21st centuries doesn't work. On the plus side, some of the other things such as Ben Franklin's printing shop & the 18th century streets are well worth visiting.

 



 



A Pleasant Surprise

When we planned our cross-country trip we expected to see some wonderful things in the Southeastern states, but we didn't expect the area to be as great as it is.

After leaving New Orleans we made an overnight stop outside Tallahassee, and then headed for Savannah, which is laid out in a series of 24 small parks, each with its own design & feel.  The squares seeem to be THE place to get married. One late afternoon/early evening we saw 3 weddings in the squares.There are some beautiful old homes, and walking along the Savannah River is restful. We didn't see many tourists, so we were able to experience the "real" Savannah. Savannahians are friendly and justifiably proud of their city.

From there, we went to Charleston, driving along smaller roads rather than interstates. It was probably a bit slower, but it was nice to see something other than tree-lined interstate roads, which all look alike after a while. This is truly the deep south. One interesting thing we saw along the way: we stopped at a general store to pick up a bottle of water & noticed a gas pump in the front of the store that had obviously been hit by a car. We have no idea how long it had been that way, why it hadn't exploded, or if/when it would be fixed. The town is called Ashepoo, & the owner of the store had an accent so thick we could barely understand him.

Our hotel was in a great location, but we definitely would NOT stay there again. The room needs a lot of work before it can be recommended.

Charleston has more of a "big city" feel than Savannah, and has many more tourists.  Charlestonians are also justifiably proud of their beautiful city. The historic area is well-preserved and quite a few grand old homes can be toured. The Charlestonians are sophisticated, and there are many shops & restaurants that look appealing. We took a couple of house tours, one that has been restored, & one that has been left "as is" so we were able to get an idea of the amount of work it takes to bring these beauties back to the way they appeared in their heydays.

Charleston's Riverwalk Park is a charming refuge from the city's crowded tourist areas.  

Everywhere you turn there is another grand old house or church, many with decorative ironwork...

 

Next stop was Monticello, Thomas Jefferson's home in Virginia. First revelation to us is how beautiful northern Virginia is. Our hotel was virtually part of the University of Virginia campus, which is the most beautiful college we've ever seen. There are a number of buildings still in use that were designed by Jefferson.

Monticello itself is well worth a visit. The guides are knowledgeable, the house & grounds so well designed by Jefferson. We learned much about him, architecture, and gardening. One tidbit we learned is that the reason older houses had no closets is that they hadn't yet invented the hanger. Actually, we're surprised Jefferson didn't invent it. 

 

With all the things Jefferson accomplished in his lifetime, he wanted a simple inscription on his grave:



We were now deeply into the trail of American history....next stop Williamsburg. They have done a wonderful job of restoring & recreating the 18th century city of Williamsburg, what was then the capitol of Virginia. The staff all dress in the clothing of the time, & we were able to see demonstrations of things such as printing, yarn spinning, carpentry, etc., done as they were around the time of the American Revolution. It could have turned out to be extremely corny, but it was well done.

Our hotel in Williamsburg was, ahem, interesting. At check-in, the clerk mistakenly only charged for 1 night, instead of 2. At checkout, the rather short Indian woman (owner?) actually jumped up & down in frustration/anger because of the error. I wish we had the video running....

Time to move back into the 21st century...We're in Washington DC now. Visited the National Archives where we saw the original documents of the Constitution, the Bill of Rights, & the Declaration of Independence. Wow!

Spent the rest of the day at the National Gallery of Art, which has an amazing collection....hard to absorb it all. They have a Da Vinci painting, the only one in the western hemisphere. The rest of the collection is like a "who's who" of art.

The next day we decided to spend most of our time just walking around the Mall. Despite the hot & humid weather, it was quite impressive. We saw the WWII monument & an old man in a wheelchair told his attendant that at Iwo Jima he thought he killed 3 Japanese, & it "still bothers me."

Walking back from the Mall, passed Fritz Mondale out for his daily jog. Old & slow, but still going.

We walked back to the hotel separately (Holly had to present a webinar), but each of us had a similar -- & not so great -- experience. The quickest & cheapest lunch idea seemed to be grabbing a hot dog from 1 of the many Asian hot dog vendors that line up near the Mall, hoping to attract the business from tourists. Holly's experience:  I asked for a hot dog & bottle of water, & the vendor grunted & pointed to the coolers & I assumed he was telling me to grab my own bottle (it was a case of trial & error to figure out which cooler held the waters). He held up a giant hot dog, & I said that I wanted the regular one, with sauerkraut. He then fixed up the dog & kraut & told me it was $9. Well, the price list said the regular hot dog (not the jumbo) was $2.25, so I questioned how it could add up to that much. He then showed me the miniature, nasty-looking hot dog & told me that was the "regular" one. I told him to forget it & walked away.

Chris's experience: another Asian vendor (a woman this time)....I ordered a hot dog with sauerkraut & a soda. She hands me the hot dog & says "ten dolla". I asked the price of the hot dog & she said "7 dolla" (spelling error intentional) & I asked how much the soda was. She said "3 dolla". I looked at the hot dog & noticed that the sauerkraut was 1 poor, wimpy strand of marinated cabbage. I gave the soda & hot dog back & told her "you eat it yourself". Although still hungry, I felt much better.

The real problem here is that people from all over the world come to Washington DC & they shouldn't be subject to blatant theft. It's just bad for everyone's image.

There is a great vibe to DC. Lots going on & a good energy. Not quite sure why all the stations of the Metro are so dimly lit....energy conservation?

One thing we've noticed as we drive the many miles across the US...there really are many tax/stimulation dollars being spent on improving the infrastructure. We've run into road work/upgrades in every state we've passed through. Though they do slow us down, it's great to see the sorely-needed improvements being done by people who would otherwise be out of work. This is real, but in order to see the reality on a broad scale, you need to drive 4,000 miles as we have done (so far).

Where has all the good food gone?

We're in New Orleans now, our first time since 1993, when were newly engaged.

On the way from Shreveport, we saw a LOT of roadkill along the way, including 2 armadillos. Obviously, the armadillo's armor can't protect them against an automobile.

The weather has been very hot & steamy, which is not the weather we're used to, having lived in the Bay Area for so many years. In many ways it adds to the feeling of the Big Easy, but it is very draining & uncomfortable for us.

It's good to see so many tourists here again after Katrina & the oil spill. Let's hope they continue to come. The French Quarter is fairly crowded, especially around Jackson Square. The St. Louis Cathedral is beautiful, & the parishioners have been praying for the 97-year-old former Archbishop, who passed away today.

 

We're staying in a great B&B (The Burgundy Inn) in a neighborhood called the Marigny. The Marigny has been gentrified fairly recently, & has a feel all its own. The houses are beautifully restored & the people in the Marigny are amazingly friendlly. Everyone says hello when you walk by.

There is one fairly big disappointment here, though....Where has all the good food gone? New Orleans has always been a city of wonderful food, but we have had a hard time finding it. It seems that every menu has mostly fried food...very little blackened fish or simple buckets of boiled seafood, or raw oysters. When you do see them, the prices are sky-high. Could the lack of good seafood be a result of Hurricane Katrina & the oil spill? We will go in search of a good dinner for our last night here.

Frito Pies, etc.

Spent 3 days in Santa Fe which is a beautiful city. The downtown area is done completely in the colonial adobe style. There are lots of high-end shops, but with the economy the way it is, we didn't see too many people buying things. There is a strong native American presence, & they sell their silver/turquoise jewelry, which is very well designed & made. The only thing we didn't like about Santa Fe is New Mexico cuisine. It's very heavy & not very good. Maybe if we weren't suffering from the altitude (It takes a while to adjust to 7,000 feet), we would have enjoyed the food more.

We saw the oldest church in the US, as well as a beautiful cathedral/basilica and a chapel with a "miraculous staircase (above). There is a very interesting story of how it was built; modern-day engineers & architects cannot figure out how it was made. Here is a photo of the altar in the San Miguel Mission, the oldest church in the US:

As we've been traveling we have noticed that small towns in the US & small towns in France have absolutely nothing in common except that they are small. Here are some things we have seen....

Frito Pies. Well, this "gourmet" treat is a small bag of Fritos, cut open & topped with chili, cheese product (we're sure it's not real cheese) & maybe onions, hot sauce, etc. You actually eat it out of the bag. We didn't have the guts (or desire) to try this New Mexico specialty.

Texans are fiercely proud of being Texans, though having driven across 600 or so miles of it, the reason is a mystery. We saw countless small towns that appeared dead. There are empty, derelict buildings and hardly any people in sight. One interesting thing was the breakfast waffles in the shape of the state of Texas. It didn't occur to us until several hours later that a photo of the Texas-shaped waffle would have been interesting to add here. Of course, it's not as interesting or newsworthy as an image of the Blessed Mother in a grilled cheese sandwich, but we were impressed.

Another difference is that the food in small towns in France is generally delicious; not so here. After spending the afternoon at Ft Worth's Kimbell Museum (see more below), we arrived in Terrell, TX. Well, there aren't too many choices for food, especially on a Sunday evening, so we opted to get takeout pizza & salad. We really didn't think it was possible for "pizza" to be that bad. Yes, the quote marks around the word pizza are intentional, because what we got was not pizza -- nor was it edible. At least it was inexpensive.

The Kimbell Museum, on the other hand is a delight. It's not a large museum, but the collection is superb. Free admission & free audio guides made it even better. They have a small collection, but what they have is choice & covers a wide range of periods & styles. They have a recently discovered first painting by the 13-year-old Michaelangelo, "The Temptation of St. Anthony." Wow!

The only downside is that much of the permanent collection has been de-installed while they prepare for an upcoming special exhibit. The food in the cafe was the best we've eaten in ages.

We finally drove all the way across Texas (saw a lot of nothing along the way) & are now in Shreveport, LA where it is hot & humid. Our hotel is also a casino & we are busily trying not to notice the people who are here to gamble; tacky doesn't even begin to describe it. Our room is pretty luxurious, has a beautiful view of the Red River, & only costs $60/night. There isn't really much to do here, so we're relaxing a bit.

It's Hard to Breathe Up Here

First, a note: Some of you might be wondering why a blog about life in Languedoc seems to be about a trip across the United States. That's because we are taking the time to see some of the US before we settle permanently in Languedoc. So, for the next few weeks, we will be writing about our cross-country trip.

We drove out of San Diego along the route outlined in Google maps. It might have been the most direct, but it certainly wasn't the most scenic. There was one rather dramatic stretch through the mountains, but the next several hours were through rather boring and hot desert, until we headed north from Phoenix, where the elevation rose and the landscape was more alpine.

Arrived in Flagstaff (actually, the outskirts of Flagstaff) tired after an 8-hour drive. Picked the closest restaurant to get some food to take back to the room. We'll spare you the details, but it wasn't gourmet food. We started feeling some of the effects of being at 7,000 ft. elevation.

Drove out the next morning & headed to the Petrified Forest & Painted Desert, which are both pretty amazing. It's hard to believe that what is now desert was once a swamp, but the change left some incredible remains. The petrified wood is so beautiful -- there is no wood left, & it's been replaced by agates, amethysts & other types of quartz, still in the shape & design of wood, bark & all. The colors & shapes in the Painted Desert are beautiful, & the altitude made the air crystal clear & the cloud shapes are different at that altitude.

From there we drove to Albuquerque & stayed at an old-fashioned, kind of funky motel a few blocks from Old Town. Loved the neon signs for our motel & the one on the same street, so had to take pix.

Had New Mexican food for dinner, which was so-so, but came in enormous portions. There is no reason to serve so much food. We were still trying to adjust to the altitude, which gave us headaches.

Walked around Old Town the next morning & although the shops are cute, there was not really anything we wanted to buy. 
Next stop is Santa Fe, & we're glad to be in one place for 3 days. Santa Fe is a beautiful city with a lot of history. It's the 2nd oldest city in the US (after St. Augustine, FL) & recently celebrated its 400th anniversary. The downtown area is well preserved & maintains the feeling of the old city. Nearly every building in downtown is built in the adobe style, which really maintains the continuity & feeling of Old Santa Fe. There are no chain stores allowed along the plaza, & even those a few blocks away maintain the architectural style. There are many upscale shops & galleries, but we didn't see many people buying things.

One reason so many artists are drawn to Santa Fe is the light. It IS different in Santa Fe, much the same way the light in Paris is different from the light in other places.

Took a walking tour that focused on the history of Santa Fe, & it was a good way to put things in perspective. We're starting to adjust to the altitude, but it isn't as easy as we'd hoped it would be.

San Diego

Drove from LA to San Diego on Saturday. Luckily it was a weekend, so the traffic wasn't too bad. Arrived at the motel late afternoon. Although the room isn't bad, it's certainly a letdown after our Westwood hotel.

Decided to go to the Del Coronado for drinks. The main dining room/bar was closed for private parties, so finding a place for a drink was challenging. Finally found a place & though we were seated 15 minutes before the end of happy hour, we were charged regular price. This is NOT an inexpensive place to drink, but the view is wonderful.

Speaking of views, sitting there was a great spot to people watch. What an assortment of people we saw...all sizes, shapes, classes, tastes in clothing, etc. The Del used to attract a high class clientele, but like everything else, it's not what it used to be.

Had what we thought was going to be a light dinner at a Mexican restaurant across the street. We each ordered an appetizer & couldn't come close to finishing them. I can't imagine what size a full dinner or entree would have been.

Spent today in La Jolla, which was lovely, but would have been even better if we weren't fogged in. Went to a gallery owned by a woman from Sarajevo (Bosnia) & got a 30 minute talk about the Sarajevo Hagaddah & the Jewish community there. Quite fascinating.

We head for Arizona in the morning, & once we cross from CA into AZ, we will leave California, for possibly the last time ever, which is hard to believe after living here for so many years. Kind of sad that the last thing in CA we'll see is Needles.

Getty Villa Malibu

We drove through Topanga Canyon from Woodland HIlls to the Getty Villa in Malibu. The road was twisty, & the view would have been specatcular if we weren't in the middle of fog. After a couple of wrong turns, we arrived at the Villa. A while ago we read an article criticizing the renovations that were made a few years ago, so we didn't know what to expect. As with the other Getty Museum site, this one definitely did not disappoint.


Everything was well laid out, from the parking to the exhibitions. We have seen antiquties in some of the major museums of the world (Louvre, British Museum, Berlin, Metropolitan Museum of Art, Athens, etc.) but have never seen anything quite like the Getty's collection. Each & every piece was a wonderful example of its type, better than anything we'd seen before. The groupings & layout were well designed and lit.


Not only is the collection superb, but the setting and architecture are both beautiful. People complain about the $15 parking fee, but museum entry is free, so if you have at least 2 in your party, it's quite reasonable. We had lunch in the cafe, and although the menu is limited, it has something for everyone and at prices lower than most museum cafes. We would definitely return if we are in the area again. Here are some images to give you an idea of the setting & the collection.

We drove from there to our next hotel -- the Royal Palace in Westwood. When we drove up we feared we had made a mistake booking this place. The outside looked dated & tired. The lobby was a bit better, but we had read great reviews so we reserved judgment.


When we opened our door we realized we had a suite! A tiny kitchen/dining area, along with a living room, bedroom & bath. Everything appears to have been recently renovated. Flat screen TVs in living room & bedroom, & the most comfy bed! Slept better than we had in ages.


Per Yelp reviews we walked a couple of blocks to SanSai Grill, a fast food-ish Japanese restaurant, so we could get some takeout to bring back to our room. They have a happy hour special, so for $20 we got way more than the 2 of us could possibly eat. The food was pretty good, but we were blown away by the friendly, helpful service. When Holly requested her food without onions, our server recommended an alternative dish & even offered to make a special batch of 1 of the salads for her. Once again, Yelpers steered us in the right direction.

We're Off!!

Well, we didn't think we'd make it, but we're finally off on our journey, but it hasn't been easy. Less than 2 weeks before our departure we found out that there were some changes (or at least the information was new to us) in the paperwork requirements to move our household goods to France, so we had to do some quick thinking. We originally planned to load the goods into the container the day we moved out of our Bay Area home, & have them moved into a storage facility in Béziers until we moved into our permanent home in France. Instead, we decided to move them into storage in the Bay Area until they are ready to be shipped to France. In the long run, this is better (less expensive), but it caused stress.

For a variety of reasons (we won't go into detail) we were slower in getting things donated/tossed/packed, so it was really down to the wire. We were still packing when the movers arrived.  Somehow we made it, even though it didn't look like we would. All the last-minute activity caused stress & insomnia, but things are looking up. When we originally planned this nearly a year ago, we thought we had more than enough time, but maybe that was the problem. With so much time before the move, we didn't feel the sense of urgency. Note to self: don't get fooled by long lead times......start early and assume everything will take longer than you think.

We left the Bay Area shortly after noon yesterday, heading south to LA for the first stop on our 6-week trip across the US & Canada. At this time of year, the drive down Highway 5 is bland & boring, which makes it seem even longer than it is. Arrived in LA (Woodland Hills, actually) exhausted, but managed to avoid the worst of LA traffic. Walked a few blocks & found an Indian restaurant that looked pretty good, so we picked up some takeout, along with a bottle of wine from a grocery across the street. We always thought that the food in most Indian restaurants was pretty much the same, but this had to be the worst we've ever had.

Today we're heading to the Getty Villa in Malibu; we love the sister museum in LA & hope this one does't disappoint.

last minute arrangements

Bonjour...

We are less than one month before our departure date & are busy making the last of the arrangements for our move. While most things in France will be less expensive than here in the US, we are finding that moving is definitely not one of them.

First of all, our shipping company informed us that there are additional fees we will incur for documentation, port fees, etc., with an estimated cost of $450. On top of that, while we search for our permanent home, we will be storing our furniture & household goods in a self storage facility, for a cost of €175/month, substantially more than it would cost here. Then, we will need movers to unload our container into the storage box. Our US-based moving company can have it done for $1,000, a cost we thought was ridiculously high -- until we started looking for movers in the local area & found that the cost would be at least double that! To make matters worse, we'll need movers again 5 months after that to move our goods into our new home. Well, it's all for a good cause: our new life in Languedoc.

Even with the frustrations and expenses, we are confident that we will love our life in Languedoc...beautiful villages, wonderful wines, delicious food, calm lifestyle, and the opportunity to explore and meet new people.

À bientôt

Welcome...Bienvenue

We are an American couple who fell in love with Languedoc and decided to make it our home. Here's a little bit about each of us:

Chris: Born and raised in New York City, moved to the San Francisco Bay Area 30+ years ago. In between he lived in Aix-en-Provence and has always wanted to return to La Douce France.
Holly: Another ex-NewYorker who moved to the Bay Area shortly after Chris, with an 18-month detour to Kauai, Hawaii.

We made the decision to move late in 2010, and at that time it all seemed so far away, both in terms of miles and months. Well, we are now only 1 month until departure!

We signed an agreement for a 5-month rental of a furnished house in Pézenas, a medieval town we've visited and really liked, and it's a great base from which to explore the rest of Languedoc. Once we arrive in Pézenas we will start looking for a more permanent unfurnished residence, in or near Pézenas. Here's a link to the Pézenas Tourist Board: http://www.ot-pezenas-valdherault.com/index.php?lang=en if you want to check it out.

As we have heard so many stories from other ex-pats, we are bracing ourselves for the French bureaucracy. So far, our first experience with it has been much easier than we feared. Chris has Irish (hence EU) citizenship while Holly only US citizenship. Per the French Consulate website, Holly needed to apply for a long-stay visa before leaving the US; as an EU citizen Chris did not need to do this. So, we busily put together all of the documentation (originals + 1 copy, in a specific order) required for Holly to bring to her appointment at the Consulate. A few minutes into the appointment we were pleasantly surprised to find out that as a spouse of an EU citizen, Americans do not need the visa. One less hassle & a savings of 99 euros. All we have to do is register at the préfecture when we arrive in France, and start the process of getting the carte/titre de séjour. So far, so good. we know this will all be more difficult in France; our knowledge of the French language does not necessarily include "bureaucratic"  French.

Now we are in the logistics phase.....We've already lined up the mover to load our container here in California, the shipping company who will transport the container with our household belongings from California to the port in Marseille. We are still trying to find a mover in France to move it from the port to a self-storage facility in Béziers, & we will need to use the movers again to bring our furniture, etc. to wherever we live after the 5 month rental.

We have collected so much "stuff" over the years and are busy trying to whittle it down to essentials, which has generated some -- ahem -- interesting discussions. We can only take what fits in the container, and the rooms in our new home will likely be smaller than what we have had. With one month to go, the packing has begun & we fear that we will get buried in boxes before departure date.

Once we move out of our home in California, we will start the first phase of our journey, spending 6 weeks driving across the US, for a bit of sightseeing while visiting friends & family along the way. We will definitely blog during those 6 weeks. Our next-to-last stop is the port in New Jersey where we will ship our Saab to France. Our last week in the US will be New York, which in many ways still feels like home. Upon arrival in Paris we will pick up a rental car and take a few days to drive south to Pézenas where we will coordinate the transfer of our goods from the container to the storage facility. It all seemed so easy when we came up with this idea, and now it's starting to seem overwhelming.

In the months and years to come we will share some of our adventures...both the wonderful & fun ones as well as the frustrating and exasperating ones. We know we'll have plenty of both!

We would love to hear from readers...whether you want to share your own experiences or would like to comment on what we write.

A bientot!