We have a new house!

It's official, we signed the papers yesterday! here's a picture of me in a park in limoges where we waited for our bank to open at 1:30pm after the customary lunch break.

Yes!, we are now the proud owners of an old stone house in Saint Laurent sur Gorre, in the hameau de la Vallade more exactly - the owners removed the old beat up car and RVs that were laying out in front, pweh!, just in time for the deal signing. What a strange experience it was though...10 of us assembled in a small stuffy little room: the 6 inheritants/previous owners, our agent- the quirky, chatty Mr David-, the 2 of us, and the notary, and hearing everyone's personal information being called out, including birth date (unheard of in the US!), place of birth, marital status, and profession!... what a strange way to double check everyone's identity-- without checking any papers btw. We were all good friends by the end of it:) The rest of the day was packed with bed and mattress shopping in limoges and the drive back to Eygurande with an almost empty gas tank...note to self -- never leave for an evening drive in the countryside without a full tank or get a french carte bleue (!), all gas stations are deserted by 7pm and our american visa card was no good at the automated machines...but the drive through the countryside at sundown was so beautiful!... driving windows down after a hot sunny day, the smell of the freshly cut grass filled up our lungs, making us almost gidddy.

Home slow home

We've been home- at my parents- for the last couple of days, doing a lot of research online (yes, my dad has recovered his internet connection!), eating a lot, and spending time with family. Friday night my sister came by with her adorable little 10 months old girl adelia, a doll with her long eye lashes, her perfect skin and round face. I took some great pics i'm going to add to this blog at some point soon. The luggages also arrived (!) . It's been nice chatting with my sister and spending time with my mom and dad and their little white poodle/bichon "ju-ju". Today was father's day so we took a drive to a place called "le pont du chambon" near the "barage de l'aigle", and had a great 3 hour lunch at a nice restaurant near the lake, i'm still full from the meal!. Tomorrow's the D-day as we have the meeting at the notary to sign our house deal, let's see what happens.

Eclair au cafe

The house signing got delayed until Monday but we decided to head to Limoges anyway to check out our new city and start getting things done. Driving my dad's old 1985 Mazda-that makes such a rattling "casserole" noise when idle that everyone turned their heads toward us:) we first went to check out "the house", our soon-to-be new home assuming everything goes well on monday. As Lucian said it's our new project and there's quite a bit to do! the house needs fairly serious renovation but i like the setting in the middle of the countrside and i found we have a pink hortensia growing by the entry door, a prune tree and a pear tree in the garden--it's the little things that count! We then drove to "the city", stopped by the bank and to grab a sandwich in a cafe/bar called "Le Trianon", full of young teenagers sipping on coffee, chatting and smoking- I saw myself some 20 years ago! The rest of the afternoon was packed with research/shopping for the oh so complicated internet and cell phone options, and for a bed: firs things first, the essentials!. Last but not least we discovered a little bakery named Paul where we had to try a delicious eclair au cafe. Paul we'll be back for more!

First day in france

After only 4 hours of sleep due to a night of packing and cleaning, a cab ride to SFO, 4 hours of plane to DC, another 7 to Paris, 1 hour of bus to get to Gare de Lyon, 2 hours of wait - enough time to have a nice salade at a cafe nearby, 4 hours of train, and 1 hour car ride, we finally arrived at my parents', smelly and positively wiped out:) But without our 4 huge luggages that stayed in DC due to a short layover. Thank god i'm at my parents where i can easily borrow a toothbrush and dig into my sister's clothes.
Outside of the luggages issue, I'm just plain overwhelmed, woke up in the middle of the night thinking i was in my bed in our SF apartment. I still think i'm here on vacation, although we're starting to think about where to get a bed, Internet services, etc. It's a lot of changes and i still very much have SF in my head, it's just going to take some time for me to adjust. As Jess told me in an email, probably i'll get my bearings back when my dad finds his internet connection again, which is supposed to happen tomorrow, unless the post office is late again -- in france, really? no, impossible!:) Thank god for the free internet in the Maison Du Pays in Eygurande where i've been for the past 3 hours at the great surprise of the 2 nice hostesses who are hardly believing it - and are planning to close shop in 10 mins btw. That's it for today, then, looking forward to the mail tomorrow.

Last day in San Francisco

I've been feeling the need to document this big change in our lives so here goes, i'm officially starting a blog, it's so exciting! Our last day in the city, it just flew by! all the sad goodbyes and the strange feeling of knowing that you're experiencing things for the last time, you want to take it all in, save the moment for later...time to think back and ponder and make lists: i like lists!


The top 5 things i'll miss about San Francisco:

1. the ocean
2. my yoga class, www.yogicmotion.com, thanks brian for making me love yoga!
3. lattes to go, soy and chai and soy chai, you were my best friends
4. the many many great ethnic restaurants and the plentiful sushi (will be harder to come by where we're going)
5. the stunning view of the bay bridge i get every day when i get to pacific avenue


sorry Heidi, your frog collection didn't make it:) but i'll miss you very much, along with all the other people i got to know here, friends, and all my great co-worker friends at BabyCenter. it's been fun, thanks for all of it.


but to be fair there are a few things i won't miss...


Top 5 things i will not miss about San Franciso:

1. the wind, oh boy does it blow!
2. summer days, evenings, don't even mention summer evenings: trade that tank top for a wool sweater and a scarf!
3. getting on the bus in chinatown every day, no further description necessary
4. the muni, never there when you need it!
5. the hills, neither by car nor by foot-- although they are part of your charm


i'm sad to go, i've been very happy here, i'll miss you San Francisco! Aurevoir et a bientot j'espere.