Thank you in advance for indulging me a bit of reminiscing. Just a year ago this week we were in the final throws of leaving La Thebauderie in Normandie. I am one of those people who tends to let events pass with little residue, yet if you have followed this blog you know that is not the case with our time in France, daily I am reminded of how deep the effect has been – lingering, shaping and still unfolding.

We were packing up the shipping container that we were sending to Portland, making multiple trips to Tina’s Brocante to donate things we were not keeping, and spending time with our good friends.

We had many evenings like this one – some music and laughter with friends.

We packed all of the things we were shipping back into a pallet container. It was a bit surreal to see everything we felt worth shipping back in the back of a truck.

The day before we left we spent time with our dear friends, who we miss so much.

Gayle and Mike lived next door in La Cave. We actually met them in March of 2020 when we visited La Thebauderie the first time. Our original plan was to move there in June of that year – the pandemic had different plans for us. When we finally did get there we found these two people are the best – we laughed, complained, and talked. They were always there to help if we struggled to figure out how the French/UK mechanics of our house worked.

Mike liked his lager at cellar temperature, as the Brits do, so I would keep a few in our atrium so they would not be too chilled for him. Some afternoons I would grab one and just walk next door, “Are you up for a pint?” He most always was. Gayle and I spent a lot of time teasing and laughing; we ribbed each other about the differences between our common language, English. They would watch Neville when we would go away, and were friends you could count on. We miss them so much, our next trip back must include some time with them, and a pint or two.

Niki and Alun moved into La Boulangerie in the summer of 2023. We connected right away – how could you not, Roscoe, their champagne poodle is one of the best dogs ever, he loved to visit us and just made himself at home. They spend a lot of their time in their mini-caravan (that is an RV for the USA folks). We met up with them one time in Peñíscola, Spain, a place they actually recommended and we were so glad they did.

Not long after Niki and Alun arrived I did a sketching workshop at Domfront Castle. Pat, another new neighbor joined us.

These are all dear friends and we miss them so, Normandie seems quite far away. But we do stay in touch, and will meet up again I am sure. We left La Thebauderie the morning of July 16, 2024. Gayle and Mike stopped by to tell us goodbye, we kept it short as the emotions were pretty strong.

I sat at The Fields this week, outside as I would do in Europe, sketched a couple trees, and reminisced, which led to this post. We still had three months left in France and a bit more traveling before we boarded a British Air flight in London on October 24, headed for Seattle. Our grande aventure was over. There was a time when we lived in France, now it is a place we used to live.

With France on my mind, and a comforting line from a Psalm in my thoughts – “like an olive tree in the courtyard of the temple” – I thought about the many old chapels with an olive tree out front that we had seen in France.

One of the rewards of blogging is connecting with other bloggers. Wet and Dusty Roads, Corna and Berto, are travel bloggers based in Cape Town, South Africa, have become friends to both Tricia and me as a result of comments and posts. They recently took a trip to neighboring Namibia, some wonderful photos inspired a painting, which I have sent to them.

Daily the news strains my hope, but the friends we have made around the world builds that hope back up, this is why travel is so important, it reminds us we are not alone, and that in the midst of a lot of evil there are good people. I hope you get to interact with some friends today, and that you capture the moments.

Today, Tricia is posting some views and stories about our present neighborhood, quite a different place from Normandie, but it does have a lot of charm.