Moving to France
 

Moving day is here. House sold all the furniture in storage. The wife and I are sitting in the waiting room at the Toronto airport, enjoying a free wireless hot spot. We'll be in Arcachon, France tomorow with just our back packs to start our new adventure. (Acachon is near Bordeaux).

Hopefully won't be too long before I can get a dsl line. Sure the pits being mobile with phone modems.

See ya on the other side. :)

I really hope this new adventure will be a happy one. Me and the family never moved to another country allthough we once moved away pretty far from home, stayed six years and then went back here to the West Coast.
I can easily imagine the efforts made by both of you, planning, discussing, packing your stuff, preparing for the change (and challenge). I think you lived in France once before? I hope everything turns out to be okey, and:
Welcome to Europe!

Congratulation... and i wish you a good moving without troubles !!

Bonne chance en Europe avec les Francais !!!

Thats a big step you have taken, hope the adventure is safe and fulfilling :) Drop us a line when possible and let us know how life is treating you.

Yes, may your trip be a safe one, GOD Bless. :cool:

Hope to talk to you soon. ;)

Any pictures you could share would be appreciated :cool:

Have a blast m8 :)

/JD

sounds like lots of fun, and excitement...too bad it's France!!!

enjoy your selves, and have fun!

Green with envy here. Enjoy it my friend.

Cheerz
Dave

I assume one of you or your wife has some french connection.
It will be a fantastic experience, having crossed the Atlantic myself many years ago.
It will really open your eyes to a different way of life, although each time I visit my original home country, I see Europe more and more Americanized , in great leaps.....especially the Scandinavian countries, who like to think they are anything but "americanized"...but they are.. When I enjoy visiti9ng and seing new thinge all over Europe each time we visit.
Good luck

Have a safe and pleasant journey.

Thanks guys, and yes, there is a connection. I married a French girl 40 years ago that I met in Italy, and took her to the USA, then got transferred to Canada where I joined a French outfit as an expat. Spent 18 years with them in several overseas locations before finally getting transferred to Paris for retirment <wry grin> Well, you can imagine all the connecions what with a mother-in-law, sister-in-law and even my oldest daughter who finished school in Paris, and then married an Italian and is now living in Italy with my only 2 grandchildren. This move is to get closer to them while we can, since my wife has some health issues. I'm not French but still have my long term visa, and, Josiane is French which means we can integrate back into the medical insurance system here OK!

We are staying in a friends 1 BR apt for up to 3 months in a beach town called Arcachon, 60 Km from Bordeaux. Not bad duty. From here, we'll try to figure things out. My sister-in-law has a place near Nimes, where my folks in law lived for 50 years and which I know well. I wanted to take time to discover other parts of southern France that I don't know at all before settling somewhere.

Meanwhile, I'm tryin to arrange a dsl service that I can have come down this phone line. This net2roam modem dial up is ok, but too expensive and sloooooowwwwwww. 8mb hi speed is being installed throughout France right now, but 2 is max in this town.

Starting Day 3. We're jet lagged, but holding up. :) I'll try to find the ideal photo to post. But it won't be me bathing in winter waters of the Atlantic. :)

regards, rikytik

Not going good. My wife has dementia and I'm 3 years too late in doing this project.

Spent a month in Arcachon, near Bordeaux, and then a week with my 2 grand kids in Sicily. Now taking my bride back to Canada March 9.

Oh man that sucks!!!!!!! :o

God I wish you the best. Your both in my prayers.

God have some mercy damn you!!! :mad:

truly sorry to hear that rikytik
as war said - my prayers are with you both

I'm sorry to hear that as-well; and I'd like to gift my prayers too.

Suffering with something like that makes it difficult to enjoy new surroundings.
A real shame your venture did not last longer...it had a lot of potential. Best wishes to both of you
moen

Yes, sorry to hear it didn't work out like you wanted. :(

:O

All the best rikytik - I hope it all works out :)

Keep us posted and as always we are here for you :)

/JD

Thanks guys for your friendship and wishes. Means a lot to a cyber guy, far away from the usual physical touch points. Hopefully we'll be on the plane Wednesday heading back.

Then the next big adventure will be to get a high speed connection to replace this dial up service I've been using for nearly 2 months. :)

How are you doing rikytik?
I have been thinking a lot about you, your wife and your situation travelling across the Atlantic repeatedly. How are you ending up? Do you have a decent place to stay with kind people around?

kind regards,

Hello

Sorry to hear about your problems! :(
Hope it is going better now

The plane ride was an ordeal for Jo (my wife), but it went off without incident: Bordeaux, Paris, Toronto. We're staying in an old 1940's vintage classic apartment complex near where we lived before, so have recourse to some good friends to help me look after Jo while I do some apartment hunting. At the same time, I'm arranging for "in home" professional help.

An anecdote: I had to take her potty from time to time in the airplane toilettes. I'd slip in with her to make sure things were OK. Not sure what the other passengers thought about this "old" couple slipping into those teeny toilettes together, but I hope it was the "wrong thing". :)

Now that she's more relaxed and in familiar surroundings, she's doing better. It was a good decision to scrap the plan. All our household goods were left here in storage pending this attempt to move closer to the kids. So, no big financial losses are involved, just the inconveniences. It was always my plan to downsize and eventually get maybe a small studio near my kids in Sicily. Turns out So. France was not a lot closer in travel time than Toronto--especailly because from most places, it is a 3 plane connection and more expensive than from Toronto.

Dementia is an awful thing, especially for a girl who was so dynamic all her life. She took a big dive near the Feb and could no longer feed herself, and other problems. She still can't feed herself well, but is doing better over all as of today.

Thanks again for caring.

Keep the chin up rikytik. So hard for me to come up with words of encouragement. It's a rough task taking care of a loved one with alzheimers/dimentia. My father dealt with that for a couple years with my mom. It puts you guys up for sainthood if you ask me.

What Al said ;)

We are always here for you m8 :)

/JD

Thanks, friends. Good vibes. Sunny day here, but still some snow. Just made an offer to lease an apt for a year and my wife is feeling better now that she's back "home".

:) rikytk

Glad things are starting to look up :)

My household goods will be delivered to a newly rented unfurnished apartment next week. Arranged for hi-spped cable ISP and a phone. Things are looking up. Bought a Toyota Corolla for wheels. Max mileage in this age of ever increasin gas prices.

Got me a Canon LiDE35 scanner, powered by the usb port. Not bad, small footprint when you stand it on it's side mount bracket. I'm so used to living out of the back pack and one suitcase that I'm not sure I can cope with having elbow room. This Sony T model 1.5 Kg laptop has really performed during this trip. Be nice to recouperate my desktop with 19" LCD, though.

My wife is better since we returned, but I'm essentially a 24/7 care giver. Be good when we get situated next week so I can get some in-home care under the Provincial program. Need to have a few hours a week to "get away".

Thanks again for your kind thoughts. Be looking forward to getting off this dial-up ISP to a cable ISP. :)

Hello rikytik, It was nice to read that your bride is feeling better after u made it back home... dunno how i missed this thread before so i'd like to offer my prayers & my praise to God for you & Jo now. Being Easter sunday morning jizac quite emotional atm riding solo, wishing I was still in 24/7 careprovider mode.

At times i'm sure you find the need to have some time for urself which is very important, at least that is what everyone says... Enjoy whatever time u have left together. Expediting to u prayers of strength...

You have a gift, remember even in the darkest hour of illness or injury your kindness & compassion, the healing power of love is the medicine that touches the soul and brings a ray of welcomed light.
sincere regards.
jizac_aka_lickablepig

Thanks for your thoughts licable,

Movers came Saturday some long hours, I can now walk in the apartment without jumping over boxes. :) Jo is more relaxed now and eating normally. That's a plus. Going to see the specialist tomorrow and see have she evalates.


Thanks again guys. Feels great to be able to unload sometimes, especially when mobile and living out of a suitcase for a month. :)

from North Carolina, USA our prayers are with you and your family, and may God bless you and yours more so than he has blessed mine! I have to agree with the others, I would love to see pictures! I've never seen france, just South America, and that wont no fun for me....Please post pictures!

~PCT