Life here in France is kind of....trying to think of an appropriate word....sleepy, if you like. It's very laid back, not so much of the hustle & bustle, and nobody is ever in a rush. That is something which can be a little frustrating at times; example, when your waiting to get served in a shop and the customer in front of you just wants to chat, trouble is the storekeeper chats back with absolutely no worries that there are other people waiting to be served. Whilst I'm tapping my foot in impatience, the french just wait without batting an eyelid. The kids love it here, and although they miss the family back in the Blighty, they prefer it here. They are all bilingual, which will be a bonus to them when they are older. They love French Cuisine, snails, frogs legs, mussels etc. They love the weather, it's very mild here in the Vendee, and the location of our house could not have been better placed. We live in a small village, about 600 inhabitants, but we are very near to the town, city and most importantly the beach.
It was a very big deal when we moved, I was absolutely petrified. We sold up everything, even the furniture, bundled the kids and suitcases into the car and headed for the channel Tunnel. The twins were just about 18 months old and the eldest was 5 years old, and we were headed to the south of France, in our clapped out car, to stay with my parents until we decided what to do. Yes, decided, I forgot to say that we made this move without a plan, nothing to buy, no work, no plan. There was a plan B, I always have a plan B, plan B was back to the drawing board!! Thinking about it, we must have been mad, raving bonkers even, but we did it and once we were on the road in France the reality of it all suddenly sunk in. What had we done? We had just sold up everything, and had no idea where we would live, what we would do or even what we wanted to do! We had the money from the sale of the house, but prices were going up at that time and in the south things aren't cheap, I suddenly felt very sick!
It was a long drive to the south, we had to make lots of stops along the way, for one to feed the twins but also to let the car have a rest, it had started to rattle since we passed Paris. By the time we reached Clermont Ferrand the children were getting very restless, so we had to endure repeated renditions of "The Wheels On The Bus Go Round And Round" for the remainder of the journey. I don't think I've ever been able to listen to that song since. It was dark when we finally chuntled our way through my parent's gates, we were all tired and hungry, but I sighed a sigh of relief and as I saw my dad come out to welcome us, I felt an enormous sense of security. Everything was going to turn out just fine.
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