A Cariad Life

We’ve arrived…finally…in France! So much has happened in the last five days that I will write about it in several posts, but first here is what our final leg to France and our first day was like.

Last week started in NYC–staying with my brother and sister-in-law in their sweet apartment in Astoria, Queens–a great diverse neighborhood with hundreds of amazing local restaurants. My brother and sister-in-law are always great hosts and treated us to delicious food at a Czechoslovakian restaurant (it looked like the inside of a ski lodge in the mountains, right in the middle of the city); momos at a Nepalese restaurant (the best thing I may have ever eaten); and, a fried chicken sandwich at a “little hole in the wall” restaurant in Queens (seriously, the best fried chicken I have ever had!) While we were there, we were anxiously waiting for our passports–after the consulate’s office hurried to courier them to us on the previous Friday, they arrived on Monday at noon at our previous home in Washington; then, our friend, John met FedEX at the house and overnighted them to us. We received them at 11:45 am on Tuesday and left for the airport at 3:30 pm–so close! Daniel, my brother, was an expert driver getting us to JFK in rush hour traffic and we had a smooth flight and connection in Paris.

Once arriving in Bordeaux and after securing our one week rental car (we have to buy a car by next Friday), we drove to Riberac from Bordeaux–about a 90 minute drive. At this point, the fullness and weight of this move began to hit us…as we gazed across the stunning countryside from the car, battling a bit of jetlag and waning adrenaline, we would look at each other and say, “did we really just do this?” and “is this really real?”

We arranged to meet Paul and Lesley, the former owners at the B&B, when we arrived, so they could give us a walkthrough and the keys (a bit different than the US, eh?) At about 3:30pm, we pulled up to the B&B and there was a big work truck in the one reserved parking spot next to the B&B (parking for the B&B is on the street.) Why the truck was there is an interesting story, which I will tell you about in a moment. Paul and Lesley greeted us warmly at the front door and there was a beautiful live Christmas tree in the foyer with lights and ornaments. This tree meant so much to me, as the boys and Chloe are joining us for Christmas, and I wanted there to be a bit of Christmas spirit in our new place (it was such a sweet gift to have this one bit of Christmas already provided!) The other pleasant surprise was that the house had electricity and gas (heat) turned on–we had been trying to sign the new contracts for both, but because we didn’t have a French IP address while in US, our contract could not be accepted. We were all pleasantly surprised that it was working as Paul and Lesley ended their paid service on December 6–the day of the sale. They walked us through a few booking details and then poured a really wonderful French champagne for all of us to toast the sale in front of the roaring fire in the dining room.

So, why was the work truck there? This story actually starts on June 20, 2022, the day Darrell and I left Riberac to fly back to the US, after visiting the B&B. On this date, a horrendous and disastrous hail storm passed over Riberac, creating huge amounts of damage to all the beautiful red and orange clay rooftops. For the last six months, business and home owners have had to cover their roofs with tarps and wait in line to have them repaired. In fact, there are still a great number of places with tarps in place. See the picture and link below for the full story.

When Darrell and I visited, before the storm, we inspected the attic and the roof. I noticed there were a few places where I could see the sky from the attic. Paul knew it would need to be replaced and had secured an estimate, but it would be ours to repair if we bought, and that was considered when we made an offer on the house as an added expense that we knew we would have to address. Well, on June 20, there was enough damage to the roof that Paul and Lesley had it completely replaced (and thoroughly sealed); most likely, insurance covered this. Long story, we have a brand new roof at no additional cost to us! Further, we won’t have to deal with getting in line to have someone work on it or have it replaced while we are trying to host guests.

The work truck belonged to the glazier who was replacing quite a few window panes in the solarium or atrium attached to the kitchen. Paul and Lesley had been trying for months to get the person out to replace the glass before the sale finalized–interestingly he arrived the day we bought the house and finished as the four of us were drinking champagne. Paul said, “I don’t understand it, but isn’t it interesting that as you move in, it is finished?” Some of these panes looked like they would need to be repaired when we visited in June, and now they are all sparkling clean and intact–again, all done at no additional cost to us. I am constantly amazed by the timing and the coordination of it all–I recognize that not everyone who reads my blog holds my same beliefs, but for me, my faith is my foundation, my north star, and this journey has shown me the abundance of God’s provision in this venture. I hate that there was such a destructive storm here in this sweet village, and yet, in the midst of it, He worked all things together for our good.

So, at the close of our first day and after Paul and Lesley headed out, Darrell and I walked from room to room…we had a little dinner in our new kitchen, and as we crawled into bed in one of the guest rooms (we are buying a bed for our owner’s suite), the full weight of it began to settle on us. I whispered to Darrell in the dark of our new very large and unfamiliar home, “I am so scared, right now!” He felt the same, but we have decided to take one day at a time. So far, some days are harder than others, especially when we have to navigate business in French, which we still don’t know. We have learned to face each challenge as it comes…starting with the next morning when we woke to no electricity or heat. I will tell you about that in the next post…

P.S. I will be sharing pictures/video walk throughs of our B&B very soon!