8 days baby!

Villefranche-De-Rouergue (3 miles from our house)

I'm back and very refreshed! Sorry I have been away for so long, I finally don't feel totally exhausted. We actually took 4 days off from riding and 3 days off from running around and visiting and drinking loads of red wine (well actually we didn't take a break from that) . Now there might be some of you who don't think that's a big deal to take 4 days off from riding, but let me tell you, for us it's huge. We only take that many days off when our bodies tell us to and they did. We just got back from a lovely 30 mile ride and it felt so so good to be back in the saddle. My throat doesn't hurt anymore and I don't feel like taking a 4 hour nap in the middle of the day (a 1 hour nap is just fine though). 

I remember back in April I put a countdown widget on my old typepad blog and it said something like 180 days until we move to France. It seemed so far away.  Je ne regrette rein told me "it's gonna come up fast". I didn't think it would. So much was in our way - 12 weeks of camps was the biggest hurdle, we knew that when they ended we were almost there. Well, we finished camps the last week of August and our fall classes started back up last Tuesday the 9th. It was so great to see all the kids that we haven't seen since June. We spent all week at the studio so we could say hi and goodbye to all the parents and students. We are going back this Tuesday and Wednesday just for 10 minutes to say goodbye to some others. Then we'll have 5 days to get everything in order.

There are things we still need to get done. We have an appointment with our vet Dr. Carlsen to get the dogs california health certificates. Then on Monday we'll go down to the local USDA vet to have our french health certificates, california health certificates and proof of rabies signed and officially stamped by him. I have heard that although it's required that you have a USDA vet sign and stamp these papers, you are never even checked at the airport in Paris. But the last thing we want is not to have it and then the dogs woudn't be allowed in France. Better to follow the rules and be safe.

We have to take the couch and tv and kitchen stuff to our POD, which is stored at a POD location. We'll probably do that on Tuesday 23rd. We are not keeping our mattress so we'll have until we leave and then put it by the dumpster.

The apartment is a disaster. We did a "mock" pack yesterday and it went well. We have 3 different piles. Pile #1 is all the clothes/shoes for France. Pile #2 is for a carry-on, you know, an extra set of clothes, toothbrush, etc...and Pile #3 is for the trip from Los Angeles to Chicago. Clothes we are not taking to France and don't care about. We know we are going to have to pay for excess baggage, but it's no big deal. It's hard to try and pack for fall, winter, spring and summer though and it's hard trying to decide what I will want while I'm there. We'll have our bike cases, which will carry our bikes and biking clothes and we'll have the dogs and their travel crates. So basically 3 bags, 2 bikes cases, 2 dogs and 2 crates to check-in. Then we each will have a carry-on and our computer. I'm a bit nervous how we are going to manage once we get to Charles de'Gaulle. I'll have to check with nrfm, because I know it was just her with her bags and the 2 dogs...we'll see how she did it.

I had a lovely visit from La Framéricaine on Saturday. She and Mr. LF stopped by and gave us 4 excellent French text-books. I have already started to go through them and I'm still doing my 40 verbs in 40 days...each and every day I study and read aloud. I will miss her, but luckily they are going to be moving to France in the spring, so we'll see each other then.

The dogs have no idea what's in store for them. They will soon have a house in the country, with loads of land (all fenced in) so they can run and play. We are also very close to a river and loads of wood and forests so we'll be doing lots of hikes. We are also going to buy "commuter" bikes when we get there, so we don't have to ride our "road" bikes to and from the villages. I'm planning on getting a basket on my bike too so that Stella can ride it in. They will be so welcome at all the restaurants and will go so many places with us. It's going to be such a different life for them, I can't wait for them to experience it.

We are trying to sell our car this week, which is such a pain, but we have to do it. Hopefully we'll find a buyer soon who will give us a good price. It's a great car in great shape..so keep your fingers crossed. We pick up our rental car on the 22nd.

We have to take back our cable boxes, turn over our business check book to L. who will take over invoicing, receiving payments and paying all of our bills for the studio. We have some more people to see before we go. E&K of course, Bruce's Mom and Dad, B&L and LL. I'm going to see Diana, who cuts and colors my hair today and she's going to cut my hair and teach Bruce how to cut and color it. I'm so excited.

I had my yearly check-up, my mammogram and yesterday I went to the dentist for a cleaning and a filling. Glad that all of that is out of the way for a year. Bruce has to go to the dentist on Thursday for a crown and a cleaning.

We are winding down and actually wish that we could leave tomorrow, but Wednesday the 24th will be here before we know it. I'll be updating from the road too. It will take us about 4 days to get to chicago. We'll stop in Utah and then Colorado (to see some friends) and then St. Louis and then arrive in Chicago on Saturday 27th. It should be a fun road trip...although the car is going to be packed and I'm hoping that Ms. Stella doesn't sit on my lap the entire way! We then leave Chicago for Paris on the 28th. Stay tuned.