Out and About in Normandie (Part Two) and the Loire Valley

It has been an eventful week with visitors from the US, a trip to Caen to finalize our long-term stay visas, a jammed door, a backyard jam session, a thunderstorm, climbing around Roman ruins, a road trip to the Loire Valley, and loads of fun; whew!

It started with the arrival of our dear friends, Tim and Lisa, from the US on May 10th. The next day, we had to go to the prefecture in Caen to finalize the details of our long-term stay visas. This is an obligatory appointment (with a physical and chest x-ray) that allows absolutely NO flexibility whatsoever. So off we went to Caen less than 20 hours after our friends arrived, leaving them (and Neville) comfortably situated in our little cottage.

Living in a 230 year old cottage comes with some quirks, including doors that lock differently than what we’re use to in the US. We neglected to tell them to leave one particular door (with a lock) open for Neville, and now we realize there’s a good reason this door is never shut and locked. Apparently, this door has a history of getting jammed. Anyway, long story short, it took a while (with the help of our neighbors) to get the door to open again, as you will see in the video below.

On Saturday evening, we had our neighbors over for drinks, appetizers and a backyard jam session. Terry and Tim have been playing music together since they were teenagers, and it’s something we do every time we’re together. Our neighbor, Mike, has two guitars which he generously shared, much to everyone’s enjoyment.

We were all moving a little slow the next day, so we stayed home to cook, eat and enjoy the first rain storm we’ve had here in at least six weeks. I’m sure the local farmers were also relieved to see the rain.

We have enjoyed many sites around Normandie and Brittany including Mayenne, Fourères, a cider tasting, Roman ruins in Jublains, and lots of beautiful scenery.

Wednesday, we packed up the car and headed to Blois in the Loire Valley, leaving Neville in the care of our lovely neighbors. We’re looking forward to visiting some châteaux here before heading to the coast of Brittany on Monday. I love being retired!

Neville has completely settled into the neighborhood and is feeling quite bold. In fact, he often visits the neighbors and walks right into their homes if their doors are open! We have some new neighbors and when I introduced myself, they said Neville had already visited them. 😺

Oh, and we passed our physicals and are approved to stay in France for one year! C’est génial!

Je vous souhaitez de belles aventures,

Tricia