Closing down our Seattle life.

Following our dream of an extended stay in France has been a long, long road, but finally we are so close that we can feel it!  Since the sale of Le Pichet in September of 2022, my time has been filled with getting us ready to move to our house in Orthez.  You can imagine the nearly endless list of stuff to take care of:  Visas, banking, transportation, packing, shipping, it goes on and on.  We have literally had a 5-page To-Do list posted on the living room wall for the last 4 months!  Every time a page was completed, a new one was added.

I think back fondly to our first move to France, in 1990, when we left Seattle for Paris so that I could attend culinary school. At that time, I was young and strong like a donkey, we packed all we could carry, got rid of the rest, and headed for Paris on a TWA flight with no real idea what lay ahead.  This was pre-internet, so the tiny apartment where we would live had been rented sight unseen. It all seemed so fun and exciting and free of worries and doubts.  What’s to worry about?

Obviously, 30 plus years later, the planning process was much much more involved.  But all that was wrapping up by the end of January.  By the first of February, the last list was all alone on the wall and most the items were crossed off.  As our flight date of February 12th approached, the main task remaining was to prepare our First Hill condo for sale.  This was a bit of a tricky dance, as much of the deep cleaning, painting and floor refinishing could only happen after everything was out, but lets face it, we still had to have a bed to sleep in and a couple pans to cook with.  In the end, we arranged to spend our last couple nights in Seattle at a downtown hotel (thanks Bryan!) so that we could clear out the last few remaining items.

Here is what our condo looked like on our last night!

Tagged Planning