I have a date for closing!

Beziers, France

1 June 2024

Dear Family and Friends,

I’m very excited that I will be closing on my apartment on June 13 at 4:00 PM.

June 14 will be cleaning day and I’ve enlisted support to move my boxes on June 15. Manny and Moe are on alert because the cat carriers are out and cleaned up from all the dust of the past months. I’m quite certain that they will love their new home, for now, they seem to be watching my every move and wondering what exactly is going to happen next.

In the meantime, I’ve been stuck in paperwork purgatory. Being at the mercy of the local copy shop has been a very French experience.  It never fails but I’m ready to print something and it is noontime, so they are closed for the next two hours, or maybe they will just close for the day. Forget about printing on the weekend, that’s just not going to happen. Google is no help in the matter either.  I tried to find another copy shop and Google Maps identified several options, after walking a few miles following Googles instructions, if I need to do any printing, such as to print a brochure or annual report, I know where to go. To print a few pages of paperwork, I need to wait until the copy shop decides to open again. I’m trying to get used to the schedule and the fact that things just move at a slower pace here, but I’m no there yet.

There has been some fun, I’ve been meeting more expats and enjoying getting to know them in fun settings like lunch, dinner, a BBQ, and walks. I also had the opportunity to visit my friend Dennis who now left the area for more travels, but I have my fingers crossed he’ll be back before this time next year and hopefully living in Montpellier. Visiting him in Montpellier was a highlight of the past week.  It was great to see the central part of the city, I’ve really only been through the center of the city and spent most of my time on the outskirts of the city. It has a very different feel from Beziers, and I look forward to going back and checking it out more. The real highlight was of course reconnecting with a good friend from a past life.

The weather is getting warmer, and Beziers feels like it is coming to life.  There are more people about, more languages overheard on the street, and more people on my walking paths. It’s fascinating to see restaurants coming to life, shops opening for customers and the work on the Les Halls, the local market place, seems to be moving along.  I saw new windows going in this past week. It is due to open in November and I’m certain it is going to be great for the center of the city.

Jan and Lisa’s apartment is coming along.  The new windows were installed and the kitchen will be installed later this month. The “hut” that was the home of the boiler, on what was originally a balcony in the interior courtyard has been removed. The balcony will live again soon!  At the moment it is still home to pipes and whatnot from the boiler, and it has no railing so it’s not suitable for sitting just yet, but it looks promising and Lisa is very excited. I find her wistfully staring out her new windows at what will be her restored balcony.

I know all of you in the US celebrated Memorial Day this past week and summer is officially off to a start.  I hope you all have fun, enjoy the warm weather and stay safe this summer.  Don’t forget to wear your sunscreen!

Bonne Journée!