The move over here was eventful and not without its stresses. It took two and a half days to pack up in York but having finally said goodbye to the cottage and the farm, we successfully made it in the camper-van to Folkestone, where we enjoyed a final night overlooking the white cliffs, awaiting our early morning crossing to Calais on the Euro tunnel. Having booked in and passed through customs without a hitch, the van decided to start making terrible noises on the loading ramp, and just at the point we were about to load onto the train, cue smoke and complete loss of power!! Once we had been towed out of the way of all the other queuing cars and back to the coach park by the terminal, the AA man was called to find out the problem. It turned out our drive belt had disintegrated due to a seized aircon compressor. This was somewhat disastrous as the removal men were going to be hot on our heels and we needed to get to France that day, or the calamity would continue! The good news was we had a dedicated mechanic, who was determined to bypass the broken part and fix a temporary belt. After several hours and a hunt for different length belts around Dover and Ashford, he finally patched us back together and we made an afternoon train. (Special thanks to my sister Rach for being on standby to put our complicated Plan B into action!).
Final views over the white cliffs from our campsite
The campervan ''Daphne'' mid repair, with remnants of old drive belt on floor!
We finally arrived late that evening after a long drive through Northern France, praying the fix would hold! We set off to the local shops with very curious Ruby but sadly, there was nothing much open, so we cobbled together some food from the van and then went to bed fairly swiftly, to be up early in preparation for the movers. Bright and breezy they turned up and we had the truck unpacked in record time. Leaving us with a hefty pile of boxes in every room!
First night of arrival (later than planned!)
The morning after - Viewing the house in daylight on unpacking day
With a few days spare, we set off on a whirlwind of unpacking, repair and exploration. We discovered many little repair jobs that needed doing, as well as working out how to fit our stuff into the rooms. the house also needed a deep clean top to bottom but soon became habitable as our stuff was placed out. We also went out and about discovering the local area and found lots of little park areas directly around us, which are ideal for Ruby. She is coping really well but has been very intrigued by her surroundings and the level of people and noise that she never experienced in York!
We have got our bearings of Le Vesinet, which is a suburb to the west of Paris, but has a village feel to it, with a market square, lots of small shops and a church with square too. A few minutes away is St Germain en Laye. This is a great town with a very impressive outdoor market and everything you might need (including a treasure trove fabric shop that Jen has already hunted out!). A few minutes drive away too are large supermarkets and DIY superstores (which have enjoyed our repeat business already!) St Germain also has a great park and forest (it used to be the Royal estate of Louis XIV before he moved to the palace at Versailles). It is all open to the public now and great for Ruby, who loved exploring it the other day!
Ruby getting to grips with the local park
Small lake in the local park
Original royal palace at St Germain en Laye
Ruby exploring the park at St Germain with views towards Paris and Eiffel Tower in distance.
So with everything settled, our focus has turned to the routine of living here and most importantly getting to grips with the language! Jen has already started at a language school in central Paris and is making great progress. She is already able to function around town, buying everything she needs and speak to people (including walking into a salon and getting her hair cut and coloured without confusion!). Everything is becoming less scary and a bit easier to manage day by day!
Matt started work on Monday and has survived numerous interviews and meetings with French Officers (including an hour long interview on day one with his 2 star French General!). They are in the most part all kind and patient and keen to chat! The exposure and immersion is great for improving his language skills. He has had to also manage conversations with Fibre installers, multiple shopkeepers and our new dog walker!
We both remain very excited about France. We will look to take more photos and publish them more frequently as we explore more and get out on more trips at the weekend when the campervan is fixed (another bit of dialogue for Matt to do!).
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