The Seed was Planted

My husband, Skip and I have a long, long history of daydreaming together about living someplace else.  Every vacation, we would look at real estate listings, take time to walk around neighborhoods and talk about what it would be like to live there…Kauai, London, Budapest, Krakow, to name just a few.  However, the thing that would always halt those daydreams was our dog.  In the past, it was our old girl, Roxanne  when we used to fantasize about moving to Kauai, and for the last 10 years, it was because of our boy, Parker.  We just could never imagine putting our beloved pups in a crate in the cargo hold of a plane….oh no, not OUR babies!

The thought to move to France had never entered my mind.  I never really even wanted to visit. France really never held that much appeal for me. I was never any sort of Francophile (still not) and didn’t speak a word of French (still don’t – at least not very well). I did go to Paris with my family for Christmas many years ago, and that was a great experience, but I kind of felt like I had already done Paris and didn’t see any need to return.  My travel goal at that time was to try to go to places where not every American had been or wanted to go.  It wasn’t until 2017 that we even considered going to France. We mainly decided to go because my very dear friend, Sarah, really, really wanted to go to Paris and we thought it would be fun to meet up with her and her husband Bob and enjoy a few days in Paris together.  We figured since we were going to Paris, we might as well rent a car and explore the country.

I then consulted my life guru, Rick Steves and then planned our trip.  We planned to drive to Normandy, the Loire Valley, down to the Dordogne River Valley and then back up to Paris to see our friends.

Normandy was gorgeous.  Our B&B was a stunning, historic old chateau with wonderful hosts and three adorable dogs….almost my favorite part, of course.  The vast beaches of Normandy were like nothing I’d ever seen before.  I felt foolish that I never understood the magnitude of the harbor that was actually created there which was such a pivotal part of WWII.  Normandy was a breathtaking introduction to France.  

Next, to the Loire Valley.  I think we planned to go there simply because I thought, as first timers, we were supposed to go to the Loire Valley.   We actually found it to be a bit disappointing. Very touristy, our hotel was just ok and the restaurants not so great.  We did visit the impressive Château de Chambord and of course it was amazing, but I didn’t feel like we needed to visit lots of other chateaux.  While that period of history is interesting, it wasn’t truly capturing my attention. (Just want to add here that we have since returned to the Loire Valley and know now there is so much more to discover and appreciate – and indeed we do.)  

Next, we headed to Montfort in the Dordogne Valley and stayed in a Rick Steves recommended B&B.  The B&B itself was in a walnut grove, so beautiful and peaceful.  The owners were the most welcoming and kind people – so patient and helpful with us idiotic tourists.  We didn’t even take the time to learn even a few basic French phrases….…typical arrogant Americans – thinking that people will speak English! Arghhhh – so embarrassing! These lovely hosts taught us so much about French culture and, more importantly, etiquette.  Andrea, our host so patiently sat us down and explained that we can’t, as tourists, just breezingly pop into a store with a smile.  It was important  to be respectful, in the French way, with a “bonjour madame” or “bonjour monsiour”.  Be sure to say “merci” and “au revior”….repectfully!  I’ll tell ya, I never felt more Southern Californian in my life!  I’m so grateful for that lesson, which  I still hold dear to my heart and use everyday.  We still remain friends with our lovely hosts to this day.

Anyway, the Dordogne Valley BLEW OUR MINDS.  I had never before seen a place more magnificent, magical, and awe inspiring place in my life.  My heart and mind could barely take it all in….the beauty of the landscapes, the mystical sounding names of the towns and villages, the ancient history….it all just spoke to me in a way that no other place ever had.  So, I’ll bet you can guess….we looked at real estate listings! We saw that we could buy some ancient ruins super, duper cheap.  That certainly sent our magical thinking into high gear!  But, alas the doggy factor came into play.

For our 2018 vacation, we already knew we’d be going back to France.  There was so, so much more we wanted to see.  It’s hard to explain, but it almost felt like a new home for us, somehow familiar and comfortable, despite the fact that we really didn’t know much about the country or speak the language at all! 

We made our plan to go to the Loire Valley once again – this time because our friends from the Montfort B&B had relocated there and we wanted to see them again.  This time we stayed in a charming gite (a gite is a furnished vacation rental, with a kitchen – usually a cottage or a small house).  The owner, Sarah Jane, and her family were also amazing humans and their tiny village was magical too.  We were able to spend time with our friends from Montfort in their town of Saumur – where, you guessed it…we checked out the real estate listings!  This time imagining ourselves in a charming apartment in an old historic building in that smallish but bustling town of Saumur.

Next, on to northern Spain – just over the French Pyrenees – for a mountain walking/hiking vacation – another amazing experience (I could go on and on about this place too….but it’s not part of this story!).  Then to the Languedoc region – just back over the Pyrenees on the French side. Such amazing and tragic history and breathtaking landscapes there.  We drove for miles, and miles discovering Cathar and Roman ruins, and down the Mediterranean coastline to Coullioure and even dipped back down into Spain for tapas and wine in Cadaqués.  Magnificent place – much more to explore and discover there in the future too.

Finally our next stop was Loubressac.  Originally, our intention was to go back to Montfort, but since our friends from the previous year sold their B&B and move up to the Loire Valley (they now have a gorgeous B&B in Amboise – La Dilecta – full of unique artistic style),  we decided to check out someplace different.   When planning the trip, I looked for other interesting places in the Dordogne Valley.  (OK, I realize this is all getting very lengthy and convoluted as most of my stories do, but if you’re still with me, indulge me just a little longer.)  This is a very important piece of the story of “the journey” and where I think the seed was truly planted:

So, while looking through my beloved and now very dog-eared copy of Rick Steves France, I happened upon these words, “The Overlooked Eastern Dordogne” and “The remote and less-visited section of the Dordogne is detour-worthy……” and further into that section of the book, “An hour and a half south of the Dordogne, the overlooked Lot River meanders through a strikingly beautiful Valley under stubborn cliffs……… ”.  The dude had me at “remote and less visited”!  That’s right up my alley….off the beaten path and less known to the masses.  While studying every word in that section of the book, I found the village of Loubressac, in which part of the description said, “if this is not the most beautiful village in France, I’d like to see the one that is”.  How could I possibly pass any of that up?  I then searched the internet and found a nice looking B&B called Manoir de Rieuzel.

The owners of the B&B Manoir de Rieuzal, were (and still are) a very charming couple – Anne and Bruce – from South Africa.  They made sure we had a good introduction to the area since we were only going to be there for two nights.  We only had a couple of encounters with them – at breakfast, wine on their lovely terrace before we went out for dinner, and a coffee before getting back on the road.  In those few short visits, we talked and talked and talked – about just about everything….France, politics around the world, animal rescues, our families, life on the neighboring farm (and I even had a visit to see the baby sheep).  

On that last morning, we sat out on that lovely terrace and enjoying the amazing view over the valley below.  My heart was racing from way too much coffee as I sat on the ground petting their aging Jack Russell, Pie, and we continued to chat. I still remember, so clearly, Bruce saying “you should move here!” We were having such a wonderful time and I just didn’t want our visit to end.   But we had to get on the road and they had to get back to work, so reluctantly we packed up.  But before we left, I wrote them a thank you note…we were so touched by their friendly and welcoming manner. We had so much fun getting to know them  and hearing so many wonderful stories, not to mention being so impressed by their perfect and beautiful B&B.  We felt like we were leaving good friends.  I left my email address in the note and said to keep in touch, if they wanted to.  By that night Bruce had written back.  I think we all were happy that our paths had crossed.  Later, when the idea of the big move started to become something real and viable, our correspondence became even more frequent, valuable and encouraging.  By the time we arrived in January 2020, we already had a solid friendship.  (Much, much more  about Anne and Bruce….…you’ll read lots more about them as this saga continues).  To this day, we continually to marvel about how this friendship was born from just 2 short days at their B&B.  Crazy how life works sometimes.

Whew!  Sorry….that was long and it’s only the beginning!  

Until next time!

Much love to you all!

❤️Lisa