David and I are ten days away from leaving home for TWO MONTHS(!).  We have rented a wonderful house in the Loire Valley of France, in a village named Saint Aignan.  You can see our temporary home at www.loireindulgence.com.  It is owned by a couple who live in Melbourne, Australia, and Rachael and I have become email friends.  You can only imagine how excited David and I are to start our adventure pretending to be French.

There are many, many details to take care of before leaving your home for two months.  We have arranged for a house sitter and we have set up our household bills to be paid automatically on line (fingers crossed).  I had to prepare 62 days of vitamins and medication to take with us which was quite the undertaking!!!   We have been "staging" things to take on our dining room table.

David and I both have long lists of things to do that we are checking off daily.  For instance, today we went to the bank and ordered euros and we also went shopping to buy David a new belt and comfortable walking shoes.  

Also in preparation, we have been taking French lessons from a fabulous teacher named Geena.  She is upbeat and patient and keeps us very excited to learn the language. French is a beautiful, difficult language and Geena keeps a smile on her face even while we butcher her beloved language.  But she has taught us the important things we might need to say in France like . . . "where is the bathroom," "how much does this cost," "help," "I don't understand," etc.  And, most important, how to order a glass or bottle of wine!!!  I think we are well-prepared.