Au revoir...

Bay of Villefranche

Simona just turned one and we found ourselves vacationing in Tuscany when Nancy and I dreamed of how nice it might be one day to spend a year living in Italy. Again, in 2004, Nancy and I found ourselves sans kids sitting on the beach in Nice when I flippantly said "one day we are gonna come back here to live". 

Bright flowers everywhere

Like all couples though, we put our heads down and got caught up with the pressures and stresses of raising children and paying down the mortgage. The thought of moving abroad got pushed to the back of our minds. It wasn't until a grey day in February 2010 over a Starbucks with my friend Jim that the dream of moving to France started to take shape.

As I rode the subway in to work that morning I kept asking "why not"? Arriving at the office I called Nancy who was busy with a patient "Nancy I know that this is going to come from left field and you don't have to say yes right this instant but what would you say if....".

Place Massena

Maddy had her last day of school friday and I handed the keys to the Clio over to the new owner. The bike and the rest of our bags are packed sitting by the door waiting for the cab to take us to the airport and back home to Toronto. Sleep eludes me. I've had butterflies in my stomach and a lump in my throat for the past week that I can't dislodge. 

More Massena

Mixed feelings... We are all looking forward to seeing friends and family but wish it didn't have to come to an end so quickly. The kids have shed more than a few tears about leaving new found friends behind. Simona wondered aloud a few weeks back if we could stay another year.  I reminded her that before arriving she asked me to pull her by the ears if she didn’t want to return to Canada. 

That this adventure has been a magnificent and enriching experience goes without saying. It has undoubtedly shaped us individually and collectively as a family.  Watching the girls overcome their initial fears and embrace new surroundings, cultures and friends has been remarkable as has their new found thirst to try new things and learn new languages.

The places we've visited, things we've done and people we've met forever etched into our memories. The time to explore and develop new interests and talents, the time to prepare and share three meals daily as a family has been a luxury that cannot be measured. The mountains and the sea, the unending sunshine, bright flowers and ability to eat fresh fruit and vegetables when they are in season will be sorely missed.

The proximity of so many interesting and wonderful places, the ability to jump in the car and drive forever, never tiring of the views of mountains and Mediterranean will all be hard to leave behind.  And oh the rambling ... I wasn’t sure we'd keep the blog going the entire time and didn't think I'd enjoy blogging so much.  I am going to miss it as we sign off and say goodbye. 


Bonne nuit et au revoir France.
Sal

More flowers