Brunch with the Guises

PROVIDENCIALES, TCI - Mike and Nadine came over for brunch today. Couple of Bloody Mary's with Mike and mimosas for the ladies. Mike and I made plans for our upcoming trip to Aix in mid March. He is going to a car show in Reims the weekend I arrive (Mike is a classic car buff). So, I will go right to Aix and meet him there Monday morning. I have an appointment at the school on Monday at noon and Mike said his tenant, Eugene, can help us get around.

Mike's excited to show me the town, which he says is big fun, as well as his house. We went over some more details of the house and Nadine talked about some of the must-see areas in Provence. It's re-assuring to know she'll be around for us as a resource and she even offered to stay with us for a week or so when we first arrive. Plus, she has friends and family in the area who can help us, and has all the handy men we might need lined up in case something breaks. I don't think we'd be as excited about going- or at least be a whole lot more nervous - if Nadine and Mike weren't the ones we were dealing with.

Barcelona ex-pats

Our good friends Gary and Karen who live here in TCI, and have kids that go to school with ours, are also making plans to do a year in Europe. They have chosen Barcelona and have already been taking Spanish lessons (a step ahead of us for sure - I'm hoping my high school French will come back, and Toni's counting on using her little bit of Italian).

In his blog, Gary waxes poetically about their rationale to want to live some place very foreign and new, which to the casual observer may seem especially curious given they are leaving the comfort and apparent paradisiacal life of the Turks and Caicos Islands. Indeed, I could not have said it better myself. After 13 years here (many more for Gary and Karen), we could easily chock up our desire for a change of scenery to 'island fever.' But it's a bit more than that and I believe Gary and Karen share the same thirst for new frontiers and expanded horizons - and a memorable experience for our kids - that is driving us toward this tantalizing precipice of true international living

We had Sunday brunch with them today and compared notes.

Mostly we talked about leaving TCI and what all that entails - especially dealing with our respective houses. We discussed the pros and cons of short vs. long term rental and commiserated with each other over the current weak rental market for either here. We both plan on being able to do some work while we are in Europe (Gary runs a hotel company and Karen is an accountant) and agreed that internet access will be a major key. Mike and Nadine have assured us that we'll have high speed access at their house, but Gary and Karen haven't even selected a place to stay yet so are a bit nervous about that (never mind where they are going to live!). We assured ourselves that Europe is very "connected" and we'll have no problems, even if it means camping out at local Internet cafes.

We talked schools, our kids' attitudes about the move, traveling through, Europe, and when and if we will return to TCI...and the hours flew by.

It was good to bond with some friends who are going through much of the same thought process as us as we consider our move. And if everything works out, we know we'll have some fellow TCI'ers within a 4 hour drive of where we'll be.

The journey begins?

Tonight we had dinner with Mike & Nadine Guise, who own the house we are considering renting in Aix en Provence. Mike and Nadine own Sunshine Nursery in the Turk and Caicos, which is just a stone's throw from our house. He is American and she is French and they met in Mexico. They have two kids who were mostly raised in TCI, but live and go to college in Canada now. They brought their kids to the Aix house when they are about the same age as Savannah and Lindsey are now, so they know all about the experience, although it was bit easier for Nadine since she is a native of France. Her kids went to school there for two years and loved it (after not loving it to start - sounds familiar already)

They have ex-pat tenants in the house now, a couple and 3 kids from Australia. They will leave in June and Mike and Nadine want to rent the house short term til September, when we are thinking about going there. We talked alot about what it's like living there, especially with kids. They are big fans of the school that is less than five minutes walk from the house, where their kids went, too. It's a bi-lingual school so the kids wouldn't be totally immersed which should make the transition easier.

Nadine gave us a lot of good info on budget and cost of living in Aix. Some aspects sound reasonable, while others sound expensive, but we are used to a high cost of living here in TCI. Toni set to work making a budget for us, something we have never actually done before. We're figuring on making less income when we are there but Nadine was real helpful in telling us where and how we can cut some corners

Savannah is not too psyched about the prospect of going there, and Lindsey is a little more accepting. When we got home from the Guise's I had a long talk with Savannah to help her better deal with it. It went OK but she talked me into agreeing to home schooling her if we go. Toni veto'ed that quickly. I can tell Savannah will be on of the bigger challenges involved in this whole move.

So this was kind of the first step in our journey. Alot to think about and Mike invited me to join him for a trip to France in March to check things out. So Toni will make an appointment at the school, and I'll start looking for flights.