Tour France with Carol and JB – Getting Started
We have traveled to places all over the world. We used to run a software company and were fortunate enough to be able to take time off to travel. Last year we retired in September. The idea for this trip started back in July of 2011, when Carol and her friend, Barb, were taking a long walk back in San Diego.
There is a beautiful walking path for horses, dogs and people in Ramona on a nature preserve on Highland Valley Road. It seems that this peaceful, happy environment cleared heads and prompted the obvious question, “Why don’t we sell our houses, sell or give away all our extra stuff, put everything else in storage, and tour France and Europe?”
Simple answer: “Sure!” Around Thanksgiving the four of us got a great deal with Air Lingus to Ireland for a few days, and we added a week on the end to tour France in the south, and find a place to rent for our big trip, the next year.
[cmamad id=”770″ align=”floatleft” tabid=”display-desktop” mobid=”display-desktop”]We researched lots of places to stay. The basic idea was to get a house that was large enough for two couples to live in — oh yeah – plus two dogs. Our budget was on the order of $1,000 per couple per month for lodging, though it was more important to find a place we all liked.
This is very much like buying a house. We traveled to 10 different rental places, across southern France, from the far south in France near the city of Perpignan, north from from there, in the Lot, a Department (like a county in the US) that is very popular with English and Dutch expatriots, many of whom have bought old rock houses and fixed them up. We crossed over to the east, into Provence, which is a region or provine near the riviera area of France and Italy.
[cmamad id=”771″ align=”center” tabid=”display-desktop” mobid=”display-desktop”]
There is a lot of interesting information that will help you in the future if you tour France, and we include of information about the places we go. And we give links to other web sites and information.
Some of the favorite Tour France posts are:
Rocamodour – a Holy Town Built into the Rock. See the Sacred Stairway, and Durandal’s Sword.
La Roque St-Christophe – Inhabited for 55,000 years. See the ancient caves overlooking the Vezere river.
Street Markets in France – Visit a few street markets and shop with us.
We have some fantastic slideshows. One of my favorites is Rocamadour – with views of many of the highlights of the ancient town.
For a bunch of good pictures of various places in France, you can Tour France with Google.
See you in France!
My wife, Anna, asked me the same question. We wanted to move to Tuscany. Some day…..
My recommendation would be — Do it!! – JB