Prepare for Landing

Vince, Honey and I landed in Nice two weeks ago, so it is high time I started blogging again. What’s the point of having a blog about being a part-time ex-pat unless you post about your adventures from time to time?

This year, we’ve moved from being part-time ex-pats to half-time. We’re spending slightly more than six months in Nice. I suppose we’re now officially bi-coastal, even though the coasts are in two different countries. And continents. We’d always planned on traveling for three months at a time twice per year, but we got to talking during our stay in France last summer and well, you can fill in the blanks and do the math.

We’ve been ramping up for this chapter in our lives for the better part of a year. If I were a better blogger, I’d have posted updates about all the planning, plotting and paperwork involved in a long-term sojourn. Oh, the paperwork: proof of permanent residence, visa applications, mug shots (precisely 35x45mm s’il vous plait), letters of intent for the French consulate, proof of insurance, proof of income, pay stubs, bank statements dating back three months, rental agreements, health certificates, proof of current rabies vaccination. And various numbers of photocopies of each. Somewhere, someone is sorting through all of that documentation, I suppose, and we’ve killed a large tree somewhere in the Brazil rainforest.

At least it has been documented that Vince and I don’t have rabies, and Honey has money in her savings account. Arf!

Anyhow, we made it. We’re feeling settled in and sorted out. More on the trip, the apartment and other little whatnots of life in the days to come. It’s wonderful to be back (in Nice and online). As a preview, the photos above/below are daytime/sunset from our terrace. Holy cow!