It's official! We are moving to France!

We have loved our time here in France so much that we have decided to relocate. We had some extra time today so we decided to look around for houses. We have our two top choices, maybe you can help us finalize our decision??

First house is a bit older and bigger than our house now, but I think with a little vision that we could make do! What do you think?? It has great curb appeal!

It was really a drag that the realtor wasn't available to give us a tour inside. So we asked around about potential issues we should be concerned about, here are a few we have to consider:

1. There is no garage, I guess the original owners either Ubered everywhere or perhaps used stables for their horsepower.

2. They warned me that the house requires some maintenance every hundred years or so. It is undergoing its seventh renovation based on that time schedule.

3. The house could be haunted since there is a painting in the brochure that shows their architect/designer dying in the owner's arms. Apparently the designer created a very unique double helix stairwell for the home. His name was Leo and he had some pretty cool ideas.

4. The house comes mostly unfurnished, I think just a few trips to Ikea would take care of that though.

5. It could get a a little annoying to have to swim the moat if you wanted to cut through to your neighbors house.

With all these considerations, we were not completely sold so we headed down the road about an hour to our next option which happens to be holding an open house! We have always wanted waterfront property and once you see the backyard you will realize you can't get anymore waterfront than this!

The good news is that this one comes almost completely furnished.

This will be our neverending hopscotch room!

So sorry the realtor left all the nude photos on the walls, I should talk to them about that....

Would it be awkward to keep paintings of the previous owners (with fantastic hair styles) up on the walls after we move in? Apparently a guy named Louis XIV used this room as a drawing room when he came to visit.

I think the best feature about this house is that it was already set up once as a hospital where the most wounded patients were tended to. It would practially eliminate my commute.

I think this one is our favorite, do you think it is our style???

Oh no! We just remembered we are expecting our new foreign exchange student from Sweden in just less than 2 weeks. Neither house would be big enough to have company and we would miss our family and friends so I will call the realtor and pull out of escrow. It was sure fun to dream!

Btw, first home is Château de Chambord which was the first royal home to King Francis I in the renaissance period before the Palace of Versailles was built. His favorite designer was none other than Leonardo Di Vinci.

The second home is Château de Chenonceau. The estate was first mentioned in writings in the 11th century but the current castle was built and expanded over the river (on old mill footings) between 1511-1560. The owner fell into debt to King Francis I and lost the house to the King. When the King died, King Henry II gave Château de Chenonceau to his favorite mistress Diane de Portiers.  While no Kings actually lived in this house they did visit the home and the last royal visitor was King Louis XIV in 1640.

Headed west!

To celebrate our last day in the Jura we enjoyed all our friend's favorite pastries available here since the vary in each region.

The cheese is so delicious here, we enjoyed Morbier, Comte, and La Vache Qui Rit daily. Last night for dinner we also had Raclette and Bleu Cheese added to our fondue.

 The pastries are amazing! You can't decide on just one...

                So better have a little of each!

 I had a cooking lesson in making an almond caramel tart, now I will have a go-to recipe for the next potluck back at home.

 While I baked with Laure, Eric indulged Charles in a duel. Ally and Gaëlle were hanging out and painting.

 Later in the afternoon we got our Nintendo gaming on. Competing fiercely in Mario Cart and then working together to conquer Bowser in Super Luigi Brothers. "Play" is the universal language and we had so much fun playing with the kids.

We had to soak up the views our final morning, it is so peaceful and such clean air.

 We loaded up 2 cars and we were on the road. In many places the freeway looks a bit similar to I-5 but then just around the corner you will see magestic chateaux up on the hillside.

 And beautiful fields of sunflowers everywhere.

 And sometimes you are going down treelined roads and go to cross the river and see this picture perfect town. Had to fumble with my phone to take a picture in time. The 7 hour trip (plus a few detours) went super quick because you never knew what was going to be around the corner.

 We checked into our little farmhouse for the next couple nights to go explore a historical theme park. It is going to be hot but we are so excited!

Just as we were enjoying our dinner on the terrace being serenaded by some cows nearby,  a paraglider with motor came rumbling by, there is never a dull moment!

We are now on the west coast of France for the remainder of our trip and excited to see what new adventures we will have!

Saint-Claude to Les Rousses

Started our morning right with a delicious regional specialty pastry from the Jura. It is a brioche tart covered in sugar. Tasted like a sugar donut.

 After getting our laundry done, bags ready to leave the Jura monday morning, and a delicious duck and homemade applesauce lunch, we headed out to explore more of the Jura starting with Saint Claude which is about 10 minutes away.

Although this building was labeled as a bank, it is actually their new library. They had some books to return and we picked out some movies to watch together.

 This is the Cathédrale de Saint Pierre, even though this is a relatively small town, this is the largest cathedral we have seen while in France.

 In a room beside the main chapel is the actual body of Saint Claudius who died in 696. His grave became a pilgramage for people to pay respects and became known as the town of Saint Claude in 1300s.

 The Cathedral first belonged to an Abbey and was built in the 15th century.

                 
                   Beautiful views of the city

 We then head up the mountain for some more spectacular views.

 Then we reach the Belvedere Point overlooking Saint Claude.

 After reaching the top it opens up into a beautiful countryside well known for its cross country skiing in the winter. But first we must stop for a traffic jam in the Jura.

 Somehow this cow knows they must be the last one to cross and wears a large bell so the farmer can hear it is on it's way.

 This is a beautiful lake they love to cross country ski around in winter.

 Ally had fun catching all the frogs jumping around the lake.

 We shopped at this really cute shop that had lots of handmade gifts, treats, and furniture.

 This motorcycle is made completely of wood.

 We also stopped a shop in Les Rousses where they sell wooden toys which are a specialty to the region. It was a lovely resort town close to many ski resorts.

 We stopped at the market to pick up some raclette cheese to make our own fondue type dish. Normally this is only a cold weather meal, which the lady at the meat & cheese counter questioned why we would buy such ingredients in July. It is just like how we served Gaëlle a traditional Thanksgiving feast at our house in July when she was visiting us.

These were a couple of interesting offerings at the meat counter. Including a meat and vegetable jello of sorts???

                             Mousse of Duck

Before heading back down to Saint Claude we drove 2 streets over where we crossed into Switzerland so we can say we visited Switzerland on our trip. We were a bit disappointed there were no signs or flags on the other side. But the 2 minutes there was wonderful.

Here is another view of Saint Claude as we headed back down.

If you are enjoying our blog, please feel free to leave a comment so we know who else is along for the journey. You can comment as a guest and just leave your name in the comment. Bonne Nuit!