01 July 2011

That Time of Year Again

IT'S BECOME ROUTINE: pack up the house, spend a few weeks in a small apartment, load up the family car, drive somewhere, stay for 8-9 weeks.

For somewhat complicated reasons (not too complicated explanation here) we leave this region of France every year for two months. Each year we try to pick somewhere unfamiliar -- somewhere we have not been before, or at least not spent much time. Like I say often: we're not sure how long we're going to be doing "this" so we're trying to make the most of the time we have. This philosophy can lead to minor headaches and inconveniences, but it's always worth it in the end. Always.

Our last three summers have been spent in three distinctly different areas: the foothills of the the Pyrenees in South/Central France, the suburbs of Strasbourg, and a farming village in central Italy. Tomorrow morning we leave Antibes and head west -- very far west -- to the Poitou-Charentes region of France. The house we have rented for the next two months is just couple hours north of Bordeaux near a town called Ruffec. As is our custom, we've found a place that is bit removed from the normal tourist destinations and we've quite pleased about that. We get enough of that environment during the year.

Off we go!

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