So Long Marianne
I’m a simple soul. I prefer to have a positive spin for most things and I tend not to be deterred or detained by obstacles. There is generally a way over or round them and it just takes a little old-fashioned patience and a dollop of bluddy mindedness to get to the other side.
I married my beloved HB² not quite five years ago in our village in the Cantal and set about working towards the next phase of my life which was to be a life in Massachusetts because that is where he is based. Simple. Except that the process of getting Lawful Permanent Residency is not simple. And if you stick with me, you will learn that simple as I am, if there is a way to eek some drama and comedy out of a process or a situation, I am truly and simply your leading girl.
During this time, I nested and rooted and felt at home. In France. In 2016 the kindly beast allowed me a special visa so that I could spend the year in the USA but travel in and out freely. I had a lovely time and I felt quite homely . When I left in December I felt rather sad. Back in France I ingrained and entrenched some more and I began to assume that the permission to enter the United States and live there as a ‘Lawful Permanent Resident’ (Green Card holder as it is known in the vernacular) would never arrive. I qualified as an English Teacher. My French improved incrementally and raised itself far above it’s previous Spanish Cow default, for living in a city (Grenoble) rather than in the middle of truly no-whereland (Cantal) with far more opportunity to interact beyond the basics of shopping and passing the time of day with the Monsieur le Maire and the old lady opposite and I felt entirely and completely settled and content that I could count down the days to my husband’s retirement and that all shall be jolly and well in the meantime.
And to kick off my other series, ‘Melting–PotMonday’ which will bring your stories from this side of the pond, The Bean will guest-write the first instalment. She has been quite disarmingly insistent that her version of events needs to be told and is highly excited at the opportunity to flex her pokey little paws on the keyboard.
PS: The title is from one of my favourite songs by one of my first and everlasting loves. Marianne in the context of this article is the National symbol of the French Republic portraying a Goddess of Liberty and representing that liberty and reason which in the end is really what we all should strive for, n’est-ce pas? So long Marianne, keep my place at the table, I’ll be back before too long.
And your bonus, with the added quite gaspingly delicious noisette that when I was at school, my enviably beautiful and absolutely aspirational classmate Sara Trill announced to those of us that affected intellectual by hanging out in the library that my father was the image of Mr Cohen himself – I took this as the highest praise by proxy (and let’s face facts, gauche girls like me had to grab the crumbs where they fell), and blushed decorously whilst purring internally for days. Months actually. Possibly my whole life through if I’m honest …..
And because this is a post about feeling forlorn about leaving a favourite, and because WordPress in their infinite wisdom have cancelled their weekly photo challenge making me and so many others a little wan and sad, and because their last challenge is ‘All-Time Favourites’ and I don’t have one, I will instead include this in the veritable feast of entries to be found here and bid one of the best things about WordPress adieu with a heavy heart.
Wow! What a turn of events. Good luck in your new life across the pond. I will very much look forward to “French Fridays” x
It accounts for my rather lengthy silence. I was winded in truth. But I am vaguely settled now and making a real effort to grab this opportunity and hug it tight. French Fridays will keep me a-bogging nicely x
Oh, you’ve gone! I know you have a reason but quand-même! How long before you come back? You must love him an awful lot, that’s all I can say 🙂
He is the love of my life, sans doute. I will be back from time to time but substantially will be here 1-2 years. After that, when The Brains retire, we intend to have our maison familiale in France and a pied a terre in the US for reasons of family and healthcare. But you know plans …. mice and men fall foul of them so I am in the moment and making the most of it 😊
I wish you well and hope you come to your senses eventually 🙂
If you ask my husband (who was born in England, lived in France for 9 years and then moved here where he eventually became a citizen) what his nationality is, he would tell you he is French. I feel the same way. So even when we are not there in body, our hearts are in France. And whilst I am here, as a friend recently wrote to me, I can be a force for the good. And I bluddy well will be 😊
Fantastic news, but I understand it is bittersweet to leave a place you’ve come to love as well – but it will always be there for your return!
Everything changes, nothing stays the same and the trick is to go with it and enjoy rather than resisting so though I will miss France and though it has been a bit of a wrench, now that I am settled I am really looking forward to what is a golden opportunity to live a different life and to explore this incredible continent.
I did like this post, or more truthful: i loved this post.
Hopefully you will allow me a few remarks.
* supposedly to.geth.er is based on the time it took to.get.there
** the French excercise book in secondary school was called “Au Pays de Marianne”, thank you for words and tunes of jeune homme Cohen.
The third remark doesn’t need any approval
*** be as happy as can be !
What a lovely comment! I did not know that about together but it makes total sense and I will adopt it forthwith. Marianne is surely France herself and Cohen – I play his music every day 😊. But mostly I must acknowledge your third remark. Thank you – I will be. We have but one life as far as I can be sure and being less than happy is more than sad. Silver linings are always there if we search them out and I am happy to search them.
To.get.her?
Together. It should really read to.geth.er, I guess!
okay, i give in….. two.gather
You always make me smile with your drole remarks and you also make me think with your thoughtful remarks. the thing is – they are mostly one and the same 🙂
Well, i like play on words. Especially when not in my mother tongue (which is, btw. not my mother’s mother tongue) ;0)
Moi même (and of course my inner Pinocchio is piqued by the reference to your mother’s mother tongue) 😊
Mother’s mother tongue was Frisian, hence she was not my mum/mom but my ‘mem’. Am sorry i do not speak the language, although i can -mostly- understand.
Now we know. It is great that you will be together. Will you keep the place in France? Look forward to Beano’s side of the story.
In the end we married to be together and that means being here. It is an amazing opportunity and I am beginning to reach out and grab it now that I am settled. We will certainly keep our place in France and will visit as often as we can. Once my husband is retired we will make finite decisions as to where we settle in perpetuity! Beano (and that is exactly what we call her much of the time) is limbering up for her moment in the spotlight. How it will come out is anyone’s guess!!!
I’m pleased for you that you got your residency approved after such a long wait. However, it must be bitter-sweet to leave France, where you had so deeply rooted yourself. I hope you can return some day and that ce n’est qu’un au revoir. And we have still not met and reminisced about Wells Stores! I look forward, as always, to your posts – both the French vignettes and the States-side stories.
The intention is that we will be here for 1-2 years and that when his nibs retires we will return to France. I try not to be too presumptuous that this will happen however, since I know how life tends to buck and turn. We still have Marcolès and hope to finish it next year and as we know that is close to Figeac. We will certainly meet along the way.
Well, we are nearly always here, so whenever you are ready…In the meantime, bon courage.
Thank you …. your wish is gratefully received 😊
Glad to hear that you have finally gone through the process. Your patience has been rewarded. Now that you are this side of the pound, do send me a note if you wish to visit parts of Canada. I would be delighted to provide any info I have to make your trip(s) enjoyable. Good luck with settling in… (Suzanne)
Thank you so much Suzanne! I will certainly be making trips to Canada along the way so I will take you up on your offer. Currently we have tracked a little south for a week and I am already amazed at how different the culture feels just a few hundred miles from home!
Yay! You did it! Write the post AND moved to the US of A! 😉 And I’m sooo looking forward to both your new instalments the French Fridays and Melting-Pot Mondays. Don’t forget to keep exercising your French for when you return with your husband to La Maison Catastrophe. 😉 xxxxxxxxxx
Thank you Sarah! It is something of a relief to be moved and an extra relief to feel that I am back on the blogging pony 🐎 I read a book in French for every one I read in English these days and also watch a French film each week …. my husband speaks beautiful French so I have told him we should have a day each week when we speak in French rather than English. I couldn’t bear to rust over now that I have improved to the extent that I am no longer perpetually worrying about how to phrase things perfectly! Xxxxxxxxx
So looking forward to the catch up tales, especially from the Bean!
The Bean now loves you unreservedly. She is quite cheap like that 😉
I am so glad you are reunited with your husband but I can see how Philippe’s words ring so true. Looking forward to your updates and The Bean’s guest post. 🐕
She’s quite out of control, Brigid …. since we moved she has become quite bold in her demands! A wise woman once told me that I would know when I truly fell in love because I would follow my love to Timbuktu if the moment demanded it. She was absolutely right and though Massachusetts is not quite so dramatic, it does feel quite alien but entirely comfortable because I am with the right person. The updates must follow more rigidly from now on. I’m horribly undisciplined and I need to sort that!
You sound like Claire from Outlander 😉
😊
Go for it…as if you wouldn’t! There is more to life than France….
I love France as you well know and so does my husband but I relish the opportunity to explore this land, get under it’s skin, maybe even be a force for the good, who knows. Life is full of opportunity, the trick, as you have been an exemplar of in your own life, is to grab it with both hands and enjoy it!
Welcome to the in-continent. Actually, I don’t think that’s true and so I’m relieved to hear there will be further posts about France. You do make me giggle with your storytelling style and I’m tickled you’re back to posting again. I missed you!
How swell to be missed and how double swell that it’s by you. I shall enjoy my time here if it kills me but France holds my heart so the recanting of my Gaulish tales is entirely selfish 😉
Welcome Home!
Thank you so much Ray! I’m privileged to have the opportunity and I intend to relish every moment. And I promise not to be too much of a nuisance 😉
I rather wondered/hoped that your silence as linked to that major ‘Mission Accomplished’. Well done. I can stop holding my breath now.
Please do …. I don’t want you turning blue on my account! It has been a major mission but we are all in one piece and I am really looking forward to putting my best foot forward over here and maybe even being a bit of a force for the better from time to time.
So pleased for you- but disappointed you’ve left France before we had a chance to get together!! Do let us know if on your next visit you could swing by our way… whenever that might be! Hey, we might even be living in our magical house by then!! Xxx
I was catching up on the posts I have missed from you just yesterday and owe you a comment – am, as ever gob-inspired! So, we still have our place in le Cantal and will be back from time to time and if all goes to our plan we will not be here in perpetuity but rather will sell when The Brains retire themselves and find a maison familiale in France keeping a petite a terre in the States. Since the maison principale is likely to be Grenoble-ish and the Maison Catastrophe is in Cantal we will certainly be virtually passing your door from time to time and it would be lovely to meet up and swoon and croon over your gorgeous place! Xxx
Welcome, welcome, welcome. So glad to have you on this side of the pond, even if it’s only temporary. I look forward to your posts about both sides — you have quite a knack for storytelling. I hope some of it rubbed off on The Bean.
And thank you for the Leonard Cohen. A little Leonard Cohen always sets the day right.
In truth I don’t really know how long it will be for but certainly 1-2 years. After that we will have decisions to make and we plan that we will move back to France. But plans, as mice and men know well, are often foolish to put too much store by so we may stay if it makes more sense. And there are some compelling reasons why it might. Your welcome makes me smile wide and true and I am glad you look forward to the postings. The Bean has a will of her own so who knows what she will cook up! Leonard Cohen has a place in every day chez moi 😊
I’m so happy to read this update. Congratulations! What a long drawn out process that was. I know how much you are going to miss France. I miss it every single minute of the day. Even though I miss France (too many things to list), I love this country. It’s a big, broad, vast country – with so much to behold. Welcome home, welcome back – I hope you enjoy your time. Actually, I’m sure you will enjoy your time here – you seem not afraid and so full of adventure. If you ever find yourself in KY, please let me know – I’d love to show you and your HB how beautiful Bourbon country is. Looking forward to reading your French Fridays.
Congratulations again Osyth – so happy that the two of you will be TOGETHER. It really is what matters.
Suz
Suz, dear Suz, that is a lovely comment and the last bit really resonates because it is precisely and absolutely true. I miss France very much, of course I do but when life presents opportunity it would be ungracious and foolish not to embrace them. Being here, and it makes one feel very tiny weeny just staring at a map, being here is a privilege and I intend to make the very most and best of it. As it happens I was on an airport transfer bus on Tuesday and met two ladies from KY – such delightful women that The Brains and I said we must take a trip so watch out …. we would love to take you up on a little tour. French Fridays will be my way of keeping a little of what I love alive from that side and Mondays will be for stories from here. And I already have some lined up. But first I have to make way for The Bean (otherwise she gets far too cantankerous to abide!). A bientôt et passer un très beau week-end chez toi!
Yes – this is a huge country. How I wish we had better train services and real shutters. Wishing you a grand summer – hopefully it wont be too terribly hot. And yes, if you ever find your way to KY we will visit. The people here are very nice! What was that drink you told me you like (we talked about it last summer) – when I wrote about Pineau Des Charente? I never did find it here. Let me know if you find it here – I’m still wanting to try it.
Passe un bon weekend! Suz
Aha! It was Armagnac …. so far, I have not looked and it must be said that the stash in the store cupboard here is from France brought in each time my husband came a-visiting. I did ask for a glass in a restaurant in Baltimore the other day and had to make do with Cognac (which if good is as close as you will get) but I will continue my quest to find it. Otherwise, when you are next in France go to Carrefour and get a bottle of their Reflets de France Armagnac … it’s really good as is anything in that store that carries the Reflets label which is sort of their upmarket range, I guess. 😊
Yes, Armagnac. And if you visit KY we will try the Bourbon and see how it rates in comparison.
That would be very interesting indeed! 🥃
Great pics! Really like that photo of the mountains with all the greenery on the lower slopes. In the latter respect, so different from the Rockies in US and Canada.
Thank you Tom … I was hugely frustrated that I couldn’t load any new photos from my iPhoto library so I’m glad you enjoyed them. The one you picked out was taken in Cantal (Massif Central, France) in April a couple of years ago. I love it there. I’m hoping to get to the Rockies one day … mountain ranges all have different personalities and I am certain they are very different from those I am used to.
Hey Osyth I’m glad to read this update, I was wondering where you were for the past weeks… I hope you have a great time in the States with your husband and if you miss France you can still come back !! … Did you sell your house in Cantal ?? … Have a great weekend !! thank you for the update !!!
No, we still have our house in Cantal and will keep it. We always intended it to be a Maison Secondaire so whether we end up staying here or more likely we return to the Grenoble area after he retires from his work here, we will always have Maison Carrée…. I do miss France terribly but I am so fortunate to have the opportunity to live in this country which is so huge and begs for the adventure of exploring it! Je te souhaite un très beau week-end 😊
I’ve never been in America yet but it looks like a fascinating country, j’espère que tu t’y plairas, très beau weekend 🙂
I’m looking forward to finding out 😊
I can see you miss France very much with this post and the photos, I will very much look forward to your “French Fridays” and also photos from your new life across the pond !!
Thank you …. it is great to be back interacting with the friends I have made and I am looking forward to the discipline of ensuring I provide a story from either side of the pond each week (and possibly something random on a Wednesday too just for the fun of it!).
Great !!!
Your photos are wonderful. 😀
That is high praise and far too kind coming from you, Cee. I am hoping to get my act together to join some of your challenges now that the WP one is no more. And it’s very nice to meet you 😊
Good luck to you. May Margaret Atwood be completely wrong.
Thank you. I will be fine – this is another adventure along my path and I am fortunate to be afforded the opportunity. Do not expect me to keep decorously quiet in my opinions though 😉 😂
Congratulations! Bittersweet as it is to leave France, even for a couple of years, it is undoubtedly more important for you to be with your husband, and undoubtedly, you are very happy about it – sounds like you are!
I seem to have missed a bit of information: where in the U.S. are you?
Ciao Bella! You are so right and I am glad for you voicing that. We met when I was over 50 and he was in his 60th year. None of us have time to waste in this life, none of us know when our final curtain will fall but as I age I feel the pinch of time more acutely. Being graced with the love of my life is fortune indeed and not one that I was prepared to squander any longer than we had to. I am happy to be here, really happy – it is an immense privilege to be afforded the opportunity to live in this colourful, eclectic and richly tapestried land. I will relish every day. We live 20 miles west of Boston but be sure I shall be travelling as much as I can – so much to see, so much to learn!
20 miles west of Boston is not exactly colorful and eclectic, but it is certainly highly, densely cultural and intellectual. My son lives in Swampscott, and we have tentative plans to visit in August. Perhaps we can get together for some face time. And as you plan to travel, I don’t see how you can overlook South Florida, a truly colorful, multicultural, and vibrant part of the U.S. where you can always expect sun, fun, and a chocolate cake!
It would certainly be lovely if we could make that happen, Dolly. Whilst I am here I will be travelling as much as I can – Florida is definitely on the list of places we would like to visit and off the tourist trail would really be essential. I don’t do touristique of choice. The lure of sun AND chocolate cake which surely constitutes a recipe for fun is far too tempting to resist. Let’s plan to be in touch as plans firm up on either side and hope the Gods of
Most definitely!
Ouch! Pressed send too soon! Let’s hope the Gods of fair winds are kind and bow us into one another’s orbits along the way. I would love that!
Those are the Angels of Friendship, and they always help good friends!
P.S. There used to be a restaurant in Boston, at the North End, called Ciao Bella. Since my childhood nickname was Bella, I once had a photo taken in front of its sign.
The name suits you!
Oh, we simply had Italian neighbours when I was born. They called me “bella bambina,” and it stuck.
I enjoyed the tale and the way it was told, but I’m a bit embarrassed that you experienced such nonchalance and/or extreme ineptness in gaining permanent residency here! Hopefully, your next few years in this country will have been worth the wait… surely just being with your beloved will make it so! I shall look forward to Fridays and Mondays!
You are such a sweetie! The process was protracted indeed and some of that was due to them and some due to me
Sorry … pressed send by total mistake! I will explain more along the way of why it was quite such a painful process but mostly it has become much more difficult to gain residency of this country since 9:11 and I think that is replicated in many European countries too. That is certainly what I have been told. Being able to be with my one true love makes it all worthwhile but so much else will make the wait dissolve into memory. Already I feel so welcomed and I really do feel it is a privilege to be able to live in this land. Visiting is all well and good but when you have the opportunity to live an ordinary life in another place it is enlightening and enriching. I will try not to disappoint on Mondays and Fridays. 😉
Welcome to the states. We look forward to seeing more of your work. You look as lovely as ever. FrenchFridays will always be a treat. Glad to see back on the bike
I need to pedal harder to keep my balance but I have a determined chin and I will keep focussed this time. I’m happy to be here, very happy and I intend to explore much more of this richly checkered land and I am confident I will learn a great deal along the way. The photo of me in the face mask is my favourite – you should have seen how fabulous I looked underneath it 😉
So long I have awaited your presence, so long have I stared through the gap that is the distance between dash and visor of this vehicle I temporarily call home. My soul reaches out to you, my mind eagerly awaits the time of closeness that will bring to the forefront a bond I can only feel in words to date, but know is there in truth. Your friend waiting patiently for you to call with tales of woe and times of joy.
Thank you John. I will call you soon and in the meantime your words on a page are extremely precious to me.
Wow! (This is my way of approving your elegant prose). You have – as of course you know – chosen The Most Important Thing. Monotonal L Cohen used to really hack me off – but I love that song!
Ha! Sorry about that … I loved him then and I love him now so you just have to wear that one! My father had an even worse voice than he did, actually – once, after church at Christmas and aged about 10 I asked him in all seriousness if his voice sounded really awful inside his head because I was concerned, mine sounding OK in my head that I might be releasing something really appalling unwittingly and I needed clarification! By the way, for some reason I am unable to comment on your posts. I can like them (which I always do) share them (which I quite often do) but when I leave a comment it is rejected. Should I take this personally? 🤭
How delightful to see you again. I enjoy the photographs a lot, especially the bare tree standing tall in what appears to be a blizzard. Perhaps an appropriate symbol for the present day Résistance on this side of the pond. I can only think that you must indeed love HB2 (no small 2 that I can see on this iPad) enormously to leave the mountains et la France to come and live in this particular place at this particular time. Lucky guy!
On the other hand Massachusetts is a pretty cool state, one that I have enjoyed visiting in the past. The accent does take a bit of adjusting to 🙂
Thank you Arati, for your thoughtful comment but particularly for picking out that picture which is one of my absolute favourites. It was taken in Cantal on a long hike on a day when the rime ice was particularly perfect. I do love my Two Brained one very much. We met when I was over 50 and he in his 60th year and we consider ourselves extremely fortunate to have found our one true love so late in life. We both love the French mountains and France in general and we hope to return when he retires but the most important thing is for us to be together. Massachusetts is a great little state and I am looking forward to exploring much more of this huge and varied land. And as a friend of mine wrote to me recently, maybe now I can be a force for the better here. I can certainly try (without being deported, one hopes 😂) 🙏
Very pleased that you will be doing French Fridays! It will keep the French connection going until you return. As for the American adventure, my experience of the country in person is very different from the ‘macro’ picture we see from afar. There is a strong personal connection between people that is undeniable, and if you take it on that level, you will have a rich and rewarding time (in addition to the obvious joys of reuniting with your beloved brainship!😍) So looking forward to following along wherever you may wander. Bzzzz
Mel, thank you for being a voice of sense and reason. I miss France, of course I do and will. But being with my husband is more important and it has to be here for the moment. I would not like to be judged by the politicians in my own land (or France) nor by the extraordinary clown party that has ensued since the vote on Europe in 2016. I would like to be taken at my own face value and I am fully expecting to find lots and lots of face values in this place. What I have been afforded is a huge opportunity to explore and excavate a little of what makes this land tick. And it will be the people I meet along the way that give me some clue, some idea, some opinion. There will be good and there will be less good but boy, it will be an adventure! Keep my place at the table …. I’ll be back in a whisper of a heartbeat and in the meantime there are French tales to tell and tales from this Melting Pot and your brilliant truths to follow too …. how fortunate am I?!
You are indeed fortunate, and I confess to being a wee bit envious of your adventure. As uncomfortable as it can be to distance ourselves from lands we love, the opportunity to observe what happens in the space between is incomparable. Enjoy your adventure ma belle. Your place at the table is assured. xoxo
I will enjoy it …. your words are wise and I hope that this opportunity will make me the wiser and the richer in the true sense of the word. Xoxo
A beautifully entertaining post, Osyth. So you will be able to settle at last? So, now we are both ending our French adventures?
Thank you so much Derrick. I will be settled here for 1-2 years and after that we plan to return to France when HB2 retires. However, I have a history of having to alter direction so for now I am not looking too far ahead and we will see how things unfold over the coming many months. What is great is that we can actually get on with being together without having to look at our metaphoric watches as time ticks away on a snatched 10 days here or a 6 month sabbatical there and that is a wonderful gift. I hope that knee is behaving with due decorum and healing well and that you are more comfortable by the day 😊
Thanks, Osyth. Retirement should help. That is when we finally settled in one place
The Brains does seem to be moving towards the notion that we can retire and settle and in the meantime I am happy to be at his side …. the next move will be the final one wherever it happens to be. Famous last words? I hope not!
Wooohooo! Can’t wait to read bean’s story. Charlie and I wait with baited breath. ☺️👍❤️
She’s entirely blasé about this responsibility so I can only hope she stays on piste!!! 🐾 💕
Lol
Many congrats on finally getting your Green Card and making it to the land of the free. It’s definitely the home of the brave for you after that bureaucratic nightmare, and getting past the Border Patrol. I hope all goes well for you both in your new life as a married couple in the same place, leave alone the same continent. Looking forward to your new series of posts, especially the Bean’s first attempt at blogging. Is that what they call ‘dogging’, or is that something completely different? Enjoy the US xx
I’m in our nation’s Capitol this weekend and having to restrain myself from reliving Jenny’s moment in the lake when she spots Forrest Gump because I fear I might discover it’s not quite that free if I jump in and wade about with flowers in my hair 😉It has been arduous but we got there and now I can embrace the opportunity and really start getting under the skin of at least parts of what makes it tick. A friend of mine wrote to me when he got the news and said ‘great news ….now you can be a force for the good’ and I hope I can in some small way. Your remark about ‘dogging’ make me choke my coffee and reminded me of a time when I had my daughter’s dog for the weekend and she asked how it had gone and I replied ‘oh we’ve had a lovely time …. lots of dogging on the common’ – we were in a public place and she was beyond appalled! Xx
Worth a try, surely? Would make a good blog story, and the grabber in chief is probably on a golf course so you’d be quite safe 😉
I’m glad to have brought back happy memories of your weekend on the common. Hopefully this one will be just as good, though maybe in a different way 😊 xx
Wow Osyth, welcome to the U.S. and I eagerly await your stories along with Bean’s.
Grab all opportunities. I wish you well but will be sad because having you South of me was reassuring somehow. But hopefully your be back and forth. Stay in touch. I am not sure my French will speed on as well as yours has but as I won’t be moving for some time I do have a chance to not insult Marianne too much with my bad turn of phrases!
We intend this to be a somewhat temporary move but I am superstitious, suspicious and super reluctant to assume. Therefore I am just embracing the new and knowing that if we have a next stage it means we are still drawing breath and that surely makes us fortunate. We retain the house in Cantal and always will – surely we are fortunate and have no reason to complain. Your French will come on in its own time. Being in the true France Profonde makes it more difficult but not impossible. Listen to that radio, watch those French movies with no subtitles and let it come in its own time. The gozzies and chookies don’t give a stuff what language you use so long as you love them! X
Happy for your togetherness finally arriving. Sad for your leaving somewhere you obviously love. But somewhere’s are trumped by someones’ – and that is how they should be. Perhaps one day your someone and somewhere will sync in the best possible place for you all – at least that is my hope my friend.
Waiting with bated breath to hear your posts about the weird and wonder of America-land 🙂
*somewhere’s are trumped by someone’s* that is a brilliant and stealable phrase. I am certain that we will find our forever niche and that it will be somewhere we really settle and love. Meantime, the adventure is finally side by side and that is honestly priceless ❤️
Enjoy (I know you will). Together IS priceless.
True love takes us to distant corners of the globe. I’m glad you are settling in and before you know it, time will return you back to your beloved France.Your place at the table will be waiting for you dear Osyth. Xx
Thank you sweet friend … the I feel very privileged to be here and intend to make the very most of it and that becomes easy now that I am with my one true love daily 💕
❤️
I love this post! The best sentence ever is, “The process was as appealing as digging ones own eyeballs out with a spoon.” Ha haaaa! Love it! And I appreciate that Bean is your first blogging guest. My cat, Jakie, has added many random keyboard contributions to my posts and business emails, such as: “pppppp” or “gggggg.” I try my best to catch them all before I hit the “send” button. In any case, I look forward to your French Friday posts.
The Bean is currently limbering up for the take-over. She feels that Jakie shows great promise with those ppppppp ggggggg moments and should be encouraged and not thwarted 😉. Glad you liked that sentence – it fit, believe me, it fit!
Ha haaa!
Though you miss France (only a fool wouldn’t) I must say I’m happy to have you join us on this side of the pond and I’m certain you will do us some good.
But more to the point, I’m terribly happy to find your post in my email again and I’m even more happy I’m nearly all caught up in my emails so was able to read it!
Goodness, that’s a lot of happiness I’m claiming. Maybe I should bring it down a notch? 😉
Nah …. keep riding that happy wave, really I think you must!
I can so imagine the delight of moving to be with your love but the angst of leaving your wonderful home. Let’s hope you can savor all the wonderful things that America has to offer over the next few years and ignore the awfulness of our administration. We have survived worse… May I, as a fully certified native, welcome you to and extended stay in America. K x
Kerry, that is a gorgeous welcome. In terms of the ghastly incumbent of The White House … all things shall pass. I don’t judge this nation on it’s Government any more than I expect to be judged on the frightful mess that is being made in Britain nor did I want to be aligned to M. Hollande when he was in the Lycée Palace so rest assured I shall only be productive and positive when I’m here. And I am SO excited. It was a wrench to leave France but it is far more important that HB2 and I are together and can really celebrate finally our married life together. X
I love a happy ever after story! 🧚♀️
Moi même ❤️
I particularly enjoyed this tale of where your life has taken you and how you came to be over here with us, given our conversation on my blog. I do hope you make it South and share your impressions—it can be a bit overwhelming, so I make no predictions. 🙂
Ellen, I have just read your response to my note on your blog and I will reply to it. We certainly will make it South. Overwhelming it will probably be but I am quite determined to feel it for myself! I am glad you enjoyed the French sojourn. She holds my heart but as another blogger comments someone’s will always trump somewheres and my someone is here!
oh osyth, that sounds so right, so okay (tiny pangs of envy here)
I know how fortunate I am – the I promise I do 🙂
So glad to read this update and know that you and your love will be together for more than the holidays 🙂 I’m also glad you are back in the blogging world, and look forward to all the hitherto untold stories. 🙂
I have started listing all the things I should have written about. Where did that time go? I promise not to squander the time I have ahead because it does feel precious indeed 😊
Heartfelt. Life continues to offer us ‘in glaive’ to cut ourselves with (duel edged sword – I am studying for my naturalisation interview and need to know what Napoleon ate for breakfast etc etc).
So glad that you are keeping the French thread weaving its magic. I look forward to the mulita talented ‘Bean’s’ contributions also.
Gorgeous photo of the bells.
Who knows when you return to ‘La Belle France’ (pun intended) we may have a bedroom for you to stay in……
I am so happy that the stress und uncertainty has been and the three of you can spend some quality time together.
Off to read your next post – as I have been forced to take my foot off the gas by a lovely crop of shingles on my face and the delightful antiviral meds – it is a case of cured of what I’m suffering from and suffering from the cure – now ma soeur, I know you won’t let me down and you will be right back to where I stole that line from……
The crucial fact to remember is that Napoleon had new cashmere culottes delivered weekly to Elba when he was ‘en vacance’ there 😉. I can’t ignore France whilst I’m away and the French Fridays will serve the duel purpose of forcing my hand to regularise my posting and to throw out many of the stories that I have failed to share thus far. The Bean will certainly make more than one appearance. She has much to tell. The bells are in a little village between Murat and Allanche called Sainte Anastasie and are a housed in a particularly pretty Tour à peigne. It was one of my favourite places to walk from when I lived in Cantal. The bedrooms and all the other rooms in your place will spring to beautiful life in good time but in the meantime do recover well from the Shingles which is a horrible and debilitating virus, I know x
I am just sad for you to leave France but fully believe You will return, my dear “Marianne.” 😀 🎶 😂
I am so happy you and your husband will now be fully united.
I liked your dramatic situations including you looking like a full size female Blue 💙 “Gumby” Person!
Love the photos, especially the mountains and the beautiful bells.
Love and hugs xo 💗
One of my readers said ‘somewheres are always trumped by someones’ which says it perfectly.
I’m quite thrilled to be dubbed a full-sized blue girl Gumby!! And those bells are one of my favourite pictures of all time. They sit in what is called a ‘tour à peigne’ or ‘comb tower’ in a village called Sainte Anastasie … I walked from there often and the views above it are absolutely delightful xoxo
I love your reader’s quote, Fiona.
“Somewheres are always trumped by someones.” Beautiful and to the heart of the matter! 💞
You are just so cute in that blue coat and ski pants which made me giggle a little like you could lie down and do snow angels. . . until your hands and feet were freezing like my children did when they were young once. 💙
I could have done a snow angel in winter for sure. That day it would have been a mud angel because it was pretty soggy underfoot! Children with rosy cheeks and glowing noses freezing their little hands and feet in the snow are one of my favourite things 🙂 xx
Oh, you know I blog on a phone so maybe I may have missed the mud! Thank you for “going with me” on what I visualized! ❄️ 🌬️ 🌫️ Love ya, Fiona! 💙
Great post Osyth. I am so glad that you finally got thru all the bureaucracy and patience to wait out the process of getting your green card to finally live in the United States with your hubby and The Bean. The USA is blessed to finally have you here. We need more wonderful people like you ! Welcome home! Luv Gary
Oh Gary! What a lovely welcome. It is home. And I am going to do my little bit to try and work for the greater good. We got back from DC last night and My Green Card and my Social Security Card were waiting in the mailbox. Finally I really do feel I am real! Take good care and I hope that your week away was wonderful x
One of my all time favorite songs.
The pictures and the words are perfect, as always.
Mine too. The wisest remark anyone has made in this commentary is that ‘somewheres are always trumped by someones’ – this place is beautiful because I am with the write someone and France, though she will always be in my heart, is not the only place I can be happy 😊
French Friday sounds like fun!! I hope you are doing well! Lovely photos of you!
Just so many untold stories it seemed a shame not to share them, it might give me some discipline in this blogging lark (!) and it keeps me a little connected to France. That was the theory at least – let’s see what happens!!! xoxo
Haha you are so much fun xoxo
I try to be …. don’t always succeed but I do try!! xoxoxo
xoxoxoxo
Oh that’s lovely news for you Osyth, so pleased you’re together with your beloved 🙂 I love your photo’s, especially the bell one. Good luck in the US Osyth, happiness to you both x
Thank you so much Sam. I was a nervous wreck from October when the phone call came until April 25th when I walked out of the interview room at Logan. Convinced I was going to do something stupid and be banned for life. That bell picture is one of my all time favourites …. it was taken in a little village called Sainte Anastasie in Cantal and I often hiked from there with The Bean and sometimes with the husband! X
Oh and The fabulous Bean too 🙂 x
The pug-loving Bean that she is!! X
A great read Osyth, which had me wondering seeing you in those dark glasses after your startled eyes if you had indeed dug your eyeballs with a spoon. I’m assuming not 🙂
Haha! Good point. Not. You will be relieved (I hope), to hear! Thank you for your kind words and for making me giggle 🙂