How to live a simpler life? Slower? More Zen-like? In a place with good food and wine and lots of sunshine?
So we went on a quest. We spent time in Italy, visited Spain, Portugal, Costa Rica, Ecuador. But for one reason or another, we decided against these interesting places.
So, where to retire and live a simpler life? Slower, more Zen-like?
We came up with an answer:
We moved to a tiny French village, my prince and I. We found it after we visited friends in the south of France and decided to spend some time scouting out the area where they lived.
So this is what happened:
We bought a house, a car, and conquered the necessary bureaucratic paperwork. Then we decided to do some renovation to “refresh” our small house. Break out a little wall, put in a new shower, some new tiles, a new floor, rip off the ugly wall paper. You know how it goes.
What were we thinking?
The pounding, the hammering, the sawing, the noise! Where was the peace? The quiet? The house was covered in dust. We had a rotten wall, a leaky roof, mystery wires, dead switches. Oh, the work! Fortunately we had help.
We cleaned the house to get ready for the event. The dust from breaking down the interior wall and sanding down endless wallboard was everywhere– in every nook and cranny. We swept and mopped and sweated.
What were we thinking?
What had happened to the relaxing life I had envisioned? Sitting by the pool? Sipping a glass of rosé. Reading a book?
In preparation for the party, we visited several local wineries and taste-tested various wines. This is a lovely way to spend a little time here or there, and it’s what we do on occasion. It puts me right into a Zen-like mood. Okay, maybe not Zen-like, but something like it.
Then I set about fixing appetizers. I bought goat cheese, made my own wild fig preserves, baked blue-cheese crackers, made hummus, cut cantaloupe cubes and stuck twirls of prosciutto on them, and so on and so forth. No air-conditioning in the house, so I sweated and suffered.
What was I thinking?
I was a wreck. What if they all showed up? All 15 of them? Would they bring the kids? Our French was minimal. We often hadn’t a clue what people were saying to us. What were we going to do with 15 French-speaking people in our house?
I closed my eyes and tried to breathe a calming, Zen-like breath.
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I would love to retire to Europe, I spent some time in Italy and loved it. Definitely gonna check out France next, I bet the food is even better there. I can't wait to taste it!
This is a very funny post! Hope you've managed to recover and sounds like a great party you threw! At least, after such a fab soiree you can be assured of invites to others meaning you finally can enjoy the slow life!