Deciding to move to France was kind of the easy part.

I had already fallen in love with the culture, people, food, art which you can read all about in exquisite detail in the Falling in Love with France post. I was already dreaming about life there, and visiting every chance I had. Okay, convincing Neal that it was the best decision wasn’t easy. Pas du tout. But once he decided retirement was possible if (and only if) we moved to France…voila!

Me and my sister Stacy visiting Bordeaux, France.

My natural organizational brain kicked in immediately after the decision was made and I started creating a project plan, checklists, timelines… that was the part that I thought would be hard - the logistics. There is really so much to think about when you’re relocating your entire life to another country.

Things like…

Drivers license - does the state we live in have reciprocity with France? If not, are we OK trying to take the test (written and driving 😮) or do we want to get a drivers license in another state before we leave?
What are the taxes like in the state we are leaving, and will we have to continue paying them once we leave?
What do we bring with us and what do we sell, donate, trash?
How do we get our sweet princess dog on a plane and into France with the least amount of stress for all of us as possible?
How do I get a husband who hates to fly on a plane and into France with the least amount of stress for all of us as possible?
Where exactly do we move to in France?
Do we buy or rent?
Will we need a car there?
How the heck do we learn the language that we’ve been working on for years and don’t seem to be mastering?

And of course this isn’t a comprehensive list. Just a sample. So you can see just how many things start running through one’s mind when the idea of moving to France becomes a plan.

Note: if you are also considering or in the process of a move to France and need some detailed information, do I have the resource for you! There is a fantastic YouTube channel - Baguette Bound - created by a U.S. couple who moved to France, who will answer any question you could possibly have.

Now that we are toward the end of that list, looking back I certainly wouldn’t say it was easy - far from it. It was stressful, and time consuming, and often kept me up at night.

Getting rid of stuff before we sold our home in Sacramento.

But what I wasn’t anticipating was what came after the list.

As we were preparing for our final departure from Sacramento, I was expecting to feel relieved, excited - even ecstatic. But what was seeping in…was sadness.

Let me clarify a little something before I continue. I never really connected to Sacramento. We lived there for about 9 years, and settled into our house, our neighborhood. But the city and the area? We just didn’t feel it for some reason. It was fine - Sacramento was good to us. But we really weren’t that sad to leave it.

And the United States is a hot mess right now. I’m disgusted and embarrassed to even say I live here. I have absolutely zero connection with the country of which I am a citizen.

Leaving should be easy. Or so we thought…

And then came Neal's goodbye work gatherings. Where they told him how wonderful he was, how much they’ll miss him. And both of us got a little weepy. I know he’s been looking forward to not having his super stressful job for a very long time. But saying goodbye? It’s so much harder than we thought it would be!

Friends who have promised to come visit me in France - I mean I’m going to see them again, right? But the tears flowed. Saying goodbye is just freaking hard!

And now we have made it across the country, from California to Texas to Michigan to North Carolina. As we left most states, I would think “thank god I’ll never have to step foot in that state again!”

But saying goodbye to family has been quite the emotional journey for both of us.

I know what we’re doing is right for our family, and we are both really excited about what our new life holds. But that doesn’t make it easy to leave behind people we care about. Leaving them means we won’t see them as often, and it also means leaving them with the mess of this country - to fight alone.

I won’t deny that I have some guilt around leaving too. Guilt that I get to escape what’s happening and start a new life in a better place. And they are stuck here.

Maggie looking out of a hotel window — We have another couple of weeks before we fly to Paris, where we’ll pick up our car and drive to Cognac.
We have just a few items left on our list, one of which is to get Maggie’s pet health certificate - which is a biggie. It has to be issued within 10 days of arriving in France, so we’re counting on the veterinarian and the USDA to make that happen.

And then the final goodbyes to my family - which I am not looking forward to. I know they’ll come visit, and I’ll know I’ll come back here to visit. But this goodbye still feels like a big one.

Now that we are soooo close, am I feeling more excited?

Funny enough, not really. Neither one of us are. We both have said that it just doesn’t seem real yet. It feels like a really long vacation, and at some point we’re going back home. And we are - but that home is in Cognac, France. Not Sacramento.

We’re both smart people. We know we’re moving to France. I mean we bought a house there for cripes sake. But “normal” life keeps happening here, and the transition has been so long that reality is having a hard time creeping in.

I also think we’re both dreading the actual plane ride over there. Flying with a scared dog and anxious husband is definitely not something I’m looking forward to.

I think I’ll finally be really really over-the-moon excited about our new adventure when I’m sitting in my seat on the plane, with a glass of champagne in hand. I’ll toast with myself (my husband will hopefully be passed out from his medication) and tell myself “Félicitations, nous avons réussi ! France, nous voilà !” “Congratulations, we did it! France, here we come!”