Sixteen weeks to the day and our 101 items/boxes arrived in France yesterday.
Once they loaded all our individual boxes and items into the two big wood transport boxes in Aptos and we waved bye-bye to all our goodies on July 8, we just had to be patient.
They notified us that our shipment arrived at the port in England on September 23. Then customs sent through some questions about our contents on October 1, which I promptly answered, and we got our Customs Clearance the next day.
I then provided detailed delivery information for the European delivery team, such as parking, road conditions to the house, and detailed map instructions. They contacted us a couple weeks ago to schedule the delivery date for the truck from England. It was to be an 18 meter long, 2.5 meter wide, and 4 meter high tractor trailer. Oh dear! There is one really tight hairpin turn to our rental, but there was a longer alternate route we could send them. Then we started looking at the driveway. All the walnut trees have grown across the driveway to the house and there was rarely four meters of clearance. Damn.
So we had the transport company rent a van and they were to offload our things onto the van for delivery. Thankfully, our wonderful landlords here are letting us keep our boxes in the second gîte on the property. The delivery guys called yesterday morning and said they were running late, but we got worried when it started to get dark. They finally made it at 6:30. The good news is, they made it, and everything looked to be in amazingly good shape. The bad news is, they didn’t have room for everything in one van load, and they had rented the van (parked the semi) an hour away. So off they went for the last 7 boxes. Got those unloaded around 11 pm, did the paperwork, made the guys a cup of coffee and off they went to retrieve their truck.
We are so happy to have our winter shoes and heavier coats, now that fall is upon us. Just in time! We just unpacked the few boxes that had clothing in them and we’ll keep the rest closed until we move everything into our permanent house.
While we were pulling our clothes, our doggies were off having some fun in the orchard. Filthy feet and mud on their mugs up to their shoulders!
Yay!!!! Curious to know what the pups thought about all those Aptos smells arriving in France…..
Funny you should ask. I thought they would go bonkers, but they didn’t really care. I purposefully didn’t wash our “bear blankies” (the heavy furry ones from Costco), because I knew I’d want to wash them after their arrival, but the dogs didn’t even sniff them! I guess this is their home now. But I must admit that I quite enjoyed being wrapped in one on the sofa last night!!! 😀
So nice you got your stuff, and now you can be cozy for the fall. Sounds like another adventure gone well!
Exactly. I’m so relieved. Of course, the proof of my packing skills will be in UNPACKING of the fragiles. Although all those years of packing staging crap prepared me fairly well. I’m not expecting any surprises, but time will tell. I’m most happy to have my waterproof hiking shoes and my warmer exercise jackets. The rest of the stuff, nyeh…
So other than the clothes, did you miss everything? Susan and I are debating just unloading a mess of everything and seeing if we miss it?
Glad the dogs are doing their thing in a foreign land!
Miss you guys!
Absolutely not! Most of what we brought with us were the ‘little things.’ Our huge collection of books (even though we purged a bit), knick-knacks that will help the house feel familiar once we get settled, family heirlooms that we like, and a few piece of loved art. We’ve joked over the last months that even if the ship were to sink, we would probably rejoice!
I highly recommend just loading up those mystery boxes of crap that you haven’t opened in a while and dumping them. I guarantee you won’t miss what’s in them. And we did plenty of that as well.
I will say, though, that I’m regretting not bringing a few beloved items with us. And if the world were a perfect place, I would have chosen the house, then gone back to America to shop for furniture, as the pickins are really thin over here! Go figure!
Hope you guys are great! Miss you. And happy purging!!!
We have been glued to our TV for hours and are so sorry for the devastation in Paris — in your new country. So relieved that you were able to make your move when you did and that you are safe and secure in your lovely countryside and beautiful, unique new digs. Love Cindy’s portrait of your adventures and waiting for more updates!
Love from Bob & Maureen”