Our first visit to La Cite was quite an experience . . . and we still haven’t made it past the second wall! La Cite is a double-walled fortress here in Carcassonne and it is quite magnificent. It sits atop a hillside east of our apartment across the Pont Vieux (old bridge). The walls are well over three feet thick and dwarf anyone standing near them. It doesn’t take long for you to start imagining yourself as the leader of an army attempting to gain entry into this fortress.
La Cite has over 3 kilometers of outer wall, nearly 1.6 miles, and we wandered through approx. 500 yards in all on this first visit. We headed over from our apartment about 20 minutes before sunset and approached the avenue that goes up the hill to one of the entrances between the two outer walls. From our vantage point we could see seven of the 52 towers on the outer walls.
The wall was built over centuries and it is apparent even with this first visit that the architecture of the times changed throughout the building process. We noted both romanesque and gothic arches built within a space of a few feet of one another. Overall the outer wall appears very romanesque in design which makes sense since most of the walls were built over the original Roman foundations from approx. 100 BC.
The colors are amazing in the early evening, the sky is very, very blue and the grassy hillside is very, very green which gives La Cite an almost cartoonish feel of color, especially in photographs.
While we were exploring we met a group of people on their way to the round tower to the left of area we were exploring and on our way back home, we noted there were flames and fire spinning and drumming happening in that open turret.
Not a bad first experience.
View of one of the towers through the Gothic arch.
Steep cobblestone path to the first outer wall.
Lower arm of the outer wall, part of the original entranceway into La Cite.
We are under the 24 hour mark and have successfully moved out of the apartment and into the hotel. Props to the Quality Inn at Virginia and Plumb for being dog-friendly and having a wonderful outdoor space for Kiara to soak up some sun and nibble on cherry-blossoms (they must taste great!)
We have repacked our luggage . . . yet again, and successfully managed to fit everything into two checked bags and two carry-on bags (well one carry-on and Kiara for me!).
We have downloaded the Delta app and logged in for updates/changes to our flight itinerary, but decided to do the check-in in person since we have luggage and the dog to check-in tomorrow morning.
But we are READY, very ready, and the nice spring day is making it all the more difficult to deal with the anticipation. Just a few more hours Reno and then we’ll on our way to Carcassonne and a brand-new adventure!
This is our last State-side post friends, the next one will be live after we settle into our new place.
“How are you flying to Europe with Kiara?” “Is there a quarantine on arrival?” “Can she fly in the cabin or does she have to go in the hold?”
Getting ready to fly to Europe with Kiara the Chihuahua has been a challenge. Lots of research to find the right way to bring a pet to Europe.
First, there are a limited number of international airlines that allow pets to fly in the cabin. We want Kiara to fly in the cabin with us. Flying is stressful enough for dogs and there are all sort of horror stories about pets flying in the cargo holds of aircrafts. Over Saint Patrick’s Day this year, a dog that was enroute from Newark to Phoenix was accidentally shipped to Ireland. We decided on Delta as our airline choice for this trip.
In order to be allowed in the cabin, pets are limited to a maximum weight of 9 to 20 pounds depending on the airline. Kiara is only 2 and a half pounds so we had lots of leeway. Pug-nosed (brachycephalic) cats and dogs are not allowed to fly because of their high incident of in-flight deaths.
There are a limited number of pets allowed in the cabin depending on the aircraft. Most commonly the limit is two pets in first class, two pets in business class, and a maximum of four in economy. Delta no longer allows pets in first or business class on international flights. We had to make a reservation for Kiara early to ensure a spot for her. We pay an extra $200 fare for Kiara to fly in the cabin.
The dog carrier must be an approved model that is leak-proof, ventilated, and able to fit under the seat. Tracy loses her carry-on “personal item” to bring Kiara’s in-cabin carrier.
Kiara has a seizure disorder and takes two anticonvulsant medications every twelve hours. We have a TSA approved cooler pouch for her meds. We will have to give a her a dose of medicine while enroute.
Finally, there is all the required paperwork to take a pet abroad. In order to avoid having Kiara quarantined on arrival in the European Union, there is a specific process to get a United States Interstate and International Certificate of Health Examination for Small Animals” from the US Department of Agriculture. (Seriously, exporting dogs internationally comes under the jurisdiction of the US Department of Agriculture.) The airlines requires a final health clearance be performed no more than ten days before arrive in Europe.
So last Friday Kiara had a complete veterinary exam from her own veterinarian (who must be USDA accredited) with boosters for all vaccinations and a rabies inoculation “at least 30 days before travel but not more than 12 months” with a rabies certificate issued. The doctor completed the forms in both English and French and faxed the paperwork to the USDA office for preliminary review. Our nearest USDA office is in Sacramento, California. We then waited until our veterinarian telephoned us back Friday afternoon to tell us the paperwork looked good to the USDA and we can pick up the original forms from Kiara’s vet’s office.
Today we took a four-hour road trip to Sacramento and back to visit the USDA to get Kiara’s health paperwork certified. USDA-Sacramento was friendly, helpful, and it only took the USDA’s veterinarian about 20 minutes sign off, stamp, and certify the paperwork. We believe we are now ready for Kiara to join us on the airplane on Sunday.
Fingers crossed that all the research and work pays off on Sunday.
We are rushing toward our departure date and frantically working on our final minimizing with 29 days to go.
We needed to sell our last remaining car. We really wanted to have that major “loose end” completed with the car sold with registration and insurance cancelled before we leave. In addition to listing the car on Cars.com and Craigslist, the Mercedes-Benz/Smart Car dealership’s very helpful representative, Emily, had previously sent an e-mail about their Buy-Back program. Apparently it is difficult to maintain Smart cars in their used car inventory since the owners hate to part with them. A road trip to the Mercedes dealership in Sacramento resulted in a sold car.
For the first time since 1973, I am without a vehicle. I really enjoyed the Smart car over the last four years. The weather over the last week was pleasant enough to have the ragtop down. I so understand now how Tracy felt after she sold her convertible. After years of used minivans, station wagons, and SUVs, it was a real pleasure to have cars we enjoyed driving every day. Tracy and I are now totally pedestrians. We will sparingly rent a car or use the bus for our remaining transportation needs.
In between working and running errands this week we had the pleasure of granddaughter Lorelei visiting from Utah. Although Lorelei was fighting an illness we did get some time for games and trip to the park.
Alan and the Smart car with the top down.
Alan behind the wheel of the Smart car with the top down.
Granddaughter Lorelei, Tracy, and Kiara walking to the park.
As our countdown gets below 40 days until we depart, we keep finding there is still more and more tasks to get done. We made a quick drive over to San Martin, California to see Tracy’s Aunt Debbie and Uncle Gerry.
We delivered some family heirlooms Tracy received from her grandfather, Deb’s father. With our efforts with minimizing possessions, we have been distributing keepsakes to family members before we go. Tracy brought photos, papers, memorabilia collector money, and a family Bible from her grandfather that she thought should go back to her Aunt Deb. We also asked Deb to keep a three-inch binder of legal documents for us: certified birth certificates, marriage and divorce paperwork, baptismal certificates, etc. We are bringing a smaller zippered binder with us to Europe with our essential legal documents. Debbie is kind enough to hold our extended paperwork collection should we need any additional documents while abroad. Deb would be able to send needed documents by DHL when and if the need occurs.
We were able to squeeze in a hike in at Uvas Canyon County Park and Waterfalls. Deb and Mac the dog guided Tracy, Kiara, and me through the green, lush park. Great hiking trail with scenic bridges, flowing streams, multiple waterfalls, and quiet pools. One of those amazing “pocket parks” tucked away unexpectedly at the end of a county road.
The next day we drove to Carmel-by-the-Sea. Carmel is a favorite locale of ours and the visit let “California Girl” Tracy see the Pacific Ocean a final time before we relocate. It was a beautiful day walking along the beach, watching the waves, looking up at Pebble Beach golf course, and a picnic lunch. Dog-friendly Carmel welcomed Kiara to have her first visit to the ocean and opportunity to walk along the beach.
On our way back home we discussed the logistics of travelling with eight bags and whether or not we needed to rent a car in Toulouse in order to transport it all to Carcassonne. We decided we could minimize our luggage still further from our first practice run packing our luggage. We believe we could lighten the load from a three bedroom house to luggage still more.
We repacked our bags using our first packing list. We started this time with eight bags weighing a total of 270 pounds. We then unpacked and split the contents into “must have,” “maybe,” and “eliminate” piles. It wasn’t just the idea that extra bags cost progressively more, it was the realization of the work and potential frustration trying to move eight bags with only two arms each. We considered the cost of replacement versus the cost for items compared to re-buying the item in France, the necessity of having the item in the first place, and the frequency of use for the item. Could we justify a $100 for an extra bag, $285 for a third or fourth bag? Could we justify having rent a vehicle to transport luggage rather than just using public transportation? Would the replacement of an item be difficult or extremely costly in France?
Immediately we reconsidered the books we slated to bring. We are “book people” and wanted art, history, and language references to come with us, but you just don’t realize the weight of a stack of books. We had already gone digital with Kindles for our recreational reading, so we reduced the number of physical books to just a few art books. We decided to scan and digitize the remaining books into PDF files we could upload to our computers and Kindles.
We further eliminated packing materials, a few clothing items, some carry bags, decorator items, and an additional “back-up” camera. We decided to pass some additional keepsake items on to the kids. I replaced my previous carry-on bag with the maximum size possible carry-on bag. We re-shuffled and re-organized the contents from eight bags down to six bags weighing 200 pounds total: a single checked bag and a carry-on bag each, with a camera bag for me, and Kiara’s carrier for Tracy.
The final results was that we eliminated two checked duffel bags and 70 pounds from our initial packing practice. Tracy is already talking about a third trial run to maybe eliminate still more.
Bridge in Uvas Canyon County Park, California
Tracy and Debbie with Kiara and Mac in Uvas Canyon County Park, California
Waterfall in Uvas Canyon County Park, California
Alan and Tracy on a bridge in Uvas Canyon County Park, California
Tracy, Debbie, Gerry, and Kiara on Carmel City Beach, California
Carmel City Beach, California
Tracy on Carmel City Beach, California
Carmel River State Park, California
Tracy and Alan’s six bags from their second trial run packing.
In our family, Super Bowl is a non-traditional holiday that combines football, food, funny TV commercials, good-natured “smack talking” between team fans, and general family fun. Even the kids that didn’t like football liked the annual Super Bowl party. This year we hosted our last family Super Bowl event and were lucky to have at least some of the adult kids and their significant others join us, Nick, Adam and his fiance’ Liz, and Casey with his girlfriend Nicole. Sarah had another commitment and Danielle, Tyler, Dirk, and Dallas are all out-of-state. It was a great time with kids that could make it and those participating via text messages. We had former University of Nevada – Reno quarterback Colin Kaepernick starting for the 49ers so he and his team as our hometown favorite had all of us (a first for our family) cheering for the 49ers. The kids followed Kaepernick from his first start to his last with UNR with season tickets and/or UNR v. UNLV games.
Tracy and I had made up a buffet of meats, cheeses, veggies, soft drinks, and craft beers. Lots of visiting, laughs, cheering, and Kiara received lots of attention. Kiara, however, is not a fan of football or Super Bowl. We loved the pre-game performance with Jennifer Hudson and Alicia Keyes and made fun of Beyonce’s fetish outfits at half time. Though a dramatic and close game right to the end, the Ravens won 34 – 31, a bittersweet ending to our last Super Bowl party, but we really enjoyed it all the same. Special thanks to Dallas for being our official Ref [as in reference for rules of play] there was a bit of discussion about a play involving a player falling with the ball, getting up and running it again that ended with a text message to Dallas for the official ruling.
The following Tuesday (which continued into Wednesday) we held our “pre-flight” check. A trial run of the luggage/items moving abroad with us. We have minimized from a three bedroom house into a one bedroom apartment and now into eight bags. We will be carrying one carry-one bag each, one personal item each (a camera bag for me and Kiara’s carrier for Tracy). Our checked baggage will be one suitcase and one duffel bag each. We are limited to 50 pounds per checked bag. The first checked bag is free, a second bag is an additional $100, a third checked bag and any subsequent bag is $285. A bag over 50 pounds has an additional $100 penalty with a maximum limit of 70 pounds per bag. We opted for a second bag each (at the $100 rate) and to limit our bags to 45 pounds or as close to it as possible. It was surprisingly difficult to equally distribute the weight to be at our prescribed limits. Most of which entailed packing the bag, securing its contents, weighing the bag, unpacking the bag, repacking the bag and weighing it again, and again, and again. What we thought would be a few hours turned into most of the day and part of the next. After several hours of lifting and checking the weight of the bags the decisions to discard some items became easier and easier and easier.
To make certain that our actual packing day runs smoothly, we created a database, cataloged and photographed not only each piece of luggage but each packing cube contained within the luggage so that we know exactly how each bag was packed and where each item was inside the bag. Approximately 50 percent of each of the bags are still packed and our database notes which items have been removed for use through the end of March. The idea was to know exactly what had to go back into each bag so that the next time around it is done easily and quickly.
Tracy and I previously made a decision to travel with only two checked bag. Our plan is to move and live in a different city every year or so. We want to be able to travel light, especially with our intention to use public transportation and not own a car. Our packing trial run forced us to make some final decisions to lighten our load. We each packed a week and a day of clothes; eight complete wardrobe selections, two pairs of shoes, jackets, scarfs, and hats. Since we decided to make use of furnished apartments we packed very few household, picnic, and home office items. We have Kiara’s flight carrier, playpen, bed, chest carrier, harness and leash, and her wardrobe and blankets (hairless micro-dogs get cold easily.) We packed a few essential hard copy books, but for the most part we have gone digital for reading and reference.
Our biggest indulgence is technology. MacBooks for each of us, a PC netbook for me and a iPad for Tracy, multiple external hard drives, a principle camera and a compact waterproof camera for both of us, GPS unit, a Doxi portable scanner, Kindles for each of us, and finally personal iPods. Photography is our principle recreation and method of sharing our travels, we need the computers to communicate with family back home and to keep learning languages, the GPS with a pedestrian option to help us find our way despite lack of language skills, and iPods and Kindles for recreation and language studies.
Our luggage is meant to nest and store inside one another for compact storage after arrival and for use on future road trips around Europe. Amazingly, over the last 18 months we have managed to reduce our personal possessions from filling a 3-bedroom house to two large and two small bags each with a total weight of 270 pounds.
Enjoying the Super Bowl. Liz, Adam, Nicole, Casey, and Nick.
Liz, Adam, Tracy, Alan, Nick, Nicole, and Casey after the Super Bowl
Trial run with luggage: Two suitcases, two duffle bags, two carry-ons, camera bag, and Kiara in her carrier.
First milestone: Wow. Over the last 18 months we downsized, minimized, donated, gave away, and trashed in order to move from the house into our current one bedroom apartment. Over the next 60 days we will be minimizing still further from the apartment eventually into two suitcases each. Over the last two weeks Tracy has scanned, edited, and uploaded about 7,000 hard-copy photos; snap shots, wallet-sized, Polaroids, 3X5’s, 4X6’s, 5X7’s, 8X10’s, and 10X13’s. I’ve uploaded dozens and dozens of digital photo files from CD’s and DVD’s onto a one terabyte external hard drive. Add to that work scanning all the legal documents that we may need that doesn’t require the actual “hard copies”. The scanning ended up being a huge project to complete. We loved taking photos of the kids when they were growing up. Now we are delivering and mailing the photos and other family memorabilia to the adult kids.
Second milestone: The semester started today at the college today. For the first time in twenty-three years I’m not teaching either full-time or part-time at TMCC.
Third milestone: My first pension check from the Nevada Public Employees Retirement System (NV PERS) arrived today. After 32 years of public service in law enforcement and teaching I am retired.
Tracy scanning and editing family photos.
Scanning family photos,
The “Hard Copy” photos for the kids after scanning.
In our journey towards living abroad we have done years worth of research and planning and decision-making and dreaming. Our dream of living in Italy was recently squashed by the Italian Consulate when after months of requesting additional documents and having to delay our original departure date we are still without a visa.
However, we are resilient as only the parents of eight children can be. When Plan A falls apart, Plan B moves to the Plan A spot and becomes a completely suitable replacement without regret. So our Plan B location was next on our visa application checklist. We found another apartment, with a totally awesome landlord – who speaks English – and went online and requested a visa appointment. This time we lucked out and the location of the consulate was in San Francisco.
So on January 2, we made the 4 hour trip to one of our favorite cities in the world, parked the car near Grant Street, located the Consulate for our meeting later in the day, had a delightful lunch at John’s Grill [where Dashiell Hammet wrote the “Maltese Falcon”], took a stroll through the Westfield Mall and all of our favorite SF stores – many of which were still decorated for the holidays – and eventually headed over to Kearny Street for our meeting.
We arrived on time at 88 Kearny Street and rode the elevator to the 6th floor and waited outside the locked door for another 10 minutes until a young man in a security uniform came and opened the door and had us go through the security screening and then on to the waiting room.
We didn’t have to wait long before a very nice young woman called us to the counter and asked for our documents. We handed her the entire collection as specified on the Consulate Website and in the order requested. She gave us a big smile when she noted that we were retirees and finished going through the stack of paper. We then signed the applications in front of her, got our fingerprints scanned into her computer system, had our photos taken and were told that we would have an answer in 7 to 10 business days.
So we headed back to the car and drove home thinking that at least the process was faster and better organized than our experience at the Italian Consulate in LA.
Saturday (three days after our mid-week trek to California) we get a “We tried to deliver” notice from the post office. Making the assumption that there wasn’t enough time to get the actual visa we believed we would be receiving a request for additional documentation, similar to our experience with the Italian Consulate. Today Alan headed to the post office and called me from the car to let me know that our visa was approved and that we would be spending the next year speaking French.
As our new Plan A, Carcassonne France will be our home for the next year, with the option to renew if we decide to stay there a bit longer. Carcassonne is in the Langedoc-Rousillon region of southern France about 40 minutes from the French Riviera, Nice, Cannes, and Provence.
Carcassonne is divided into two main parts: the Cité de Carcassonne, a medieval fortress settlement with a history that exceeds two and a half thousand years. Picturesque fortifications with over 3 km of walls with 52 towers, (Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves was partly shot here) and the town centre, known as the ville basse (literally ‘lower city’), where the other sights and hotels are located. Our second floor apartment is in this area.
The two areas are separated by the Canal du Midi, a canal built in 1666 to connect the Atlantic and Mediterranean Oceans shortening shipping time from one month to one week. Both the Canal du Midi and the medieval fortress are listed as UNESCO World Heritage sites.
All in all, our plan to retire abroad has been a work in progress for quite a while from choices in South America (Belize, Panama, Costa Rica) to Florence, Italy to our new destination,. We are delighted with our new Plan A and expect to spend the next year enjoying our new city and doing a wee bit of sightseeing which we fully expect to share with all of you!
On Saturday, October 13, we attended the UNR vs UNLV football game with some of the kids – Dirk, Trey, Nick, Casey, Nicole, Tina (Nicole’s Mom), and grandchildren Carter and Avery. We had a fantastic time although most of us ended up with pink faces due to the great weather and Las Vegas sun! Avery and Carter enjoyed seeing “The Uncles” as the group of sons came to be called by everyone.
UNR didn’t handle the first half of the game very well and we were a bit worried that our last State Rivalry game would not end well. Thankfully our beloved Wolf Pack pulled it together in the second half and won the game! The two bands had a post-game play-off of their own when a spontaneous “Battle of the Bands” occurred as the two bands left the field. Grandchildren danced as UNR played the instrumental version of “Call Me Maybe.”
We celebrated with the family with drinks in the Stratosphere tower and dinner at the buffet with Tyler in attendance after a day of drill with his Marine Reserve unit.
Our stay at the Stratosphere was fun and the rooms were pleasant, the food was good, the company fun and the trip memorable.
A few of the kids couldn’t make it to the game and they were missed, but duty calls in all sorts of ways – Guard drill, Saturday classes, caring for tiny babies – and those who were not with us in person were with us in spirit. Some were even getting text updates on the game!
All in all, a great weekend, a good game and fantastic company for our last Rivalry game – who could ask for more?
The Uncles watch the Battle of the Bands in a post-game show during UNRs Victory Dance.
An Italian Point Of View 