The Week Before it all Begins

We are getting ready to leave for the summer - ten more days and we will be in France to host our annual Chateau Getaway.  This summer we will be meeting up with three groups of women - all who come for a week each to live in the rural countryside of Southern France.  After a handful of years organizing this retreat, we have gotten pretty good at "the week before it all begins." Friends and family think we go over early to just sit around, eat in the cafes and drink the local wine - au contraire! Here is just a peek into some of the chores we do the week before our Chateau Getaway begins...

We stop to try out interesting looking chairs

We get lost in some of the tiny villages

We always stop to pat the local cats

And who can resist a snuggle with the local goats

We try to communicate with the local farmers

We follow any and all vide grenier signs hoping to find gold

We meet interesting dealers that collect interesting things

We fill our car up with everything we can fit in it

We taste all of the local delicacies 

We fall in love with the French dogs

We eat way too much fresh bread

We stop again and again for the hunt

And, we knock on doors of old houses, just to get a peek inside

So you see, it's all in the name of research and development!  It's hard work, but somebody's go to do it!