Vroom Droom Adventures

 Dear Family and Friends, A holiday note from the Vroom Family which I am writing in Lisbon, Portugal! Recently, we welcomed Anika for a week in Maureillas Las Illas, France (where Herman and I have been house sitting since October). Anika started a trip journal on Polarsteps and has a lively account of what we have been doing along with pictures. If you are at all interested in some armchair travel, I encourage you to log into Polarsteps (link below) to view photos and stories of the past week and our upcoming two week trip in Portugal. As I write this, we are anxiously awaiting Nina's arrival from the Netherlands, her flight having been delayed just over three hours. We are all looking forward to the holidays together but of course miss having Tessa and Delaney along for the adventure. They will be celebrating Christmas and the New Year with the rest of the Garfield clan. Polarsteps: follow Anika on our trip ‘Winter Vacation 2023’ at https://www.polarsteps.com/ AnikaVroom/9733673

It has been a long while since I wrote a post. If you are interested in filling in the big gap in what we have been keeping busy with since April 2023 (embarrassingly the last time I wrote blog entry), you can always check out our PolarSteps account and read about our 20 day trip from the Netherlands to where we are now in southeast corner of France 20 minutes drove from the Spanish border. Where we are living until the end of February Follow us on our trip ‘Maureillas las Illas’ at https://www.polarsteps.com/ ElizabethVroom/8996147- maureillas-las-illas?s= 25e3810a-14bb-4d3e-a069- cbc380c6aa9e It was a busy summer of visiting family and friends, spending time with my father and sister in Portland and generally enjoying the great weather of the Pacific Northwest. We returned to The Netherlands in September and stayed just over a month catching up with friends and family we had not seen for a while. As usual, we trimmed the hedge and finished some maintenance at Herman's mother'

Because it is easiest to update our travels while on the move using the Polarsteps App, please follow us on our trip Leaving Chateau du Mont ‘Leaving Normandy - Pyrénées Bound!’ at https://www.polarsteps.com/ ElizabethVroom/7107647- leaving-normandy-pyrenees- bound?s=5e32c1d2-0ea8-4eca- b251-8edba8bbdab0 You must choose to check the Polarsteps App for updates. Check on our progress when and as you please, or not at all - your choice.  Tentative summer plan...so far, so good... April 11, 2023: We are writing this during one of the last days as chateau guardians in Normandy. At this point our plans are to head south in our trusty old camper "SAM" along the Atlantic coast, then turn inland to spend some time with our friends from last year's chateau-sit an hour from Toulouse. The rest of the month of May we plan to explore the Pyrenees: camping, hiking and biking followed by a slow trip back up to The Netherlands. May 30th (memorial day and the same day Herman's

I am continually reminded how lucky we are to be living in this current Nomadic way. On my birthday, we had a wonderful day celebrating with the Rislepattes, our french walking group. There are over 40 members in the group and although we are not the youngest, we are the newest and only non French recruits. There are several walkers who have taken to calling us "Les jeunes" or the "young ones!" This is hysterical to us; as we are definitely not feeling as young as we used to be (I just turned 57 and Herman will be 60 this summer). The walking group had a special anniversary lunch after Sunday's 10 km walk which happened to fall on my birthday! It was a terrific way to celebrate. There was a 4 course meal at a local restaurant. I couldn't possibly eat all that was served, but the meal ended with a special frangipane cake which is eaten in France throughout January called the galette des rois (literally "the cake of the kings").  We conti

In Normandy it only rains at night! - Common joke in Normandy Dear Friends and Family, A glance back at last year's letter makes me realize how many lovely adventures we experienced during 2022, Our life as nomads continues... Currently we live in a fairy tale, thatched roof cottage on the extensive grounds of the estate of Chateau Du Mont in Normandy. Those birds and mice you see in Disney's Snow White truly exist! They live under the deep eves and the thatch of the roof. Since our arrival in October we have joined a local walking group with over 40 regular members. This group has helped us enormously with continuing to grow our French language skills, exploring the nearby hills and woods, providing a social network, and answering many of the questions we have as newcomers to Normandy. One kind walking group member took us under wing to the local Friday market and introduced us to her favorite vendors and patisserie. In December, Tessa joined us for a couple of weeks with he

  What a treat we had yesterday; a whole day of being tourists in the town of Caen with 24 other folks from our weekly walking group called the Rislepattes. The Risle is a river that runs through Pont Audemer where the group is based and "pattes" means paws. We normally walk on Wednesdays and every other Sunday, but this was a special outing. Our visit to Caen started at 9:45am where we met a tour guide outside of the church of Saint-Pierre (1300 - 1600). The guide was a font of knowledge and pointed out amazing details we normally would not have noticed. Little did we know, this was the first of five churches, two abbeys, the Caen Castle, the botanical garden, and a museum that we would be visiting! We even saw the tomb of William the Conqueror (in which only one femur remains) and the tomb of Mathilda, his wife that is in entirely another church. The downside was it was extremely cold and being outside for most of the day was challenging due to the chilling wind. Here is a