Almost Dutch! Maureillas Las Illas, France January 2024




 It is hard to believe our time house sitting in Maureillas Las Illas is coming to an end in just a few weeks! We love this area of France. The mountains, the proximity to the Mediterranean, the mild climate, and wonderful people we have met. Last week I celebrated my 58th birthday with Jean Paul, a local friend. It was an impromptu decision made at a weekly French/English language exchange when we discovered we shared the same birth date. More than 20 people showed up for the "Auberge Espagnole" style (potluck) gathering at his house and we celebrated for more than 5 hours.

The big news...last week I finally heard back from the IND (Immigration and Naturalsatiedienst) and my application to become a Dutch citizen has finally been approved! This has been a three year process which started with moving to France and getting a "Titre de Sejour". The ceremony will take place sometime in April and we will be invited to the Dutch Embassy in Paris. We are planning to fetch Herman's mother to join us because she has always been such a great support for my Dutch language learning. I actually started learning Dutch 30 years ago through the letters my mother-in-law sent to Herman in Africa.

Our search for a place to live in France has been a fun sidebar to the 5 months we have spent in this area. We have completely lost count of how many properties we have actually visited (definitely over 30), pictured below is a sampling of some of the real estate agents we have met with. In France, it is necessary to work with many agents if you want to see even a fraction of what is for sale. There is no one place to look for a property to purchase (like an MLS listing). Instead, each agent has their own portfolio of houses for sale and often a house might be listed in several places at once. Looking at properties has had us visiting some villages in this area that otherwise would have been missed. Long story short, we have not yet found a property...


 

Our weekly activities (aside from keeping the dog walked and pool/house here tidy, weekly marketing) include a French/English language exchange group, bicycling one morning a week, running several times weekly and a strength training workout with a local running group, hikes in the area, a monthly Illuminated Manuscript painting group, occasional games of Jeu des Boules and for a brief moment, Line Dancing. We also recently learned how to play a French card game called Tarot (not to be confused with fortune telling cards). This week we plan to join the Nordic walking group for the first time and if we were here longer, learn to dance the Sardane (a Catalan dance taught in every village). 

What's next? We are not exactly sure...If my passport renewal is back on time, possibly a couple of weeks in Greece to wave Anika off on her big solo travel adventure. If not, we will be in this area for a bit longer and explore the area just over the border in Spain along the coast. We are told there are many beautiful villages that we have to visit: Roses, Cadaques...After that, we probably will drive to Quillan which is in the French Pyrennes about 40 minutes south from Carcassonne. 

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