The final chapter.....

This is it, the final blog.  Tomorrow Lew and I get on the first of many planes to take us back to New Zealand.  Since we got back from Portugal we've been staying with mum and dad, and taking a few days to visit friends and generally say goodbye to everyone.

The only "event" to report on was the Glastonbury Carnival that we went to with friends last Saturday night.  This is quite an impressive spectacle which happens every year in several towns in Somerset.  For those of you in New Zealand, its like a Santa Parade on steroids: long haul truck trailers converted into floats with hundreds of light bulbs (powered by 2 huge generators towed on a second trailer), moving parts, dancers, loud music and a real party atmosphere.  People line the streets for hours beforehand to get the best views and there are plenty of stalls selling candy floss, pies and chips - just what you need on a cold November night.  Although there's actually quite a bit of heat coming off the floats from all the lights!

There are different themes each year, and judges running alongside throughout the whole procession.  All highly competitive, and incredibly creative.  The heads on these buffalo swung side to side and up and down in time with the music!

The whole thing takes two hours to get through town, so the dancers have to keep going for all that time.

The hours and money that go into a float must be phenomenal.  This Charlie and the Chocolate Factory float had spinning parts going in three different directions.

So how do we feel at the end of our year off?
Happy to be going home?  At this stage - yes.  We've spent the last 6 weeks living out of our suitcases, and with a year's worth of stuff scattered around the place, it can be hard to find exactly what you're looking for!  While we were living in our house in Provence, we were very happy and settled, but now we're looking forward to getting back to our own home and surroundings.

So what will we miss?
In no particular order........

The wine of course!
Whether you're buying from a fancy vineyard...

Or the local cooperative...bring your own container and fill your boots!  Let's hope its not just coloured dish water pumped out from the winemaker's kitchen sink!

 Having sampled a fair few wonderful wines during the year, for no more than 3 or 4 euros, it will be hard going back to New Zealand prices.  But you still can't beat a good Kiwi sauvignon blanc!

The friends we made.
We never expected to make such strong friendships in a short period of time, and to be able to sit at a table chatting with French friends, in French, was certainly a huge achievement for me!  And luckily for both Lew and I, the French always speak more English than they like to admit!

We will really miss our friends from Le Thoronet and Lorgues, and all the social events we were invited to.  They certainly know how to party!

The shopping.
We're not talking clothes and jewellery here, these are the real French shops, where grandpa is out the back making the bread, and grandma is selling it to you....which they've done for the last 70 odd years.

And while we're at the boulangerie, of course we'll miss the croissants and pain au raisin.  The rest of the world needs to admit that they just can't make croissants like the French, and leave it to them.

The knockers!

New Zealand could definitely do with more knobs and knockers, along with my personal favourites the Net Curtains!!

The food.  Say no more.  Maybe part of our enjoyment was having more time to shop for ingredients, research recipes, and try different dishes.  Let's hope this continues when we get home.

The opportunity for travelling easily to different countries and cultures, all relatively cheaply and quickly.  We have so many great memories of Corsica, Portugal, England and Italy. 

Not forgetting the many, many....many medieval hilltop villages we visited!

The cheese.

I don't think the word "cholesterol" translates into French.... and if it did, I don't think they'd care.

The cafés.  There's nothing like sitting in the sun, winter or summer, watching the world go by.  The French have made it an art form.

And finally, family.  One of the main reasons for taking a year off and coming to Europe was to be a bit closer to the family over an extended period of time, which has been wonderful.

So, to all of you who have logged in to find out what we're up to, we hope this has satisfied your curiosity, and thank you all for at least pretending to be so interested in following our progress.  We promise not to talk about this for the whole of 2014.....tell us to shut up if we do!