Cruise or Home Swaps?

Talked today with a shop assistant about Home Swapping - as I do given the chance. This young lady was well traveled, had in fact seen a lot of hotspots in Europe thanks to her mother who took her on cruises every year. That's the way to go if you have somebody paying for it!
Cruises are not my idea of fun: too many people on too confined a space all out for a good time with all you can eat and drink for free... That's not me. I would consider it, maybe, if I didn't get seasick the minute a ship leaves the shelter of a harbor. My experience with big ships is with Irish, French, or British ferries in and around the Irish Sea and over to France that hold hundreds of cars and trucks plus thousands of passengers. Contrary to popular belief, European ships of that size do have stabilizers as well! So I needn't try any of the cruises that are so beloved by Americans here. Maybe a River Cruise on the Rhine..., however.
It's just my delicate constitution that induces motion-sickness in me just while watching somebody in a hammock or rocking chair.
                                               
Like so many people who hear about houses swapping, this young lady was quite taken by the idea. I gave hr my card to read up on the topic on my blog and also mentioned my little eBook for just $0.99 on Homeswapping on Amazon. I often wonder how many will pursue the idea and try it for themselves.

Our preparations are going according to plan although the recent thunderstorms of last week tempered our projects outside. On the inside, however, I purchased new towels and bed sheets.  Nothing like a fresh look. The cleaner has also been booked for the times we need her on our departure date to get the house ready for our first exchange partners, then again for the change over to the next arrivals and for our arrival date back after the German family has left. It all takes a bit of organizing you you do two swaps or more in a row. But it's so worth it!

Season 8: South of France & Heidelberg

Welcome to our newest season: No. 8! Yes, 8 years in a row we've swapped homes, sometimes 2, sometimes 3 different places on one trip. You might as well make good use of it while you're over in Europe!
For the first time I chose a picture of the actual house in the south of France where we're going to as the blog main picture. Doesn't it look inviting?

We were so lucky to be approached by a French couple back in November before I even had started looking into this year's exchanges. And seeing these beautiful pictures we went for it! After the usual initial email exchanges, both sides decided very quickly to book our flights.
By the way, the same with our second exchange this year, a house near Heidelberg in Germany. This Germany family approached us first and we were just delighted about it. Pictures to follow...

So where are we going exactly? Near a city called Montpellier which is on the Cote d'Azur. You will have heard of Nice or Marseille, Montpellier is a city of approx. 220,000 inhabitants just west of Marseille.

We're flying via Atlanta, Paris on to Nice, then take a rental car to get to our home exchange. There, of course, we have a car at our disposal, as usual. One of the big perks of home exchanges!
From there we will do many side trips along the coast to the east: Monaco, St. Tropez and all the smaller beautiful resorts of the rich and famous; maybe up to the border of Italy where I have been before. And maybe even to the west towards Perpignan where I have friends.
Being very close to the Provence, day trips there are a must: Avignon, Nimes and Arles. And if we have it in us even take in the Dordogne where I spent a wonderful summer as a student. So much to see! We'll be staying there for 3 weeks and after that for 3 weeks in Germany as well. And yes, our house here will be inhabited for that length of time by our swapping partners. One of the bonuses of home trading!
3 months and counting!

The Ultimate Guide to Home Swapping

Season 6 is now out and available summing up all our experience gathered over the years.
Where this blog ends, my new eBook starts giving your the real countdown for a successful home exchange:

Available for only $0.99 on Amazon. Treat yourself to an exciting trip to Europe from your armchair and pick up all the tips you need for a successful home swap. Happy travels!

Good Advice for Home Swaps

Glad to be at home after almost three months although we only had outstanding exchanges!
How otherwise would you be able to afford such an extended trip to Europe?

The house is still standing and in very good condition. One one occasion we had to sweep the garage first from sand, find pots and pans that had been rearranged in the kitchen. This year, we had nothing of that sort and are still in touch with our exchange partners; even met up with the ones we exchanged with 3 years ago. Elisabeth, that was her name, even started a blog about her experience. So if you want to hear a second opinion, go to her website on Facebook.

Every year you learn something new or you take away an idea from one of the houses that you are staying in. We were so impressed by the garden decorations in Luxembourg that we're already looking to implement such a mirror here as well.

From the start, I advised to have an owner's closet where you can put away precious heirlooms etc. Since we downsized to this smaller home we have to lock away these items elsewhere. Note to self: As you are getting older, my dear, do write down where you hid what! It seems such a trivial piece of advice but I'm still looking for my favorite little ornaments, a set of 5 sheep that I hid last year...

We learned this summer that it is wonderful to meet up with the prospective exchange partners. We do not necessarily want to stay in the same house with them, however. We prefer to meet them and then are prepared to spend the night in a hotel. When the Buckleys arrive with all their luggage for 3 months, it always feels like we're moving in and crowding in on the others. And in spite of their house description, there may not be sufficient beds for everybody when couples are used to sleep in separate beds. Sounds like a very intimate detail, but better be practical about it. 

I also took away from this trip that I really want a cleaner abroad. Otherwise I just end up doing chores like at home. And also find a different cleaner here who is willing to do our house on a Saturday. The femme de menage in Luxembourg even came in on a Sunday morning to do the necessary after we left.

What was important to us and proved invaluable again is having our mail sent to a private company in TX by the US postal office instead of it just being held there. We could screen the mail that had arrived there, either have it scanned in or sent to us in Europe. The convenience of the whole process  is worth considering the fees.

A nice thank you card and letters by all of them made our day on our return. They all really enjoyed our house and Florida in the summer.

We are ready to plan for next year. We've already had enquiries for 2017. Why not plan a long weekend in the meantime here in the States? We are going to renew our membership. I just found out that we'll get that reduced rate of $89 again...

Vianden/ Luxembourg - a real fortified castle

An absolute must see in Luxembourg are the various castles. Go and see the Grand Dukes Palace in the city center. The Royal family lives there most of the year and only opens up their home, the first two floors that is, during the summer months.
I'd like to highlight the one in Vianden which is situated in the north-east of the state of Luxembourg; about an hour's drive away from the capital. Do take the country roads Breezing along on a beautiful day in our convertible was such fun!
A cute little town with less than 2,000  people, it has a magnificent "working" castle; not just a ruin.
Set on a rock promontory, its history dates back to the 10th century combining several architectural styles: Romanesque and Gothic. The history of it is too complex to be described here. If interested, look it up on Wikipedia.https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vianden_Castle. In short, it was damaged over the centuries and almost destroyed in the Second World War only to be restored in the seventies.

It is a fun place to visit, especially for children. By working castle I mean not only can it be toured but you can also see actors in historical gear parading the grounds and enacting "battles". It sits on top of a hill and then it is still a steep climb up to the castle itself.

The town itself was very sleepy when we were there. Most restaurants closed between 3-6pm for one restaurant located at the bridge from where we had a smashing view f the river , castle and hills.

Home, Sweet Home!

After almost three months we were ready to go home. Too much of a good thing...or so as the old saying goes. The trip back from Luxembourg  was pretty uneventful, only extremely tiring; but you Atlantic hoppers know that. One experience, however, was new to me and that was being able to use the internet while in the air and post on Facebook. The pics were too good to go unposted.
Clouds are just clouds, but impressive every time to see them from above.

This is Cape Cod hubby suggested.
We had good seats in Delta's new comfort area. Since hubby retired, business class is out of reach.so instead of the famous Fillet Mignon Delta usually offers up front, we had this. Edibly. I thought food in Delta's cabin class was improving. With my own monitor I was able to watch three films in a row that interested me. Between those and Facebooking, nine hours weren't too bad.

I will continue you to post a little about our remaining adventures in Luxembourg from home. As usual, towards the end there will be some tips for successful home-swapping.

Beim Siggy

Count Siegfried, the first Count from Trier who built his castle here on one of the many promontories on the Luxembourg plateaus, was mentioned before.
What a surprise to see a restaurant by that name. "Beim" simply means "chez"; alors, we had to make a pilgrimage there. Actually, we found it by chance driving by. It's situated just past the casemates, still on the Bock.
Siggy is an abbreviation even nowadays for male or female names alike which are difficult yp ponounce for non-German speaker" Sieglinde, Sigurd, Sigismund, Sigrid and Sigrun.If you have read my Irish farm book, you know what I'm going to mention now: That my housekeeper asked me whether all Germans were called Siggy because there were several in and around the town of Killlaoe where we lived.

Food always features highly on our trips as well as views from restaurants; hence the emphasis I put on Burg/castle restaurants so far. The prices at Siggy's are reasonable. A yardstick for prices is always the steak for hubby. A superb fillet mignon was well-priced at EUR 27. I had a huge salad with baked brie and a big portion of charturie of antipasti at EUR 18. The view on a sunny day from their terrace: priceless!
To our surprise, our home exchange partners had never been there. Maybe know that they know a Siggy who gave it  a personal recommendation.