Welcome to our 2015 version of View from the Terrace. Actually, we are delighted to tell you all that we are now looking at a NEW view, on a NEW terrace, this one in Villevieille, France, about 1 1/2 hours east of our last terrace.

You may ask us "why"? If you know us, you know we are vagabonds. And last August, we decided to just "take a look" at moving farther east. We had friends in Sommieres, just over the border of our department (Herault) & into "le Gard", a step away from Provence. Of course, we found the perfect house, with an incredible view. It was built in 1990 by a couple who were 67 years old, as a retirement house. Once we saw the view, we were hooked--never mind the pink & blue wallpaper everywhere, the view was perfect, & the "bones" were fabulous. So we put in a bid, & voila! We had a new house.

We sold the Laurens house, closed at the end of January, & did a "remote" move. We relied on David, our handyman, to remove the wallpaper, & to do some other renovations. When we arrived here on June 2, we found a clean slate on which we can put our personal touches. We both agree that this is the best house we've ever owned. Every room on the first floor opens onto the terrace, which is protected from the sun by an arched terrace roof & roll-out awnings.

Besides the house being perfect for us, we are thrilled to be in this new region & this new town. The village where we live is perched on top of a larger town (Sommieres, about 10,000 people) that has a number of restaurants (as in Moroccan, Lebanese, Vietnamese, as well as some lovely French) & all sorts of amenities. Both Sommieres & Villevieille were Roman towns, & there are ruins everywhere. In fact the old Roman road (the Via Domitia) is about 15 kilometers from our doorstep. And we're only 25 minutes from Nimes, a major city in the south of France.

Also from our doorstep, we can get to Provence in under an hour, explore farther north into the Cevennes Mountains, & go south to the Meditteranean. And we have a TGV train that can get us to Paris in 3 1/2 hours. And there's always Ryan Air, the European airlines that goes so many wonderful places for an incredibly low price.

So, we are looking forward to a wonderful summer! We have 3 trips planned: one to Edinburg & St. Andrews, Scotland with our Swiss friends to check out the British Open, one to Belgium to explore the WWI battlefields, & a third to meet up with a Sigma Chi buddy & his significant other in Toulouse, France. In between, we will explore this beautiful part of France.

We're hoping you'll join us once in a while on this weekly blog. Part of it is a house journal, part a travel journal, part a reflection on how fun it is to explore & expand our horizons.

But we think of all of you often, & hope you too are having your own summer adventures, wherever you are!

Love,

Elise & Les