"Inside France" spacetraveller's Profile

I'm still not sure if luck, destiny or fate guided me to France. I had visited the country twice before - once in '01 and again in '04. Both times my stay was far too short to really experience France in all her beauty and diversity. In '01 I spent three weeks here and in '04 a month. Thus, it was with great excitement that I awaited our move to France during July 2006.

I am South African and have lived there all my life - obviously excluding those magical times when I escaped from the drudgery of routine life to go travelling. Being married to a French woman I was always aware of the possibility of moving to France. 'When?' was the only question.

In South Africa we were living in Pretoria. I was comfortable and mostly happy with my life there. But that comfort zone is a treacherous thing. So often it blinds you to the 'other' world out there. During our stay there we travelled as often as time and money would allow. We travelled throughout Southern Africa and saw a lot of that beautiful part of the world. I still love that area and always will. My roots are there, just like all of us have a place that we refer to as home. Maybe that's why we delayed moving to France.

But since I can remember I have wanted to live in Europe. Even as a boy I dreamt of seeing the 'old world'. I was familiar with photos of Paris, London, Madrid, Venice, and numerous other cities and sites. And, although I loved those images, it just wasn't good enough. I wanted to see those places in real life. I desired to smell, feel, see, hear, yes really experience the soul of the cities, towns, villages, forests, rivers, castles and landscapes of the true Europe. I yearned to meet the people, to get to know their culture, to taste their unique dishes and try to understand what makes them at once different and the same as me.

Many years later my wish was granted. I travelled in England, Luxembourg, Belgium, The Netherlands, Germany, Poland, Slovakia and the Czech Republic for the first time in '92, from November until March '93. Although I was often cold I was never disappointed. After that trip I just wanted to return - to see more, do more and meet more people.

And now, finally, I have returned. Unlike those other times I am not only passing through. No, I live here now, in the south of France, in Provence, in a town called Salon-de-Provence.

I am also very fortunate that my wife and our children love travelling as much as I do. My daughter is four years old now and my son five. In their short lives they have visited the biggest part of South Africa, Zimbabwe, Namibia, Botswana, Lesotho, Spain and France. From the beginning we have believed in exposing them to the wonderful world of travelling. And through that exposure they already love it.

While we live in France we hope to explore as much of France as possible. Initially we will travel mostly around the South, but will definitely also visit the rest of the country in time. After every new trip I will update my travel pages.

Since there is so much other information about France available on the internet I won't waste your time by repeating what is already out there. What I do hope to achieve is to give an honest opinion of life in France as experienced through the eyes of a foreigner. Yes, I live here now - on the inside of the French culture. But, I am still South African and will experience France from that perspective for a while to come.

[For those of you interested in daily life in France please visit my other Blog at: http://french-newsletters.blogspot.com/ , where I am also posting short videos of places I have visited. I'm planning on adding a lot more to the Newsletters Blog, including more footage of towns, nature, monthly newsletters, recipes, photos and interesting (and sometimes infuriating) things that have happened.]