Have you ever thought about all the stuff in your home? I mean every little teeny tiny item? We had to think about it when we cleared Scoopy out, and now we’re thinking about it again only in reverse. It’s a ton of stuff! Since we arrived in France with only the measly 50 lbs. each of luggage allowed by the airlines, we have nothing for our motorhome. We are literally starting from scratch. Whether you live in a sticks and bricks or an RV, you still have areas dedicated to sleeping, cooking, bathing, and living. Large or small, all these areas need certain kit.
That’s what we’ve been doing over the last few days, buying stuff for our new home. I know some of you would relish the idea of shopping for all the things and others who would hate it. I’m somewhere in between. While the idea sounds fun, the actual experience has been exhausting. It’s really hard to make decisions when you’re standing in the middle of the isle in an unfamiliar place. It’s frustrating when you can’t communicate with the salesperson without Google Translate. We’ve managed to order some things from Amazon, but it’s not the same experience here that it is in the states. As you might expect, search results are in French, so we rely on Google for translation. The brand names are unfamiliar, and the French apparently are not that into doing reviews, because on the things we’re looking to buy, there are only one or two, if we’re lucky. Mostly there are no reviews at all.
We nonetheless have made good progress in this gargantuan task. Over three outings, and by outings I mean all day shopping trips, we have managed to buy a good portion of the household items we think we need to make our travels enjoyable. We made one trip to Carrefour, which Steven calls Fredmart because it reminds him of a cross between Fred Meyer and Walmart. It’s basically a Walmart superstore anchoring a mall. Just like Walmart there are some newer, more modern stores that are great for shopping and then there are older ones that are kind of eww. Still, we got a lot of household items there, so our trip was a success.
The next two outings were to IKEA. Certainly we are aware of this store, but it is not one we have shopped at often. The one in Seattle was so far from our home, we went there just a couple of times in the 14 years we lived there. We were already on the road when Steven made his beautiful photo of the Superstition Mountains in Arizona which was subsequently picked up by IKEA and offered in stores worldwide. Even then we didn’t make it to a store until we arrived in France and purchased Bijou.
According to our receipts, we have purchased 59 items at Carrefour and 122 items from IKEA. The largest is a duvet, the smallest is a teeny spoon. The cutest thing we bought is a Socktopus, from which we will hang small things for drying in the wind. Laundry is a whole other topic which I will tell you about in a future post. Suffice it to say, we like the Socktopus. And did you know it takes the same amount of time to remove all the sticky labels from each and every one of your items as it does to shop for it? Truth. After Steven brought all the items into our unpacking room, I poured myself a glass of wine and sat in the floor and began removing packaging and peeling off all the labels. What a chore!
Now the washing begins. We have lots of new kitchen stuff that needs to be clean when we move in, and there is a bunch of it. Even though our new kitchen is tiny, we still need all the kit necessary to cook the foods we enjoy. We wouldn’t last long in this journey if we ate out all the time, so cooking at home is a requirement. Plus, we enjoy it, so we like to have all the kitchen tools and accessories to help us make great meals. I ordered an Instant Pot from Amazon France but it got lost in the French post, they think. In the end, my order was cancelled and they said the item is no longer available. I ordered again, this time from Amazon Germany, and I am expecting delivery March 12. Everybody, please, keep your fingers crossed. I need my Insty Pot!
We bought sheets, which was baffling because top sheets are not really a thing here. I mean, you can buy them, but we didn’t find a single set of sheets where both the top and bottom came together. In IKEA, that meant hunting around in different isles and trying to make sure you got matching sheets. We managed to buy an unmatched pair, which we only just discovered today. We thought we bought pillowcases but we instead bought cases for those giant square pillows. Oh, well. One of these days we’ll make another trip to IKEA, but since it’s over an hour away, it won’t be any time soon. Oh, guess what? Today I discovered there is a Costco a half an hour further north from IKEA! I am dying to go look but, for my own sanity, I will refrain. Sad. Maybe I’ll go another time when Bijou is fully kitted out and I won’t be in that “oh, we need that!” frame of mind.
Every time we return from a shopping trip, I sit down and compare our list with actual purchases. Then I revisit the online lists that I am using as a guide and begin making a new list. Why is this thing not getting any shorter?? We have to be done, though, because in order to move into Bijou we will need to pack up our car with all our stuff and drive for eight hours to Toulouse. Is this sounding familiar, like we just did this a few weeks ago in Toadie Hopper?!
We are ready to move in and relax. 🙂
NEXT UP: More about Bijou, probably.
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I totally get how those big shopping trips can be exhausting and I can't even imagine the language barrier on top of that!! Your just nesting and that's super important so glad you are taking the time to do that before jumping into your travels. Hang in there. The fun part starts soon 🙂
I am so amazed you are blogging your way through this. When I moved into Nellie I didn’t write for weeks, I was so busy and exhausted. But I am glad you are – I love reading about your new adventure!
I don't want to admit that me and perhaps Scoopy are smiling a little bit of I told you so . Oh no not really I'm just old and don't like change , not even in the blogs I read . I'm looking forward to your adventure and hope I can still follow along. You guys will do great but no more Fred Meyer jokes that's my store. Best of luck and safe travels . Vern in Boise
There is still lots to do between now and then, but we are keeping up our spirits by going out and enjoying the local culture. And food. Your post is timely, we're gonna have to lay off the croissants and butter. Tell Lee I said, "Damn you!" 🙂
For the first time in my life, writing a blog post has been a respite from everything else going on around us. Usually it's just a chore. 🙂 I am loving your posts, can't wait for the big reveal!
Oh, come on, Vern! You can't leave us now! We haven't changed, just our surroundings. If I recall, you loved Steven's post from Paris a couple of years ago. Stick with us, Vern, I'm sure we'll do something stupid to make you laugh. 🙂 And I'm with you on Fred Meyer, it's my favorite store ever!
This was fun to read. I'm always excited about shopping for new stuff until I'm exhausted by it. OMG all of the details you are having to think about! Love your color scheme. If I wasn't obsessed with plum and copper (and leopard print, LOL) I'd be doing teal and chocolate.
Glad to see you've made so much progress. Don't you love those Santoku knives? I can't imagine cooking without mine.
When we moved into Scoopy our colors were red and chocolate because that's what we had in the S&B. A year later, I changed it to teal and chocolate and haven't gotten tired of it yet! I love copper, in fact, since the 1990s, when Martha Stewart used copper and gold paint on butcher paper to make her own Christmas wrapping paper (yes, I did that…) copper and celadon are still my favorite holiday colors on the tree! And yes, those knives are my favs. I'm still on the hunt for a slightly smaller version that the one I got, but this will do nicely for now.
I sometimes hate this program! I wrote you a long reply, but it's below as a new comment! 🙁
Since Europeans all use duvets and duvet covers instead of a top sheet, have you considered going that route? Bedmaking is so much easier, especially in an RV, and no top sheet to get tangled up in. We have both winter and summer weight, goose down in each, and love them.
I really enjoy your blog and look forward to your European adventures. Safe travels!
We have always used a duvet, winter and summer, with a cover. I never thought about not using a top sheet. I must be really used to it because I miss having one here at our little Airbnb. And yet, it would certainly cut down on giant laundry items, right? 🙂 Thank you for your kind words, so glad to have you along for the journey!
LOL – I now this is a requires thought and decision, and you have done it before! It'll turn out great on the first pass. We're still working on the 'first pass', which we started 6 years ago! Safe Travels!
The thing I like most about living in a small space is that you can toss it all out and start over for not a lot of money! Good to hear from you, Jeff!
LOL on the amount of time needed to de-sticker :-))) I think it's why so many don't remove them which makes me crazy to see! Shopping for kit is great fun for me, but I can't imagine doing it with the distances and translation requirements. I'm challenged enough with the names IKEA calls everything! I know Bijou will be gorgeous and homey when it's all done.
That socktopus, tho, right? I think you should go back to IKEA and get one of those for Ezra. 🙂