Getting ready to visit France for 15 weeks

23 days countdown to our flight on April 29th

My husband has been awarded a grant to finance his sabbatical and we have chosen to spend the 15 weeks in Aix en Provence. This is a trip of a lifetime and we are so excited. I am hoping to learn French and to paint the beautiful scenery when we are not eating, drinking or relaxing. We have been preparing for the trip for quite a while but we had a few setbacks. First we found out by accident almost, we needed a visa.

Last week we got the long term visa for France needed to stay over 3 months in France. We were told it could take up to 2 months and we had less than a month and half. Needless to say, we are happy we were able to get all the forms in on time and shortened the process by more than a month. The people at the French consulate in Miami were very nice. This is a very good start to our adventure with the French people.

I have been ill since December with upper respiratory issues. I think they are caused by allergies. The bottom line is that my plans to learn French and get ready for the trip have been put on hold. Now I only have 3 weeks and I am behind....

One of my biggest challenges has been how to get my adorable dog Niko into the country. So far I have invested tons of time learning about the multiple health requirements and the confusing airlines rules. I now know a ton about different airlines regulations for transporting animals.
My vet is rather timid and is making me super nervous that he is not going to sign the health certificate. I have had 2 appointments with him, printed information from the internet and given him the information I got from the US department of Agriculture and he has not made me feel confident that he will do what is necessary to get him certified.

We are taking this very seriously, -we even took Niko to the airport for a dry run and discovered he is one kilo too many to fly in the cabin. I tried putting him on a diet but I gave up since he could gain weight in France and then I would be in a pickle. I ordered his cage from the internet and I have been getting him used to sleeping there. So far so good. The pieces of steak I put in the back of the cage seems to have done the trick. I glued a sign in different languages urging the workers who will handle his cage to be gentle with him. Several people have advised me not to take him but I can't imaging spending 15 weeks away from my little friend. I do hope I am doing the right thing for his sake.