THE BIG MOMENT: OUR LONG AWAITED BOXES HAVE FINALLY ARRIVED FROM THE USA- WATCH OUR REAL MOVING DAY!

[@Rosalie-ct8mi]

I see a Dutch moving truck "erkende verhuizers" 😄from Oisterwijk ! That must have been so good to finally have all your stuff here in France. The prices of those storage boxes are pretty the same as in The Netherlands. Wauuuw what a great shop Picard and so many things to eat, the Japanese Gyoza 😋the Nasi/noodles and all the lovely deserts, i am afraid you need a big freezer at home now! This shop would be very tempting to pass by! Too many delicious food! Thank you for sharing, I love these kind of shops! I think they are more made for the expats? Or families who are having a busy life?

[@rphil8574]

Very helpful!

[@tatravels3082]

Wonderful, your boxes arrived 😊 I’m glad you visited Picard. We haven’t visited that place yet and now I know what to expect. That ice-cream sure looks enticing😀

[@MichelleLynnThompson]

Interesting to see the nutrion score on the packages.

[@MauiJOY]

bon appétit! Picard was a real find!!! Looking foward to seeing your designer touches in your "Home sweet Home" I'll be in Nice next month...soooooooo excited!

[@hempvictorygarden4803]

An. Super info. Looking forward to your after video.

[@Tom-and-Kemp]

Another great update! We know it must have been a great relief to finally have all of your belongings with you. Sorry about your coffee maker. We are coffee fanatics, so if that had happened to us, it would need to be replaced quickly. 😂 So great you found a nearby storage space. Jeff did a great job making the most of it. Looking forward to your home tour when you’re ready. Would love to see a neighborhood walking tour sometime too. Thanks for sharing!

[@postcardsfromourgoldenyears]

Yes, it was devastating to plug in the coffee/espresso maker, all excited at the prospect of my first cup of coffee at home, in months, to have it gone in literally a "flash and a pop"! I did order another, much less expensive Nespresso machine, and had it 2 days later. Thank you Amazon! We will be showing the apartment tour in a couple of weeks! And yes, one day soon, we'll do a neighborhood walk video. There's so much to show everyone !

[@RosadeSouza-j6x]

Hi Ann. Congratulations on your accomplishment! Richard,my husband and I have plans to move to Nice. Your videos have been very encouraging and informative. Thank you very much. We liked your apartment and if you don’t mind sharing what you pay monthly we would appreciate. We are leaving on a tight budget with Social Security as a primary income. Also the neighborhood we should concentrate on. You are fun and we would love to meet you, Jeff and Bella when we finally make a move to Nice ❤❤

[@postcardsfromourgoldenyears]

We were looking for a 2 bedroom apartment in either Quartier des Fleurs, Musicians, Carré d'Or or Nice Centre (where we are) in the range between 1250 and 1850 Euros per month. While options were limited because there is a shortage of apartment rentals here and in most large cities in France, we managed to find an apartment in about the middle of our range. There are more expensive ones, for sure. But for every available apartment, there could be multiple people chasing it. We too are living on our Social Security payments. We like the fact that our rent is low enough that down the road, if something happens to one of us, the other can easily cover the rent and expenses alone. It was better than looking for a more expensive apartment that we needed both of our SS payments to cover. So while our apartment is small, at only around 700 sq ft, it is the perfect size for us and extremely affordable. You can go online and see apartments for rent and see pictures of them, typically on sites like Selonger or just type "apartments for rent long term, Nice France", on Google.

[@MichelleLynnThompson]

Whoo Hoo! The convenience of the storage unit in walking distance is priceless.

[@garyg6000]

Glad your things made it to Nice. That was a long journey.

[@LisaNazarian]

I was so excited for this video that I decided to watch it on my TV instead of my cell phone as I usually do 😂. Love it An and Jeff. Great job. 🎉

[@lindadorman2869]

Glad to see everything arrived safely. I miss Picard, it was a regular shopping stop for me to pick up frozen food. I love that you can buy either prepared ingredients or fully-prepared meals that just need to be heated. So many new flavors that you don't even see in America and a great way to try new foods you might be hesitant to order at a restaurant. Enjoy!

[@postcardsfromourgoldenyears]

For us, a great find. Maybe we'll save a few Euros on the typical cost of eating out in restaurants so much when we don't feel like cooking. So far, everything we've purchased there has been delicious!

[@Nickysmom]

I am living through you in Nice right now, but would like to move very there. We have given away all the things we spent lots of money to acquire but still have too much. Our storage unit here is at least 3times the size of yours for about the same money but we haven’t even ok’d at the stuff in over a year. It s a ridiculous waste of money. We do need another round of divesting and stop throwing good money after bad. Simply no room

[@Sonorus52]

Funny, we live in the same neighbourhood…

[@postcardsfromourgoldenyears]

I guess we both made good selections

[@Jasmine2024-2]

Hello, thank you for your videos! I just joined. I have a question. Did you hire any consultants for your move to France?

[@postcardsfromourgoldenyears]

No, other than using Adrian Leeds Group, the expat from the US who specializes in assisting other expats from the US, (whose colleagues found us our apartment), I did all of the research for every other requirement, application and process for our move to France. In fact, if you look at my past videos from the last 1-2 years, I created videos showing how we did it.

[@Jasmine2024-2]

@@postcardsfromourgoldenyears Thank you, An! I will look at them tomorrow. Again, wonderful videos!

[@sapphire6477]

Thanks for the information,I enjoyed your content. 60 something boxes, can you share how much was the cost and the companies used. Thank you

[@postcardsfromourgoldenyears]

The moving company we used was International Movers Network. They picked our things up in Florida and made all other arrangements for the shipping. They seamlessly coordinate acquiring the container to combine our things in with their other clients' things, (the container our things went in, included 15 different clients' loads, based on tracking sent to us once everything was loaded on the ship) getting it onto a ship headed to Rotterdam NL and delivery through their associate in the Netherlands who drove our things to Nice France for delivery. It was around $4300 door to door for shipping the 60 boxes, a lingerie chest and a large framed picture. (Not including what we spent on buying the boxes from Uhaul and massive amounts of bubblewrap that ordered as needed from Amazon.) We packed everything ourselves, except for the chest and large picture which they packaged for us. That also included insurance. We also shipped 7 other boxes using Sendmybag.com which was close to another $1000. Expensive, but they shipped them by air using DHL and those arrived in just 7 days days.

[@Rosalie-ct8mi]

@@postcardsfromourgoldenyears wauww 5300 euro for around 67 boxes, that is a lot of money, but I have no clue if that is expensive or not. Thank you for sharing! I guess all the cargo arrives in Rotterdam an international harbour for the rest of Europe.

[@postcardsfromourgoldenyears]

The $5300 was the total cost of shipping through 2 different companies. It was around $4300 for 60 boxes, 1 very large framed picture and a lingerie/jewelry chest. That $4300 included an additional charge for the movers to pack the large picture and the chest. Those items were sent in a shared container on a ship. Additionally, it was close to $1000 for around 8-10 small boxes shipped by air freight with a company called Sendmybag.comSo the $5300 was our approximate total shipping cost, for around 70 boxes, the 1 piece of furniture and the large picture. We have heard of other people spending more than twice what we spent. It IS very expensive to ship your things from the US to Europe.

[@acastro5197]

Did you pack electronic equipment like TV's, stereo equipment, computer equipment ? I see the coffee machine did not work, so it looks best to buy these locally.

[@postcardsfromourgoldenyears]

We did not bring televisions. We purchased a new one here. We did bring both of our laptops, but ordered new power cords for both of them from Amazon France, to be sure they would arrive with correct EU plug ends, by default, the day we arrived, in France. Until we received the new power cords, we used the ones from the US with adapters, and they worked just fine. We also brought our Amazon "Alexa" and an electric wine cork remover, both of which work just fine with power adapters. Also our cellphone chargers are from the US. We use power adapters for them as well.

[@acastro5197]

@@postcardsfromourgoldenyears so happy for both of you to be living a great new phase of your life.. enjoy watching these stories. so interesting ..

[@koktem41]

You are so braved and smart, this is my dream to move to France on my retirement and this is my plan, I am watching all your videos, very informative and very pleasant. Please, make a video how match you spend monthly, all expenses and is it less expensive that in USA, I am from Florida, Jacksonville. Would appreciate any information as insider, and thank you again.

[@postcardsfromourgoldenyears]

We prefer not to talk about our exact expenses. Let it suffice to say that we are spending less than 1/2 of what our normal outlay was when we lived in Naples, Florida. I will say that our rent is less than 1/2 of the money for a place less than 1/2 the size. We have no cars or car payments or car insurance anymore. Our cellphone bills are less than than 30 euros a month combined. Our electric is an average of under 40 euros a month, instead of electric bills of $300 or more 12 months per year, in Florida, out Internet is around 29 dollars per month instead of over $150 to Comcast Xfinity every month and we dropped our $178 part B medicare deduction....and so on and so on. We paid off all of our creditors before we left and simply live on our Social Security benefits and a modest savings account we put together only in the last few years. If we can do it, anyone can! Good luck to you!

[@koktem41]

@@postcardsfromourgoldenyears Thank you very much, See you in Nice I hope , especially Bella

[@koktem41]

@@postcardsfromourgoldenyears You are very charismatic couple, good luck! You are our heroes!!

[@chandeliers1022]

🍎My mother also hung out clothes, but thankfully we had the most beautiful parakeets and parrots that came around our neighborhood almost every day. I'll say it again, she was always rewashing the clothes because of the poop and the sneezing and runny nose and eyes from the pollen on the clothes. Not to mention ear infections that I always had because of pollen on the clothes and when you take a shower, you wipe your ears with the rag and will cause infections in the ear and eyes. Even the doctors used to tell her, why don't you use your dryer because you're spending more money to come see me and have to spend more money on prescriptions for infections from the pollen and the dust on the clothing that you insist on drying outside. So millions of people try to save one way, but they will spend the money on doctors because they're bullheaded, a little like you. In some communities in America, hanging out clothes on the line is not permitted especially if you live in an HOA community where they don't want your yard to look primitive. We're talking about America not Italy as they have higher standards. Some Americans don't want to see clothes on lines, only if they go to other countries where it is their culture. You'll never see the poop on white clothes because most bird's poop is white, but you will see it on color clothing if you're looking for it in a lot of places in the world. It's probably too early for you to see any poop where you are because you don't a lot of birds in your area. So to the people that hang clothes outside to dry, more power to them because they will end up at the doctor and will cost them more than using a dryer. For the people that use dryers more power to them, because those are the people that can afford to use dryers because they have money to burn and can spend their money whichever way they want. At the same time we enjoy all the species of birds that live our neighborhood like the pink flamingos, cranes, wild birds, not to mention the endangered owls. I rather have them around and feed them and watch them take a bird bath in our beautiful fountain than wasting my time hanging out clothing that will cause us to go to the emergency room. People are not going to have the same opinions like you do wether you like it or not. Not everyone is going to see it only your way. So no matter how you try to defend your way, there's other ways of doing things the right way and don't have to take prescription drugs. I threw away all my prescription drugs in the garbage years ago because it's a myth that you have to survive on a tablet, because of the hundreds of different side effects it causes. Everyone knows that, but they forget because of the prescription drugs. That's one of the side effects, forgetfulness. Enough of bird poop, now we're going to watch the Chateaus of France where people are buying them like hot cakes even though they need a lot of fixing, they're up for grabs if you have from $300,000 up. We're seriously thinking of buying a chateau in France if I can convince my husband into it since he will be doing the DIY and I will be shopping, shopping, shopping! Ciao!🌴

[@postcardsfromourgoldenyears]

Most of us who grew up in the 50's and 60's grew up with mothers who hung the laundry outside. Miraculously, we didn't have bird poop on our towels or pollen, that we're aware of, and if it was there but invisible we built up a tolerance to it. We grew up in young suburban communities, built after the war, in the early 50's. Interesting that you and your husband are considering buying an old castle in France. You seem to dislike the idea of a lot of the things you would have to do without while you are renovating the place. No clothes dryers, no garbage disposal no screens on the windows, to keep the mosquitoes out in the summer. Many have no heating system and are very drafty in the winter. They don't come with air conditioning either. Many need new roofs, new flooring, new electrical wiring and plumbing. $300k is a drop in the bucket considering what you will need to spend to renovate one of these grand homes to make it livable and lovely. You seem like someone who appreciates all the conveniences that come with living in the US. And, don't forget the taxes. Many of the castles are empty and left in ruins today, because the heirs of those who built the homes hundreds of years ago, could not afford to keep them up and pay the taxes on them. I hope you have very deep pockets for an undertaking like that. Oh, and those 300k chateaux for sale aren't near lots of shopping. You have to drive to big cities to find malls and stores where you can "shop shop shop". You have to be ready to give up the conveniences of living in SW Florida and higher end stores. And you're going to let your poor husband do all the work? Why would he agree to an agreement like that?

[@chandeliers1022]

@@postcardsfromourgoldenyears 🍎 Fabulous, blue skies, gorgeous day in our part of the world! We watch a lot of KZbin channels on the fabulous Chateaux in France. If you read my comment again, the part about the Chateaux, I said we're looking to buy a Chateau for $300K and up. We're not talking about a bad run down Chateau to purchase. #1 The mayor of any town in France that you're going to purchase a Chateau in, whatever major work you do on the chateau, you must request what you're going to do and submit blueprints of the work that's going to be done. He will determine and make a decision of your request and you can't do anything on the chateau without his permission. So if you watch a lot of the DIY Chateaux in France for the major work, 90% of the people will hire an electrician, a plumber, all the major work if they don't know how to do it by the standards of the county, then you have to hire someone. As far as my husband, just like all the other husbands if there's one in the Chateaux they bought, they do the other handyman work because it's their passion and the love for owning one of these fabulous Chateaux. So since my husband is from Denmark and is tall, handsome and strong and knows how to do a lot of DIY, he will even help the neighbors with their DIY as 95% of European men even in their 20's know how to do all kinds of DIY, not to mention construction work. All of the KZbin Chateaux we watch how the work is done in the Chateau, all of them have the biggest appliances in the Chateau that you can buy and have installed with the right plumbing and fixtures. As big or even bigger than the ones in America. As far as having screening in the windows, some Chateaux don't like the screening, but it doesn't mean that you can't put screens on the windows. And yes, they all have gas heaters and AC if they want to purchase it. So stop being negative about you can't do this and you can't do that in a Chateau because it's just the opposite. What I have just told you in this comment, it seems like you have no idea about Chateaux. Some of the DIY Chateaux people have chosen to have antique furniture and try to keep the original looks with wallpaper, and some of the other Chateaux being purchased, they want everything to look Americanized. So you can say No No No to this and that and the opposite of your negative thinking. We are going to do whatever it takes to purchase a Chateau whether it's $300K or more. For your information, when you purchase a Chateau, the mayor has to come over and see how you're improving the chateau to the standards of the town. I don't like negative people, especially when you tell them something good and they try to make it wrong. So I think I'll have to divorce you, but you have Jeff to say yes to everything that he doesn't agree with what you're saying and put up with you, but we don't. So we are so divorced and really don't have any more time, as we're shopping, shopping, shopping with a realtor for that fabulous Chateau! It seems like there's a lot of things you don't know about Chateaux so I've got to go! We know a hell lot more than you do and we don't live in France as yet! 🌴

[@Rosalie-ct8mi]

@@postcardsfromourgoldenyears very well said !