Baby Boomers Ordinary Life in France

Welcome to the 69th weekly post of our Baby Boomers Move to France blog.

This is our 41st week in France 5/10-5/16/26

We have been in our home in the village of Chabanais in the Charente department of the Nouvelle-Aquitaine Region of France since the middle of December 2025. We are loving it.

This week,

Sunshade in place, water leak in the laundry room, doctor’s appointments, driver’s license update, a garage sale find and Rosie enjoys the wood stove.

Our home in Chabanais, France

Things on the agenda this week:

• Laundry room issues
• Follow up terrace project
• Follow up on US tax return
• Mail French tax return
• Follow up will
• Golf

Weather forecast:

Weather bug says we are in for a rainy week all week. High temps in the 50s and 60s Fahrenheit. The veggie patch will like it. Rosie is not happy.

Why this Blog?

Long story short, we are “Baby Boomers” that have moved from Venice, Florida to the beautiful French countryside as retirees. After a little over a year of planning and fretting we sold everything in Venice and made the move on 1 August 2025.

We publish a brief update of our adventures every Sunday to share our experiences, tips and mistakes.

If you are wondering what got into our head and inspired us to make the move, check out some of our earlier posts. Again, if you have questions about our adventure, drop your questions in the comment section below.

This Week in General

Sunday

We woke up to a sunny, warm day. EB found out about a brocante bric a brac event in a little town about an hour away. We grabbed Rosie’s backpack and her leash and jumped in the car and headed out. The route was a fun drive through the countryside of rolling hills covered with farmland. Really pretty.

The brocante was nice, we didn’t find anything that we really couldn’t live without. EB drove home so I got to enjoy the sights. We beat the rain home too settled in for the rest of the day.

Monday on and off rain

Laundry day started out ok, but EB alerted me that the washing machine was leaking water. Oh, for crying out loud. I watched the washing machine go through a cycle and found that water doesn’t drain properly. There is a siphon mechanism in the plumbing drain line, and I thought it might be dirty and plugged up. I disconnected it from the plumbing and checked it out. It looked clean to me although the seals looked a little weak and I noticed a crack in one of the plastic parts. I reinstalled the siphon and ran the washing machine through another cycle. No joy. Sooo, I’ll try it again, maybe need a new siphon thing. We will struggle through the day, and I will go to the Brico Marche on Tuesday and see about a new siphon thing.

Dinner at The Barrier

EB had made reservations at the Barrier restaurant. What a nice treat. I had the petit cochon burger. Really good grilled pork fillet on a brioche bun with all the fixin’s. EB had a poulet panne (breaded chicken) sandwich. We shared a bottle of wine. Then dessert. I had something called a Baba Rhum for dessert. Man is it good! My new favorite dessert. Simple rum cake with whipped cream on the side and a small vile of rum to sprinkle as desired. I had an Armegnac digestif to top off a really nice dinner.

Tuesday:

Back to work on the laundry room water leak issue.

This little project had a simple fix. I removed the siphon thingy (technical term) and EB and I went to the MR BRICOLAGE RELAIS in town in search of a replacement. A very helpful staff member helped me figure out a good replacement product and showed me how to adapt it to the mating part.

EB had wanted me to switch the location of the washing machine with the dryer. The door orientation of each of them made it a pain to move clothes from the washer to the dryer. This change required a longer water supply hose so in addition to the siphon thingy I found a longer hose and we bought channel lock pliers so that I could remove and replace the hose.

On the way home, we stopped off at La Poste to mail our French income tax paperwork, As I understand it, we will hear back from the authorities sometime in September or October.

Back in the laundry room, I moved the washer and dryer out of the way so I could clean the area behind them, then rearranged them as EB had wanted. That new arrangement makes a lot more sense. I got them hooked up and adjusted the feet, so they were stable and ran the test. SUCESS, no more water leaks, and I got an atta boy from EB.

While I worked on the laundry room issue, EB went to the Super U for groceries. Then we had lunch, then pulled some weeds. The sun came out and the day that started a little cool turned very nice.

My new sweater and our new sunshade arrived. The sweater fits well and we have a new sunshade project.

We put up the sunshade temporarily to see if it makes sense. Not too shabby. We are anticipating the summer sun and taking steps to minimize the heat impact. If we like it, we may buy some more shades and put them in strategic spots.

Wednesday: HAPPY BIRTHDAY EB!!

We don’t do gifts on birthdays anymore. Our celebration is typically dinner out. This year I made reservations at La Vieux Moulin (the Old Mill) restaurant. Unfortunately, the restaurant isn’t open on this Wednesday so we will celebrate next Saturday. We know that we can expect a great meal as we ate there in February when Don made reservations for Cindy’s birthday while they visited us. Good food, good service and ambience.

I got notification that my French driver’s license paperwork was received by the authorities. That is progress. I’m looking forward to having the license in hand in a few weeks. By the way, you don’t have to renew your French drivers license for 15 years!!

The French government is taking steps to streamline the processes for expats integration into French society. This is great news, but I don’t think it will be easy. I think the number of expats coming to France is growing. There is something over 9 million immigrants in France almost 14% of the total population.

French class was very good this week

We focused on verbs this week and we blew past our 1-hour lesson. Luckily our teacher, Patricia, doesn’t watch the clock. We all made good progress.

Thursday: A national holiday (Ascension Day)

A little chilly and windy today with some rain expected. We took a short walk and stopped at the boulangerie by the river. Rosie came along as usual. EB dressed her up in her pink sweater and Rosie is a little concerned as EB went into the boulangerie and left Rosie with me. OMG

Golf

Ron and I played 2 golf courses and had a lot of fun. Ron is getting used to hitting the ball long and straight. Not sure how he changed his swing, but it is for the good. I think I’m starting to hit a little longer too. Still having some trouble around the greens. No problem it’s getting better.

EB came to pick me up and around 4:30. Michelle and Ron found this really tasty cognac and shared it with Elizabeth and me. It is called Pinot de Charente and, like I said is really tasty. EB and I will plan a trip to Cognac to buy some of this nectar of the gods.

It was a bit chilly when we got home so I made a fire in the little wood burner and it got plenty warm in no time.

Friday: EB gets her doctors’ appointments

Michelle came over to our house and helped EB call to make the appointments. Having a good grasp of French is key and we are lucky that Michelle is so good about helping. EB will see her new doctor in September.

I practiced my Banjo a little. It sucks not having a musical bone in my body. It is still fun though.

Saturday: Cool and occasional rain shower

Elizabeth had found out about a garage sale up the hill from our house on Route de Bellevue. The family is moving to a different department to be near their daughter, so they are selling off stuff. It was heck of a walk up the hill but worth it. Rosie came along in her backpack. Anyway, I found a little vise and a saber saw in its case, all for 30 euros. I started off carrying the vise in my left hand. EB suggested that we let Rosie walk and loaded the vise in her backpack. Brilliant idea!!! Rosie didn’t mind at all. Everyone at the garage sale spoke English.

EB was scheduled to work at the cancer charity shop from 1-4. While she was there, I did my Duolingo French lesson and then hardened up the sunshade installation. I think it is just about perfect. I will make a slight adjustment and be done with the sunshade install.

EB got home and gave me a good excuse to quit working, and we settled in for the night. The temperature had gone down so Rosie wanted a fire in the wood stove. She is such a deva in her fluffy bed and blanket.

We watched a series on TV (A Man on Fire) and caught up on the latest Baguette Bound YouTube video.

By the way, our little lime tree is producing some limes. hopefully they will be ripe in a couple of weeks.

So that was our week.

A little plumbing issue in the laundry room. Dinner at the Barrier, Sunshade install, EB works at the charity store, golf and a great find at the garage sale. We are definitely getting more relaxed in our new neighborhood.

French Lifestyle and Culture

English is everywhere

While the French language is predominant in Chabanais it is wild how many English as native language folks are here. They come from England, Wales, Australia, Ireland, Scotland, and some from the USA. This little village in rural France attracts people from all over.

Still, we need and want to learn French to become more integrated. Yes, many French people speak passable English, especially the younger people as the schools include some English classes. Just like us trying to speak French the French can be self-conscious about their accent or pronunciation.

As I have said before, if you try to speak the language with some respect, we have found that the French people, typically, are happy to help.

I am very self-conscious and I know my pronunciation is, I would say weak. However, it is incredibly gratifying when I am successful in getting my baguette order correct. It is the simple things that I enjoy. LOL.

EB continues to advance and she impresses me all the time. People defer to her when we are out and about as her French is much better than mine.

Next Week (la Semaine Prochaine)

• Garden Party visit to discuss our terrasse
• Celebrate EB’s birthday at Vieux Moulin
• French lesson
• Follow up Hoxton Wealth
• Golf with Ron on Thursday
• EB mosaic class
• EB volunteer at the Cancer Services of France store

Weather forecast for next week

Chance of rain Sunday through Tuesday then partly cloudy and sunny the rest of the week with high temps reaching 80.

Signing off for the week

As always, we sign off wishing you all a good week and remind you to take care of yourselves and your family.

Keep in touch and leave questions, suggestions and comments below. We really enjoy hearing from you all.

Wishing you a good week (Bonne Semaine)

Mark and Elizabeth Beiley

Babyboomersmovetofrance.com