Life in Brittany, France : An Update

This morning, I was reviewing a few draft posts that I had created but not published. I came upon the one below and read through it. I almost hit the “delete” button, but reconsidered. You see, it’s easy to look at someone’s life on Instagram or Facebook – or even here in this blog – and think “Oh, she’s so lucky to be living in this charming town in France.” Yes, I do feel blessed to be here. I do. It took a LOT of work and a good number of tears to get where I am. I thought that I would share this in the hopes that if people are still feeling a bit lost, I get it. I do. Just remember that we are all in this together and we are nearing the end of this pandemic (a girl can hope).

A Trip Back in Time to Fall, 2020 …

Let’s have a little chat. If you’ve been with me from the beginning, you know that I was posting at least once weekly on this blog and did so for months. I was excited to share my love of Brittany with you, including travel photos and information, recipes, etc. I started the end of December 2019 knowing that I had enough content and photos to share straight through to my trip to Brittany scheduled for April 2020. Once there, I would take hundreds of pictures and write about all of the adventures I planned to take. With summer break just around the corner, I could easily keep going with writing every week. I would spend from the beginning of June to the end of August in Dinan, taking you all with me to markets and castles and the sea and maybe an enchanted forest or two.

That was my plan, and it was a good one. Fast forward to March 2020 and …. well, you know the rest. In April, I was knee deep in grant writing and it wasn’t until mid-May that I started to get worried that the meet-ups and trips that I (and a few million others) had planned for spring and summer wouldn’t be happening. As the weeks progressed, excitement about upcoming plans was replaced with dreaded uncertainty and a rather bleak outlook.

August was a rough month. Everything came to a head, ended, or otherwise fell apart, and me along with them. Nearing the end of August meant there wouldn’t be a trip this summer (I was in a bit of denial before that). It meant that the new school year would be starting – whatever that looked like – and if the borders miraculously opened up, I wouldn’t be able to go due to work commitments. Now, I know that these are considered “first world problems” but I also knew that I felt like I couldn’t breathe where I was.

The importance of connection cannot be over emphasized. I’ve lived the majority of my life alone and I can’t say that I’ve ever experienced loneliness. I’ve been alone and felt alone, but wasn’t ever really lonely. If I have, it must have been so short-lived that I don’t recall. These last several months, when I’ve woken up before 2 AM, I’ve felt more alone and lonely than I ever have in my life and in ways I didn’t know were possible. As hard as it was, I realized that for whatever reason the universe was telling me that this is something I had to experience, and go through it deeply. After some weeks of waking up and not going back to sleep, I realized that there were whole countries of people awake at that time. I reached out to friends and, after a few minutes of connection, I could go back to sleep for a few hours. The more I connected with people from Facebook groups, I realized that there were many, many people experiencing the same feelings as I was, and together we cheered each other on and talked about 2021 being “The Year” for get-togethers. I’m so grateful to the friends that I have made, friends that I’ve known for years, months, or even weeks.

I dove into book clubs with an amazing group of people from across the globe. To see each other’s faces and hear their thoughts and ideas about books that have received accolades in France made us all feel slightly more connected to the country we have grown to love, even though we were all reading from thousands of miles away from her. I have also connected with others who find joy in photography and gite owners who share a love of meeting new people. And probably the biggest blessing of all has been reconnecting with friends I’ve known and loved for years, but due to life demands we hadn’t spent time together in quite a while. Taking long walks in the woods together or sitting on a blanket in the park with dear friends became my saving grace this summer.

I’ve developed a healthy exercise routine to start my day and reading to finish it. WOW had I forgotten the impact that both can have physically and mentally. Reading and taking deep breaths settle the mind and body while physical exercise just feels soooo good. While on my stationary bike, I listen to podcasts or interviews with authors and other creators. Hearing these brilliant individuals talk about the joy they experience in doing what they love, as well as the lessons learned along the way, has been very inspiring. Probably the most important things I learned from them was 1) You will disappoint many when you stop disappointing yourself and 2) that you WILL fail in creative ventures, but what you gain from that failure will lead you to an even better adventure than you could have dreamed.

What does all of this rambling have to do with my blog on Brittany? Well, it’s that time in life when we have to decide whether to continue down the path that we’ve been on for years, the path of pleasing others, or venture down the path of pleasing ourselves and truly going after our dreams. More to come on how that is progressing, but I’m thrilled to say that I’m taking steps to make the dreams of living full-time in Brittany a reality. Stay tuned …

My future self imagines an evening where I lie in bed. I’m reminded of a time when life was very hard indeed. The whole world was struggling with a sickness, one that creeped its way across the globe, an invisible monster that was causing fear and panic and bringing out the worst in some. Fear and loneliness came with it, and many of us were struggling for a long time. Through this, however, this monster also brought out the best in many. The collective sadness and fear was overcome with gratitude and compassion. People began to help each other in their communities and across continents. Yes, my future self says, I am so thankful that this time has passed and we are able to travel and spend time with our loved ones again. What a blessing!

A Jump Forward to March 2022

It was an interesting trip down memory lane reading that article. I can’t wait to catch you all up on what has transpired since that time. Briefly, I am now living permanently in Brittany. I have finally realized my decades-long dream and while taking the plunge and moving has proven to be quite different from the tourist version of living here, I am without a doubt the happiest I have been in a very, very long time. Moving abroad is not easy, but I have always loved and welcomed a challenge. For my long-time readers, thank you for your patience while I have been settling into my new life here. I needed time to adjust before getting back to my regular posting schedule. For new readers, you can expect anything and everything you ever wanted to know about traveling to this incredible region in France. Please stay tuned for some new and delightful places I have discovered these last few months.

If you did not know, I had written a series of articles for MyFrenchLife magazine during the summer and fall of 2021. I will provide links to those articles below along with some of my introductory articles on this blog. I hope you find them helpful.

Please let me know how you are getting on wherever in the world you call home. I am also interested to know whether you have any upcoming travel plans. Please do share in the comments section.

Stay safe and well,

Amy from Tales from Brittany

Travel Tips and Beautiful Towns in Brittany

A Visit to Locronan and Quimper https://talesfrombrittany.com/a-visit-to-locronan-and-quimper-france/

Fort la Latte and Cap Frehel https://talesfrombrittany.com/visitor-guide-to-fort-la-latte-and-cap-frehel/

Must See Castles in Brittany https://talesfrombrittany.com/must-see-castles-in-brittany/

A Coastal Drive in Brittany https://talesfrombrittany.com/a-coastal-drive-in-brittany/

Why Brittany? https://talesfrombrittany.com/why-brittany/

France, the Beginning https://talesfrombrittany.com/france-the-beginning/

Best of 2020 (favorite places) https://talesfrombrittany.com/best-of-2020/

Experiencing Brittany: A Hidden Gem https://www.myfrenchlife.org/2021/07/01/experience-coastal-brittany-a-hidden-gem-at-the-waters-edge/

Moving to France