BuckinghamshireBoy

I figured I’d put up a kind-of exit blog as we are now hopefully entering our last few weeks here, so…

What we’ll be missing.

Our girls - but they’ll be visiting pretty often I reckon.

Three sets of great neighbours in our end of the tranquil cul-de-sac.

The climate (this from OH, I feel that I may well be more comfortable ‘up north’)

What we won’t be missing.

Healthcare costs.

Gastro-thugs.

The massively obnoxious fourth set of neighbours in our otherwise tranquil cul-de-sac.

The devastation that has been inflicted upon the park next door over the past few months.

Traffic overall, but especially the Frenchies/frontaliers who use our residential back street 30kmh zones as rat-runs.

Lack of decent choice in supermarkets. < true I have been flagged as a potential zombie when found static and dribbling in Belgian supermarkets recently.

Prices of stuff generally. It's bloody expensive here.

My personal big loss will be one view from the balcony taken from the front door.

BritInParis

Back to the UK or...?

BuckinghamshireBoy

Belgium, 15km north-east of Antwerp.

BritInParis

I'd be interested to hear your opinions on how the two differ once you settle in

BuckinghamshireBoy

Reports will continue to flow...

scrubbedexpat142

BB - well done for avoiding the obvious "CHexit"! Suppose you could now go for BEntry!

That's a cracking view from your balcony, that you will miss.

New adventure & surroundings, have a Leffe B on my behalf (can get it here but doesn't quite seem the same compared with enjoying it in Brussels).

Good luck & if your passing Eurocontrol while to or from Zaventem wave at them!

View from our driveway, our hills are not quite as high as yours in CH (highest in Buda is 531 metres)!

BuckinghamshireBoy

Thanks for the good wishes, I shall certainly raise a glass in your direction in a few weeks time.

On a technical note, that hill in my photo is actually in France, it's the Mont Blanc. It's about 70km from my front door.

scrubbedexpat142

Show off!

At least János Hill is only about 5 Km from my front door

BuckinghamshireBoy

Wasn't meaning to come across as a smart arse, honest.

We could rename it 'Henri' if you like...

What gets me is that when we have visitors and the cloud lifts, people say 'Wow, that got to be what, 30 km away?'

BuckinghamshireBoy

We are shedding stuff accumulated over the years like mad now. Eldest step daughter spends at least one day a week here, helping sort and sift, and ends the day running OH’s ‘tank’ full of stuff to the recycling centre.

We have a slight glitch on the exit papers, the accountant lashed up big time, making us late, so we now have to adjust our official departure date. It has no bearing whatsoever on when we go, but creates a pain for me, as two of the steps cannot be completed online, by email etc, but MUST be done in person at the relevant government office. So to paraphrase Mr Schwarzenegger “I’ll be back”, just a bit sooner than I intended.

Still, if it’s all done in a timely manner then I can sell my car here – for peanuts – and travel back by train for a change!

scrubbedexpat142

One step forward, half a step back, never mind, nearly there - the train journey will be good! I still have very fond memories of the TGV from Paris to Besançon back in the '80s - and equally fond memories of the (very) slow return train, via Dijon & every other town in France!

BuckinghamshireBoy

I'm looking forward to the train journey as well. All in all it's not that much longer than flying, and by changing at Lyon, Brussels and Antwerp, I can finish up less than 10km from the house.

scrubbedexpat142

Flying back from Prague this time ended up taking as long as the train!

BuckinghamshireBoy

As is usual in these situations, time appears to have sped up dramatically as we enter our last week here. Both of the farewell parties are done; last weekend we had a brunch for a couple of old friends, their families and our girls. Very pleasant gathering, not too many people that one can’t all join in a conversation at the same time.

Fast forward to yesterday, the girls’ combined birthday party. I counted around 55 guests present at the peak. Our next-door neighbours came as they often do, but instead of staying an hour or so, they outlasted just about everybody, going home after about eleven hours. Another set of neighbours, our house purchasers, came along later, so we had the opportunity to introduce one set to the other, and they all got on really well.

A very long standing mate – and ex-colleague, now retired – came up from Alicante for the event, so us ‘oldies’ had an absolute hoot of a time, putting the youngsters in their place in endurance terms. The girls and a bunch of their friends had worked tirelessly baking, preparing all kinds of food, and despite most people going home with doggie bags, entire quiches and stuff, we’ve still got about half of it left.

Today has been deemed a ‘day off’ before plunging headlong into the chaos that will likely ensue over the next week.

BuckinghamshireBoy

The chaos erupted full on at 8:30 this morning when the packers arrived. I had loads of stuff all over the place still to sort, but we managed to work out a priority system which meant I didn't get in their way, and managed to just about keep ahead of them. A team of 5, incredibly efficient and hugely funny into the bargain.At one point I heard a shout from the guy doing the kitchen of "Ah, Katsuobushi" and stuck my head in to ask if he was a fan of Japanese food. He explained that he had lived and studied in Kyoto for two years, so we had a good chat about Kyoto, Osaka and the surrounding area.

All of the larger items are now wrapped and stacked, including the beds, so we're camping out in an hotel just over the border in France for a few nights.

The big truck is due to arrive at 9 tomorrow morning, and team leader said this afternoon that if they carry on at this rate, it should be ready to leave around 4 in the afternoon. I've had a bite on selling my Swiss plated car, so we're flying up to Belgium instead of driving, and the new owner of the house will handle the prospective car purchaser.

I'll be back in about 3 weeks - assuming we have all our 'missing' paperwork sorted ready to do battle with the tax authorities, then moving on to hopefully obtain the official exit papers.

The end is almost in sight...