So leaving the dampness, the barriers and the rain behind, we took ourselves and our home across the water to France.
It was an emotional journey, especially for me as I had a really bad toothache and spend most of the ferry over suck in the cabin we had onboard.
At the time of booking we really didn't want to book a cabin as they are expensive. But in the end, I was very glad we did.
It was such a big moment for our family, leaving where we were familiar with and heading into the unknown, this was the start of a big adventure
When we landed in France. We were all really excited about what was ahead of us we were free to go wherever the wind took us. The roads were bigger, and there were much more opportunities to be in nature, our first night we found a lovely little place to park up( picture above). We have always enjoyed free parking, which is basically parking up in nature, in wild places.We followed a side road that took us into the forest and that was our first night in France. It was so nice to wake up in the morning and be surrounded by trees, to go for a walk in the forest and collect leaves.
My partners friend had heard about a group of people living in Tarn that were starting a little community, they were friends who had been living in vehicles but decided to buy land collectively and start up their own farm, growing vegetables and rearing goats for milk and cheese.
So off we went to find them, they were very friendly and invited us to park up on their land for a few days. My eldest was very happy to get to see all the goats being milked twice daily and get involved in all the day to day activities of life on a farm. The only down side was that there were no other children there.
One of the guys living there had built this amazing little bath out of a keg. You can see it in the picture above. He basically cut it down the middle and lay it on it's side, drilled a hole for the drainage and then built a beautiful wooden frame around it. He had two jerry cans filled with water next to his stove, which provided him with warm water for the bath.
This is one of the things I Love about being nomadic, going to new places and getting to meet new people, seeing what motivates them, what drives their creativity. Sharing stories and learning new skills and all the while educating me and my family.
Next stop was Ariege, and a town called St Girons, there is a great market here every Saturday morning, a great place for cheap organic fruit and veg and local produce. Whilst there we got talking to some people about a squat on the outskirts of the town, that was in the process of becoming a community space for people interested in activism and alternative lifestyles. So off we went and checked it out. That's us parked outside of it, in the picture above. We got involved in a few projects there, I will do a separate post about this space, it definitely deserves it.
Moving on from St Girons, the gateway to the Pyrennes, we ended up parking up at this amazing spot. We were told about it by one of the guys at the squat, It's a communal workshop for people creating Yurts, Tipi's's and Dome's. There were three or four industrial sewing machines that were used to make the canvas.
We had a stream right next to where we we parked and the river was just a few feet away. The wild flowers here were stunning and I was in foraging heaven. Nettle, chickweed, cleavers, wild strawberries, wild apples to name but a few of the delicacies we found on our many walks.
By trusting our instincts and following our hearts all the above had opened up to us.
This was just the start of our adventures, but we were so glad we took the leap and left Ireland.
Moving forward with our home, moving forward with our learning, living freely!
To be continued..........
I am part of the #ecotrain, if you wish to read great content and be inspired please check it out. It is one train that is full of very diverse and creative passengers. And we all know that diversity is the spice of life.
