We leave today for our biggest journey yet, a two-year move to Lyon, France! Jordan received an offer right before Christmas 2019 to work at his current company’s R&D headquarters. After reviewing all the pros and cons over dinner one night, we knew that we couldn’t pass this once in a lifetime opportunity up. We’ve spent the past two months working out all the details, including finding a temporary apartment in Lyon, selling our cars, and getting our Visas approved.
The most common questions we have received are…
- DO YOU SPEAK FRENCH?
- Non, which is ‘no’ in French. Jordan’s company is going to help pay for both of us to take French classes once we arrive in France. We plan to live in the heart of the city to be immersed in the culture and are hopeful this will help us learn the language.
- WHAT ARE YOU (LAURA) GOING TO DO FOR A JOB?
- I will continue to work at my current company while we live in Lyon, which has made this move so much less stressful!
- ARE THE DOGGIES COMING WITH YOU?
- One of the hardest decisions we made was deciding if we should bring our dogs with us. His company would have paid to move them, but this would have involved putting them underneath the plane for an extended period of time and also quarantine once we arrived. They also would be going from a house with a large yard where they can currently come in and out of the house as they want to a small apartment. Jordan’s parents graciously offered to take care of them while we are in Lyon and the dogs will be very spoiled with them in Maine!
- WHAT ARE YOU GOING TO DO ABOUT YOUR HOUSE?
- We love our house in Greenville and weren’t ready to sell it knowing that we would be moving back in two years. We are working with a property management company to rent it out so that we can move back into it when we return.
- WHAT DID YOU DO WITH YOUR CARS?
- Sold them! I sold my car to a friend from MBA school, and Jordan sold his car the day we fly out to France! Jordan will get a new car in Lyon, but I will be car-less for the next two years and will enjoy public transportation!
- ARE YOU GOING TO TRAVEL?
- YES! Lyon is central to so many places in Europe, and many cities are just a couple hours away by plane or train (hence the name, planes, trains, and Shanes). Jordan has at least 7 weeks of vacation and both of us will have plenty of time to explore. We fully plan on being weekend warriors and exploring new cities as many weekends as we can!
- ARE YOU SCARED?
- The unknown can always be scary, but we will not be alone! We will have a ton of resources and support from Jordan’s company and look forward to this new adventure together.
I’m not great at posting on social media and don’t love sharing much information about our personal life online, but my goal is for this blog is to give us an outlet to keep up with friends and family while we live in France. This blog will also document our travels and experiences over the next two years! I’ll be sharing my blog posts on Facebook and on Instagram @planestrainsandshanes.
Please share any suggestions for places we should visit with us in the comments!
Enjoying reading your posts. Bob lived in France for 3 years as a teenager. He was the only one who readily picked up French. His Mom would send him to the store to get bread.
I just learned how to reply to comments :). I did not know that! What an amazing experience. I bet he has so many memories from his time in France. I send Jordan to the store to go get bread during the lockdown, ha!