Not a whirlwind, a veritable tornado

I'm already back from the wedding, got in at 10:30 p.m. last night to be precise.  Even though we weren't supposed to be back until Thursday evening.  All because of J's job.  His company (in the sense of a unit, not a firm) is currently working in one of the outlying cities around Paris where there is a lot of drug-related crime. Many of his colleagues, not wanting to work there, called in sick (a fact; not supposition), so J had to go back to work early, having been allowed off only enough time to go to his cousin's wedding. Yes, he could have called in sick, too, but that would have caused yet another person to be called back in to work. Not very moral of him, so I'm glad he sucked it up and just went back in, fair or unfair.

We debated about whether or not to swing by Bordeaux as planned and finally decided that we would do it and visit only the one rental that interested us the most.  So, our weekend looked a little something like this:

Friday:
5:00 p.m. : J gets home from Paris, one hour later than his boss promised. Head to J's mom's.

Saturday:
1:30 a.m. : arrive at his mom's place in the south
2:00 p.m. : drive one hour to Carcassonne for the wedding

Sunday
2:30 a.m. : eat dessert, then leave wedding, not waiting for coffee, and drive back to mom's place (first part of wedding was at 3:00 pm)
4:00 a.m. : in bed
7:00 a.m.  : wake up
8:00 a.m. : Leave for beach town south of Bordeaux
12:00 p.m. : spend one hour in traffic jam in Bordeaux
1:30 p.m. : arrive in Le Teich and visit apartments
2:30 p.m. : spending an hour eating picnic lunch and discussing apartments before driving back home
10:30 p.m. : arrive home

Poor Julien left for work at 7:00 this morning, and he won't be home until the 18th.

However, the wedding was nice (just oh-so-long!).

And...

We decided to take an apartment in Le Teich.  It is a special kind of arrangement but one that I think will work well for us. It is a vacation property that the owner rents out for a lot cheaper (not really cheaper than a regular rental) than during the peak tourist season. The rent is all inclusive (water, electricity, heating, taxes, Internet...), and it will save us from having to open utilities in our own name. A very good thing if we end up being posted somewhere within the next 10 months. It is also furnished, so we don't have to worry about packing up a whole household again. The downside, if it is one, is that we will have to leave the lodgings in July of next year so that they can be rented out to tourists.  If you're curious, you can see the one we're renting here. (Each photo opens in its own window.)

Le Teich is right by the Arcachon Basin and a kilometer away from a birdwatching reserve.  The Dune de Pilat (Pyla Dune), the biggest dune in Europe, is very close, too.  J will be able to take the train to work in Bordeaux most of the time, so there is no need for us to buy a second car.

Hooray! We know where we are going. Packing will commence tomorrow.