Anchors, Inverters, and Eiffel Towers: We Will Always Have Paris

A few months ago, we were invited to the wedding of a very dear couple. We were so excited to celebrate with them. As it turned out, the wedding was in France. It was early June, which marks the start of hurricane season. Most boats have already made their way to a hurricane-safe zone (in the east Caribbean most likely Grenada or ABC islands) and a few late bloomers like us are still lingering behind. We left the boat in Guadeloupe, assuming that even if there is an early hurricane like last year it will most likely be heading more south this early in the hurricane season. Guadeloupe also means a direct domestic flight to Paris as its French territory. 

About two months ago we parted ways from our little mobile tribe, our two buddy boats - It’s hard to explain how close you get when you’re moving with your floating house, and your next door floating neighbors, across 18 countries in 2.5 years. 

Since then, we’ve found ourselves in a bit of a dry spell, seeing very few other boats or families with kids. And even when we met a nice kid-boat family, it's this time of the year when everyone is on a tight schedule rushing somewhere hurricane-safe.

We readjusted to being just the core four of us again. It has some wonderful elements. We were reminded that we really enjoy spending time together; both as individuals and as a little gang, we have such rich inner worlds. We’re doing so much, and there is so much more we want to do - Write, create, publish, host, program, design, learn, repair and improve.

In the more challenging moments, we reminded ourselves that we had Paris to look forward to. With lights, romance, a grandma-babysitter that will join us - and a glamorous wedding. I had to buy make-up. Five years living on board meant five years of never using makeup. Tomer had to buy (and rent..) basically - clothes. And shoes.

It was exciting to be in the City of Light, spending time with my mom and her partner who came to see us. We got to be total tourists with the kids. 

Climbing Tour Eiffel. 

Exploring the Louvre Museum. 

We got to see the kids interact with the tour guide (or anyone who isn’t us for that matter) and seeing them from the side was probably the first moment in which I felt like I’m doing well with homeschooling (or struggling schooling) these two. 

But then, we got back home. 

Again only us four, no grandma and grandpa around. No museums. No city of lights. No-one else to make lunch. We were two very tired parents who had partied harder than we have in years, suddenly needing to jump back into a routine we've never been great at to begin with. Neither Tomer nor I are very good with schedules and routines. 

We returned to three days of intensive boat work. Our refrigerator was threatening to collapse under the Caribbean mid-summer heat, and we had to replace a dead inverter. The boat was a mess: walls opened up, tools and cables everywhere, zero power (which meant no coffee!), and absolutely no air conditioning. 

Try homeschooling with a combination of jet lag and a hangover in a coffee shop. It was... an experience. 

We are recovering. 

I hope. 😅😳

We finally left the marina and are bobbing again. Being on anchor means that the wind comes from the right direction (in a Marina it almost never does), we can easily swim and let the kids burn energy. And we get to see the stars, the moon and my precious daily sunsets. And latest update - the fridge died.. we’ll have to figure that one out. 

Its good to be back!