It’s never too late to say thank you. In my diary for several months, which I hadn’t consulted recently, missing the mark by just a few days, I won’t skip my appointment, now an annual one (see Gratitude Day 2022), with World Gratitude Day.

And as we take stock and set off again, I’d like to extend my warmest thanks to our skipper, Thomas, for getting us safely to port. Whatever the degree of intimacy of his relationship with providence, together they spared us from fishing aggregation devices and vicious nets, ill-intentioned pirates, rogue waves, distracted whales, mischievous orcas, or overly playful weather, and enabled us to enjoy, rather serenely, our time out of time for sixteen months.

In the midst of sorting through photos, writing late-night blog posts and editing the latest videos, I’m overwhelmed by the density of this maritime experience, and the incalculable number of memories created as a family, with Thomas, the children, but also in the company of our loved ones who came to visit us throughout the voyage, including in our new home port. I was talking about this at last night’s milonga with my new tango teacher, the fabulous Erna Dolcet: isn’t this what defines our relationship with our loved ones, the quality of the memories we build with them? For there is no gift more precious than the gift of time. Neither taken back nor exchanged, the time we spend together remains so for eternity.

Secondly, if I have immeasurable admiration and gratitude these days, it’s for my children, Zéphyr and Azur, who, without fitting into any mold, have made their return to school by adapting to their new environment like fish in water, while retaining their singularity, long hair when most boys their age have adopted the fashionable cut, i.e. shaved on the sides and longer on top (which Zéphyr frankly thinks looks cretinous, I’m still waiting to see), their floral shirts, and their exotic accents. It’s an exquisite pleasure to hear them tell us every evening about their day’s adventures, their comments on the teachers, their appreciation of the school restaurant, which they knew only by reputation from reading J’aime lire, and their new friends with whom they play soccer at recess (Azur), setting up meetings on Wednesdays and weekends to fine-tune their team strategy, or huddle around a bench (Zephyr), taking turns bribing their buddies with Oreos to get a seat, while making sure the supervisors don’t spot this little maneuver, as I’m told it’s forbidden to bring food to recess.

Special mention goes to the Carnon Harbour Master’s Office, which was the only one to respond favorably to our request for a place in port, a temporary arrangement under a stopover contract which we hope will be extended beyond the end of the year, and which is proving to be the perfect place to start this new adventure. Halfway between La Grande Motte, where Thomas takes up his post on Monday, and Montpellier, where I’m due to start work in the next few weeks, with its very active community life, we feel warmly welcomed in our new adopted commune. We immediately signed up for the Amicale des Plaisanciers de Carnon, which we met at the forum des associations (and with whom we’ve already shared a giant tuna fish luncheon, where Mum came too), as well as the library a stone’s throw away, we’ve just finalized everyone’s leisure schedule. Drawing, hip-hop and sailing for Azur, chess, sailing and climbing for Zéphyr, tango and yoga for Thomas, tango and theater for me. Enough to enjoy the year ahead while minimizing our carbon footprint, all within a 15-minute bike ride (except 30 for tango).

I’m grateful for the free sporting, cultural and social opportunities too, with the Journées du Patrimoine (which allowed a visit to the Opera-Comédie, the Fabre museum and a show at the Emile Zola library) and the associations’ open days, which enabled us to try out the different courses on offer in the region, and to plunge volunteer mom into my world by dragging her along to salsa and tango initiations.

Finally, the award for altruism goes to my parents-in-law, who are so attentive to our needs in general, but more particularly on this return to a sedentary life in France. Exemplary in their generosity, no sooner had we mentioned that the port was lined with pétanque courts than they offered us boules sets for the whole family, after having already given us a bicycle in perfect condition, as well as their Twingo, which we have just learned with great relief, from the mechanic, was, despite a slight tendency to hold us in suspense when starting up, as good as new.

So we start the 2023-24 season in very good conditions, with two contracts signed or in the process of being signed, surrounded by kind-hearted people, including the school principal and Azur’s teacher, who are enthusiastic about our adventure, the principal of the secondary school, who expedited the assessment procedure in record time, so that Zephyr could start at the same time as his classmates; our old friends, who we’ve met again by chance; the other gipsies in the port, who like us, live on their boat; and the heads of the MJC, the media library and all the associations who open their arms wide to us.

Everything’s perfect. (All we need is for dog owners to pick up after their pets, and for smokers to refrain from smoking in public to be in the best of all possible worlds😜).