In recent months, our life has taken the turn we have been dreaming of, for more than 2 years now. The days flew by and I seriously neglected my Blog. But this time, it was for a very good reason! I finally share these short texts I wrote during a few moments… of happy insomnia!
June 10 2023… early morning…
We are in our hotel room, in New Brunswick. I’ve been awake for a few hours as I look at my news feed unfold on Facebook. I am surprise to learn, that somewhere in Nova Scotia, there is an almost life-size version of Stonehenge… and that we will be driving close by today! After one or two detours and a few more turns than expected, we finally got to these mysterious and intriguing stones, right in the middle of a very green field. Certainly worth the drive. As it is a private property, I leave it up to you to find it.
To celebrate our arrival in Nova Scotia, it was… Dinner at the Rose Bay Bistro and a visit to Hirtle’s Beach… to offer our Greetings to the Sea!
June 11 2023… It’s 4:30 am and I’ve been awake since 3 am …
In a little over 7 hours, we are going to visit the house, that I hope to be the one, that will be at the heart of this beautiful and great adventure… we are about to take on.
4 years ago today, we said yes to each other. A year before life took the big turn… that no one saw coming.
Flashback to Winter 2019, we still have our beautiful sailboat Tranquillité. We have just finished the Broadchurch Series and are dreaming of those magnificent English cliffs. We are busy preparing for our wedding and our honeymoon, but the Summer (always too short) is mostly dedicated to our life on the boat.
It is too late to plan a vacation to the United Kingdom, so I thought of Nova Scotia and the East Coast would be ideal. Not knowing that this decision, would change the course of our lives.
Since that first trip which took us from Digby to Cape Breton through Lunenburg and the magnificent South Shore of Nova Scotia; this is the fourth time, we come back to this wonderful piece of Paradise.
2023 promises to be a year like no other. Just like 2013, when my life took a turn for the better with a message on OK Cupid… that would change everything.
Today, we are celebrating our 4th wedding anniversary, our 10th year together and our 1st time in Broad Cove.
It is also, just a year ago that we visited the first house with Anita Chaput, our wonderful agent, who has since become our friend. Kindly referred by Barbara Högenauer, the artist who painted Safe Harbor for Barry’s birthday, at the very start of the Pandemic.
What if Broad Cove would be our Safe Harbour. I know it, I feel it… It’s all connected!
Broadchurch, Broad Cove, 2013, 2023, the East Coast… and Mollie, Barry’s mum and his cousin who made us dream of Cape Breton’s cliffs. It seems to me that it has to be a sign… But I must say that for the last few days, I’ve been seeing signs everywhere! : )
Sunday June 11… 10h30 @ 12h30…
WOWWWWW !!! It’s even more beautiful than in the virtual tour. The view is simply, breathtaking.
We are already arranging our furniture and thinking of our friends and family who will come to visit us. We see ourselves, having our morning coffee in the veranda… watching the clouds and the sea go by… I just can’t believe it. I have dreamed of this, all my life!
The visit has to come to an end and it’s time to sit down to discuss what will be the next steps. We head out to Lahave River Ferry for the lunch of our lives… at the Rose Bay Bistro, of course!
On the way, we see… Risser Beach, Crescent Beach, La Have Bakery & Book store and so much more. This road, the one we would take every other day… will soon be ours too!!!
We could not have hoped for a better person than Anita, to take us on this journey, to reassure us and to guide us, exactly where we got. There was a connection, from the first moment we met her, in June 2022. After a year of research, lots of ups and downs, it was decided. We are making an offer!
I have confidence. Confident that if this house with a view is to be ours, it will be. Not so much because I believe in fate, but mostly because I know we did everything we could. No regrets. Just the joy of imagining our future… in the colors of the ocean.
The next morning, after a breakfast, to pass time, we head out to our Hirtle’s Beach.
It’s been nice and warm since we arrived, last Saturday. We open our windows and for a few minutes we sit there, in the car, watching the sea in the distance, listening to the sound of the waves crashing on the beach. As I open the car door, my phone rings. It’s Anita…
Our offer is accepted!!!!
It’s really happening!!! Our dream is coming true, infused with a new wind straight from the sea. We finally go out for our walk, relieved and bursting with joy. A short one, since it’s 4:30 pm. and we haven’t had lunch yet. More Lobster for me!
It will be the Rose Bay Bistro of course. We arrived only three days ago and ate there three times already!!! Sarah is serving us our meal. She recognizes us from last year and remembers our cat cameras, with Zoe & Henri, back home.
How lovely it is to see familiar faces again. We are so happy! Our new life has already begun… long before our big move. Anita & Terry, Sharon & Guy, Kim & Robert, David & Maude, Sarah and all the others… who made us feel at home, even before we would find ours.
A quick stop at one of our favorite Café, The Barn, that Coup de Coeur that won’t go away! We share the most incredibly delicious blackberry scone. A perfect mix of slightly tart berries, white chocolate and sugar crust. Add to that a cold lemonade and an ice coffee and you know, that life is good.
A nouveau Coup de Coeur in our new neighborhood ! The Ploughman’s Lunch – Bakery and Chocolate… with a little ”Je ne sais quoi” that grabs you by the heart… as soon as you open the door!
We were welcomed with the music of Edith Piaf, great food and a few Quebec cheese! (The Douanier from Noyan and the Benedictine Blue from Saint-Benoit du Lac). If that is not a sign… : )
A few minutes from our future home… we also found the Bear Trap Road. It is… Happiness with a view!!!
And then it was time for a last visit to Hirtle’s Beach to say our ”Au revoir” to the sea, but for the first time we knew, we would be back soon. So we left in this most poetic fog!
More than two months have passed since that early morning of June 11. We came home and started cleaning up our house. We finished painting, repaired scratches, threw away, donated, recycled and sold everything we could and finally put our house for sale.
The days flew, as Summer settled in. It was hot, really hot. It rained. It rained a lot. The grass grew and the sun found his way between the clouds. Visitors started to come to visit our beautiful house with a view… as we are getting ready… for the rest of our great maritime adventure.
See you soon !
