Maybe because when we left Spain and landed in France it took just a few days for us to feel like we were at home, and nobody writes about being at home! The mind shift was instant for us all and really weird, but the house we swapped into gave us an instant feel of home, our neighbours (and owners of the house) became immediate friends and the surrounding countryside gave us a feel of familiarity and ease.
Our neighbour Corine then offered to get the kids into the local school for us, helped us meet the headmistress and the Mairie, and then talked us through the paper work and hey presto, all was done. The children attended French school for 1 month and loved every minute of it, immediately integrating with their peers and teachers. Then they were introduced and invited to join the local riding club, we attended the village lotto and met the locals in the process and became regulars at the Friday night village Moules Frites nights! After our month’s stay we were offered the opportunity to rent the house long term from the end of August and we jumped at the chance.