Au revoir Barry’s!
The time has come for (most) of the Barry family to depart for France.
Tom, myself, Clare and Lucy were a combination of nervous excitement about fulfilling a long term dream to live and travel in a foreign country and embrace that community.
We departed Albury a little over a week ago, and have safely arrived in our temporary hometown of Menthon, St Bernard. We will be living here in the small village of Menthon and the girls will attend a French school in Annecy.
Nearly a week into our stay we are settling into a lovely routine of a morning run/walk, followed by cafe au lait and then (when the teenagers wake), family exploration on foot of the many villages and mountains, all within walking distance of our Maison.
We’ve already noticed the French tend to start and finish their days a little later than us!
The days are long, the cars on the wrong side of the road and the croissants are delicious!
Pedestrians and cyclists are always given the priority on roads and drivers are so patient on the narrow, twisted and hilly streets.
This photo is taken on a day trip to Annecy which is about 10km away. The city of Annecy is a bit bigger than Albury/Wodonga and has many cobbled streets. It is sometimes described as the Venice of the French Alps, due to the canals you can see in the background.
We’ve done a lot of walking and balanced this out by enjoying a delicious french ice-cream while exploring the city. Tom and I have also had the opportunity to start sampling the local wines!
Now we say most of the Barry family, as we are leaving behind our first born.
Yes you heard correctly, our eldest child, 18 yo O-health will remain in the expert hands of our amazing team.
The concept of O-health first began 19 years ago, funnily enough also in Europe. The concept was simpler back then! Do health differently, work with our patients to get them back doing what they love, and keep them doing it!
We now have a team of 25+ who are experts, go the extra mile, love what they do and are excited to continue learning and evolving to get the best results with our patients. It’s time that Tom and I got out of their way (temporarily) and let them do it!
It’s a strange feeling leaving.
We are so excited to see how O-health and our team grow in our 6 months away. They will continue to provide and improve our unique and innovative health care service to the Albury-Wodonga community. Tom and I love what we do and are extremely proud of the amazing team we have at O-health.
So this is not Au revoir but rather, A bientot- we will be back!
-Lisa Barry