Another month on Janice's chain gang
What got done:
- Removed old grout from kitchen counters and re-grouted. Check
- Installed a new gas cook top. Check
- Installed more roof gutters. Check
- Repaired and improved stone stairs down to a garden area. Check
- Built and tiled a new picnic table top for a the 3rd terrace. Check
- Cut channels in cement walls to bury electric wires for outlets and lights in bedroom #5 in the lower level area currently under construction. Check
- Cut offending tree limbs in the boss's garden. Check
Cutting channels in the walls and ceilings
to bury electrical wires
to bury electrical wires
We are always looking for ANY excuse to push away from our homeowner projects and having family and friends visit is a perfect one. Last month we had son Wesley and his girlfriend, but this month we had island friends Bud and Bev Andress join us for a 2 week visit. First timers to Europe (and France obviously), they were like taking kids to a candy store. We tried hard not to disappoint.
PARTY TIME!!!!
Giving them little time to acclimate to the 6 hours time difference for them (we reminded them they didn't come to France to sleep) we got started El Pronto with sights to see near to home. The visit in photos below.
You can never go wrong with beer on the beach.
Followed by bottling our own wine
Sealing the corks
TA-DA!!!
Now a certified master bottler.
5 O'clock at friends
Next, we took a 3 day road trip to visit a dozen little medieval villages.
La Carriere des Lumieres. A spectacular light show held in a former underground quarry the size of a football field that ranged from 30 to 80 feet high. (10 to 30 M). Impossible to accurately describe, it is one of those things that you have to experience to believe. Note the size of a man on bottom left of the pic.
Visiting the Roman town of Glanum (27 BC)
Breakfast before we hit the road on the second day
Trigance Castle (1037 AD), where we spent the night
Aerial view
We agreed that we could get used to this
The King and Queen of the castle's bedroom
Where the little people stay: Janice and Michael's room
Castle innards leading to the armory
The lounge
Gorges du Verdon: France's Grand Canyon
Visiting the Fragonard perfume factory in Grasse
La Turbie. 100 ft high monument above Monaco to Emperor Augustus. Erected in 67 BC
Shopping for an upgrade in Monaco
Test driving the track. Since there are no
cars in front of me, I must be in 1st place!
get to as it is a hilltop village
Pellion. Established in the year 1014
Nibbles with our friends and neighbors Maurice and Brigitte
The girls at home
Here we go again....
No, this is not our island, thank God, but it is nearby. Two years ago, our part of the river suffered serious flooding and it was dubbed a once in a hundred year event. Time flies because here we are again.
As was the case the last time, our island will not be seriously impacted as we are high enough that if the cabin gets flooded, New York city is underwater too. Our main dock, however, will be underwater for a while so we will use the USS Ronald Reagan (the floating dock for the plane) to come and go until things settle down.
This will impact some of our friends though and businesses and marinas up and down the river will be hurting. As we go to press, we are two weeks from landing, so if you are nearby we would sure appreciate you drying our dock for us.
