The sky is falling!!!
Relax, this is not about Trump.
You may have heard that after a 5 year drought in California, last month saw a deluge of almost biblical proportions. Whenever something big happens in California (fires, floods, mass shootings) friends and family often ask if it was in our area. Short answer: no.
Last month though, we did not walk away unscathed. Neighbors sent us pictures of the damage done by a freak windstorm, knocking part of our fence down and shredding our patio umbrella. All this while we were suffering benign weather on the French Riviera.
Last month though, we did not walk away unscathed. Neighbors sent us pictures of the damage done by a freak windstorm, knocking part of our fence down and shredding our patio umbrella. All this while we were suffering benign weather on the French Riviera.
Speaking of which...
The first 3 rules of real estate
We have all been told that the rules in purchasing real estate are simple. The 3 crucial things are location, location and location. Everything else can be fixed, but get the location wrong and you are toast.
Our choice of location here was a winner for us, and this past month seemed to be re-confirmed. We have found many local postcards, place mats, tourist pamphlets, videos and the like with photos of our immediate area, always including our villa in the pictures. This month, we found a front page newspaper story that was published last May when we were here about our little neighborhood.
Next was a large format, glossy, high end travel magazine featuring our immediate coastline at the bottom of our property which has a view that would rival anything we have ever seen in Malibu.
 | ||
| The front page of our local paper describing our rocky inlet as a "preserved shelter" and a "privileged coastline" . |
 |
| The two page article went on to describe the "beaches, creeks and rocky inlets" that were in "one of the most appreciated protected environments". That its inhabitants were "rocked between the calm of the winter and the dynamic summer activities". Finally, they were unlikely to leave "this little corner of paradise". |
Next was a large format, glossy, high end travel magazine featuring our immediate coastline at the bottom of our property which has a view that would rival anything we have ever seen in Malibu.
 | ||
| The magazine called our community "A little corner of Paradise" (I thought it might have been the same author but it wasn't) The photo is a little misleading as our property is 50 feet (17M) above another rocky inlet (outside of the right picture frame above but seen in the photo below). Only the width of the road separates our property from the sea. Also on the photo below in another local magazine, you can see a restaurant to the right of our beach. They are currently putting the finishing touches on a multi-million dollar renovation there.  |
Factoid: Water skiing was invented here in 1930 when the National Federation of Alpine Skiing could not wait for winter to resume their sport so they proceeded to put their skis on water behind a boat. The rest, as they say, was history.
As long as we are on the subject, Time magazine just published a report on the "Happiest and Healthiest Cities in America" Researchers analyzed 350,000 interviews conducted in 2016 to rank 189 communities by physical, emotional, financial, community and social health. Our town in California ranked # 7 in the nation. It had ranked #3 but I assume the downgrading was the result of the sadness that folks feel because of our long absences.
Goofing off
This month, we had California friends Joe and Charlotte stop by for a few days on their way to Albania, giving us the perfect excuse to take yet more time off. It was their first foray to the Riviera so we made the best of it. On a day's outing, we started by the obligatory walk down the red carpet at the Cannes Film Festival theatre. We have had more people walk down that carpet than Meryl Streep.
Charlotte covering up to prevent being recognized by the paparazzi
After a leisurely lunch in Italy, we returned by visiting the medieval village of Roquebrune Cap Martin (wow, is that a mouthful !) and climbed to the top of it's fort with a view of the port of Monaco in the background.
 |
| We strolled through Monaco and tempted fate at the Monte Carlo casino before confiscating our wives credit cards when entering the shopping areas. |
Returning home, we hunkered down for one of our 'Mistral' storms. One of the weather peculiarities of the area is that in the winter, we occasionally get violent, cold, northwest winds that accelerates when it passes through the valleys. These are the mother of all winds when on that night it blew at 80 mph (130kph) with some gusts in the area clocked at 110 mph (180kph). Damage? I had to repair 3 clay roof tiles.
Undeterred, Joe and Charlotte will be visiting us at the island this summer.
Les amis
Neighbors and friends Maurice and his wife Brigitte as well as Christian and his wife Lydia dropped by for dinner. Christian is a master chocolate maker and does not muck about. A recent creation of his was a 200 kilo (440 pounds) chocolate bar for a charity auction. He volunteers to teach the craft at schools and community events. He keeps us well supplied.
Last call!
As we go to press, we picked # 1 son Wesley up from the Marseilles airport this AM for his first European trip and a two week visit with mom and dad. After giving him a tour of our local area, Wesley will join us for this years road trip through a half dozen countries including a visit to his sister Mandy's place in Germany. I suspect there will be more on the subject next month.
