April, 2015

Wine us up and watch us go!

Last month, we left off just as we had crossed on the ferry from Italy to the French island of Corsica where we then spent the next week driving around visiting this and that. On our second night, I feigned my inability to find a hotel and told Janice we would have to spend the night in a cave. 

The fact that it had a shower and kitchenette built into the rocks and was equipped with high speed internet (hey, my girl does have her standards) was a plus, but for us the room was a chart buster on the coolness scale. There is a well-known hotel in our home town called the Madonna Inn which has ‘cave’ rooms built from large boulders, but this was the real deal cut into the rock face of a cliff.

Corsica has a rugged coastline, similar to the world famed Coast Highway in California. Along the way we pushed through the mountain goat blockade above, stopped in Calvi (birthplace of Christopher Columbus) as well as visiting the Scanola Nature Preserve, coming in at #129 on our World Heritage Sites visited.

The Scanola Nature Preserve

Finally, after completing the 600 mile circumference of the island in a week, we saw the yearly olive harvest. These nets are spread out under the trees, the limbs are shaken and the olives fall in the nets to be taken away.

The olive harvest

Next stop was the ferry back to Nice, France or 'on the continent' as the locals refer to it, and drive up to our next home exchange in St.Tropez on the Mediterranean.

Our home away from home in St. Tropez ( The arrow, silly, not the yacht in the middle!)

We spent a week in the area which by now, we have come to know fairly well. We have been coming to this area to snoop around for the past several years, looking at real estate with the plans to eventually move to the area. (Our 4 months a year in Europe, not permanently.) After several days, we were joined by island friends Ian and Lyne who wanted to see what all the fuss was about. 

They stayed at our place in Brittany last year, returned home to Canada and quickly bought a house - sight unseen- online, in Provence. This was their second time returning to their new home, and we joined them on their way back for a 'look see' ourselves. Cute beyond words, it is a Hansel & Gretel setting that fits them to a "T". They plan to return twice a year for a month or so at a time. Our road trip over, we made our way home after having covered 7,000 Km (4,500 miles)

Ian and Lyne's home in Provence

Pee Wee's big adventure. The 2015 five week European road trip comes to a close.

Speaking of big adventures...

Knowing that our kids always have our very best interests at heart and are always looking out for us, we try to follow their advice and recommendations for our well being as often as we can. Several weeks ago, when daughter Cassie heard that we were looking at real estate in the South of France on the Med again, she strongly recommended that we buy a REALLY NICE house... "for your children's inheritance", she said.

So, we did.

View from both terraces and the garden room. Click on any picture to enlarge.

When we bought our current home 12 years ago, we wanted a place to hang our hats, a home base of sorts, to launch from and explore Europe during the months we would be here. It has done that in spades. It allowed us to travel hither and yon and get a better idea of the areas that pleased us. At some point though, we asked ourselves if we had had enough of the whole Europe thing and our answer was "not at all!!" We then decided that we would make a serious investment in a 'real house' in the South of France.

We started casually looking in the area with the thought that 'perhaps some day...' Then, three years ago we got serious, but outside of Paris, this is the most expensive real estate in the country. Anything we wanted was completely out of our grasp. Year by year, real estate agents assured us that with our budget, what we wanted simply did not exist. But, we kept looking anyway.

OK, so it is not our furniture but you get the idea.

This year was the charm. We found a 5 bedroom, 2400 SF (210 M2) villa, ["Villa Sur Mer"] (Villa on the sea) that is all but what the French call "Pieds dans l'eau" (your feet are in the water), 40 feet (15M) from the Med, in the heart of the French Riviera with two beaches in front of the villa and a view of the snow on the French Alps. Our property goes to the road, the width of which is the only thing separating us from the water. 

 Our place is marked by the arrow. The beach above is one of 96 within 50 km (30 miles) of us. In the picture  below, the view is from the opposite side of the beach .

For the geographically challenged, you can see ST. Tropez on the south coast of France on the map above. We can drive to Italy In 90 minutes, having stopped by Cannes and Monaco along the way. Restaurants (including one on the Michelin guide), shops and the like are less than a minute walk away. Whew, we are still pinching ourselves!

One of the two beaches below us

It's in a community called Les Issambres, in the bay of St. Tropez, between Cannes (film festival) and St Tropez. Many will question the wisdom of such a large place for two people, but the reality is that we have a lot of friends and a growing family. The other reality is that as long as our health holds, knowing that we are gone 8 months of the year, the vacation rental market here is staggering (especially in the summer months when we are at the island). We believe that it will become a significant source of additional income.

The third reality is that .... drum roll please...... half of it is a fixer upper (As if we would ever get anything else).  Yea, yea, I know. But this could be our swan song of construction projects. We are so bloody particular that we have never seen a place that we would get that would be OK with us, as is. At least we are willing to do the work to get what we want without whining. 

One of 5 bedrooms. (2 finished)

The villa has two main levels, each with its own terrace and the sea view you saw in the top picture. There is also an additional bedroom that opens to a garden terrace. The main level of the house has two bedrooms, a kitchen, 1 1/2 baths, a dining and living room with fireplace and is in great shape. 

The lower level, has three bedrooms, its own kitchen, 2 bathrooms, an open plan living and dining area and it's own private entrance if needed. An interior door between the two allows it to be one large single residence or two independent of each other.

All together, both kitchens, dining rooms, living rooms and 2 of the bedrooms in the villa have ocean views. This where it gets ugly, in that the lower level is little more than a concrete shell. Honey Bee and Honey Do will have to roll up their sleeves and get busy. You, being sensible, would pass on it. Me, I'm thinking that there has to be a Jet Ski dealership around here, somewhere!

Villa Sur Mer

To make a long story shorter, we can turn the villa into two rentals while we are gone. After the usual arm twisting and saber rattling, our offer was accepted and we are now beginning the long slog to bring it all to fruition. Should everything go as planned, it will be a long slog as we do not intend to tackle this beast until our return next February and we have projects at the Island and in California to finish first. 

After we signed the documents with the real estate agent, Janice turned to me and said "Happy anniversary. Now what are you  getting me?"

Wanna buy a house? Ours in Brittany is for sale.

#31

The Riddle

OK, what do you get when you put a guy with big plans but with little time for a haircut, together with a woman who is VERY ambitious and plays 'Grand Theft Auto' with his hormones?

I told you she was VERY ambitious!

The woman can drag the moon out of orbit and I still see her the same way I look at cake. So, after 31 years this month, I wonder. Am I a keeper, or will she will toss me back into the sea?

Somehow, someone got a video of my first date with Janice. After 31 years, nothing has changed..

March, 2015

Having recovered from our PTFD (Post traumatic flight syndrome), we are back in the saddle. With the East coast weather being what it was, we missed every flight and connection we had, and got re-routed through London instead of a direct flight, for a total of over 30 hours travel time to get from NY to Paris.

The house was in good kit, and after replacing a few burned out light bulbs, it was none the worse for wear. I even joined a 12 step program for workaholics and vowed to do no thing here but eat, drink and be merry. Well, after 12 days I fell off the wagon and begged Janice to let me [ Or... wait! Was it the other way around?] forge (hand forge, not copy) a candelabra at my curmudgeon blacksmith buddy's shop below. "Idle hands do the work of the devil", she warned me.

We barely had time to get over the jet lag, see a few friends and it was time for our little yearly road trip. As of this writing, we are half way through our nearly 5 week adventure. Our first stop was the port of Honfleur where we spent the night.

 Port of Honfleur

Next was Vimy France, where my grandfather fought in the trenches during WWI. Years ago, we had visited the site with our daughter Cassie on the actual day of his funeral that was being held in Canada. 

The trenches, minus the mud, blood and guts.

Bomb and shell craters. Now grassed over with pretty trees

They had closed the museum for the work that was being done but when the curator heard that my grandfather had fought there and he was being buried at that very moment, he opened the place up for just the 3 of us. Janice and I wanted to return to see the big remodel of the memorial site that had been underway at that time. 

Taking artillery shells to the front

My grandfathers job was to take the mules loaded with artillery shells to the front and bring the bodies -or parts thereof- back to the rear.  He once told me that up to 3000 shells were being lobed per hour. It was like Dante's inferno.

We learn something new every time we have come. At the time my then 16 year old grandfather illegally volunteered for what he thought would be a big adventure, The Canadian expeditionary force as it was called, had 3000 soldiers in training, no uniforms, 2 canvas fabric airplanes and 625 horses to their name. In the nearby battle of the Somme, the dominion of Newfoundland ( it was not yet a province) lost it's entire Battalion - nearly 800 men- in the first 30 minutes of battle.

The fact that Vimy was conveniently on the way to the main event of our trip was a bonus. The main event, of course, was the wedding of daughter # 3, Mandy, to her guy Markus. They have been together for 11 years, nearly longer that her mother and I have been married (!)

They chose to tie the knot in two steps as is common in Germany, as the state does not recognize a religious union. First was the civil ceremony with a few friends and family which we attended, to be followed by a proper church wedding in the months to come, when more family can attend. This will require a return trip for us which is in the interest of trying to help us rack up more frequent flyer miles, I guess. We wish Mr. and Mrs. Siebenharr all the best. 

OK, that makes three down and two to go... 

On our way to the reception, I followed a guest’s car that knew the way as it was held out of town. Doing so, we were on the German autobahn that has no speed limit. Soon, we were going 100 mph (160 K) and I suddenly realized that I was driving faster than I fly. Go figure.

The view from our room in Portofino. Enough said.

Next was crossing the continent through the whole of eastern France, skirting Switzerland to avoid the snow, down to Portofino Italy on our way to Lake Bolsena for a week where we had a home exchange. 

The 100 yard rule

OK, this is how it works. We are in a part of Italy where little English is spoken.  It also happens to be in an area where our GPS does not recognize almost any obtuse, obscure location we are looking for. In these areas, our GPS couldn’t find its own rear end with both hands. Ditto for Google maps. It’s as though there is no there, there. (!)  Our GPS can takes us to any one of thousands of locations but "the road near Guseppi's barn" is not one of them.

So, we are left with the old school method, by asking for directions from folks who do not speak English to folks who do not speak Italian. How are we doing so far? Our solution is to revert to the tried and tested 100 yard rule.

It’s simple really. You ask someone where a location is and add an “A” or an “O” to any word.  (My version of Italian). Like “Excuso, directionarea to Luigi home-s-co?” or whatever. Then, watch their hands. It is pointless to listen to what they say since you won’t understand a word anyway. But their hands show you to go straight, turn left and then right. Anything they say or do after that is to be disregarded as it will only confuse you and you won’t remember it anyway. 

First, do what they said, then pull over and ask someone else again. By then you will have covered at least 100 yards (hence, the rule) confirmed that what you did was correct and be that much closer to your destination. Lather, rinse, repeat. It has never failed to get us to what we were looking for. Any country that has Russian Vodka can’t be all bad. Except Russia.

How to access a Roman theater that is closed to the public and as the sign clearly says "entry is forbidden"

Having said that, we found ourselves looking for old favorites that we had explored in years past, including some Etruscan tombs (200 BC) and a Roman theater that we had also discovered. Neither was on any map, Google or tourist brochure. To say that both were out of beyond would be an understatement.

Finding them required many segments of the 100 yard rule, speaking to farmers, shop owners and local police. But, we found them again. The tombs are accessible by a path fit only for a mountain goat and those willing to claw their way through brush and bushes. In other words, us. Arriving, I went straight into my inner Indiana Jones, flashlight in hand.  Should you want to visit, they can be found at grid coordinates N 42.33715, E 011.95127 near the town of Cinelli.

This cliff side carving was continuous for  500 yards  ( 500 M)

You go first, she said.

Sarcophagus, inside caves.

The Roman theater is in a fenced in area that is closed to the public, but we regarded that as a suggestion, not a hard and fast rule. It is jaw dropping to be walking around inside of it, with not a soul in sight the entire time. The place was ours alone. Living in the subzero of the north east of America for weeks on end may build character, but being the guy with a natural tan here on Lake Bolsena in February and March is a lot better.

We managed to find two new World Heritage sites to visit here also. The first was the Basilica of San Salvatore in Spoleto [815 AD], the 126^th WHS we have seen. The second was the hilltop town of Assisi, of ‘St. Francis’ fame. (WHS # 127)  Be you a believer or a common run of the mill heathen, these world heritage sites are the rock stars of the most significant art, history and places to visit, anywhere. Period.

Finally, today we left from Livorno and took the ferry to the Island of Corsica for a week of exploration. I will surely have more blah, blah, blah about that next month. Heck, some of it may even be true!

Our digs outside of Bastia, Corsica.

Road trip 2015 ( first half to date)

My bucket list addition

I ran across this little gem last month and it instantly went near the top of my bucket list. They call it extreme hot-tubbing and I am guessing it's extreme because of the size of the tub. 

The fact that it is located 450 feet above the gorge offers a nice view to add to the fun of a great rappel down to it. I have been scouring the areas of Switzerland where it is said to happen but Janice keeps wanting to visit other places. If I find it, I'm in! Except for flying, can you possibly think of anything more fun? 

Speaking of flying, did I mention there are only 76 more days till I am dancing with the angels, again?

,

February, 2015

"On the road again...."

Tic-toc, tic-toc, the calendar tells us that new adventures await us in Europe so it is time to go. Finishing our big winter project just days before our departure gave us the opportunity for some emergency relaxation (!!!) before we drove off. We made good use of the time to visit our favorite local haunts, enjoy some friend's company and bask in the glory of a job well done.

Remember this?

Well, this is how it turned out. Next year a deck is planned to enjoy the outside of the see through 2 sided fireplace.

Finally, we packed and headed out on our road trip. Once again, we drove across the country, this time in our pickup, with the goal of leaving it at the Island as our replacement vehicle for the one we drove back home in California last October. Taking advantage of the opportunity to get a bunch of stuff from California to the Island that we could not have taken on the plane was a bonus.

Along the way we stopped in Las Vegas to visit friends for a few days. Vegas is big on food and we have a real hard time convincing our French friends that Americans don't overdo it on portion control in our restaurant meals when they see us order something as simple as a little pot pie.

The restaurant's idea of a single portion

Next on our road show was Phoenix to visit our favorite aunt's and uncle's and New Orleans to visit daughter Kami. We lucked out to be there for the opening of Mardi Gras. This was our first time attending the festivities and we were not disappointed. Mardi Gras is like stepping into the 'Star Wars' bar scene, but with everyone on drugs. It is a celebration of excess, the weird and twisted.

 

Mardi Gras in New Orleans with Kami. This guy was tame compared to the revelers

What I didn't know was that Mardi Gras is not just the parade you see on TV that winds it's way through Bourbon St. but a series of over 35 parades that wind through different neighborhoods over a period of two weeks. These people know how to party! While few communities allow open containers on city streets, here it is all but mandatory.

The trash left behind after everyone has gone home for each of these parades is astounding. We had trouble driving across a boulevard that was nearly knee deep in trash in some places. The clean up crews are serious though and it is all gone within hours. Finally, we wined and dined, toured the city and it's museums and it was off we go.

City's landmark Oak tree

Same tree, in perspective

Then, it was put the pedal to the metal to make a ... eh... "beeline" for the Bee. As we arrived in the area we went into thermal shock as to the temperature difference from a few days previous. We left California on a sunny 77 degree day (25 C) and arrived to a head snapping snowy minus 26 degrees [with wind chill ] (-34C) , a 100  degree spread. It reconfirmed why I left this climate 38 years ago and cannot fathom living here on purpose. They would have to just shoot me.

This is just wrong

It was colder than your ex's heart. Colder than a witch's  breast in a brass bra. Colder than a... (Janice just said "Enough! They get the idea") Once there, we stored our vehicle for the next 4 months and disappeared faster than someone in the witness protection program.
Thinking I was real clever, I thought to take advantage of Our February 14th departure this morning to score points with Janice. I told my bride that I would take her to Paris for Valentine's day. "Big deal" she said. "We go there every year."

The rest of the story...

This circus show happened days before our departure from California just across our fence on our neighbors property. First reported as a horse falling into a sink hole, the authorities became curious as to why such a large hole was covered with plywood and a thin layer of dirt. Our neighbor reportedly had no knowledge of it's existence and thought perhaps a previous owner had dug it out.

The authorities became suspicious though when they observed that the "hole" actually had a tunnel of sorts -with lights- that branched off toward a small storage shed in the middle of their field. The area soon had a number of long haired, bearded scruffy types emerging from law enforcement vehicles showing a great deal of interest in the discovery. When they insisted to have a peek in the shed, a staircase was found inside leading to the tunnel. 

So where do you put all this dirt that was dug up? Well, like in the movie "The Great Escape" it was hidden in plain view by spreading it about nearby, creating a volleyball court. Could all of this have disrupted the enterprising operation of an  ...eh... "underground" pharmaceutical facility? We report, you decide.