Pastoral, Idyllic even

I had thought to give a daily update on our progress here, and there are two reasons I haven't done that. The first is, I don't know how to take photos very well and Katja has been under the weather for the past day and half, so there isn't much good photographic evidence of our hard work. The second reason is that we have been so damn busy with this painting project that by the end of the days I've been too pooped to write. Today however, we finished the major push we wanted to get done. The living room/dining room area, the stairway and the upstairs landing walls have all received the first coat of the shade chosen by Sheila; and it looks damn good.

Yesterday we bought new rollers and some other goodies and the new rollers turned out to be really good so most of the work we did today will stand and we'll only need to go over some patches where the white base still comes through a little. On the whole, all four of us, who all worked a good 7 hour day, are very pleased with the results of our efforts. We had a lovely light meal of roasted Salmon and fresh beans, and I've had a couple of Chimays (which are damn cheap here... why are they 7 dollars a bottle by us?) and it's still 75F outside (9:30p). And so, I write.

The paint shop screwed up the tint order and we had to take it back and wait a day. So yesterday, instead of doing what we did today, I covered the upstairs area with a second coat of base in an attempt to further conceal the hideous orange that you see in the shot of the staircase; believe me, it is/was much worse in person. Katja and I also had a chance to wander through Fontenay-le-comte yesterday. We saw the church (Romanesque, early 15th c., crypt built in 11th c. on remnants of Roman temple), and made our way through the charming streets, admiring the surprisingly well preserved architecture. After our short afternoon walk we described what we saw to my folks and apparently we've seen more of their new surroundings than they have. New homeownership = more damn work than anyone can be prepared for.

Life here is pastoral. There are chickens across the street who politely wait until half-past eight every morning to remind the neighborhood of their presence. An old woman cruises the neighborhood each evening, selecting the best of each yard's fruits and berries as she goes -- you can almost set your watch to her walk. An owl has taken up residence nearby and hoots his presence nightly and in fact throughout the day as well. Some frogs have just started in on a good croak, and, as this is the countryside, there are the ever-present flies. Truly idyllic. Arthur Dent would certainly love to settle down here if weren't for all the Frenchies he'd have to deal with. And the complete lack of good English tea - outside of my parents home that is.



KG Photography


PC Photography


In which, I learn why the Vendee has this green algae problem


Park


Chateau, overlooking the park


I guess they don't need electricity any further than that


In which, I buy some melons


Through the kitchen window, I


Through the kitchen window, II


Dad, contemplating wall


Stairway and hideous orange


In which, I take a break from that damn wall


Sheila, pleased with her color choice


Dad, stoked that we're done for the day


Katja, and Dad, noticing he missed a spot there


A (mostly) finished product (remnants of horrid orange around door frame)


Our room, Sheila's wreath arrangement


Katja, post shower


Hallway to Master BR


KG Photography

Auzay is Okay!

Despite the fact that this little village has a tiny population and the extent of the nightlife is limited to the restaurant/bar down the street, my folks were still able to get a DSL connection hooked up and so I am able to give you the breaking news and a few photographs too. This place is really cool, the house dates from the late 17th century and much of the exterior construction is original. The structure is large block stonework, with timbered beams and floors. Of the total property area (which is substantial), about 135 sq. meters has been renovated within the last century.

The village is called Auzay in the arrondissement Fontenay-le-Comte, the closest large towns that you've probably heard of are La Rochelle and Nantes. Last night we had a light meal of local foods. Moules Mariniere, Steamed prawns, fresh baked local bread and a local Chenin Blanc that was exquisite. It's good to be home. The house is in beautiful condition but there is quite a bit of work to be done. I spent the morning sanding down this hideous orange-colored, sponged on paint job that the previous owners were somehow proud of. I also plastered in some gaps along the wall of the stairs in preparation for the big paint job we're going to do in the next couple of days.

The view out of our bedroom is gorgeous and the surrounding countryside is lovely. Local fruits and vegetables have so far been excellent, and we're having a pork tenderloin tonight. I'm currently sipping the second selection of local Chenin Blanc and it is just as good as the last... both are available locally for around 2.30 euros the bottle. Yum. The folks look good, pretty relaxed, all things considered, and being here is reassuring for me. I admit I had my reservations about their decision to move here, not that I voiced them at the time. Now though, I've seen what they've created for themselves here and it is great. A grand adventure and inspiring to say the least. More photos will come as we work the house over this week. I really wish I had a month or two to give them here. They could use the help and it would be a lot of fun to be involved in the renovation of this place.


View of the Garage and through the front gate

Au Revoir (Encore fois)

So, we're flying to Paris tomorrow to catch a train out to La Rochelle which is about twenty minutes from where my dad and Sheila now live. This'll be the first visit they will have had from family... actually, not counting curious neighbors, probably their first house guests altogether. Our booking number for the e-ticket doesn't seem to be working for online check-in or even just to check the booking, and we never received our train tickets in the mail because my name isn't on the mail box and I guess CHOW is just too alien a name to deliver to around here so they probably sent our tickets back to SNCF.... no matter, we're hoping for a reissue at the station based on our reservation number.

Wish us luck, new posts to come in a week including volume two of Recently Read, which will also include a (not revealing) review of the newest Harry Potter, which I finished today (waaa!)

In the meantime, here are some pix of me playing tennis (or trying to anyway) with my friend Olaf.


Graceful, no?


That just ain't pretty


Klay Kourt Kung Fu


und Schwupps!





I was a ballerina in my last life


SFX people, SFX


We got rained out in the end

Rock Steady Baby

The summer here has been, to say the least, whimsical. The last few days we've been drowning in some of the wettest weather I've seen in a while. The whole environment is just cracking up. Parts of the Spanish countryside outside of Barcelona are burning uncontrollably while hurricanes and typhoons of hitherto unseen gravity are simultaneously pummeling coastlines in Asia and North America.


Last week, however, was very nice. Katja read about this Reggae concert in Berlin on Monday night and we decided it was a good excuse to go in. Plus I was still enjoying my birthday week (apparently I get a whole week to celebrate a single day I usually forget altogether). We met up with our friends Nicole and Dirk who live together in Friedrichshain and were so kind as to put us up for the night... and the next one as it turns out. Katja and I spent the afternoon shopping, in fact the next two afternoons were also spent shopping, but more on that later. Around 17:30 we hooked up with Nicole and Dirk and had some cocktails at this lounge, then went down the street and (thoroughly tipsy) had a killer Indian meal.

The concert started at 21:00 but we were late because dinner was so good and neither of us wanted to rush away from good food and good company. We crossed town by tram and then walked down to the Kulturbrauerei which is this cool, brick construction industrial park that has an enormous central space that is open air. The buildings all around it are populated with bars and lounges, stage venues and breweries. The concert was in one of these, but there was lots of other live music both inside and outside going on -- and people, people, people everywhere.

Gregory Isaacs was the headliner, but Barrington Levy was also there and so was Black Uhuru. We had missed Barrington because we wanted to finish dinner leisurely, but that was okay because we've already seen him once in Santa Cruz with Adrienne. The music was great, dancehall, rock steady... and then Gregory came out and just rocked the house. I finally got my cell phone working over here and I was able to ring Adrienne back in CA. I held the phone up for her so she could check the music out too.

After the show we desperately needed liquids and found this cool bar that had an experimental music group playing. Really mellow, a perfect spot for us to come down after a pretty raucous show. I had ginger ale.

We stayed at Nicole's place that night and got up and out around midday to go shopping (some more). I shop in earnest (and by shop I mean actually have an objective to purchase stuff) only a few times a year and I have to say we did damn well. I LOVE H&M. New pants, shorts, shirts, this killer white sport coat that was on sale and a steal... I admit I had a great time. Katja is a great shopper and found some rocking good deals too. We came back to Neuruppin three days after having left, overloaded with new clothes and our wallets substantially lighter.

Later that day we decided that we just weren't ready to head home and Nicole had offered us her room for as many nights as we wanted so we called up Jessi and the three of us met her at her place then headed down to this riverside lounge to enjoy the evening and a couple of drinks. This place was really on the river... replete with floating 'docks' that were haphazardly tied together and uniformly unsteady to walk on; but a gas nonetheless. Dig the pix.


Nicole and Dirk, one drink in


Katja and I, at least one drink in


Dirk, off the wall


Nicole and Dirk, two drinks in


Nicole, waiting for Samosas


River lounge


Fall in! Fall in!


We sat on the steps


Interesting wall behind you, don't you think?


Ruf mich auf mein handy!


Jessi and Nicole


Tripod-less...


Rock Steady Baby