31 July 2019
23 July 2019
Baguettes Are Important !
Yes, baguettes *are* important!
Today, as I was leaving the grocery store, a baguette went flying off the roof of a car in front of me (yep, the driver had forgotten it up top).
Well, I honked - no good, but I did get to finally hear my horn (it's a little obnoxious, frankly). The baguette was smack in the middle of the lane... A fellow who was walking, picked it up, kinda wondering what to do, and I rolled down my window and said "je vais..." (well, he understood me, even if I didn't), and he hands it to me. I didn't-quite-race out of the parking lot, honk again at the car... She's going my way, at least...
Finally, the road splits, and the light is red - I pull up alongside, roll my other window down, honk again, the least obnoxiously way possible, and hand her the baguette (thankfully, it's one of the long ones!). Some minor chit-chat followed, including merci, and désolée, and off we went.
I feel good :-)
Today, as I was leaving the grocery store, a baguette went flying off the roof of a car in front of me (yep, the driver had forgotten it up top).
Well, I honked - no good, but I did get to finally hear my horn (it's a little obnoxious, frankly). The baguette was smack in the middle of the lane... A fellow who was walking, picked it up, kinda wondering what to do, and I rolled down my window and said "je vais..." (well, he understood me, even if I didn't), and he hands it to me. I didn't-quite-race out of the parking lot, honk again at the car... She's going my way, at least...
Finally, the road splits, and the light is red - I pull up alongside, roll my other window down, honk again, the least obnoxiously way possible, and hand her the baguette (thankfully, it's one of the long ones!). Some minor chit-chat followed, including merci, and désolée, and off we went.
I feel good :-)
15 July 2019
Fireworks!
'Tis the season, and we saw plenty of fireworks!
Last Sunday was the French National holiday, 14th of July, known by Americans as Bastille Day.
And it's celebrated with a lot of fireworks!
Saturday night, we saw 5 different events stretched out across the Étang de Thau, every one of them viewable from our loggia :-) Before the shows started, we had another fantastic sunset
Sunday, Sète had it's celebration at the beach - music starting at 9, and fireworks at 10:15...
We walked to the Lido with a backpack of picnic stuff, and sat on the blocks - waiting for the fireworks, we listened to what we thought would be classical music, but the "orchestra" turned out to be something else... Well, it was still fun - lots of children running around, cartwheeling, and digging in the sand, and joined in their dancing by plenty of adults. Then the breakwater sent up three flares! The music stopped, and the fireworks began!
All in all, a very nice celebration :-)
Last Sunday was the French National holiday, 14th of July, known by Americans as Bastille Day.
And it's celebrated with a lot of fireworks!
Saturday night, we saw 5 different events stretched out across the Étang de Thau, every one of them viewable from our loggia :-) Before the shows started, we had another fantastic sunset
Sunday, Sète had it's celebration at the beach - music starting at 9, and fireworks at 10:15...
We walked to the Lido with a backpack of picnic stuff, and sat on the blocks - waiting for the fireworks, we listened to what we thought would be classical music, but the "orchestra" turned out to be something else... Well, it was still fun - lots of children running around, cartwheeling, and digging in the sand, and joined in their dancing by plenty of adults. Then the breakwater sent up three flares! The music stopped, and the fireworks began!
All in all, a very nice celebration :-)
05 July 2019
Washing Machine Woes
One thing you don't think about in moving to France is that you may just be responsible for maintenance in your rented apartment!
I was washing a load of towels, when suddenly, the spin cycle went crazy! The machine was jumping around, flapping its lid, just like a cartoon! All that was missing was a speech-bubble with something snarky written inside!
Well, by the time I got to it, the input water line had snapped, and water was spewing everywhere! I got that turned off, mopped up the lake, and decided what to do next...
Rick suggested adding water by hand, and having it finish the rinse cycle - that worked (yay!), and soon enough, I had everything out and drying like normal.
Then came the hard part... I decided a little relaxation was in order - I read a little, while the machine took some time to think about what it had done.
~~~
Eventually the time came to address the problem. This white tube is clamped into the hose, and it was broken. Naturally, I looked at each part, and figured there was some specialized tool to work the clamp.
I called up a friend who knows about these things, and after a little Q&A, he pops over with a bag of tools! He disconnected the entire hose, and I bundled up the whole assembly to take to the store for comparison purposes. He had an entire list of places to try, in order, to find a replacement.
Lo and behold, our first stop is the DIY section of our grocery store - I'm *still* thinking about clamps, tools, hardware store... But! It turns out that the entire thing comes together in one package! *At the Grocery store!* Easy-peasy, you just screw on one end to the machine, and the other end to the water inlet!
I'm back in business!
~~~
In case you wonder about tenant responsibilities, this government website spells it out - you pretty much take care of everything!
https://www.service-public.fr/particuliers/vosdroits/F31697
I was washing a load of towels, when suddenly, the spin cycle went crazy! The machine was jumping around, flapping its lid, just like a cartoon! All that was missing was a speech-bubble with something snarky written inside!
Well, by the time I got to it, the input water line had snapped, and water was spewing everywhere! I got that turned off, mopped up the lake, and decided what to do next...
Rick suggested adding water by hand, and having it finish the rinse cycle - that worked (yay!), and soon enough, I had everything out and drying like normal.
Then came the hard part... I decided a little relaxation was in order - I read a little, while the machine took some time to think about what it had done.
~~~
Eventually the time came to address the problem. This white tube is clamped into the hose, and it was broken. Naturally, I looked at each part, and figured there was some specialized tool to work the clamp.
 |
| Broken white tube |
 |
| Clamp and hose |
Lo and behold, our first stop is the DIY section of our grocery store - I'm *still* thinking about clamps, tools, hardware store... But! It turns out that the entire thing comes together in one package! *At the Grocery store!* Easy-peasy, you just screw on one end to the machine, and the other end to the water inlet!
I'm back in business!
~~~
In case you wonder about tenant responsibilities, this government website spells it out - you pretty much take care of everything!
https://www.service-public.fr/particuliers/vosdroits/F31697
03 July 2019
Car Advantage
One big (expected) advantage of having a car is getting grocery shopping over and done with, changing a big chore into a fairly simple task.
Today, that was my job; Rick had an appointment downtown with a knee specialist, and planned to take one of two buses - easy!
Until it's not! It's summer, and buses are later and later - the published schedule is not ideal to count on when you have to be somewhere at a given time. Our plan B - the bus stop is on my way, so when I saw Rick *still* waiting, I pulled in, he jumped in, and I made the detour to downtown to drop him off. Tah-dah! He made it in time! And then I got on with my day :-)
One more advantage of having a car - you just know there are soooo many more, just waiting to be discovered...
Today, that was my job; Rick had an appointment downtown with a knee specialist, and planned to take one of two buses - easy!
Until it's not! It's summer, and buses are later and later - the published schedule is not ideal to count on when you have to be somewhere at a given time. Our plan B - the bus stop is on my way, so when I saw Rick *still* waiting, I pulled in, he jumped in, and I made the detour to downtown to drop him off. Tah-dah! He made it in time! And then I got on with my day :-)
One more advantage of having a car - you just know there are soooo many more, just waiting to be discovered...
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