Not a Trip Report - France
Oct 16th, 2012, 08:08 PM
#247
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It's coming, cigale. I DO promise not to cut short this "trip report" the way I have some others. The next installment is already in my mind - sorry, debates and conversations with French lawyers have intervened - but I always have my writing in mind. I wish my mind were doing something more productive than planning out my next trip report installment, actually, though. If only someone would pay me for this drivel I wouldn't have to worry about that...
Glad I could turn you onto effulgent, nyse...a lovely word, onomatopoeiatic in some respect, and apt in the context.
So apple-pie bed is just short-sheeting. I confess I don't get the reference. Maybe runningtab does.
Back tomorrow, promise. I am itching to write, and if you're a writer you know what that feels like - you absolutely have to get to the typewriter with a mug of coffee and bang out stuff. It may be goo, but it's what you got to give.
Bed now. See you demain.
Glad I could turn you onto effulgent, nyse...a lovely word, onomatopoeiatic in some respect, and apt in the context.
So apple-pie bed is just short-sheeting. I confess I don't get the reference. Maybe runningtab does.
Back tomorrow, promise. I am itching to write, and if you're a writer you know what that feels like - you absolutely have to get to the typewriter with a mug of coffee and bang out stuff. It may be goo, but it's what you got to give.
Bed now. See you demain.
Oct 17th, 2012, 10:16 PM
#248
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Am anxiosly hopinh that this will not be one of your usual, full of teases, reports that is never finished.
By the way, I am still waiting, after all these years, for your daughter to return the charger and manual and spare battery, for the phone I rushed, overnight, and paid dearly, to get it to her at the last minute for you (and her). I had the (apparently mistaken impression that you would take care of same, or see that it was done, but it was not). Because of that, I was unable to provide that phone to my niece off to study in Scotland, and have been quite distressed ever since. I did't mind the lack of any thank you whatsover versus all the components loaned just not retured, as promised.
By the way, I am still waiting, after all these years, for your daughter to return the charger and manual and spare battery, for the phone I rushed, overnight, and paid dearly, to get it to her at the last minute for you (and her). I had the (apparently mistaken impression that you would take care of same, or see that it was done, but it was not). Because of that, I was unable to provide that phone to my niece off to study in Scotland, and have been quite distressed ever since. I did't mind the lack of any thank you whatsover versus all the components loaned just not retured, as promised.
Oct 18th, 2012, 08:50 AM
#250
"apple pie" bed is what happy kids in boarding UK "public schools" do for "new bugs" to shorten the bed and so get the new boy in trouble with Matron for putting his foot through a sheet. 'nuff said
Oct 18th, 2012, 07:28 PM
#253
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Funny how people read trip reports just to mention that you never finish them, even though they keep reading apparently. And hold insanely long and useless grudges...like maybe 12 years or so? Send me your address, djkbooks and I'll send you a dual-sim, quadband unlocked phone you can use anywhere in the world...But...never mind...I don't imagine you got on this thread to read what I write...or did you, actually? Why else would you? Other than to be, as someone else mentioned to me, a real crank? You look bad here...why did you bother? Seriously, you need a cell phone? I'll send you one.
* * * * * * * * *
Coming out of the port parking lot we had no choice but to turn left onto the Allée du Mail. OK, we'll do that. And it spits us onto this eliptical park, the Parc Bobigny, lined on one side by more park by the seaside, and on the other by a gracious neighborhood filled with a few small apartment buildings, a manor house or two, some medium-size houses, and some truly tiny ones. It's incredibly eclectic, and SO says "we gotta go into those streets and investigate," and I agree. But for now we are doing the elliptical piece, residences and single houses of all sizes, and a few commercial places - a tabac, a place that sells bathing suits and maps and swimming goggles and maps and lottery tickets. We glide by this glimpse of neighborhood commercialism and I am wondering...where is the bakery? Where the butcher? Where the pattisserie? Where the alimentaire? If you lived here, where'd you shop? Have to go into downtown? Why?
The architecture is all a pleasant gray. Gray walls, gray roofs, none of those zing-in-your face red roofs of the southwest of France, just hey-we-got-a-gray-roof moment. It doesn't matter whether it's a gorgeous château hidden in an alcove somewhere in a posh neighborhood or the smallest little house on a street hidden behind the main port. Everything...gray. I'm developing an aversion to this, as in the Périgord we have colorful dwellings, even if you only consider red roofs and green doors colorful. Gray seems so drab, so "well, it was the color of the cement, so we didn't do much with it..." But why? People all over France make colorful dwellings. What's wrong with La Rochelle? Actually, it's not just La Rochelle, but the whole area - people in France build with what they've got with their local resources. Some are prettier than others. It's just not that pretty in the Charente-Maritime, at least not as colorful.
We spend the afternoon tooling around the Parc Bobigny - it's huge and the seaside vistas are lovely, and I can crutch my way down to the walls to see what's going on, and then we just go to town, looking at the kinds of places we might want to live in here...because that's been a part of the plan since Day 1...and we totally strike out.
It's a really interesting town. But we don't want to live here. Moment by moment, that is becoming clear to us, even though we had high hopes for it. We have to, of course, play it against the almost impossibly seductive moments of St-Cirq and be practical. After I hobble out, thankfully not on cobblestones but on dry ground, to a sea-view area of the Parc Bobigny, and we think, think, think, for a few minutes, we are, as we are so often, of one mind: we don't want to live here; it's a nice place, but it doesn't grab our hearts. Our hearts are in St-Cirq, and so we'll find a way to be there, not here.
It wasn't a hard decision. We wandered all over La Rochelle, loved it, had a great time there. Oh, and we stopped by the town beach there and watched some fearless man swimming in incredibly cold water, saw a guy weilding a huge kite that he kept almost eviscerating his partner with when it flopped down to earth, chanced upon Christophe Chenonceau's Michelin restaurant, which was closed (and which looked frankly like hell - all black, slick tile and no ambiance whatsoever - even though I love the guy) right at the "town beach," which is the last place I'd ever expect to find him - he used to be right in town, like all great restos should be. But what's up with a 78 euro APPETIZER? Don't think so...the place was closed, anyway.
But overall, La Rochelle was not up to my expectations. Too gray, too expensive, too touristy, too boring.
Funny, because I tell people all the time to go to La Rochelle. Not to buy real estate, though.
* * * * * * * * *
Coming out of the port parking lot we had no choice but to turn left onto the Allée du Mail. OK, we'll do that. And it spits us onto this eliptical park, the Parc Bobigny, lined on one side by more park by the seaside, and on the other by a gracious neighborhood filled with a few small apartment buildings, a manor house or two, some medium-size houses, and some truly tiny ones. It's incredibly eclectic, and SO says "we gotta go into those streets and investigate," and I agree. But for now we are doing the elliptical piece, residences and single houses of all sizes, and a few commercial places - a tabac, a place that sells bathing suits and maps and swimming goggles and maps and lottery tickets. We glide by this glimpse of neighborhood commercialism and I am wondering...where is the bakery? Where the butcher? Where the pattisserie? Where the alimentaire? If you lived here, where'd you shop? Have to go into downtown? Why?
The architecture is all a pleasant gray. Gray walls, gray roofs, none of those zing-in-your face red roofs of the southwest of France, just hey-we-got-a-gray-roof moment. It doesn't matter whether it's a gorgeous château hidden in an alcove somewhere in a posh neighborhood or the smallest little house on a street hidden behind the main port. Everything...gray. I'm developing an aversion to this, as in the Périgord we have colorful dwellings, even if you only consider red roofs and green doors colorful. Gray seems so drab, so "well, it was the color of the cement, so we didn't do much with it..." But why? People all over France make colorful dwellings. What's wrong with La Rochelle? Actually, it's not just La Rochelle, but the whole area - people in France build with what they've got with their local resources. Some are prettier than others. It's just not that pretty in the Charente-Maritime, at least not as colorful.
We spend the afternoon tooling around the Parc Bobigny - it's huge and the seaside vistas are lovely, and I can crutch my way down to the walls to see what's going on, and then we just go to town, looking at the kinds of places we might want to live in here...because that's been a part of the plan since Day 1...and we totally strike out.
It's a really interesting town. But we don't want to live here. Moment by moment, that is becoming clear to us, even though we had high hopes for it. We have to, of course, play it against the almost impossibly seductive moments of St-Cirq and be practical. After I hobble out, thankfully not on cobblestones but on dry ground, to a sea-view area of the Parc Bobigny, and we think, think, think, for a few minutes, we are, as we are so often, of one mind: we don't want to live here; it's a nice place, but it doesn't grab our hearts. Our hearts are in St-Cirq, and so we'll find a way to be there, not here.
It wasn't a hard decision. We wandered all over La Rochelle, loved it, had a great time there. Oh, and we stopped by the town beach there and watched some fearless man swimming in incredibly cold water, saw a guy weilding a huge kite that he kept almost eviscerating his partner with when it flopped down to earth, chanced upon Christophe Chenonceau's Michelin restaurant, which was closed (and which looked frankly like hell - all black, slick tile and no ambiance whatsoever - even though I love the guy) right at the "town beach," which is the last place I'd ever expect to find him - he used to be right in town, like all great restos should be. But what's up with a 78 euro APPETIZER? Don't think so...the place was closed, anyway.
But overall, La Rochelle was not up to my expectations. Too gray, too expensive, too touristy, too boring.
Funny, because I tell people all the time to go to La Rochelle. Not to buy real estate, though.
Oct 18th, 2012, 11:17 PM
#255
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cigalechanta, for heavens sake, of COURSE I e-mailed. Just so you know, when StCirq mentioned somewhere, at the very last minute, that she desperately needed a cell phone for her daughter for a trip they were taking together, I called her on the phone for her home address, boxed up everything (including a nifty case that attaches to a belt loop), and shipped all (at my expense) next day delivery. I never even received even a "thank you". The phone was returned, but, as mentioned, without the charger or manual. And, yes, all is still "in use". I have two of those phones which I've loaned out many, many, times, to forum strangers, always returned everything included. Obviously, I acquired another charger and provide website for downloading manual, for that one, and have continued to loan it to "strangers" despite this ONLY one less than satisfactory experience.
Oct 19th, 2012, 03:21 AM
#256
I am wondering why you thought you wanted to move to La Rochelle since you hadn't visited it before. When you talked about selling your house in St-Cirq and getting something in La Rochelle, I assumed it was because you had been there and liked it.
Oct 19th, 2012, 04:01 AM
#258
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Nikki, I'd been to La Rochelle before. We both had been, and we'd both liked it. I mentioned that previously in this report. We'd liked it a lot. Did we know it well? No. Hence the decision to go back and get an in-depth look at it.
So true, Padraig
So true, Padraig
Oct 19th, 2012, 05:14 AM
#259
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We spent two weeks in La Rochelle some time ago - decided after 9 years here that our French had hit a plateau, and needed a kick start, and so we went to Eurocentres for intensive French - classes, homework, stay with French family. The classes weren’t great, the homework was useful, and the family was terrific. But every day as we drove from home to the school we got lost. It's a great city for (able-bodied) pedestrians, but not easy for drivers. I'm sure eventually it becomes clear, but I suspect most people spend a lot of time driving around lost.
Some time earlier there was a discussion of French banks – most of whom now say that they have no money available. Meaning that the cashier has none, but the machines do. Customers who have a debit card can use them, those who don’t can have a temporary one to withdraw money. Note this is CUSTOMERS. They are not designed for non-customers to come in with travellers’ cheques, foreign drafts, etc. As a customer with a debit card I can also ask for a temporary card so that I can get a large sum of money out of my account without it affecting any daily or weekly limits.
However, St Cirq seems to use Credit Agricole, one of our least favourite banks. I’ve never quite recovered from opening an account some years ago, admitting that I was married, and discovering that their computer system wouldn’t accept a different name for a spouse who had decided to keep her maiden name. According to the system I had said that I was married, and therefore had to have the same name. The account manager suggested that I might like to be ‘my name, chez my husband’s name’ – a bit too much like a kept woman for my taste. Somehow we resolved the issue, but it seemed representative of most dealings
(And by the way, we decided to buy a house in France and move here after one visit, confirmed it on the second, and bought a house on the third.)
Some time earlier there was a discussion of French banks – most of whom now say that they have no money available. Meaning that the cashier has none, but the machines do. Customers who have a debit card can use them, those who don’t can have a temporary one to withdraw money. Note this is CUSTOMERS. They are not designed for non-customers to come in with travellers’ cheques, foreign drafts, etc. As a customer with a debit card I can also ask for a temporary card so that I can get a large sum of money out of my account without it affecting any daily or weekly limits.
However, St Cirq seems to use Credit Agricole, one of our least favourite banks. I’ve never quite recovered from opening an account some years ago, admitting that I was married, and discovering that their computer system wouldn’t accept a different name for a spouse who had decided to keep her maiden name. According to the system I had said that I was married, and therefore had to have the same name. The account manager suggested that I might like to be ‘my name, chez my husband’s name’ – a bit too much like a kept woman for my taste. Somehow we resolved the issue, but it seemed representative of most dealings
(And by the way, we decided to buy a house in France and move here after one visit, confirmed it on the second, and bought a house on the third.)
Oct 19th, 2012, 05:15 AM
#260
I spent a week on the Ile Re and discovered the offical paint pallet (if that is how you spell it), only about 4 colours and all very close to each other. So if you think La Rochelle was dull..
