The weather in March was amazing with sunny
skies and temperatures in the high teens, low twenties…perfect for cycling.
Dawn tried to bike but her shoulder continued to cause her pain. So her doctor
here decided to have X-rays and ultrasound done. And now it’s confirmed that
when she fell, twice, in Paris riding a Segway, she broke, twice, her left
collarbone. All she can do now is to continue to let it heal.
You may recall that in the blog of March 1 we
described being “held up” by an uncooperative barrier at a toll booth on a road
in Portugal. The end result was that they would send us a cheque for 20 Euros.
Got a very official letter March 28 from Portugal informing us that… “After a
thorough analysis of the situation, it was possible to confirm…”. Thorough?!?
Analysis?!? For 17.85 Euros?!? (Did we
not mention it was not going to be 20 Euros as originally stated?) And
governments around the world wonder why their administration costs are killing
them. Well wonder not! So now they want our banking information to transfer said 17.85 Euros. This
is where humour comes in…Don’t leave home without it!! By the way…the letter
was sent ‘Air Mail Priority’. As we said the last time...stay tuned.
It wasn’t April Fool’s Day…but close. April 2nd
was a vehicle day. First, as we were driving behind a large farm tractor with a
wide apparatus on the back, a car coming in the other direction had its
driver’s rear-view mirror smashed off with a terrific bang as the farming
equipment swayed back and forth on soft tires. Then, our little blue car with
licence plate numbers ending in “EH” (totally appropriate for a Canadian) had a
fit with the engine reving beyond control, losing water and emitting enough
blue smoke to hid us from astonished onlookers.
The couple who we travelled through the Balkans
with purchased a rental house and needed help for work to do both inside and
out. A number of their friends “volunteered” (at gun-point) and got the job
done. As a thanks Daniel and Jojo threw a dinner at their house for their
helpers, us included, which lasted four hours. This constituted one hour of
eating and three hours of drinking…the usual, acceptable and appropriate ratio
in France.
The last half of March was June-like weather
with 20C+ temperatures with cloudless skies. April was different with 12C temps
and showers. Cycling went from lots to barely any. And even then, in between
showers or hail storms.
The coolness of the April showers was cut
through by an amazing dinner at friends, he the son of our landlord, she a Thai
girl with cooking skills “par excellence”. Never had we eaten so well “a la”
Thai. I told her that should she get sick of her husband, she should let me
know. That’s when he stopped pouring me any more wine!
But the best entertainment in France in April
was the presidential elections. And just like all the other countries around
the world going through elections since the beginning of the economic crisis,
totally dysfunctional. The French have a particular dislike though of
…well…practically everything when they personally aren’t doing well. Blaming
the other guy is just what you do here after you’ve had your seventh glass of
wine before noon.
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April 30, 2012 we found out an amazing friend
of ours passed away that morning in Vernon, BC. John Hunter was a class act, a
good friend and someone we will terribly miss. A Scot, an Oatmeal Savage he
called himself, with a sense of humour and memory for jokes that made his
home-made wine go down smooth as silk. He was the funniest man we’ve ever known
with a heart as big as all outdoors. John made the sky brighter and the sun
warmer. He took us under his wing when we needed it. He and his wife were
simple, honest people who loved to party and laugh…and were just plain great fun
to be with. If we needed a spirit pick-me-up, we didn’t take a pill…we spent
time with John and Margaret. We feel deep gratitude for their presence in our
life and for the enrichment they both brought us. We miss them both. But we
will forever remember laughing at some of the shenanigans we got ourselves into
together. We will continue to laugh with them forever.
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And now for something totally different (sort of). For those of you who have read this
blog from the beginning and have read the one from our year in France/Europe in
2005/2006, you will know that one of the characteristics of France is that everything seems to have a title, an
order, an organization to distinguish it from something else. As a result someone
is the president, director, chairperson of said title, order, or organization.
Today the national news interviewed someone of great importance to do with…well…actually…we just can’t remember.
Especially after we saw the person’s title… “Director of the World’s Navel”. For
those of us who think of ourselves as important, this shows that given the
right circumstances, we can always find someone even more elevated. Sorry…no
picture available or even permitted for this one. Another glass of wine please!
An illness in our family in France means we’ll
be changing our plans. We’ll be leaving earlier up to Denmark, Norway and
Sweden, and coming back much sooner, around June 13. Hungary, Czech and
Slovakia will have to wait. Poland is still the plan as we need to be near
Warsaw July 12-14.
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