You could say we've had a few ups and downs over the last few days. The major plus is that the internet box is now 'en route'. There has to be someone at the destination when it is delivered so we have been hanging around the apartment throughout each day in anticipation of it arriving 'any time between 9am and 7pm or possibly later' according to the email advice.
The bad news is that we walked the five minutes to the public carpark to retrieve the scooter where it had been 'safely' parked during the recent festive weeks in town and particularly in the square below us. 'Merde'! someone had knocked it over, though had put it back up on its stand. It now has a large scrape down the side of the helmet box and the left side mirror has broken off. We've since bought some silver tape to secure the side mirror but it was pretty annoying to find it like that. The scoot already has a few scrapes on it, it's second-hand after-all, but it's now not in great nick for resale. Over recent weeks we have had vague thoughts of selling it and buying a little car instead.
However, the VERY UGLY news is that we finally received the quote for renovating upstairs from our builder. 'Zut'! it is getting on for double what we were thinking, and we have to add another €10,000 on top of that to account for the electricity, plumbing, planning consents, works manager (required to get the consents through the two councils), notaire (legal paperwork), buying the two rooms from the body corporate, extra costs like paint (massively priced here) and then furnishing the bedroom and the terrace that we hope to gain from it all. All in all the project looks rather nobbled.
We have looked at ways we might be able to reduce the cost, e.g. do as much work as possible ourselves, but it doesn't make much of a dent in the total. We are pretty (very) disappointed but at least we now know where we stand. Having mulled things over today, we are wondering if perhaps an option might be for the four apartments in the building to band together so a large shared terrace could be built. It would include both the rooms upstairs and give a combined floor of around 30m². This would split the cost, provide a big area for two groups to easily use the space at once, everyone would have access to a terrace where no-one does at present and the expense incurred would be recouped by the increase in value of each apartment. Anyway, it is just an idea and we could put it to the body corporate meeting in October. Failing that, John and I could just wait and see how we feel about it all next year.
The temperatures are still averaging around 32-33° each day but the humidity is low so it is not too bad at all. I'm beavering away on my book, learning all the ins-and-outs about the Danes and Norwegians who came to NZ in the 1870s. John has eased up on his work quite a lot - pending a much anticipated ultra-fast weblink.
Today we sent out an invitation to our French friends who had us around to dinner a few weeks ago. We are going to attempt a four-course meal with all the bells and whistles but NZ-style. It should be a challenge and fun.
Oh, some good fun news - the fun jazz band that used to play at the market every Saturday is back up and running. It's a very cheery group, whose membership fluctuates each time you see them. We have two of their CDs and very much enjoy their upbeat music and the pizazz they add to the market.
I have just finished reading a book about how French children eat, i.e. they eat everything from a very young age. It's very interesting finding out the differences in how French children are brought up compared to NZ/Aus/USA etc. Food is such a huge part of what you do, who you are and how you interact here. It still amazes me that public facilities like the swimming pool, tennis courts, council building and so on completely lock up shop for two hours in the middle of the day. It is a sacred time for family, eating and interacting. It all makes really good sense actually but can be a little frustrating when it catches you out somewhere.
