We woke up to a strange sound at four o'clock this morning —
a hard rain falling. It apparently didn't last very long though. Nothing looks very wet outside.
Looking out the kitchen window at 7:45 a.m. today,I saw a rare sight: a puddle.
The news is that there was a damaging earthquake in Spain. The old town of Lorca, in the southeast, reports 8 dead and nearly 175 injured. Buildings are down, including the steeple of the old church. It feels like the earthquakes are coming this way. That worries me. Saint-Aignan supposedly had a significant earthquake in 1715.
Before and after shots of our stairwell and landingHere in France, the government has decided to take down all the signs that for the past few years have warned drivers that they are about to pass a speed-control camera. Now there's no warning. People will have to obey the speed limits at all times, not just when there's a camera. Imagine!
And they say they are going to put another one thousand cameras on the roads all around the country. They are also considering lowering the speed limit in cities and towns from
50 kph (30 mph) to 30 kph (20 mph). April was a deadly month on French highways.
Yesterday Walt put up his Albany cousin's painting.Woody Allen's film that he shot in Paris is causing a big sensation at the Cannes film festival. I don't know if the film is really good or if the French media are just excited that Allen filmed it in France. Carla Bruni-Sarkozy, the French First Lady, has a minor role in it.
Walt also put up the Touraine vineyards mapthat we recently had mounted and framed.
France 2 news reports that a shopping trip to a big supermarket in Germany costs 30% less than the same shopping trip in France. A lot of French people who live along the border with Germany are doing their shopping there. Since the adoption of the euro, it's very easy to compare prices in other euro countries with prices in France.
Another view of the new stair, and a close-up of a printwe have of a Monet painting called La Rue Montorgueil.
I used to live on that street in Paris.
There's a proposal to abolish the income tax in France. Income taxes represent only 6% of the French government's revenues. I'm surprised that figure is so low. I wonder if most of the government's revenues don't come from the VAT tax and the taxes on gasoline and diesel fuel, which are very high.
Looking down from the top floorThe pictures in this post show some of the work we've been doing in the house lately. We are getting there — slowly but surely. I'm still working on the glass block windows but I should finish today.
I think the price comparison bit is one of the major reasons that the powers that be in the UK don't want to join. We've found great diversity in the price of same items in UK, Belgium and France in the years we've been commuting to G-P.
ReplyDeleteWhite goods are crazily more expensive in France [but in reality probably reflect the real costs more] although cost are coming down on some goods.... forced lower by cost comparison websites.
Food varies greatly, but on the whole is cheaper and better quality over here.
Seeds are much better quality here in France than in the UK.... much better germination and more seeds to the packet for around the same price.
We also had some rain last night... and when I wandered out into the open this morning everything smelt beatifully fresh.
All looks terrific. You both
ReplyDeletemust wonder how you put up
with that wallpaper all those
years. Now we await Walt's
red wall.
So glad blogger is back in time for my breakfast here in 'Bama. So far this year Mother Earth is full of surprises. I hope she settles down for a while.
ReplyDeleteYour changes are fun for us to see, we know a little bit about the hard work that produced them also.Love Walt's cousin's print that Walt mentioned in his blog once.
You'd think food prices would be more consistent, but big cities here often charge more. Alabama taxes everything, even milk. We are in puzzling times and I wonder how things will be sorted out in the future.
Everything looks great, Ken :)
ReplyDeleteHey, what is that little photo (painting?) of that's on the wall near Walt's cousin's painting?
Judy
What a blessing you have been to your house! That old wallpaper was so disturbing. And now you have not only another floor, but someplace that feels clean and peaceful.
ReplyDeleteWhat a lot of interesting bits of news you have in this post. VAT is such a crazy tax. I hope we don't have it here. But I think we need something.
Everything looks beautiful.
ReplyDeleteOh boy, These pictures sure do show up all the spots that need another coat of paint! But it's obviously going to look wonderful when you get it finished.
ReplyDeleteWell done!
ReplyDeleteYour renovations are impressive and represent a tremendous amount of hard, painstaking work.
I think everyone will agree that the results are well worth the effort.
Your hall and stairway look lovely and fresh,well done!
ReplyDeleteFood prices are steadily rising here you'd get a rise of 2 or 3 pence now it's more like 25 or 30 pence on items like butter, 6 free range eggs are now £1.60 you have to shop about. I won't go on about petrol £1.36 a litre,that's my moan of the day done!
Your drought even made the Chron. I hope it really rains for you soon.
ReplyDeleteThe house looks great!
What a difference the work on your house has made! Your before and after pictures are quite a contrast. Looks great! I just did my oral presentation on Claude Monet for my French class and remember seeing the La Rue Montorqueil painting in my research.
ReplyDeleteJudy, hi, that little framed thing is a photo Walt took on the rue de Buci in St-Germain-des-Prés years ago.
ReplyDeleteBill, there are two options here. Either we keep painting or you clean your glasses. Or your monitor screen.
Thanks for all the comments, everybody.
I, too, am surprised to find the income tax representing such a low portion of the French economy. Of course, France does have a really high unemployment rate, so that could explain a lot. Also, I know from past readings, not all income is reported.
ReplyDeleteBeautiful shots. We saw that Monet painting in SF at one of the d'Orsay shows. Very colorful and busy! I'm sorry I haven't been keeping up lately. But I will get better. Been having a lot of health issues and I need to get well before our trip! xo
ReplyDeleteYou've done wonderful work there. Would love to see a close-up of the cousin's painting.
ReplyDeleteAnd you've probably said, but I've forgotten -- before the new stairs, how did you access the upstairs space?
Emm, we had a trap door and one of those pull-down stair/ladder things for access to the unfinished attic space. The ladder was rickety and decrepit, so we hardly ever used it. We didn't use the attic space at all, not even for storage. It wasn't insulated.
ReplyDeleteGinny, get better. I don't know when your actual departure date is, but it must be less than a month away now.
You who left comments on this post earlier, they appear to have been lost in the Blogger outage. Here they are though:
ReplyDeleteTim:
I think the price comparison bit is one of the major reasons that the powers that be in the UK don't want to join. We've found great diversity in the price of same items in UK, Belgium and France in the years we've been commuting to G-P.
White goods are crazily more expensive in France [but in reality probably reflect the real costs more] although cost are coming down on some goods.... forced lower by cost comparison websites.
Food varies greatly, but on the whole is cheaper and better quality over here.
Seeds are much better quality here in France than in the UK.... much better germination and more seeds to the packet for around the same price.
We also had some rain last night... and when I wandered out into the open this morning everything smelt beatifully fresh.
Sheila:
All looks terrific. You both
must wonder how you put up
with that wallpaper all those
years. Now we await Walt's
red wall.
Evelyn:
So glad blogger is back in time for my breakfast here in 'Bama. So far this year Mother Earth is full of surprises. I hope she settles down for a while.
Your changes are fun for us to see, we know a little bit about the hard work that produced them also.Love Walt's cousin's print that Walt mentioned in his blog once.
You'd think food prices would be more consistent, but big cities here often charge more. Alabama taxes everything, even milk. We are in puzzling times and I wonder how things will be sorted out in the future.
Seine Judith (Judy):
Everything looks great, Ken :)
Hey, what is that little photo (painting?) of that's on the wall near Walt's cousin's painting?
Kristi in the Western Reserve:
What a blessing you have been to your house! That old wallpaper was so disturbing. And now you have not only another floor, but someplace that feels clean and peaceful.
What a lot of interesting bits of news you have in this post. VAT is such a crazy tax. I hope we don't have it here. But I think we need something.
Nadège:
Everything looks beautiful.
Bill:
Oh boy, These pictures sure do show up all the spots that need another coat of paint! But it's obviously going to look wonderful when you get it finished.
ckb:
Bill, there are two options here. Either we keep painting or you clean your glasses. Or your monitor screen. Hahaha.
GaynorB:
Well done!
Your renovations are impressive and represent a tremendous amount of hard, painstaking work.
I think everyone will agree that the results are well worth the effort.
Patricia Steele:
Your hall and stairway look lovely and fresh,well done!
Food prices are steadily rising here you'd get a rise of 2 or 3 pence now it's more like 25 or 30 pence on items like butter, 6 free range eggs are now £1.60 you have to shop about. I won't go on about petrol £1.36 a litre,that's my moan of the day done!
Chrissoup (Chris):
Your drought even made the Chron. I hope it really rains for you soon.
The house looks great!
slh:
What a difference the work on your house has made! Your before and after pictures are quite a contrast. Looks great! I just did my oral presentation on Claude Monet for my French class and remember seeing the La Rue Montorqueil painting in my research.
Starman:
I, too, am surprised to find the income tax representing such a low portion of the French economy. Of course, France does have a really high unemployment rate, so that could explain a lot. Also, I know from past readings, not all income is reported.
I started leaving you a comment, but it got too long and
ReplyDeleteended up as a blog post of my own: http://ellenlebelle.blogspot.com/2011/05/remarks-on-remarks.html
Looks great. I'm very jealous! I'm doing minor work on my home but there's not much that can be done on a new-ish townhouse in condo association. (On the upside, it is well insulated compared to older homes.)
ReplyDelete