It's been a while since I've posted anything on the blog so not only do I have lots of catching up from the summer, but I need to get going on the events of our first 10 days here as well. So, here goes....
Nick, Lindsey, Sarah and I departed Duxbury, August 31 and flew to MRS via Frankfort. Lufthansa flight was a disappointment in comfort, food and amenities but it was on time and we arrived in Marseille at 9:45am on September 1. Despite lack of sleep and the fact that it was really only 3:45 in the morning EST we were bright, chipper and SO happy to be in France!! Our realtor, Rebecca, met us at the airport and brought us and our mound of luggage to 30 Victor Hugo #S3, our new home in Aix for at least the year.
Nick, Lindsey, Sarah and I departed Duxbury, August 31 and flew to MRS via Frankfort. Lufthansa flight was a disappointment in comfort, food and amenities but it was on time and we arrived in Marseille at 9:45am on September 1. Despite lack of sleep and the fact that it was really only 3:45 in the morning EST we were bright, chipper and SO happy to be in France!! Our realtor, Rebecca, met us at the airport and brought us and our mound of luggage to 30 Victor Hugo #S3, our new home in Aix for at least the year.
Arriving in Aix and seeing the fountain at La Rotonde, just one block away from our apartment, was exhilarating for us all! Right in the centre ville, our with a few doctors’ offices and an American study abroad office(not Lindsey’s program) on the ground floor. We parked at our building, an older, 5 story greystone, and schlepped our luggage and bags up to our 3rd floor apartment in the tiny 3 person elevator (many trips!) but at least we didn’t have to do all of it by stairs! The owners, Dr. and Mme Sacco met us at the apt and, together with Rebecca, we went over the lease, signed a contract and were shown a few things about the property.
Darrin and McKenna Jones met us at the apartment with keys to our car which they had kindly kept for us over the summer. That allowed us to drive Lindsey up to Marie Françoise’s house where she will be living for the semester. Her friend, Caroline, had already arrived from the airport and the girls had a wonderful reunion. Marie Françoise was also happy to see all the other Bates again and invited us all to stay for lunch! What a “first meal back in France” we were treated to! She just “whipped up” a salad of fresh garden tomatoes tossed with olive oil, basil and balsamic, individual bowls of chilled, cooked, aubergine(eggplant), zucchini and red peppers, an aubergine caviar and of course a fresh baguette. Following this first course, we had hot spaghetti tossed with homemade pesto and parmesan cheese, to which of course you could add any of the above mentioned delicacies if you had any room left in your tummy!
After lunch, Sarah, Nick and I left Lindsey and Caroline to unpack and we returned to our apartment to attempt to do the same. It will take quite a while to fit all our things into this space but with time and careful organization I’m hoping it all fits.
The apartment, owned by a retired Aixois couple, is decorated in the art deco style and is truly lovely. With high ceilings and large French doors and windows in every room it has great light all day. The tile and parquet floors, custom painted walls(the hallway is painted with a special paint from nearby Roussillon), many fine crystal chandeliers, period leather and other furniture pieces, art work, all give it a very sophisticated feeling. We certainly haven’t found this in our last two rentals where IKEA furnishings reined supreme.
We have 6 rooms and a large center hallway. The sunny living room opens into a good sized dining room where the sideboard contains a large set of formal china, linens and every kind of formal glassware you can imagine. There are 33 dinner plates! I envision many dinner parties, not to mention a Thanksgiving feast, ahead. The kitchen is rather small (maybe those big dinner parties will have to be pot luck!) but will function just fine. A large, second informal dining/family room will function as library, music/game room and nick’s office-obviously not all at the same time. It also has a small twin bed for an afternoon nap or maybe a single guest. The apartment has 2 bedrooms. Funny story, we almost didn’t take this place because the master bed was too short for Nick but the owners removed the foot board and now he does fit but with not an inch of mattress to spare. Sarah’s room has two twin beds, a desk, chest of drawers and an armoire so she has plenty of space. It is bright and cheerfully decorated; perfect for a 13 year old girl. We have two bathrooms but only one WC which, like apartment living, will also take a bit of getting used to but will be fine.
On our second day here, we had the unpleasant task of retrieving ALL of our other belongings from the house we lived in last year. Fortunately, Darrin and Dom came to our aid and brought the church van along to help. Miraculously, we able to load everything into the van and our Peugeot wagon so we only had to make one trip. We were glad to close that chapter of our lives and move forward. Getting all the stuff up to the apartment was made easier by the assistance not only of Darrin and Dom but Lindsey, Caroline and our friend, Aia, as well. Now, several days later, we are still surrounded by boxes and bags but day by day we are chipping away at the mess and trying to find extra storage beneath beds, in cupboards, closets and corners. No sense spending all our time doing work when the weather is hot and there are friends to see, things to do places to go!!
Darrin and McKenna Jones met us at the apartment with keys to our car which they had kindly kept for us over the summer. That allowed us to drive Lindsey up to Marie Françoise’s house where she will be living for the semester. Her friend, Caroline, had already arrived from the airport and the girls had a wonderful reunion. Marie Françoise was also happy to see all the other Bates again and invited us all to stay for lunch! What a “first meal back in France” we were treated to! She just “whipped up” a salad of fresh garden tomatoes tossed with olive oil, basil and balsamic, individual bowls of chilled, cooked, aubergine(eggplant), zucchini and red peppers, an aubergine caviar and of course a fresh baguette. Following this first course, we had hot spaghetti tossed with homemade pesto and parmesan cheese, to which of course you could add any of the above mentioned delicacies if you had any room left in your tummy!
After lunch, Sarah, Nick and I left Lindsey and Caroline to unpack and we returned to our apartment to attempt to do the same. It will take quite a while to fit all our things into this space but with time and careful organization I’m hoping it all fits.
The apartment, owned by a retired Aixois couple, is decorated in the art deco style and is truly lovely. With high ceilings and large French doors and windows in every room it has great light all day. The tile and parquet floors, custom painted walls(the hallway is painted with a special paint from nearby Roussillon), many fine crystal chandeliers, period leather and other furniture pieces, art work, all give it a very sophisticated feeling. We certainly haven’t found this in our last two rentals where IKEA furnishings reined supreme.
We have 6 rooms and a large center hallway. The sunny living room opens into a good sized dining room where the sideboard contains a large set of formal china, linens and every kind of formal glassware you can imagine. There are 33 dinner plates! I envision many dinner parties, not to mention a Thanksgiving feast, ahead. The kitchen is rather small (maybe those big dinner parties will have to be pot luck!) but will function just fine. A large, second informal dining/family room will function as library, music/game room and nick’s office-obviously not all at the same time. It also has a small twin bed for an afternoon nap or maybe a single guest. The apartment has 2 bedrooms. Funny story, we almost didn’t take this place because the master bed was too short for Nick but the owners removed the foot board and now he does fit but with not an inch of mattress to spare. Sarah’s room has two twin beds, a desk, chest of drawers and an armoire so she has plenty of space. It is bright and cheerfully decorated; perfect for a 13 year old girl. We have two bathrooms but only one WC which, like apartment living, will also take a bit of getting used to but will be fine.
On our second day here, we had the unpleasant task of retrieving ALL of our other belongings from the house we lived in last year. Fortunately, Darrin and Dom came to our aid and brought the church van along to help. Miraculously, we able to load everything into the van and our Peugeot wagon so we only had to make one trip. We were glad to close that chapter of our lives and move forward. Getting all the stuff up to the apartment was made easier by the assistance not only of Darrin and Dom but Lindsey, Caroline and our friend, Aia, as well. Now, several days later, we are still surrounded by boxes and bags but day by day we are chipping away at the mess and trying to find extra storage beneath beds, in cupboards, closets and corners. No sense spending all our time doing work when the weather is hot and there are friends to see, things to do places to go!!
a bientot!
No comments:
Post a Comment