Sunset tonight....I just love our view...all of Vancouver Island!

Nice to have a soothing sunset as it's been a very stressful time with all the stuff we need to do with the sale and also to worry about the sale going through. Things are looking pretty positive but the California buyer holds all the cards. Escrow let us know today that the Indian Lease papers will arrive tomorrow (Wednesday) and it's absoultely mandatory they are signed and notarized in the US immediately so going to Blaine Thursday.

Good thing about that is Linda and Cec have offered to drive us!  They know the whole drill of the border really well since they go down to the US every week for gas and know exactly where we need to meet the notaries.  It will be great to see them and not have to think about anything once we get to their place. We usually can manage that...

I'm not the only one who likes sunsets....

"It seemed like a picture that was already in a frame. At Taylor Bay this evening"

Photo by Kumiko Hawkes

Carol and John come for lunch yesterday

...and they managed to break into the "fortress" on the first try. John was expecting a medal for that and I think he's right. Being able to write down all the info for the parking without having to exit and re-enter does deserve a medal!

Lots of laughs and good conversation about many things. John reminded me that one reason California property taxes are so high is that because of Proposition 13, buyers are protected from very high assessments even if their property skyrockets.

John

Carol

The lovely tulips they brought...our cat continues to be content.

And lilacs from their garden.

From the balcony....such a wonderful day!

The latest info on Prop 13 and proposed changes. All quite fascinating.

https://www.latimes.com/business/hiltzik/la-fi-hiltzik-proposition13-split-roll-20190329-story.html

Pretty stormy yesterday...lots of ferry cancellations.

A calm gorgeous day today but this going on yesterday.

BC Ferry North Island Princess Fighting its way to a "Mayday Call" Off Powell River

A good day to watch the Blue Jays and their exciting new acquision, Vladimir Guerrero Jr. Pretty impressed with his calm approach given all the hype and he's only 20 years old. His presence seems to lift up the whole team and baseball in general.

Still lots of cherry blossoms around Vancouver...a beautiful sunny morning today!

Palm Springs already setting heat records

From Cactus Hugs:

"It’s always nice to get an early jump on sweating and giving most of your paycheck to the electric company.

Seriously though, it’s looking like this summer is going to suck."

Well, I hope it won't be too hot when we go May 14 - May 30 to pack up our personal things from the condo and say one last fond farewell to what has been our lovely home in Palm Springs. Things are proceding well with the sale although buyers in California are very protected and have a long time to get out of deals. The contingencies are being removed and Escrow should close June 3. There may be some hold up because it's on Indian Land and that's additonal paperwork and BIA (Bureau of Indian Affairs) are behind because of the Federal shut down. 

Linda's brother-in-law (he sold a couple of condos in La Quinta not long ago) gave us the name of a great CPA and she has everything started for the tax filing and knows all about what Canadians need to do. She also told us that if the buyer would sign an affidavit that he planned to live in the home we would not have to have the Federal 20% with holding tax. He has signed the affidavit so we're pleased about that since it could be a year to a year and a half before we got it back. It would just be our luck the Canadian dollar would start to soar during that time! Now, we're looking at the CDN dollar reports and cheering when it goes down....

Was considering flying into Nice for our April 2020 France trip

The view from the balcony at the Hotel Suisse. When Don and Elaine visited us in France in 2005, they also stayed here in a deluxe view room and absolutely loved it.

Well, it might have been nice to sit on this balcony again overlooking Les Promenades des Anglais but at 500 CDN a night I think we'll give it a pass. It will be easier flying into Marseilles anyway since the conference is in Toulon.

But we'll certainly never forget the time Jim got his first teaching gig in France in 2002. We were exhausted from our flight from Victoria...that extra flight Victoria to Vancouver makes quite a difference when you're doing a transatlantic haul. It was just after 9/11 and there was a lot of security at the Victoria Airport and also in Vancouver.  Frankfurt was completely different and pretty laid back for security. Smoking was still allowed in the airport and hordes of people were having their fix. Not what you wanted after a long flight. The flight from Frankfurt to Nice was only about an hour but they managed to get three rounds of drinks served and this was in the morning!. It was like old home week and many people seemed to know each other on the flight. The cockpit door was open and passengers were going in and out the whole flight.

We picked up our rental car from the airport and somehow managed to fit four large bags and four carry ons into a rather tiny car,  managed to drive to the hotel, then had to find a parking garage since it didn't have parking. We needed all this luggage for Jim's teaching and current research.

We thought we'd just drop into bed but it was warm at the end of January in Nice and it was so amazing to be there! We cracked open some Champagne from the mini bar then later went to a local market to get wine, cheese, bread and fruit and had our dinner on the balcony....then we collapsed into bed.

Driving from Nice to Toulon the next day we didn't know what these amazing forests of yellow trees were. We learned the mimosas were in full bloom. And then our adventure began.

You might as well laugh at our gas prices

We don't drive very much and we have a gas saving compact car but it must be quite a burden for folks who do have long commutes.

I think I better stop complaining about what seems like endless doctor visits for Jim and I

Of course, the oldsters have socialized medicine but they're the ones that are against it the most in the US.

Richard and Grace came for Easter dinner yesterday

I made Coq au Vin to honour Notre Dame and they brought some yummy cookies. We had leftovers of both.

Brexit gets explained on Linda's blog... you gotta take a look!

http://linfish69.blogspot.com/2019/04/brexit-explained.html

Artist Trading Card meeting today

Susan trying to teach me easy  calligraphy...needs some work on my part.

There is always a free table and I scored lots of interesing stuff.  Also, folks brought Easter Eggs, chocolates, home made apple pie...wow.

And then the ATC's I collected...love all of them but especially Susan's cherry blossoms.

Caught the sunset a little earlier last night...so relaxing.

Happy Easter to everyone!

Paperwork

Digging out our paperwork when we bought Palm Springs. California has so many protective regulations in place it really is unbelievable.

On the left, 2 1/4 inches for PS condo paperwork. On the right 1/8 of an inch paperwork for selling our house in Victoria.

I also found our  French bank account info and card. I think we do have a few Euros there. When we're staying in Carqueiranne we'll have to see if they closed the account.

The bees at Notre Dame survived and got drunk to boot!

Notre-Dame's smallest residents have survived the devastating fire which destroyed most of the cathedral's roof and toppled its famous spire.

Some 200,000 bees living in hives on the roof were initially thought to have perished in the blaze.

However Nicolas Géant, the cathedral's beekeeper, has confirmed that the bees are alive and buzzing.

Mr Géant has looked after the cathedral's three beehives since 2013, when they were installed.

That was part of an initiative to boost bee numbers across Paris. 

The hives sit on top of the sacristy by Notre-Dame's south side, around 30m (98 ft) below the main roof. As a result, Mr Géant says they remained untouched by the flames.

European bees - unlike other species - stay by their hive after sensing danger, gorging on honey and working to protect their queen.

High temperatures would have posed the biggest risk, but Mr Géant explained that any smoke would have simply intoxicated them.

"Instead of killing them, the carbon dioxide makes them drunk, puts them to sleep," he told AP.

Beekeepers commonly use smoke to sedate the insects and gain access to their hive.

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-47995604

Sunset last night...from the balcony.

Beautiful...we do live in Paradise.

Notre Dame 2

I knew I had a photo of Jim and me and Don and Elaine in front of Notre Dame when they came to visit us in Carqueiranne in 2005. We also went to Paris and Brussels and of course all around the little villages in the south of France. I did find the photo but I also found this painting which I had completely forgotten I had done and I no longer have it. I have given away a lot of my paintings so if one of my blog readers has it, please tell me. I don't think I would have thrown it out although I didn't particularly like it.

From my blog post in 2003:

More things to post from my "Oak Bay Dump Collection" and also did a couple of paintings based on pictures I took of my beloved Notre Dame Cathedral when we were in Paris in March. However, something is wrong with our connection so I can't post images at the moment. Having to use Jim's unfriendly non-Mac at the moment. 

I did find the photo of the four us in front of Notre Dame....sadly, Don and Elaine and Notre Dame are no longer with us.

More good stuff:

"An association of Polish rabbis says that they are “broken hearted” over the damage inflicted by fire on Notre Dame Cathedral.

In a letter sent on Thursday to Polish bishops, they said “We as Jews know what it means to see your house of worship burning. We still fast every year on the anniversary of the burning of the Temple in Jerusalem 2,000 years ago. We, here in Poland, also remember the burning and destructions of our synagogues during WWII.”

The rabbis went on to say that “these experiences have made us very sensitive and aware of the pain and horror of the destruction of any house of worship.”

Archbishop Stanislaw Gadecki, the head of the Polish Roman Catholic episcopate, thanked Michael Schudrich, Chief Rabbi of Poland, to thank him for the letter and the support."

Full price offer on our condo!

The way things work in the US,  buyers have a 21 day time period to get out of it but our realtor will be finding back up offers. Well, fingers crossed.

Here is the listing with the new photos. I've added the photos to the blog I made about the condo,

Appropriately, it's pouring rain today in Vancouver!

https://www.pscondos.com/property/canyon-sands/2255-miramonte-circle-d/

Why you should revisit destinations

Interesting article and you are talking to the converted here. We keep going back again and again and again to the same places. Never could quite understand the bucket list idea.  Different strokes for different folks.  For our France trip next year I briefly considered including at least one place we hasn't been but it was a brief consideration. It will be all the old haunts for us.

Bandol

Our villa in Catqueiranne in 2005...there is a public walking path close by so we should be able to peek in.

And of course we'll have at least one meal of moules-frites probably in Carqueiranne and probably the blue cheese sauce and washed down with rosé....yum.

Port of Carqueiranne

https://blog.thediscoverer.com/why-you-should-re-visit-destinations/