Sun & water dance

On Saturday, the sun shone, the temperature climbed into the thirties and we spent the afternoon at the Fête de l'Eau, not so much a water party as the Jons village fête. A friend of la bienheureuse was one of the organisers, hence our presence, and we enjoyed delicious paella for lunch in the sweltering heat. Someone had rather thoughtlessly cut down the large trees that had apparently provided shade in previous years, but a giant marquee fortunately sheltered the lunch party from the worst of the sun, even if it also trapped warm air somewhat.

On the agenda after lunch was a guided visit to the Barrage de Jons, one of the dams on the Rhône management system that diverts water to a small hydroelectric station upriver of Lyon. Meanwhile, back at the party, dancing dogs, rides in horse-drawn carriages and various river craft continued through the afternoon. And so did the music, the rhumba band delighting la petite danseuse so much that she climbed up onto the dance floor and led the boogying.

The next day we recovered and the water arrived a day late, lots of it falling from the sky. As if in sympathy, the thermometer mercury tumbled too, a full fifteen degrees. From midsummer to early spring in one fell swoop, and la petite grognarde went a little stir crazy, despite being taken out for a walk in the rain by maman while papa remained dry in front of the TV tennis. Or perhaps she was suffering from the previous day's excitement and lack of sleep. Still, the day spent mostly indoors allowed her to practise her latest skill, climbing. Nothing so easy as the sofa for her. No, something more challenging like the baby walker or the wooden activity box. And once she's reached the top and stood up, the huge self-congratulatory grin - 'look, no hands, how clever am I?' - makes it hard to tell her off with a straight face.

A few days earlier a different sort of water was falling from above. La bienheureuse went into la petite chambre and realised there was leak coming from l'appartement au dessus. Visions of the infamous flood of 2006 came flooding back and she dashed upstairs to warn the neighbours. Yes, the same flat and the same neighbours who were the origin of that six month nightmare. 

Meanwhile, I hastened to see how many buckets might be required, only to find that the leak had stopped. The neighbours arrived in a state of some bemusement until Monsieur said to Madame, "Did you just water the plants?". She nodded. A simple case of an overfilled house plant pot; only damage - a couple of small damp patches on the bed cover. Phew!

Giant pink mice and handbags

And a floating armchair. Actually, only one of each, and all floating in the Rhône over the weekend. Not quite sure what it was all in aid of, closest guess, an exhibition to inform and 'sensibilise' the population about flooding on the river.


The rest of the weekend was largely forgettable, or rather hopefully will be forgettable, with reference to a certain football game on Saturday evening. At least I got to watch and wail in the privacy of my own home, and la bienheureuse cooked a delicious meal in recompense...

Elsewhere, Sarko has been upsetting the rest of the world, and OL lost last night to Bordeaux, one of their rivals for the title, and now are back in an unaccustomed third place in the league. The eighth championship in a row is starting to look rather unlikely...

Water skiing?

There was a minor shock chez nous this week. A letter, written to the syndic (building managers), appears to have produced results. Following the great flood of 2006, amongst the least of our resulting concerns was the flaking and crumbling of the rendering on the wall outside the our front door. About 15 months ago, once most of the work inside the apartment was over, I reported it.
"Yes, we'll get the insurance expert to do a report and get a quote for repair."

Since then nothing. So, two weeks ago I finally got round to writing and asking when it would be done. Nothing in reply until Monday when I hear noises on our landing, and lo and behold there is someone redoing the rendering. Same day we receive a letter from the syndic saying they are giving the matter their full attention and pointing out that the rendering in the stairwell on the first floor was done over a year ago. Quite what the relevance of the latter was I don't know, as the damage there was due to an entirely different water leak (disturbingly common problem in our building). Anyway, it is now done and that is hopefully the last word on the famous flood...

We're off skiing this weekend, the annual company 'sports' weekend at La Plagne. The sporting part consists of a giant slalom on Saturday morning, though the forecast for Saturday (much like today - warm and sunny) suggests we may be water skiing instead, so whether it goes ahead remains to be seen...

A finished floor

Yesterday, 1 year, 7 months and 12 days after the great flood of 2006, and 15 months after they began, the renovations finally reached an end. Well almost. In fact it was just the finishing touches to the parquet that remained to be done - essentially filling in gaps between strips of parquet. Regular phone calls since Christmas to the parqueteurs finally produced a result, and Eric le parqueteur arrived yesterday morning, spent 90 mins whistling and working, and finally left for the last time. I shall miss him...

I say almost, because there is still a bit of tidying up to be done before it all looks absolutely nickel, as they say here. But my friend Eric left me with a full tube of special parquet mastic and a lesson on how to apply it. Might be finished in another 6 months then...

Footnote (and footmark) to a renovation

Today marked the final bit of renovation work following the famous flood of 2006. Or should have done.

Earlier this year we began to notice that a small area of the parquet was starting to warp & deform. Gradually it deteriorated to the extent that we contacted our insurance expert who told us it was down to the company that carried out the work to make good the repairs. Monsieur le patron wasn't best pleased at being told it was down to him to cover the cost, but he agreed it needed doing, so today the parqueteur arrived to do the job. I'm still not entirely convinced le patron won't try to charge us, but on verra...

Anyway, le parqueteur has been sanding, varnishing and screwing (with a screwdriver rather than any other tool that may have sprung to mind, I hasten to say) away most of the day. All to the continual accompaniment of his own, occasionally tuneful, whistling and singing. He finally gave me a tour of completed works in the middle of the afternoon, carefully pointing out that we mustn't walk on the final coat of varnish for 2 days. So of course, what does muggins here do? Yup, immediately plant one great footprint in the middle of it all...

In fact, he decided to leave plugging up the gaps that have opened between some of the parquet 'lames' till the new year, just in case there is still a bit of humidity left underneath that needs to escape. So final tidying up (including owner's footprint) to follow...