Busy Month

Before I attempt to finish our stay in Nice, here's an update on what's been happening at the Dillon-Willmon household.

All but two of the group. Eric, Don, Jenn, Jen, Amy, Dan, Victoria, Thomas and Robin's arm.

Thanksgiving was our usual gathering of friends, except this year I did most of the cooking.  Amy had surgery on her foot the day before, so she sat on the barstool with her foot propped up on the other stool and supervised.  She also arrainged the potatoes for the cheesy potato casserole.  Dinner was delicious.  Desserts were decadent.  A good time was had by all!

Different view.  Eric, Don, Jenn, Jen, Amy, Dan Victoria, (Thomas is hiding), Robin, Bill.

Amy's birthday was next on the agenda.  Lovely dinner out, with some of the best cocktails I've had in years! Then it was time to buy the Christmas tree and decorate the house.  During this we experienced our first cold winter weather, so plants had to be moved inside.  The delicate ones planted in the ground had to have lights put on them, then be covered for protection from any frost.

It has warmed up again, but still rainy.  Snow on the mountains, but not down here.  That's the way to have it!

Snow on the Santa Catalina Mountains taken from our back porch.

Technological Frustration

It has been a frustrating few weeks trying to blog.  Bill spent days editing the pictures from Nice, only to have the hard drive he saved them to go bonkers.  Another few days spent trying to get said hard drive to talk to him, then all it could say, "would you like to reformat?"

Blogger hasn't been helpful either.  I gave up trying to post pictures, but it wouldn't post just words!  Part of the problem may be out internet connection which is just faster than dial-up, but not all of it.  So I just gave up, until today when I will try again.  Keep your fingers crossed.

If All Else Fails

The policeman keeping an eye on Bill.

While taking pictures in Vieux Nice, Bill wandered into a courtyard with several large sculptures in front of the building; the offices of the Police Nationale.  It was not a restricted area, but the officer on duty took a lot of interest in this big hairy guy taking photos.  Then I entered the courtyard, saw the officer looking suspiciously at Bill and did the only thing I could to diffuse the situation.  Act Crazy.

Whistle to get Bill's attention, as well as the policeman.  Imagine that, Bill's taking my picture.

Fast step to the right and hide behind the sculpture.  Catch me if you can!

Peek-a-boo!

All three of us were laughing.  The policeman nodded at me, with a big smile on his face, then went back inside.  With a crazy wife, the big hairy guy didn't look so suspicious.

Where's Nicolas?

One day while wandering through Vieux Nice, we were met with blockades manned by many police, all in dress uniforms.  Something special was happening, but what?  We finally walked up to a policewoman and asked.  "The President of the Republic is coming!"  She wasn't really sure when, maybe around noon?  We went on to the flower market, then the chateau.  But, on our return trip, we walked right into where Sarkozy was to be.  We didn't have anywhere else to go and the rain was holding off, so why not wait for the man himself to show up.  We had seen him near the start of our adventures in Paris in July.  We could see him near the end of our adventures in Nice in October.  Kind of bookend Nicolas'!

A lot of commotion, so we think he has arrived.

We waited and waited and waited.  There were people coming up to security with embossed invitations.  They were searched and pointed in the correct direction, depending on what the invite said.  Some were left on the street, but in a restricted area right in front of the Hotel d'Ville.  Others went inside the Opera House, which is opposite.

Where's Nicolas?

Finally there was a big rush of people, we were let out from behind our barrier to rush up to the next barrier.  We never saw the man.  Too many people were in the same area and he is very short.  If you can't make out his big head of hair, you're out of luck in finding him.  Oh well.  We had a good time watching the crowd, critiqueing the police presence (which didn't seem very concerned) and listening to all the conversations in multiple languages.  Ah, France!

That evening on the news, we found out why the President of the Republic was in town.  He didn't come for an important meeting concerning all the financial problems in the EU.  He didn't come to solve any social issues of the day.  He came (drum roll please!) to pull a poster off the wall in the Opera House! It was a poster demanding the return of the young Israeli solder who was held captive for 5 years and had just been released.  France helped in the negotiations.  So, the President of the Republic flew to Nice, blocked traffic for several hours, had every police from city to national level working, all to pull a poster off the wall for a photo op!  Ah, politics!

Bear with us.

We are having technical difficulties uploading pictures to Blogger.  I think it is Blogger's problem instead of our slow internet, but, who knows!
Stay tuned.

Art



This guy kept an eye on us whenever we were on the terrace.  He is a beautiful porcelain hominid.
We both would have loved him in our home!

 There's a game we play when housesitting, especially when the home is one we fall in love with.  "What one item would you take home if you could?"  We are only allowed to choose on, but in this home it was very difficult.  There is no limit to size, or ability to get it home; it's all fantasy.

Bill's favorite: The Devil with Insects.  This guy was sitting on the edge of the terrace wall.
 Bill would have put him in our garden as well.

We have always had art in our homes.  Paintings, photographs, carvings, weavings, and lots of baskets, not to mentions antiques and other pretties.  Still, we were overwhelmed by the amount of art in the apartment in Nice.  This only made our choices harder!  We don't play easy games.

Unfortunately, the piece I liked the best didn't show up well in any of the photos, so I'll describe it for you.  It's a Toad head made of cast iron with a very fierce expression, as only toads can have.  The head is mounted on an Egyptian-like stele with engraved toad hieroglyphs.  It would have been fabulous in the entry way!

Just What We Need!

At our home in Tucson, we have a problem with packrats.  Not little old ladies who hoard things in their homes, but the furry little creatures who hoard things in their nests.  Packrats are so good at what they do, that archeaologists love to find there nests when doing a dig.  Some have been found that date back 50,000 years!  This year the packrats came and stole most of the vegies just as they were getting ripe.  How do we know it was the packrats?  We could track them to the "door" of their nest, and there would be the vegie.  Most of the vegies were too big to haul inside.  In one case, they pulled all the leaves off a plant and "decorated" the outside of their nest. 

Now what does this have to do with Nice?  Well, we found the perfect pot to use in our garden.  It is totally packrat proof, as well as rabbit, mice and snake.  We will need a ladder, however, but isn't it pretty?  Now if we could just figure out how to get it home!