Wrapping It Up on the Côte d’Azur

LOOKING DOWN ON THE NEIGHBORS

Living in a building just next door to my new apartment in Nice (that I call “Heaven on Seven”) happens to be two close friends of note—American clients of ours who have a penthouse/duplex with a large terrace and my niece’s husband who has a ground level duplex with an enclosed patio.

I can’t really see the patio from my veranda and terrace, but I have a perfect view of the beautiful terrace and all that goes on there. Wednesday evening, the owners of the penthouse apartment (let’s call them “D and J”) put on a big party for their new friends in Nice, on what turned out to be the absolutely perfect evening. The weather couldn’t have been better—moderate temperature, a tiny bit breezy and the reason we all flock to Nice at this time of year.

The company was equally as perfect—so many of our clients, friends and associates, as well as friends they’ve made on their own. A chef prepared the most beautiful and delicious buffet meal I have ever had…everything fresh, light, “clean”—the kind of healthy food that any diet can support and not gain weight! I told the hosts that they had gotten the award for Best Terrace, Best Food, Best Party!

All while mingling with the other guests, my eye kept looking up at the veranda of my new apartment that has a clear view of their terrace, and vice-versa. D asked jokingly, “Does this mean I can’t come out on my terrace in my underwear anymore?”

He was curious to see what his terrace looked like from my veranda, so we took a few minutes to leave the party, go next door, ride the elevator up and see the view. Yep, he best not venture out too exposed! We were able to watch the party in full bloom from our vantage point. Ha! I will be able to see it all!

The interior walls of Heaven on Seven are now all down, the ceiling’s been ripped out and it’s getting ready for a complete renovation. Every time I go up there and see that view, I have to take a big sigh, and wonder if I’ll ever want to leave it! I’m afraid not.

At the same time, my Paris apartment is undergoing even more demolition. The 17th-century beams have been exposed and the walls are void of all the custom built-ins that we lived with for 27 years. Seeing it like this has been seriously painful…like watching someone you love deeply destruct before your very eyes. Erica remarked sadly, “And we didn’t have a chance to say good-bye.” She was right…we just moved out, moved into a new apartment, and started a new chapter. The past is now the past and we have no idea how the future is going to play out…if I’ll ever see that apartment like it was for all those years. I doubt it.

THIRTY-NINE

Thirty-nine years ago today my water broke and I landed in the hospital screaming my lungs out while little baby Erica was trying to make her way into this world. I was seriously trying to pop her out on September 30th, the cut off for the school year, so she could enter kindergarten at the age of 4-almost-5, rather than 5-almost-6, but it didn’t work out that way. Only a bit after midnight, did she finally grace us with her adorable little presence and I could stop the screaming. (The school board happily gave us permission to enroll her early, in spite of the one day difference.)

She’s celebrating her own future birth-date—the birth of her own son soon on the horizon. Saturday she had a baby shower/birthday party in Maui where she is living—the reason I am going to Maui for the entire month of November—to help her bring him into the world kicking and screaming. She intends on moving back to France in the coming year as she prefers the child grow up in France like she did. (I can understand why!)

So, for entire month, I’ll be writing from the U.S. island on the other side of the planet, a very, very different place than France!

APRES-MIDI GOES ON AN INTERNATIONAL HOUSE HUNT

Brian Dunhill, of Dunhill Financial, had a family emergency and couldn’t come to Nice for his talk scheduled at Après-Midi last Thursday, but that didn’t stop us. With a Bluetooth speaker, and a laptop on wifi, we managed to show three House Hunters International shows to those who attended. And in between, open the floor to questions.

Our first House Hunters International show was filmed in 2006 in Paris. Now, 57 shows later, we’re still in good form. I’m not the only agent in France, of course, but have filmed more shows than any of the other agents. If you subscribe to HGTV, then you have access to them, but on occasion, you can find some of them free of charge on YouTube. Just go to YouTube.com and search “House Hunters International.”

During Après-Midi, we could only record the parts where I spoke and answered questions. For copyright reasons, we couldn’t record the shows for you to watch. (Sorry about that.) Nonetheless, you can watch the intermissions, all four parts strung together into one video, by reading our report with all the photos of who attended and clicking the link to our YouTube channel.

ANNUAL MEETING OF THE HOMEOWNERS

I’m staying in Nice today to attend our annual “copropriété” (homeowner association) “Assemblée Générale” (“AG,” meeting) at which will be discussed a variety of issues. My “sanibroyeur” (macerating toilet) is not on the agenda this time around—but is still buried in the long and slow court process, so nothing has progressed.

These meetings are usually a mixture of torture and amusement, depending on what side you’re on. This time around, there is a campaign against the restaurant on the ground level which does not respect the rules of the building. They use the main entry to bring out their chairs and tables, damaging the mailboxes and the front door in their wake, while leaving the main door open to intruders. Cigarette butts pile up next to the door as their workers stand in the entry and smoke cigarettes. Until they installed a canvas wall to block the restaurant from our entry, the tables would spill into the walkway making it difficult to enter. There are other complaints, too, but I won’t bore you with them all. The bottom line is that living with the MO of the restaurant is intolerable. We intend to do something about it.

OFF TO THE HIGHLANDS

I’ve never been to the Scottish Highlands, although I’ve watched every episode of the Netflix series “Outlander” at least three times. The plan is to fix that, as this month I’m flying to Edinburgh to meet up with an old friend to celebrate my birthday, and have booked an Outlander tour of the Highlands to top off the birthday cake. It should be fun if not also a learning experience.

The trip to Edinburgh is a bit out of my comfort zone—as I don’t often purposely go to cold climates if it can be helped…but this is our chance to get a taste of the Scottish city. Everyone has warned us to dress warmly! The weather is expected to be cold and rainy…so out will come the woolies and boots…a far cry from the lightweight sweater weather here in Nice!

If you have visited the city before, then I welcome your suggestions on what we should do and see…so send them my way by emailing me.

WRAPPING UP NICE

Before getting on the train tomorrow back to Paris, I took advantage of the beautiful weather to have lunch at a seaside restaurant with friends, gander at the sea and be awestruck by the color of the water. It’s simply not like anywhere else, even along the same coast. This is truly the “Côte d’Azur!” (The Blue Coast!)

A la prochaine…