Car rental

When I arrived in Geneva, a long term car rental was prearranged for me with the good people of Europcar (kind of like the blind date thing). They wanted to give me something in the automatic diesel, the sound of which started to make my stomach go sick. I asked if they could give me a stick shift gas variety and they were nice enough to give me a brand new Renault (don't pronounce the T!) Laguna. I thought wow.......the chance to try a French car that has not been in the US market for over a generation....will I be in for a big surprise.

The car is well equipped. Mirrors fold-in automatically, tire pressure is displayed on the dash, speed limit governor, full controls on the tilt wheel, 6 speed, no key ignition. Performance is really peppy for a diesel. I've taken it at 160 km/h without a problem but it does bounce a little.

Well after a month, the fun is gone. Turning is like a ford F350 so you had better plan your turns way in advance. On Monday in our parking lot, I went around a double parked car and slightly clipped a curb. When I got out of the car, I heard the front tire start to go flat with a puncture in the side of the brand new Michelin tire. Turns out the car doesn't have a spare so I had to arrange for a tow though my good friends at Europcar. Two days later and 5 calls to Europcar, I finnaly was able to pick-up the car. A new rim, towing, replacing the pressure sensor, and Michelin tire only set me back 570 euros ($825). They did give me a wash though!

This weekend we are going to Milano for a few days R&R at the Westin. I'm seriously thinking of taking the train as without a spare, I don't want to be stuck in Italy for 2+ days to replace a blown-out tire.

I really do look good in this car. So much so that every time I drive, automatic cameras take a picture of me. I wonder what newspaper will run my picture!

Looking forward to meeting Monique in Milano. Ciao!

Happy Holidays from Annecy

It has been several weeks since the last update, my excuse….family is with me and we are enjoying the French life. I should have gained 5 kilos from all the food we’ve experienced but my wine drinking regimen seems to be doing the job of washing out the unwanted weight! Aimee and Lonnie flew to Nice to visit Monique mid December then we all hooked up in Lyon for two nights of cold Christmas shopping. Aimee and Monique went back to Antibes for Mo’s last week of teaching before her holiday break then we met in Brignoles to enjoy Christmas with my friends Jean-Claude et Patrick who own a B&B. There we enjoyed some time with my aging aunt Yvonne who at 98 years still eats like she is 20 years old.

After Christmas, we all drove back to my apartment in Annecy for a few days of relaxing (and some work for me), Christmas decoration viewing, day trip to Mt. Blanc, and what else….more eating. I thought a visit to Mt. Blanc would be a ho hum trip to the snow but what a spectacular sight this mountain is with several glaciers seemingly ready to flow down the mountain side and swallow-up the village of Chamonix. The inset picture seems like it was taken of a model but that little mountain is over 10,000 feet above where I took the shot (elev. 4810 meters). Highly recommend a trip to visit this area before the last glacier disappears.

Chamonix

Last Saturday, Mo and Aimee took a train to Lyon then on to Paris where they will enjoy New Years before Aimee returns to the US on the 3rd. Mo will return to Annecy for a few more days of family fun then we all split up again. I’m enjoying the family as much as possible before I’m left alone Jan 15th to work the job I came here for! We’ll probably take Monique to Milano next weekend (only 3 hours away) where she can hop on a train to Antibes.

France is obsessed by Noel and anything festival for that matter. Every town is lined with banner lights, numerous manger scenes in les eglises, ice rinks, and just like the US….Christmas shopping like crazy. The supermarches are packed with people getting food for the massive holiday meals (you think the French drive crazy; you should see them pushing shopping carts). At Jean-Claude’s we had two supersizer meals….the réveillon (Christmas Eve) and le jour de Noel. Between the two meals, I consumed two bottles of Champagne, six different wines, and 10,000 calories of the most wonderfully prepared food (oysters, escargots, fondue, pheasant, chapon which is a neutered young rooster, buche de noel, and on and on). Half way into each meal I could see the pain on my family members faces as we never have eaten this much food in one setting (everyone else didn’t have a problem wiping their plates clean with French bread).

Lonnie and I celebrated New Years in the apartment (boring I know but we did it up with a fine meal and Champagne). This morning, we celebrated another New Years listening to KFOG on the web, drank the last of the Champagne and watched the fire works over the SF Bay Bridge live on CNN. What a cool world we live in.

I’ll be returning to the US on Feb. 9th and will stay for only a week working remote control, catching up on chores, wine making, and hopefully visiting a few friends (I’ll bring some French wine as a bribe!). Bones fetes mes amis!

Patrick with Lonnie, Monique and Aimee in front of his Creche

Settled in

Since I've taken on this project, I've traveled to France for a one week preview with my colleague from Allergan. Flew home Thanksgiving eve (had a great time with my uncle's family at Maurice and Rohan's home). Worked on our rental house in Concord that was vacated Thanksgiving (they were there for 10 years of 3 pack a day smoking), put in my last week with Genentech Vacaville, rented the house, then packed for 6 month assignment on Dec. 2nd only to fly to Geneva that night. Needless to say, I slept practically the whole flight!Upon arriving Geneva, I grabbed my three bags and searched for the rental car agency. But first I had to go through duty and customs.......ok I crossed the line and that was that (the customs agent did look at my passport but didn't check anything). So the funny part about Geneva airport is that it's situated in two countries so I had to walk from the Swiss side over to the French side (you guessed it, I crossed another line). My car is a Renault Laguna Diesel 6 speed (pretty peppy car with a speedometer of 230 km/hr).I've now returned for exactly one week. Work is starting fairly slowly but construction is underway so I'm trying my hardest to get caught up and review the design before it gets installed. Had two business trips this past week so I was able to see some of the country already. The first trip was to Le Midi which is in the middle of France. Some people call it the bread basket. I went with Vanessa (the QC lady) from the engineering company and I said it was the middle of nowhere (I asked what the French would call it and she said in French...butt hole!). It wasn't that bad but not worth the trip.Last weekend I went on the Autoroute for a 1000 kM (600 mi) round trip drive from Annecy to Toulon. Driving 130 to 145 km/hr (78 - 86 mph) it took about 4.5 hours each way. Diesel being only 1.30 euros per liter ($7.30/gal) and the tolls (about $50 each way), it gets pretty expensive traveling by car. I picked-up my daughter Monique at Toulon Gare (train station) and we enjoyed the weekend with my Aunt Yvonne (who is 98 years young) and ate a wonderful Sunday dinner at our friend's B&B located in Forcalquieret. The group meets monthly and basically enjoys the food, wine, jokes, and sometimes an educational offering. I practiced my French which is slowly getting better.My return trip to Annecy from Toulon this morning included a stop at a local factory that makes Mipolam vinyl floor. After a couple of hours, I was back on my way but it was nearly noon so it was time to look for some lunch. A few minutes away I noticed a midevil village on the hillside so I decided to take a few minute deviation instead of jumping on a freeway to eat junk. The village was really cool, called La Garde Adhemar about an hour north of Aix. Found my restaurant named L'Absinthe and had a wonderful pork roast, with mashed potatoes and salad with herbs de Provence and .......a glass of the local red wine!!!! The final stretch was great with my ipod and the lingering tastes! The Alps are pretty stormy and the snow line is only about 300 meters about my elevation...spectacular.I'll start attaching pictures later as I've just established my apartment web site. I have CNN and BBC on the tele and now the web. I'll begin catching up on US news shortly. Lonnie and Aimee are flying to France in a few days and the whole family will rendezvous in Lyon this weekend for some fun Christmas shopping. On Sunday, Lonnie and I will return to my Annecy apartment and the girls will return to Antibes to goof off for a few days before we all get together for Christmas again. Well I had better start cleaning up my bachelor pad before my wife shows up!!!!

I'm here!

Hi all,

I’m now situated in Annecy, France which is 45 km SW of Geneva (Genf as the Germans call it). The town is situated on the side of a crystal clear lake surrounded by the Alp Mountains. As Monique said in her blog, it is cold but the difference is there is snow here (hardly anything on the lower elevations 500m but the mountains all around are covered). The countryside is breath taking, skiing is about an hour away (Mt. Blanc). Just a perfect fit for a wanna be French boy like me.

We found a nice 2 bedroom 1 bath fully furnished apartment in Annecy-le-vieux which is only 6 km from the project. One block from the casino (grocery store), bank, pharmacie, so Lonnie can enjoy the village without the need of a car!.

The whole family can stay with me during Christmas and I can receive visitors as the second bedroom has two twin beds.

Today is nouveau beaujolais release day….mmmmm.