An Unwelcome Surprise

You know that old adage, "Never let the evil plumber into your house unsupervised whilst in Provence"? Oh wait, that's not an adage. But it is sage advice indeed, as this is what you might come home to:

Unfortunately, we did not have a choice as there were some pretty serious leaks in our ceiling that needed to be repaired while we were out of town. We did what we could to prepare, including speaking to the workers directly about the need to respect our home and possessions, but to no avail.

We arrived home from a spectacular holiday in Provence to discover this disaster. Calls were made, voices were raised, tears were shed, teeth were gnashed, police were visited, plumbers were fired. In a word, we were dumbfounded. And, as nasty as these pictures are, they do not even compare with the real thing.

Needless-to-say, our house is uninhabitable for the present, so we are living in temporary quarters down the road (on Rue Jourdan, between Place Louise and Place Stephanie for those of you who are familiar with Brussels). It is a bit nicer to have a place of our own than to be stuck in a hotel, so we are trying to make the best of our current predicament by looking for the bright side of things.

This is the view out our front windows. It's not every day that you see random store openings that include DJs, dancing girls, and random happy picketers.

This is the back view. It's like Dickens come to life or perhaps like stepping into the world of the chimney sweeps in Mary Poppins. And that's certainly a new experience for most, right?

Our stove goes to 11. (Ok, so we might be reaching when vague Spinal Tap jokes are our bright side, but work with me here.)

The kitchen is a bit limited, but I did manage to make a really wonderful, Provençal-inspired Salade Niçoise one night for dinner.

 

So, in the words of the Kaiser Kid, "Things are looking up".