Archive for May 31st, 2011

Well…it only took 11 weeks (6 weeks longer than it was supposed to) AND I didn’t have to kill either one of the cats…but we have finally moved into our new home. Mind you our move didn’t come without challenges as well…heck, I’m not sure anything went “smoothly” in this whole adventure so far. HOWEVER, I have to say, Katherine picked out a great apartment for us to live in. It’s awesome – perfect size and location, right in the heart of Antibes!

At first I wasn’t quite sure how everything was going to look or even where it was going to go but everything has now been unpacked and organized. With a few minor purchases, most of the rooms are now complete. (Pictures to come in a subsequent post!)

As I mentioned, not all went off without a hitch. Unfortunately not all of our things arrived in the condition we remember them being packed by Interdean Shipping! It probably didn’t help that our things went through 2 extensive Customs (Italian & French) inspections. Not sure how our things ended up in Italy when its destination was France but…who knows!

We had quite a bit of damage to a number of items with one of the worst being our credenza. The nice dark, wood finish on top looks like the one corner had been dragged across the pavement. Also, our king-sized, white, Duxiana mattress also looked like it was partaking in the same pavement surfing contest as our credenza! The mattress was delivered without any packaging on it at all and was extremely dirty and torn! Even Miss G’s stuff wasn’t immune to destruction. Her armoire was delivered with 3 legs although I’m quite positive it had 4 when it left Arizona! Now how the hell is it supposed to stand?

Come on, seriously? Is it that hard to move people’s belongings without decimating it all, or at least the valuable stuff? I’m certainly glad we took out extra insurance on all of our things. At rough-estimate calculations, we have totalled up just over €15,000 ($21,300 USD) in damages…YIKES, WTH?!? Now comes the agonizing part…we have to fight with the insurance company about the value of things. For the most part, it should be already quantified in a spreadsheet the shipping company required us to fill out with values on everything being shipped prior to packing. BUT…we all know how insurance companies work; get screwed paying high premiums and get even more screwed when trying to make a claim to replace your damaged possessions! So…we’ll see how many rounds this fight is going to go! We’re not giving up easy so they best be ready for a brawl! (Can somebody pass the “foil”?)

On top of these incurred damages, a few items just never showed up! (They must have jumped off the pier in Italy!) Four items, in fact…

• the 4 slats to our bed that hold the boxspring & mattress in place. (Ummm, kind of need these!)
• a 6-ft step ladder
• a 24-ft extension ladder
• 15lb bag of cat food

Seems like a odd combination to go missing, do you think? Yeah, that’s what I thought too! Anyway, again, that’s what insurance is for.

A tip from me to you…and a valuable lesson learned…(especially for our eventual move back to the US)…make sure your have the moving company wrap anything that is valuable 3 to 4 times as well, make them triple pad the corners of everything! This would have saved a lot of our wooden furniture from extensive damage.

Au revoir!

A couple of weeks ago I had to fly to Los Angeles, CA to apply for and pick up my French visa! Long trip you say? It definitely was – 15hrs of flying on the way there and 24hrs traveling back (with 8hr time change included)! Yep…LOOOOONG trip although British Airways definitely made it a lot more confortable in Economy Plus class! Ooooh…I wracked up some serious air miles on this trip too! Cha-CHING! Thanks BA!

Seems a bit odd that I would have to fly from Nice to LA when I’m already in France, right? Well…like a lot of the long, paper processing routines here in France in order to obtain a French visa, you have to go to the nearest Consulate to your home address. Yep…since we don’t legally “live” in France yet, my home is still Arizona and the closest French Consulate is in LA. And, thus, explains the trip.

Before anyone gets all “bent” on the fact that I had my iPhone “on” during take-off & landing in the plane, let me first say that this isn’t something that I normally do when flying. Ever! I abide by the rule of the air always and turn my phone completely off when the Captain requests that passengers do so. However, this time I decided that I was going to photo document my trip and made sure I put my phone in “Airplane Mode” so as not to receive any form of communication (text, calls, whatever).

As always…enjoy the slideshow and I will see you soon!

Au revoir, mon ami!

Full-sized pics (with captions) can be found here. Trip pics