Burnt out and Deflated in France

To say that today I am slightly depressed.....yes, you can say that, maybe more than "slightly" depressed. Sophie doesn't like to say "depressed" she thinks it is better said that "I am deflated". Either word, I think it is because I have just arrived in Purgatory.

Sitting in my “office” in Cybercafé just opposite where my home was I was amazed to see that my only door left intact, that of the bar le coin perdu, wide open.




I immediately thought that, being prematurely senile, I had completely forgotten to shut it when searching for photos yesterday. On entering I found several men upstairs! Nobody had told me that workers were coming to take down the unsafe chimneys.
 At that moment it hit me like a flame out of my office window; something was wrong here, something was not right. It was no longer my home! It was, is, the object of an inquest. My home is no longer a home. There is just a burnt out carcass left. Its guts, its heart its everything is gone. And, right now so is my spirit. (and, this time we are not talking about the bottled kind)

I am about ready to peter les plombs (go “ballistics”)

The Insurance is demanding detailed lists of absolutely everything in the house and they want that yesterday.
I need a furnished appartment for Samantha and I.

Alexandra and I planned a trip February 2th to March 6th to see my parents in Santa Barbara. You got it, want to see the picture again, where the passports were?

First try, Tuesday after the fire. Train station, no train. No, it wasn’t a strike, an “obstruction” on the rails. Second try, 2nd Tuesday after. Arrive at the ambassy to find that an “important” meeting was taking place, thus no consulate services. Did have a nice Paris lunch with my kids.

Third try will be tomorrow February 24th. With a little luck we will be considered a hardship case and will have our passports the same day.

But wait…..what do I see…. Yes, the French have done something NEW AND DIFFERENT! They have announced a strike! And, not just any strike, we are talking about an AIRPORT STRIKE! Starting today and lasting at least three days. We will see. In any case, getting stuck and sleeping at the airport can’t be worse than where I am sleeping now.



Kristi Anderson is the orignal owner of Tea & Tattered Pages and until February 6th ran a bed and breakfast near Orléans in Sologne, Loire Valley.
kristi anderson
le saint jacques le coin perdu
15, place de l'église
45240 Ligny le Ribault
TheAmericanFrog@aol.com