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Observations on a New Life in Spain

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Hollywood Revisited

5 December, 2012 (09:20) | Living in Europe | By: admin

View of the Hollywood sign from our new apartment on 9th St. in Los Angeles.

I was born in Hollywood, but have been living abroad for over a decade. (6 years in NZ, 6 years in Spain.) Although most of our family and friends live in California, Mark and I prefer the pace and simplicity of life in Barcelona, where we don’t even own a car, where we can afford to live near the beach, where we have created a rich and rewarding life for ourselves.

I recently inherited an apartment building near downtown L.A. though, so instead of fighting our destiny, Mark and I are taking over the top apartment of the building, not to live in full time, but to have a nice place to stay when we do our annual L.A. visit. The apartment needs work, but is in a great location. It will be fun to reintegrate into life in L.A.

These next 2 shots are from the living room looking out:

As it were, I’ve been storing my 1953 Baldwin piano at a friend’s studio, but he can no longer take care of it for me. The timing is such that while in L.A. on family business I am able to relocate my beloved baby grande to our new apartment downtown. It is a happy reunion. This piano is the first piano I ever played, so not only is it an exquisite piano, but it is of sentimental value. When I was a kid I would show off by squatting underneath the piano and playing it upside down and backwards. I was about 5 years old.

Reunited with my vintage 1953 Baldwin baby grande.

From where I sit at the piano there is an art deco hallway leading to a master bedroom, which leads to a room which is destined to become Partners In Rhyme Inc. headquarters. (The bathroom and kitchen are so funky that I don’t bother to photograph them):

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1) Art Deco hallway 2) Master bedroom 3) Future Partners In Rhyme Inc. office headquarters. Right now the room is funky, but that will change.

The living room leads to a big terrace and side balcony:


1) Big living/dining room/den 2) Living room opens onto this sun deck 3) There is a long terrazza that goes along outside the living room.

I am in L.A. for an extended stay due to a family tragedy, so I have time to put my wishes forth to remodel and take over the apartment. Mark joins me and we hire the crew that has done good work for my family in the past. The workers become available, and work begins at once stripping and tearing down walls. My poor piano has to go under wraps:


My Baldwin piano all wrapped up.


Once they start tearing down walls its hard to imagine what the place will look like when its done.

I return to Barcelona with the understanding they will continue to work on the remodel. Mark will go to L.A. for 2 weeks when executive decisions need to be made. By next spring we’ll have an awesome home in L.A.

We’ll still live and run our business from Barcelona, but with a home in L.A. we expect to spend more time there. As I write this we are already $25,000 into the remodel, originally estimated at $35,000. I expect we’ll spend at least $50,000 by the time its finished, with new appliances etc. Mark wisely sums it up; “Its a good thing we’ve been saving money, so we can afford your inheritance,” he says.

I’ve always wanted to be bi-coastal between Europe and USA, but only now is this feasible. If all goes according to plan, early next spring Mark, Quixote and I will be able to have an extended stay in our new apartment.

Before returning to Barcelona two of my oldest Hollywood girlfriends stop by to approve. The place is in shambles, so we go up to the roof where I shoot a snapshot of them:

Tina and Arlo stop by. Tina lives close by; she’s really thrilled we’ll be living in L.A. part time in the future. We’ll be neighbors. Arlo used to play bass in my band. She looks forward to jamming again. So do I.

I end this post with a couple shots of our new neighborhood, taken from the sun deck. Neither Mark nor I have ever lived on the East side, so it will be interesting o explore. It looks to be a melting pot of Latino and Asian cultures, with the odd Caucasian artist, writer, or musician thrown in the mix:

On a clear day you can see downtown, Century City, the Hollywood Hills and sometimes you can even see the ocean I’m told.

One last snapshot of the Hollywood sign from our new apartment:

Camping in France, part 3

4 December, 2012 (11:49) | Living in Europe | By: admin


When we first set out on this camping adventure we had great hopes to go as far as Gran Bretagne, but with only 6 days to get home in we decide its more sensible to try to head for the Bordeaux region on the way home, where we know the beaches are nice and camping is popular.

We stop at Le Rochelle for lunch:

Le Rochelle dans la pluie:


After which we start our search for a campground. There are plenty of campgrounds but they are all full so we continue on until we find a space at a small funky campground near Rochefort.

The facilities are not deluxe, but they’re fine for the night.

Here I finally get around to photographing the inside of our campervan:

Quixote shows off the bed that drops down from the roof.

Coffee in the morning, plus a couple bathroom pix;

The interior space is tiny and efficient (Italian design). However, compare the next photo of the campervan itself next to a castle in order to get a sense of its true size:

We head for the nearest beach in the morning, where Mark takes his first Atlantic swim:

We are somewhere near Mimizan.

After his swim we all climb back into the camper to see if we can find a campground along the coast. Camping in August in France is not advisable without advance reservations we learn. Most campgrounds are full. But we find one in Mimizan. Our spot itself is not the best, but the location is beautiful for walking. Quixote and I explore:

The next morning we head towards St Jean de Luz. En route Mark pulls over and we take photos of the lumber piled up along the highway:

I love posing my dog in surrealist settings…

In St Jean de Luz we spring for 5 star camping. This campground is bustling! Although our spot does not feel very private, we have a view through our trees to the beach, which makes us happy. People are polite and friendly.

After 10 days of camping together, its amazing we all still get along. We all have our moods, but we know each other so well, and overall we have been laughing a lot more than bickering. Mark has decided that we will head to the lake in Spain, just below Pamplona, that Mark and I stayed at on our first camping trip not long ago. Cristina tries to convince him to go to San Sebastian but that would put us way behind schedule. I entertain myself shooting “creative” shots in the back:

We manage to find our campground and although the lake is much smaller now with the August heat, it is just as idyllic and proves to be a great spot to spend our last night of camping.


The other campers here in Spain drive funky vehicles. There are no posted rules or regulations. It’s nice.


Pristine grounds, with only a couple other campers sharing the site:

The drive back to Barcelona is uneventful. We learned from our first camping trip to clean the campervan up while in the campground, so we’re not stuck doing that on the spot when we turn it in.

I know I should do a better job with the narrative on these camping in France blogs, and maybe in the future I’ll revisit them and flush it out. But for now these photos will have to do. Although all this happened in August, I’m only getting around to posting now, which explains the perfunctory narrative.

I doubt we’ll be going on many more campervan excursions, as they are extremely exhausting for Mark, the driver. Quixote and I were smart to just hang out in back, even though I missed a lot of the passing countryside.

Au revoir!

Camping in France in August, part 2

4 December, 2012 (11:38) | Living in Europe | By: admin

After several days driving and staying in various campgrounds along the way, we finally make it to our destination in Blois, sur la Loire river. The campground is “free camping” meaning we can find a spot anywhere on the sprawling green grounds along the river. This is luxurious! We find a nice spot with an electric pole and make ourselves at home. After texting Bobbie that we have arrived, we make a really fun and rewarding lunch with the goods we purchased at the fromagerie:

Bobbie and Tracey live 1 km down the road. In 2009 we visited their home in Paris, for which I wrote a blog which gives some back story to the friendship.

Including the night spent at the video festival, it took us almost 6 days of our precious designated 2 week campervan rental to make it to Chaumont. We would like to spend 5 nights, but realize that we can only spend 4 nights maximum before heading back to Barcelona, if we don’t want to simply race straight back. It was a long drive to get here, but well worth it, we decide.

Bobbie and his dog, Elvis come to see us. In the August heat the walk is further than he remembers. Mark heads straight to the river for a swim:
Quixote approves of this place and turns into a ferile bat dog:

Later, on the walk to Bob and Tracey’s chateau we are enchanted by these balloons over the Loire; we’ll have to do the balloon ride on a return visit someday, we decide:

Bob and Tracey’s chateau came with its own wine cave when they bought it over 20 years ago. It was a real fixer upper, and Bob made it his job to renovate the place and put in a recording studio.


1) Bobbie’s wine cave 2) Le Chateau

We spend the next few days mostly at the campground, going to Bobbie’s once a day for ping pong or a meal. The campground is divine, lush, fairly quiet for a campground. We love it here:

A bit of ping pong (Bob and Tracey):


Chillin`

At Bobbie’s Mark is guest chef du BBQ. Cristina speaks no French and no English; its hilarious to watch her try to communicate with Bob and Tracey:


Out in front of Bob and Tracey’s horses pass by. Later we view evening balloons from inside their patio:

Three nights and 4 days, no internet except from Bobbie’s; what a luxury!

Au revoir tranquiity!

PART 3 – the journey home

… to be continued in a separate blog …