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Busy first week back

I can’t believe I have only been home for eight days; I seem to have been whirling round trying to make progress on a number of fronts.

My new computer

I came home to continue the challenge of getting my snazzy new MacBook Pro operational. I had broken the back of the problems in December but I still could not use software like my cross platform calendar. Nor could I print, scan, or listen to music on my Sonos system. I have finally got work arounds for all of these except the printer (I have ordered a cheap-ish HP printer to replace my classier Canon). The trouble is third-party manufacturers who have still not updated their software to work with the new Mac M1 chip or the latest system.

I now have everything except printing running pretty smoothly, but have to buy some more cables and a new hub, as the new computer has USB-c or thunderbolt ports rather than the original USB-A.

But I am delighted; I get no more messages saying I have run out of memory. In particular I can now run the Adobe software I use for photos. Just need to find the time to go out and take some more 🙂

Music

It is nearly three weeks since my stressful ‘audition’ and I had not touched the cello over the holidays. But this week we are back at work. My little cello partner, Lilou (12) and I have been given duets by Mozart and Bach to work on. We are also tackling some really difficult music to accompany the Ecole’s choir (not yet resumed, as the teacher has Covid).

Our little ensemble (two violins and two cellos) has started work on the fugue from Vivaldi’s l’Estro Armonico (lovely) and Telemann’s Tafel-Musik (apparently quite easy, but I struggled with the first run through). It is very good practise for me playing with others: the challenge is not to suddenly miss a beat and lose the place! It is much easier when I play with Charles and Pierre, as Charles is both directing the trio and also my part usually follows his on the harpsichord. Here, any one of us four could be guilty of being a note out.

Charles and Pierre

The last few days have been dominated by concern over Charles. While I was travelling back to France, Pierre rang me to say Charles had been taken to A&E in Ganges with heart problems, and then transferred to the Clinique du Parc. Once my post travel PCR test was back I have seen Pierre most days and talked to Charles and him regularly. I took various things down to the hospital for Charles and sadly because of covid, we talked from afar, me sitting on a rock beside the river next to the parking and him trying to see if he could see me from his room.

Then a couple of days ago Charles was transferred to the Clinique du Millenaire and yesterday he had a heart bypass operation. Now we are are all waiting. Poor Pierre is lost without Charles and cannot bear that he cannot visit. Millenaire is the best heart and lung specialist centre in Montpellier, but it is a horrible factory of a place, with little human warmth. I have bad memories of it because this is where Chris died.

My electric car adventure

In the middle of all this I continue with the next chapter in my quest to become an electric car owner. This really started last autumn, when I started to plan to change cars.

I love my little Smart two-seater cabriolet (and the grandchildren are horrified that it might no longer be there next summer). It has served its main purpose: as an automatic with no gear changes for my right arm, it allowed me to remain mobile in the year following my two right shoulder operations. But it is now in its fifth year, and if anything goes wrong it will be very expensive. The nearest garage is in Montpellier, plus Smart is owned by Mercedes and parts and services cost a fortune.

Also, given that I fear my days of long distance travel to wonderful countries like India are over, it is time to explore nearer home, in France and Italy above all. And I need a car more suitable for these distances, with the possibility of space to have frequent snoozes.

Just as I want to avoid air travel, so I want to be travel round Europe with an easy conscience that I am not emitting CO2.

It would be more sensible to wait a few years until electric cars came down in price and had a longer range, but time is not on my side. If I want to travel it is in the next few years. So, after a fair amount of research I narrowed the search down to a Nissan ENV200 Evalia.

Here is the current car I am trying to buy:

My family has adjusted to the shock of my latest financial folly, but is pretty dismissive about my choice. “Another van”, they say contemptuously. They don’t get the convenience of having a back door where you can bung things in without having to heave over the lip of a boot. I don’t get their concern about its appearance – I am more interested in functionality. This car (or ‘van’) is slightly narrower than my previous Citroen Berlingo, which suits the narrow lanes here, but slightly longer, which means I could replace the seats on one side with a narrow bed.

My friends here are more concerned about the short range of the car – realistically 200-250 km. I agree, I would like to travel further before charging. But I envisage a different style of travel, more suited to my age, with necessary stops every couple of hours or so.

Another reason for choosing this particular car is that the latest version was first produced in 2019 – but then they stopped producing it last summer, because Nissan is into a new deal with Renault. So I hoped to find a garage demo model at a much reduced price.

I started my search in December and had three failed efforts to secure one – two lost interest when I wanted an expert inspection and the third because we could not agree on a price. There are almost no Nissan Evalias available in France, so I have learnt a lot about hunting for cars in neighbouring countries and the rules associated with importing.

I have now found one in a small town two hours drive from Barcelona (that’s it in the photo above). I am currently in negotiation with the garage owner. He speaks no French or English and I speak no Spanish. Google Translate has proved an invaluable tool.

So has the EU site. I found all the rules on importing and exporting ad paying VAT – and had to pass them on to Pedro, who was not aware that the car is treated fiscally as new even though it was registered in 2019, because the 750km on the clock are way below the 6000 threshold. This means I need to pay VAT in France and Pedro should not be including Spanish VAT in the price.

We spent a busy day exchanging WhatsApp messages yesterday, but now there is a little pause as Spain has a public holiday (Epiphany) and the garage is closed till Monday. Meanwhile the tax office here has responded to my message and reassured me that even if Pedro insists on charging VAT, they will only charge it on the price less Spanish VAT and I will then be able to get that sum back from Pedro.

Laying charging cable – and blocked showers

Meanwhile I have made a new acquaintance. Alfred is the young neighbour of Kris, the Pole who built my bedroom and bathroom below the house . I hired him to dig the trench for the cable between the electricity supply and the carport, ready for the car charger.

At lunchtime today he finished this task and turned to my other pressing problem: my blocked shower drain. It has been temperamental since the summer and is now well and truly ‘bouchée’. Alfred climbed into the narrow space under the house to inspect the pipes. After consulting with Kris, who knows the geography under my house, we have agreed he will cut through the pipe, unblock the shower from below and then instal a ‘regard’ (don’t know the English word) so that next time it should be easier to open the pipe up. He will return on Monday and meanwhile I continue to venture outside to the summer bedroom for my morning shower.

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