No word from France

Still no word from Federick at Businessbikes.com in Paris on what the repair to the fairing and mirror on Citronnade cost. VISA has contacted me on two occasions, when he tried to put a charge on the card but for some reason he had the wrong expiration date, so they contacted me instead. I told VISA he's not authorized to put a charge on the card until he sends me a bill, and he's ignored my emails asking for one.

He's going to have to wait a long time for his money if he won't send me a bill.

My new baby

OK, for those of you who can't get into my Facebook photo album (I don't understand why, I *DID* click the box that should have made it open to the public) ... here are some photos of my new baby. I just brought her home tonight. Isn't she pretty? At least one of us isn't an alarming shade of green.

The denouement

I realized after getting a question from my friend and fellow blogger Glen Farrelly that I hadn't posted an update on what's happening with Citronnade. Here's a picture of her, post-tip-over, that I took in Blankenberge in Belgium, for those of you who haven't seen her yet.

I decided not to buy her and ship her back, largely because I didn't think the damage from the tip-over in Brugge would be sufficient for that to be necessary and partly because the duty on her would have been prohibitive. Because the Honda CBF600 isn't sold in North America, the duty for importing her to Canada could have run into a thousand or possibly two thousand dollars. Add to that the cost of purchasing her and the shipping and the total would be more than the worth of the bike.

I'd expected to get an estimate on the repair bill from Frederick at Business-bikes.com by Tuesday and haven't heard a peep yet. He has a $1,500 deposit and it's in his interest to try to keep as much of that as possible, so I don't expect to get much if any of it back.

I'm in Montreal tonight on my way to Boston for the weekend; I promised some friends I'd join them on a (car) road trip. They're heading to BosCon, Boston's annual science fiction convention, where they'll be throwing a bid party trying to get people to vote for Montreal as the site for the 2009 World Science Fiction Convention. I plan to visit Manni Wood, an old friend I used to work with at Southam New Media. He and Andy Walker (of Cyberwalker fame) did the programming for the original Canada.com site back in 1996. Now he's working near Cambridge and I hardly ever get to see him, so joining this road trip was perfect for a get-together.

But I will post an update on Citronnade's repairs once I get the estimate.

A final toast

I deliberately didn't completely drain my bottle of water when I left Brugge, filling it up again in Amsterdam and Dijon, so it has a little water from each of the places I stayed.

So I'm making a final toast with this mixture of water here at the Charles de Gaulle Airport to all the people who helped me through this adventure!

Salut!

Also, had some fellow passengers take this photo so I could show Dr. Strangelove I did get around to reading Balzac while in France. Finished Cousin Bette on the plane.

GREAT book. Excellent recommendation. Wonderful way to end the trip.

Downtown Dijon

Sherry and I spent the afternoon walking around downtown Dijon, and took some interesting photos.

This first one is a long shot of Cathedral Saint Michel.

The next one is a close up of the arch above the doors.













And here's a close up of the gargoyles of the cathedral.













The square around this merry-go-round is where the folks in Dijon set up the local version of the farmer's market for fresh produce.













And these next two are exterior and interior shots of the indoor part of the Dijon market, where they sell things that need refrigeration. We were here on Monday, however. Half of the businesses around here close down on Monday, including the market, so there's no one around.

Expats in Dijon and Gothic architecture

My friend Sherry, who is from B.C., met another B.C. gal named Corrinne among Canadian expats in Dijon, whom I met today.


Then we drove about 20 minutes to the grounds of the Chateauneuf-en-Auxois (see photo on the left), which was a stronghold built around a French keep during the 12th century.

The photo below is the main central courtyard of the keep. Apparently a fella named Phillipe Pot, counsellor to the Dukes of Burgandy and a Knight of the Golden Fleece, added the Gothic buildings to the chateau in the 15th century.

The fountain in the photo to the left is in one of the smaller courtyards at the chateau leading up to the main courtyard.

Rainy in Dijon

It was raining this morning in Dijon, but the sun is trying really hard to peek out from behind the clouds and it's starting to clear up a little, so I hope to get some nice photos when Sherry and I go driving around today.

I did take a picture from her bedroom window (see photo to the right), which has a wonderful view of the city of Dijon, since their house is on top of a hill.




I also took a picture of the great view from her office window (see the photo to the left). I see why she loves it here.
I'm having a great time hanging with her boys, Grayson, Quinn and Max, who range from pre-school age to Grade 4. Watched Superman last night with Grayson, who's four. Grayson *LOVES* airplanes and trains. I'm quite fond of them, too.