Amsterdam

All is not rosy, even in Amsterdam.  We have a leak in our ceiling in the bathroom.  Theo's brother Lauran came by this morning and knocked a hole in the wall to find out where it was coming from.  

The ugly brown area of the brick ceiling is where it is leaking through

Temporary solution (Bucket and pan on top of washer/dryer) oh and a pan in my bedroom, which shares a wall with the bathroom, on the top closet shelf

It is leaking through a brick ceiling, so you can imagine the job that is going to be.  Lauran is booking a plumber to come in on Monday. 

We have had towels down on top of the washer/dryer to keep the drips off it, but we have now graduated to kitchen pots and a bucket 

We are leaving for Scandinavia on Saturday, so that will give them time to work on it with us out of the way.  Hopefully, they can get it all fixed so we don't have to live to long with the buckets and pots making drippy music.

Another woe we have been working on is our next home away from home.  We booked a place in Avignon, France on about the 31st of July.  We were asked to make a downpayment on that day.  Language is a bit of a barrier in this case.  Initially we thought we were fine and just waited for them to bill us.  When the landlord finally contacted us asking if we still wanted the place, we knew that we had a "Houston we have a problem" situation.  He said the rental company had sent us a bill but he had not received payment.  I went back and looked at the email and discovered I was supposed to click on a word to bring up a form to fill in the credit card information, etc.  I did that and I did that again and again to no avail.  The stupid thing just would not take my credit card.  Kept saying the card was not accepted.  Of course the entire form was in French, so piece by piece I copied it into my translator and got the English translation.  I had done everything right, but no luck.  

We have been emailing back and forth for two weeks trying to resolve the issue.  FInally they gave us a number to call and yup it was a recording IN FRENCH.  Couldn't translate that.  Finally today, while Lauran was here on our plumbing problem, this very nice and kind man (who understands French) called and listened to the recording.  It was a menu of course and all you needed to do was punch 1 for English.  HA!  We did that and then it was easy because the recording switched to English and I got an actual live person who spoke English on the phone.  As we discussed the various things that could have been wrong with the credit card, ie. over credit limit and not enough credit, I told her that I had already checked with my bank and that was not the problem.  We had even tried different credit cards and none of them worked.  She finally asked me if I used a computer or a tablet to make the payment.  I of course used my IPad as that is my computer.  Well guess what, that was the problem.  I went to a copy store and used their computer to make the payment and "Walla" just like that it went through.  SOoooo, at long last I believe we have a new home come November 1st.  We will be in Avignon through Christmas and New Year's and then we think Portugal and Spain for a month each.  Still working on those.  But for now at least it appears that all our problems are being resolved, with much thanks and appreciation to Theo's brother Lauran.  

By the way, my Sister Sandra is coming over October 16 and will be with us until November 5.  We actually leave Amsterdam on October 21, and will be traveling to the Normandy area and then on to Avignon on November 2.  She will then fly home out of Marseille, France on the 5th.