Surprises At the End of the Lake.

 

My husband always tells people that the reason he loves me the most is because he says, “I find the beauty in everything.” Isn’t that sweet! But it’s only partially true, because I can find the ugliness too. He says that he is envious of me because the smallest things make me happy (this does not happen to him because he is… French.) This is true that the smallest things make me happy because yesterday I had a mini explosion of happiness over a chestnut tree. But then, he says that I over exaggerate. This is not true. It is merely that I am enthusiastic. Then, I tell him that his complements are backhanded. I am very familiar with the backhanded compliment because my aunt is the master of this. She says things to me like, “It’s so cute that you’ve gained so much weight.” She has passed this trait down to her daughter, my cousin, who gave my husband for his birthday a beautifully wrapped self-help book.

This week, as we are still at the lake (Lac du Annecy, France), we have had a very exciting time, according to me. It was a week of “scoring.” Or as Charlie Sheen would say, “Winning!” However, there is always the ying and the yang in life. While all of these good things were happening to me, I also noticed that my voice is getting weaker. The ALS is kicking in. I chose to ignore it but, of course, my husband freaked out and told me that I had to pace myself with speaking. Buzz kill. The boss of me, my husband, said I can only do a few blog postings a week. So there you have it. That’s the bad news. But the good news outweighs the bad. Here’s the good news…

Should I save the best for last? No, I’m impulsive, so I’ll tell you now. Now remember how my husband says that I over exaggerate, but this time my “enthusiasm” is completely founded. I don’t think that there is a human being on earth who would not have been excited by what happened. And if you would not be excited then you are dead inside and you should seek therapy or kill yourself. Let me start by saying that when this incident was occurring, I totally kept my cool because I’m a lady for fuck’s sake. So…on Saturday we decided to take a long drive around the lake to the end of the lake.  It could not be more remote. It just so happens that at the end of the lake there is a beautiful, serene, exclusive hotel called L’Auberge de Pere Bise. We decided to have an afternoon drink on the terrace. Considering it is the end of the season, there were only three tables occupied. Ours included. We had the perfect table right at the edge of the lake. I did not want to be facing the sun directly so I had my husband turn my wheelchair horizontal to the lake which caused me to be staring directly at the table next to me. As I was looking at the menu, my husband kept saying, “Ellie, what would you like? Ellie, what would you like?” I was not answering him. Why? Because I was absolutely speechless. There was a woman sitting at the table next to us staring right at me. It only took me about half a second (because I’m a professional) that it was none other than Her Royal Highness Princess Caroline of Monaco. Princess Grace’s daughter!

 

 

Let me state for the record that I do not get starstruck. I do not, as Erin Foster says, “change around celebrities” like she says she does. :-) Never ever do I do this. Until this day. I honestly think I felt a tear come to my eye. Remember, my daughter’s name is Grace and I unabashedly and absolutely will admit that I named her after Princess Grace. And here, on this odd Sunday in September at the end of the lake, here I was sitting next to Princess Caroline and all of her history and all that it entails. Here are the details. She was having lunch with two of her children, the boys. She was wearing a white linen button-down shirt, cropped jeans, and low Converse sneakers. The epitome of chic. She was wearing sunglasses at a point and exchanged them for her reading glasses. She was tapping away at her iPhone, no doubt on Instagram. She had a beautifully groomed dog with her as well. And here’s the best part… Her Royal Highness Princess Caroline of Monaco was smoking a cigarette. I was actually relieved when she left because I could start breathing again. My husband refused to take a picture on the grounds that he has some class. So, all I have to show for this glorious occasion is a picture of her table…after she left. It will have to suffice. Use your imagination. Look look look…
 

 So I’m not sure if anything I say from here on out will be as exciting as that but everything else we did this week was at least half as exciting, but exciting nonetheless.

 So…if I do say so myself, I have an uncanny ability, I think, in my opinion, to be able to find things that have great style without breaking the bank. I have to be very careful about not breaking the bank because I have to pay my stupid caregivers. Apparently, they don’t work for free. And by the way, I’m pretty sure I’m allowed to use the word “stupid” considering one of my caregivers started to wash my face today with a bathmat. So, I get very excited when I find something that is “chic and cheap.” This happened to happen all week this week. First of all, we stopped by the local Zara shop to find a scarf for my husband’s ailing mother, and my selfishness took over because all I could concentrate on was a leopard jacket that I saw out of the corner of my eye. Price check €70. Ellie “winning.”

 Secondly, in a little teeny tiny poor excuse for an antique shop, more like a junk shop, I spied with my little eye my Creuil Montreau Monet cerise china pattern! The little old French lady had two pieces. A cake plate and a fruit plate. Price check €50 for both! Ellie “winning.”

 
Next up, the little brocante. A brocante is our American version of grandma’s attic sale on the street. I don’t typically go to these brocantes because I’m not a big fan of bric-a-brac, tchotchke or crap but I love accessories. There’s a difference. While this brocante was complete shit, mostly Romanians reselling things that they had stolen, I did, with my discerning eye, manage to find three charming accessories. In a dirty old little box something blue caught my eye. It was a little tin container I think from the 70s that used to hold coffee from the company Ricoré. It looked perfect  for a bouquet of little garden roses. I asked the little old French lady wearing a house dress and no teeth the price…Price check one euro. Ellie “winning.”

 

A few dumpy booths later, I found a little tin Quimper box exactly the same as my grandmother had used for her sewing tools. I thought it would be perfect to put my French anti-anxiety “crazy pills” in. I may be crazy, but at least I’m classy crazy.
 

 
At the last booth, sitting inside a neon green plastic box, I found this gorgeous polychrome water pitcher that I thought would be perfect as a vase with autumnal flowers on my paisley tablecloth. Price check eight euros. Ellie definitely “winning.”

 

Unfortunately, we do not think that the little lake house will work out because of the treacherous driveway, the steep interior staircase and the fact that the owner only wants to rent the house until March. Begrudgingly, I was forced to “look at other options.” As I am the master of this, I of course, found an interesting option. There is an old house that has been on the market for over a year. It is for sale. My idea is to convince the owner to rent the house to us until it sells, which it never will. I have watched every single episode of Million Dollar Listing Los Angeles and New York so I am legally, not legally, a real estate agent. I even pulled together the “comps” of the neighborhood to prove my case. Yes to your question that my husband thinks I’m a pushy American. But guess what? This girl gets shit done.
 

I have also included a few pictures that we took from just driving around the lake. Look look look...

 

So that’s the week in review. Definitely, a winning week. I think we have to leave our beloved Lake Annecy at the end of this week and go back to that dump called Paris. :-) Stay tuned… And we will continue our Art Of Entertaining series.