Jayspeak On The Cote D'Azur

PROLOGUE

I was born in Gainesville, Georgia USA, with the birth name of Janet Tallulah Jewell. Yes, that is right. Over the years, I went to college, got married, had children, moved to Los Angeles, California, changed my name to Jay W. MacIntosh, acted professionally in film and television, went to Whittier Law School, practiced law, and now live in Nice, France.

I moved with my husband, Steve Orlandella, in October 2015. Steve was a television producer and writer. We were looking forward to starting life anew. Regretfully, he died in August 2016 from natural causes (pneumonia). So, I am picking myself up, dusting myself off, and starting all over again – in France. I now spend my time writing. As an attorney / actress / widow / mother / grandma / ex-college professor (Chairman of the Division of Humanities at a branch of the University of Georgia) and ex-real estate broker, I have a lot to say.

As an attorney, I specialized in entertainment law and employment litigation, helping employees who had been victimized in the workplace. I still practice transactional law from my Home Office in Nice, licensed in the State of California.

As an actress, I continue to perform in film, television, commercials, and theatre. I am a member of The Actors Studio, the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences, SAG-AFTRA, and ASCAP. I hold a Master’s Degree in Drama, and am a member of Phi Beta Kappa, Phi Kappa Phi, and Zodiac Scholastic Society.

My published works include Janet Tallulah, Journal of Janet Tallulah, Volumes 1 & 2, The Origins of George Bernard Shaw’s Life Force Philosophy, Moments in Time, and Capturing Beauty. I am currently writing a sequel to Janet Tallulah and a blog – jayspeakblog.wordpress.com.

Steve spent most of his career working in sports television, primarily baseball. He studied broadcasting, history, and theatre at California State University, Northridge. While working on his degrees, he joined the University staff as a producer-director of Educational TV.

In 1979, he joined KTLA Channel 5 in Los Angeles as a news producer, senior sports producer, and director of News at Ten. In 1985, he was promoted to KTLA’s Supervising Producer/Director. He produced and directed entertainment programs, Angels Baseball, and Clippers Basketball Games. In 1987, he worked for MCA/Universal as Producer of media for the Merchandizing/Licensing Division, later becoming an independent Producer/Director. He produced winter and summer Olympic specials, Kings Hockey games, promos and commercials for Z-Channel and Sportschannel, and directed boxing, pro and college basketball.

In 1993, he became Producer for Dodgers Baseball for nine seasons. He won Golden Mikes, Associated Press Awards, and was nominated for Emmys twelve times. He received two Emmys for his work with the Dodgers. In 2005, he launched Steve Orlandella Productions and Ormac Press.

His published works include Burden of Proof, Capitol Murder, Marathon Murders, Dance with Death, Midtown Mayhem, Titanic, The Game, and Stevespeak.

Why did we choose Nice, you ask? My love affair with France started when I was a little girl. I don’t know when Steve’s started. I always knew that one day, I wanted to spend quality time in the South of France. Nice is the perfect place for me to live, now that he is gone. It feels right. My plan is to speak French fluently, eat good food, write books, take photographs, and meet people. That is the plan, anyway.

This book is a compilation of my blog posts since Steve’s death. I have dedicated it to him.

JAYSPEAK begins….

On October 1, 2015, my husband and I moved to Nice, France. We are currently beginning our 11th month – as residents. It is tricky because we don’t either one speak French. We try to, but — no. A word here and there, but full sentences throw us for a loop. Yet, we have been able to make ourselves understood – by waiters in restaurants, UPS at the door, the mailman, the Post Office, the grocery clerk, the pharmacist, the doctor, the dentist. A lot of these people speak some English, but not much. I bought Michel Thomas’ French apps, and listened for months to the lessons. That helped. My problem comes with pronunciation. Mine and theirs. I say something I think is excellent, and they look puzzled. If they say something, I have no idea what it might be. Yet, I can translate it. I can read a lot of things; I am struggling with speech. I had hoped to pick it up faster — no.

We moved to France as a compromise. We had been living in Los Angeles, California, for many years. I had moved there in 1968, from Gainesville, Georgia. While there, I worked as an actress in film and television – selling real estate as backup. At a certain point, I got frustrated with acting and decided to go to law school. I practiced law for fifteen years and decided to retire. I married my husband Steve Orlandella – a live sports producer for television – in 2005. We had dated for several years, and he popped the question that spring. In 2014, we decided to retire. He hated the traffic, and I had battle-fatigue from contentious clients and defense attorneys. Steve wanted to move to Sarasota, Florida. I wanted to stay in L.A. We compromised by agreeing to move to Nice, France. It did not happen quite that easily, but all of that drama and saga I will save for another time.

It took us two years to get our ducks in a row. Steve applied for an Italian passport so he could have duel-citizenship. I required a long-term French visa. Plus, I had to close down Law Offices of Jay W. MacIntosh. It was complicated with snags galore, but we did it. And, here we are.

Hopefully, this blog will be the forum for me to explain how we did it – especially at this time in our lives. I am older than Steve – by 13 years, so moving home – lock, stock, and barrel, is not the norm. But, going to law school at age 59 was not the norm either. And, going from Georgia to the University of Wisconsin was not the norm. Moving a family and furnishings from Georgia to California was not the norm. So, I can say – I was not the norm. Neither was Steve. So, I am going to write about France, moving to France, and living in France – from my perspective. I plan to post pictures and write about the setting. Don’t expect this to be a travelogue — no.

This is my first post. Welcome aboard.

BY JAY W. MACINTOSH

MONASTÈRE DE CIMIEZ

The Monastère Notre Dame de Cimiez, which is usually called the Monastery of Cimiez, is a stone’s throw from our condo. It is an 800’s monastery with gardens overlooking Nice, plus paintings by Brea, a museum, and Matisse’s grave. It includes a church (which looks like a Cathedral to me), a cemetery, and a convent where some Franciscan friars still live. The church has significant paintings by 15th century local artists, the Brea brothers. The convent houses the Musee Franciscain (which is decorated with 17th century frescoes), many documents, and a recreated cell showing how the austere religious life is lived. The chapel dates from the 17th century and the lovely gardens have sweeping views across Nice and out to the sea – where I take pictures of the roses I post on Facebook. I walk by it every day.

The painter, Henri Matisse, is buried in the cemetery. His grave is signposted 'sépulture Henri Matisse' from the cemetery's main entrance. Raoul Dufy (1877 – 1953) is also buried here. I am not familiar with Dufy, but I have seen the paintings inside – beautiful.

It has been particularly meaningful to me. As many of you know, Steve was a devout Catholic. Always has been, as far as I know. Last Christmas, we went to Paris for six days and stayed in an Airbnb in the Marais – next to a church – which also looked like a cathedral to me. I wanted to light a candle for my children, but wasn’t sure how to do it. He took me inside and showed me where to get a candle, pay for it, light it, and pray for my kids. Which I did. It was a beautiful moment.

Since that time, I have frequently gone into the Monastery Church and lit candles for many things. And, I lit two candles almost every day after Steve got sick. I continue to light a candle most days. Doing so makes me feel better. These are pictures that I have taken over the year – both in Paris and here. I particularly like the one I have used as the Featured Photo – Steve standing in front of the Monastery, trying to get his camera phone ready to take a picture.

THE NEIGHBORHOOD – CIMIEZ

Two months ago, I started my blog, Jayspeak. My husband, Steve Orlandella, started his blog, Stevespeak. And, we both were off and running. I had ideas galore about future topics, and so did he. We both had followings on Facebook. We hoped we could get followings for our blogs. That same weekend, he didn’t feel well – thought he was coming down with the flu. On Tuesday, August 2, 2016, I rushed him to the emergency room at Hopital Pasteur. He was transferred to Hopital l’Archet immediately. Diagnosed with acute pneumonia on life-saving machines. He got a tad better and was transferred to Les Sources for further treatment – in the intensive care section of the ICU. For a month, French doctors tried to save his life. Without success. He died on August 31, 2016 – a date I will never forget. That day, my heart broke.

Now, I am trying to re-group. How do I reinvent my life? Steve was my best friend, my constant companion, my lover, my life. We had places to go; things to do. Our retirement years in France were just beginning. Not going to happen – at least, not the way we planned.

So, the Blog was on the back burner for a couple of months. Now, Stevespeak is silent. But, I am back. Jayspeak speaks – anew.

I had planned to write about Cimiez – the area where we live. Well, I still live here. And, the things we both loved about the area, I still love. I am posting some pictures – the view from our condo – out the window; the bakery counter at our local grocery store Monoprix; the Park Café; the Hot Dog sign at the Park that was only there from time to time; the Museum Matisse; the neighborhood palace Regina that we saw every day. But, there are also the Roman ruins; the Monastery; The Monastery Garden; the Monster Munch we loved at the store; the Bus Schedule for the bus near our condo – that we took every Sunday to town; and others. I can hardly write through my tears. But, you get the picture. Life was good. We were happy and in love – with each other, with Nice, with Cimiez, with France. I still am.

OUR NEW HOME IN NICE

When Steve and I were making our plans to move to France, our first consideration was a place to live that we could afford. Steve was a little more skeptical than I was. He was convinced we would not be able to afford anything fit to live in. I, on the other hand, had lived in various homes in Los Angeles, in various neighborhoods. And, during the time that I was working as an actress, I worked as a real estate agent (eventually becoming a broker) as back-up. So, I decided to look for someone to help us – a real estate agent in Nice.

After an extensive search, I heard about the site www.angloinfo.com. I created a page on that site and began posting comments regarding our upcoming move and our need for help. I got several responses, one of which was from someone named Andrea Emond. She was a Canadian, living in Nice. She said she would be glad to help us.

Andrea and I began corresponding back and forth. That went on for almost two years. Our plans changed so much that I was afraid Andrea would get disgusted and disappear. But, she did not do so. At some point, she realized that a major stumbling block – other than Steve’s obtaining his Italian passport – was a place to live. So, she began sending us setups regarding properties that were within our budget, knowing that there were still a lot of snags to our getting on a plane. When we began to see what was available and prices involved, Steve and I both got excited. We could afford Nice.

In 2015, we made the decision to move no later than November 1st. We made one offer that did not fly, but the second offer did. We leased a furnished three-bedroom, one bath condo in an area called Cimiez, starting October 1st. That didn’t mean anything to us, but Andrea said it was one of the best neighborhoods in Nice. (Note: Unfurnished units sometimes don’t have