Spring has arrived & big changes are in the air

Life has been moving along here in Pézenas. Spring has finally arrived, & we are glad to be rid of the freezing winter weather. The trees are no longer bare, & the grapevines are now fully covered in beautiful green leaves, making the countryside beautiful. The shops here in town have re-opened for the season, & the town has come alive. Tourist season is kicking into high gear & there is much more life and energy in Pézenas.

Also, we have found our new home and are getting ready to move. This wasn't as easy as you might think. We had decided to rent rather than buy, giving us more flexibility if we want to move at some point in the future. The real estate market here is suffering from some of the same challenges as in the U.S. & we did not want to be stuck with a house we could not sell in the future. Renting seemed to be the best option for us.  Well, it would be if we had income here in France. Our income is all from the U.S. In a nutshell, because of rental laws, it is very difficult to evict a tenant, and landlords carry certain insurance, which they cannot get if the tenant does not earn an income from a French employer. We spoke with several rental agencies; one told us it was impossible to rent, & another wanted us to put down an additional deposit equivalent to one year's rent. This was getting expensive & difficult. We also looked into renting directly from owners, but the few places we looked at were pretty awful.

Then, through a friend, we found a great apartment here in Pézenas. Our friend knows a couple from New Zealand who live in the building, & they had faced the same problem, but the owner decided to take a chance & rent to them. He opted to simply not take out the insurance -- such a simple solution, but one that puts a landlord at risk.

After looking at their apartment (theirs is 3 bedrooms/2 baths, ours is 2 bedrooms/1 bath, but with a similar layout), we decided to look into it. We spoke with the owner, sent him our financial information (proof of income, etc.) & he agreed to rent to us if we like the apartment. We then made an appointment with the agency to view the apartment & decided it suited our needs perfectly. After a few more phone calls & visits to the agency and the apartment, we signed the lease & will be moving sometime during the first week of June, as soon as our household goods arrive at the port & clear customs.

The building has a long history -- the first parts of the building were built in the 14th century, with later additions over the following century. It was fully renovated 2 years ago, with lots of attention to detail. It's bright & cheery & gets lots of sunlight. It's in the old part of Pézenas, full of charm, winding streest, & great shops. We look out onto a small plaza, see rooftops, the church steeple, & the hills beyond that. There is a glassblower's shop across the plaza, & he sometimes moves his work outside the shop, so we get a free show from the window. There is a great little café/bistro downstairs & around the side of the building, & a number of other cafés & restaurants just a few steps from our front door. It's the best neighborhood in Pézenas. The only downside is that we have to walk up 2 flights of stairs, but I like to think of it as getting daily exercise. In our current house, everything is spread over 3 floors, & some days we go up & down 20 times, so it's really not much different.

Because apartments in France rarely come fully equipped, we went shopping for a fridge & oven (there is an electric cooktop installed already). We also bought a TV & a DVD player.  We need some lamps as well. Appliances here are much more expensive than in the States. One thing the apartment has that is unusual is closets. We have a big closet in each bedroom, & a fair amount of cupboards in the kitchen.

The Internet service package we started last November (which we'll be moving to the apartment) includes TV, but as our current house has satellite TV, we never activated it. Yesterday we picked up the converter box for the TV, & when the TV is delivered (along with the fridge), they will install it. Can't wait! I just hope we can move the main Internet equipment & phone ourselves without any problems.

We're busy notifying everyone about our new address, but also needed to notify La Poste, and request mail forwarding service. In France, it is not free. We paid 23€ (about $30) for 6 months of forwarding. The U.S. may be the only country that offers this service for free. On the other hand, we notified our French bank of the move, & we do not have to pay to get new checks printed.

Next on our agenda is telling the local police the date the movers will be here (for traffic control & permitting), & to find out if the same situation applies to delivery of the fridge, etc. 

Well, that's it for now.

Titre de Séjour -- I'm official!!

This is a post from Holly:

Yesterday was a big day for me.....I picked up my titre de séjour. I learned so much about the process from other Americans who have gone through it -- mostly that no 2 people have the same experience -- & I wanted to share my experience here, in the hopes that it will help someone else.

A little background: I am a U.S. citizen, & my husband has dual U.S.-Irish -- hence EU -- citizenship.  Before leaving the States I went to the French consulate in San Francisco to submit my long-stay visa application. A couple of steps into the process (fingerprinting, photo, payment), they reviewed my application & noticed that my husband has Irish citizenship & I was told that because of a recent change in the French laws, I did not need the visa. I was elated, but repeatedly asked the guy for confirmation. He must have thought I was crazy, but I wanted to be absolutely sure. He asked a colleague & confirmed, gave me a refund, & handed most of my paperwork back to me. In hindsight I realized I should have asked him for a letter (in French, of course) stating that I had applied, but they determined that I did not need the visa. Lesson learned: Get it in writing!

So, I happily went about the rest of my preparations for the move to France.

Upon arrival here I went to the mairie in Pézenas, registered my arrival & picked up the paperwork for the titre de séjour. They questioned my lack of visa, but when I told them what I had been told at the consulate, they shrugged & said OK. Here's where having a letter from the consulate would have come in handy.

When I submitted my titre application at the mairie (a very friendly, patient & helpful mairie by the way), she again commented on my lack of long-say visa, & again shrugged when I told her what I was told in SF. She said that it was up to the sous-préfecture, & we should wait to see what they say. By the way, someone had told me that the sous-préfecture in Béziers was tough & not helpful, but I did not find this to be the case.

Then, about a month later, I got a notice to appear at the mairie. When I showed up, I was told 2 things:
1) I needed to pay 110€ (in timbres fiscaux) for the visa, even though the consulate told me I didn't need it. Actually, they were letting me off easy here, as by this time, I had exceeded the 3-month legal stay for a non-EU citizen (though as the spouse of an Irish citizen, I'm sure I had a bit more leeway). I did not have to submit visa paperwork, just the payment.
2) I needed to get my fiscal/income/tax documents translated by an official translator. They did not need translations of birth certificate, marriage certificate, etc. I'm glad I didn't spend the money unnecessarily here. Note: I decided not to get any documents translated into French before my first submission. One thing I learned from others is that there is absolutely NO consistency in this requirement, so I decided to pay only for the translations I was told I needed.

A few days later I went back to the mairie with the newly translated documents & the payment. She reviewed everything & said that because I did not convert the dollar amounts into euros, she is not sure that the sous-préfecture would accept the paperwork, but suggested that she send it on anyway, as one never knows.

Then, 2 days ago, just 2 months after I started the process, I got the great news in the mail. My titre was ready! All I needed to do was bring 230€ in timbres fiscaux & my passport, show up at the sous-préfecture, & the card is mine. Yippee!!

I had read so many stories of struggles,uncooperative bureaucrats, etc., so I was prepared for a nightmare. In reality, everyone was helpful & patient, & it all went smoothly & took less time than I expected. I don't know whether having a spouse who has EU citizenship made it any easier, or whether I was just lucky, but I'm certainly not complaining.

Now, of course, I have to start working my way over other bureaucratic hurdles, but today I am breathing a big sigh of relief.

La Pharmacie Française

Pharmacies are everywhere in France,& it does not take long to discover that "La Pharmacie Française"  is not the same as an American pharmacy. I seem to have developed a love/hate relationship with pharmacies here.

One can easily find a pharmacy here.....just look for the neon green cross, the symbol for pharmacies in France. 

Pharmacies are always clean & welcoming, often with a green & white decor. Unlike pharmacies in the U.S., you won't see aisle after aisle of housewares, books, sodas, hardware, kitty litter, etc. The items for sale are all related to health & well-being, for humans & often their pets as well. The cosmetics for sale are often often made with natural ingredients or tout aromatherapeutic properties, & homeopathic remedies are popular as well as abundant. The only products I have seen for sale in pharmacies that one might not expect are a range of Dr. Scholl's footwear products & shoes.

In the U.S., other than for prescriptions, one simply walks up & down the aisles & picks up the products one wants. Not so here in France. The vast majority of products, even over-the-counter (OTC) medications & products, are kept behind the counter & it entails waiting in a line to ask the pharmacist. Need gauze pads? Ask the pharmacist. Need a tube of Vaseline? Ask the pharmacist. You get the picture. I find it challenging to have to ask the pharmacist for nearly everything (Vaseline, Band-Aids, aspirin), but I'm learning to live with it.

Many items (OTC medications, first aid products, etc.  -- see paragraph above) that can be found in U.S. grocery stores can only be bought at a pharmacie. The concept of going to one store for all your purchases does not really exist here.

OTC medications here are sold in small packages -- often only 10 or 15 tablets per box. You won't find super-size bottles of Advil here. Many medications are meant to be dissolved in a glass of water & are sometimes effervescent. Aspirin, for instance, often comes this way. OTC meds here are generally more expensive than in the U.S., & are not covered by French health insurance.

Even prescription medications come pre-packaged in small boxes. We found some meds are available here in generic forms, when they are still only name-brand in the U.S. Overall, the price of prescription meds here is a LOT less expensive than in the U.S., even without insurance.

Pharmacies here often have more than 1 pharmacist on duty at a time; in the U.S., even in large pharmacies, I've rarely seen more than 1 pharmacist working at a time. That's probably because the French pharmacist actually gives consultations. I went in recently when I had a bad cough & cold, & the pharmacist asked me several questions (luckily for me, he spoke decent English), listened to my cough, & recommended the appropriate OTC medications. I have had an instance where I had a minor health problem, spoke to the pharmacist, & she sold me a cream that should have been prescription-only -- they must have more latitude here than in the U.S.

Like most other businesses here in the south of France, pharmacies generally close for a couple of hours (at least) at lunch, & are not open on Sundays. Many towns have a rotating schedule of pharmacies open for at least part of Sunday, but that is not always the case. When there is not a pharmacy open, there is always one available "on call" per French law.

Love 'em or hate 'em, Les Pharmacie Françaises are a part of life in France.

Holly is published in a major magazine!!

In the midst of getting ready to make a major move from the SF Bay Area to the south of France, I (Holly) submitted some photos of my latest jewelry designs to Bead Style Magazine, thinking that maybe -- a long shot, really -- they would be interested enough to include a small photo in their Reader's Gallery section. Well, about a month before departure an email came saying that the design was going to be a feature article. Heart pounding, hands shaking.....Could this be real?

Several variations of the design were shipped to the magazine's headquarters where they were to be professionally photographed & where the editorial staff would write the article & instructions so readers could make the project.

It seemed like the time would never come, but the March 2012 issue hit the US newsstands on Jan. 31. It is amazing to see my creations in a major magazine!

UPDATE: Just found out on Friday that my project has been chosen to be included in a new series of books (52 Necklaces, 52 Bracelets, 52 Earrings), being published in July this year, and in a 2nd book, Easy Beading, also by Kalmbach Books. On top of that, because some of the supplies for the project were purchased from Blue Buddha Boutique, their website shows the project & my name. Here's a link: http://www.bluebuddhaboutique.com/supplies/instruction/supplylists/index.php#squares-flair  It just keeps getting better!

Here are a few photos of the design that was featured. Note: the silver/black & blue/turquoise pieces were shown in the magazine. Let me know what you think.

I made several other color combos, but don't want to bombard readers with too many photos. Here's a scan of the table of contents for the issue -- with a large photo of one of the necklaces:

....and now for the shameless self promotion -- if you want to purchase any of my jewelry, here are links to my 2 online shops:

Hillcrest Studio's Bonanza booth

Hillcrest Studio's Etsy shop

.....and a link to my Facebook page where you can see additional photos of my jewelry:

Hillcrest Studio on Facebook

Where all the good food went

We had been wondering where all the good food in France had gone, but tonight we found it. It was the birthday of one of our new British friends, so 4 of us went to dinner at Le Pré St. Jean here in Pézenas. The reviews we read online spoke glowingly of the food, service & décor so we really looked forward to our meal.

We walked to the restaurant in the freezing cold & were happy to find that it was warm & welcoming inside. Our young waitress was beautiful & sweet & was patient with us when we asked her to repeat some of the daily specials.

The food did not disappoint. All 4 of us thoroughly enjoyed our food which not only tasted yummy but was beautifully presented. If we don't factor in the dollar/euro conversion rate, the price was reasonable at 25€ for a 3-course menu. The next time we want a special meal we will definitely go back to Le Pré St. Jean.

The other delicious meal we've had here in Pézenas was at Le Vieux Coq. It was our mid-day meal on Christmas Eve & the food could not have been better. The staff treated us to a post-meal glass of champagne (here in France you cannot legally call it champagne unless it comes from the Champagne region), a perfect ending to a yummy meal. As with the meal mentioned above, it didn't come cheap.

Gone are the days when one could count on getting good food at reasonable prices pretty much anywhere in France. Prices have increased substantially while the quality has not stayed as high. It has also gotten more difficult to find traditional simple French food, but we keep searching.

Vive la difference -- Cultural difference, that is

As you might imagine, life in a village in Languedoc is not the same as life in the San Francisco Bay Area. Here are just a few of the differences we've noticed so far, with more to come in future posts.

When we make errors in our French (an all-too-frequent occurrence), we are gently corrected in a way that does not embarrass us. For instance, when in a boulangerie to buy a loaf of bread, I asked for un baguette & the boulanger repeated our request correctly -- une baguette, as though she were confirming our order, rather than correcting us. The same thing happens when we mangle our pronunciation of a French word. We have yet to run into a situation when they snickered or pretended not to know what we were saying.

Speaking of stores, when entering a store one is always greeted -- "Bonjour monsieur" or "Bon soir madame", not only by the staff, but usually by the other patrons as well. When leaving, it's the same thing: "Bon soirée" or "Bon journée."

The polite greetings, however, do not always translate to what Americans would call customer service. For example, we went to the local Carrefour (large grocery on the edge of Pézenas) recently & wanted to purchase an item we saw in the sale flyer. We looked where we thought it would be & didn't find it so we went to the customer service counter to ask where we could find it. The young woman there looked at the ad, shrugged & then asked a colleague. The 2 of them pointed vaguely in the direction I had already looked, but I went there again, in case I missed it the first time. When I didn't see it there, I returned to the counter & was given yet another shrug but no further assistance. Keep in mind that the Carrefour is a rather large store & there are many items. The good news is that I eventually found it myself.

Driving here is different. One-way streets & signs indicating "no left turn" seem to be mere suggestions. Drivers will often tailgate, sometimes honking the horn, & will pass at the earliest opportunity, only to drive even more slowly than you were in the first place. If you are going to need to change lanes to exit it's a good idea to do so long before you have the need, as drivers here are not always generous in allowing you to move in front of them. They, of course, will cut in front of you without giving it a second thought. One evening, on our way back from a couple of days in Provence a driver tailgated dangerously & swerved around our car at the last second, nearly pushing us off the narrow country road. Defensive driving is the rule. On the positive side, when someone parks in the middle of the street, people don't seem to get upset -- they merely back up & find an alternate route.

The concept of forming an orderly line (queue if you are British) is hit or miss here. When boarding a bus it becomes a free-for-all, with everyone bunched up at the door, trying to be the first to board, and absolutely no consideration for the elderly or infirm waiting to board. Nobody pushes or shoves or argues & everyone gets on the bus. If boarding a bus or train that is already fairly full, people "of a certain age" or frequently offered seats, more often than in the US. At the grocery yesterday the line for one of the cashiers came from 2 separate directions simultaneously. We guess it all worked out, but we never saw the entire thing because when another cashier opened we made a mad dash & were out of the store shortly after that. We have to say, though, that everyone seems calm & takes it all in stride.

We're not sure whether prostitution is illegal here. There is one road we travel frequently that has many prostitutes standing or sitting along the side of the road, waiting for business. It is out in the open so we wonder what the law is here. In the States, one generally only sees prostitutes in really bad neighborhoods -- & only when the police feel like allowing it. Here, it seems like a part of everyday life & it's taken in stride. Attitudes toward sex & bodies are definitely different in France than in the US.

Speaking of bodies, it's not unusual to see a man urinating in a parking lot or against the side of a building. It's viewed as a natural act, & not something to hide. I'm a bit ambivalent about this.

Shopping malls: Just as in the US, at malls here you'll find "mall rats" -- teens hanging out. Of course, the malls have the usual mix of stores, cafés, cinemas, etc. One thing we've seen at malls here that we've not seen in the US is farm animals. A couple of months ago we were in a mall & heard strange sounds, so we walked down the hallway & around the corner to see what caused the noises. We were surprised to see 100 or so cages of large birds -- every sort of chicken/rooster imaginable, some of which were quite bizarre-looking, as well as some pheasant, geese, peacocks, etc. They were apparently for sale, but it had also become an attraction for local school groups. Too bad we didn't have our camera with us that day. 

Then, yesterday, we were in a different mall & saw a crowd gathered around a small fenced-in area containing farm animals....sheep, goats, chickens, rabbits, a squealing pig, etc. It was a sort of a petting zoo, & the timing of the display was probably to coincide with the school holiday & the children were really enjoying it. To be honest, having always lived in major metropolitan areas in the US, we're not entirely sure these displays are uniquely French, or whether similar things can be found in small towns & rural areas in the US.

Holidays & fêtes: There seems to be an endless calendar of holidays & fêtes here, some religious, some national, some specific to a town or village, & the majority of them seem to have a specific food or pastry associated with them. There is a cake for Christmas (bûche de Nöel), a different one for Epiphany (galette du roi -- similar to New Orleans Mardi Gras king cake) with a favor/charm baked inside.  The person who gets the piece of cake with the charm inside is declared king & wears a paper crown. One interesting trivia fact is that the galette served to the President of France does not contain a favor because since the revolution of 1870 the French constitution states that nobody living in the Elysée Palace will wear a crown. There is a different pastry for St. Blaise (the local patron saint), & crêpes are served for Candlemas.  Beignets -- similar to donuts, but without the hole -- are the pastry eaten at Mardi Gras. Foie gras seems to be the favorite food for all celebratory occasions, & oysters (along with lots of other shellfish) are de rigeur for New Year's.

Brrrrrrrrrrrrr...It's freezing!!

We know that when we think of the south of France we think of palm trees, warm weather & outdoor cafés. Well, not at the moment. There are still palm trees here, but the cold weather that is hitting the rest of Europe has hit us here as well. Temperatures have dropped very low for the past week, sometimes nearly hitting the teens -- not counting wind chill. It's 9:30 pm, & according to weather.com the temperature in Pézenas is 24°F, but feels like 10°, & no doubt it will continue to drop as the night progresses...& this isn't even the coldest day this week.  The mistral winds are blowing fiercely, adding to the discomfort. This wouldn't be quite so bad if we were living in a house that was well insulated & had central heat. The reality is that the house is stone & was built in the 1640s (think of the 3 Musketeers), has tile floors & windows that don't completely seal. Life these days means wearing multiple layers all the time, & we're beginning to resemble the Michelin Man. We can't wait for this weather to end!!

Speaking of cafés, now that smoking is banned in all indoor public areas, people who smoke continue to sit outdoors at cafés so they can smoke. They must either be made of strong stuff or they are truly addicted. We watch them to make sure they still move & haven't turned into human popsicles.

Having lived in the SF Bay Area for 30 years, we've become a climate wimp, even having grown up in NYC. Even the shores of Lake Ontario, where Holly went to college & which gets upward of 300 inches of snow each year, is without snow this year. Go figure. Weather is strange all over the world.

For the first time in living memory, Lake Geneva is frozen solid, & the Black Sea (it's salt water) is 2/3 frozen for the first time anyone can document. Rome had the worst snowstorm in more than 20 years & the Pope has opened part of the Vatican for the homeless. The Vistula River in Warsaw is nearly completely frozen, & the homeless & poor all over Europe are dying like flies.

Of course, living in the largest wine-producing region in France -- if not all of Europe -- we worry about the effect this weather will have on the grapes. We haven't heard anything mentioned around here about adverse effects of frost, but time will tell.

Gallo-Roman Villa, Loupian

A couple of weeks ago we took a short drive to the small village of Loupian, the site of a Gallo-Roman villa from the 5th century AD. The drive there was lovely, passing through small villages, vineyards & pastures. The countryside & the layout of roads hasn't changed much since Roman times. The villa system in place during the late Roman Empire was essentially the precursor of medieval castles. Large, strongly defended villas were surrounded by vineyards, fields & peasants, & each villa was practically self-sufficient. In times of trouble everyone would go to the villa & defend its walls. In many cases the owners of these villas became hugely wealthy. This villa, discovered in the mid-20th century by a farmer who, when plowing his fields, repeatedly came across colored rocks. These turned out to be tessera -- mosaic tiles from elaborate floor designs.

We were given a small discount off the entry fee because we had visited the nearby Abbey of Valmagne & had our ticket stubs with us. You enter the site via a small museum, & your guide walks you across a small field to the actual villa, which is now indoors to protect the site. After entering the building the tour takes you along walkways, both on the same level as the floors, & above it so you can look down on the villa. It's a great vantage point, but made photography a bit challenging. There are some photos below, but it's difficult to give any sense of perspective or show where the mosaics are in relation to one another.

Being off-season, the guided tours (the only way to view the villa) were only offered in French, but we were able to follow most of what our guide said. If you are in the area, we would highly recommend a visit to the villa at Loupian.

 

Foray Into French Bureaucracy.....My Paperwork Has Been Submitted

Today was a big day for me (Holly) because I submitted my paperwork for my titre de séjour (residence permit). The dossier (file) was dropped of at the mairie (city hall) who reviewed the contents to ensure everything necessary was included & will send it on the the sous-préfecture in Béziers for processing. Now the waiting begins....Waiting to either receive my titre or find out what else I need to submit. I'm sure there will be something. We've read a lot about the process & have found that many things are inconsistent. For instance, so far nobody has asked to have documents (birth certificate, etc.) translated into French by an officially certified translator, but the paperwork has not yet reached the sous-préfecture. At some point they will no doubt let me know how much I need to pay for the titre; time will tell. Our fingers are crossed. By the way, if all follows what we've read, the process will have to be repeated yearly, at least until I am granted a 10-year titre.  Update: Just got a call from the mairie & they said that they think my titre won't be granted yet because we only have a 7-month rental contract while we are looking for our permanent residence, but it's up to the sous-préfecture to decide. She made a note on my paperwork stating that we are searching for our new/permanent home.

ANOTHER UPDATE: It's 2 weeks since I submitted my paperwork & today I received a letter from the mairie, asking me to appear in person. There is no mention of a specific date or reason, nor did they request additional paperwork (the section asking for additional documentation was crossed out), so my guess is that they either have a question, or will ask me to provide official translations of several of the English-language documents (birth certificate, marriage certificate, etc.) submitted with my application. This isn't a huge problem, but it will cost a fair amount of money. I heard about one person who was called back to the mairie because his signature on the application wasn't exactly within the black lines, & he had to sign a new form. Fingers & toes are crossed that it's nothing more drastic than that, because my mind is swimming with scenarios...They won't process the paperwork until we have proof of our permanent address, & this will delay things for several additional months.....They want some sort of paperwork/documentation that I am unable to provide....They reject my application outright........They want me to pass a French language proficiency test.....I could go on, but I'm starting to scare myself.

YET ANOTHER UPDATE:

Just got back from the mairie regarding my carte de sejour, & here's where I stand:
1) I need to get translations for my US financial/bank/income information -- but not for my birth certificate, etc. Am busy researching official translators.
2) It appears that either the French Consulate in San Francisco was wrong, or the sous-prefecture in Beziers has a different opinion, but it turns out I DO need a long-stay visa after all, at a cost of 110€. In hindsight, I wish I had asked the guy at the consulate to give me something in writing saying that I did not need a visa because my husband has EU citizenship.

Once I get those things taken care of, they will review my application. The woman at the mairie was patient, helpful, & sympathetic.

Next on the bureaucratic agenda are: completing the car registration process (still driving with California license plates) & health insurance.

We're having a cold spell here. It's noon & according to weather.com the temperature is only 31°F, but with wind chill it feels like 19°F. This is not normal for the south of France & we wish it would get warmer. Brrrrr.....

Some good news:

We've written in an earlier post about the abundance of dog poo here, which seems to appear out of nowhere & multiply with alarming rapidity & which seems to escape the daily street cleaning machine. This morning we saw a guy with a broom sweeping up the poop. Of course, it had little effect on what's been driven over or stepped on, but at least the newer "packages" were removed. Also, the major construction project on the street around the corner from our house seems to be nearing completion. Much of the heavy equipment is gone & it looks nearly ready to pave. Once it's done, walking on Rue Anatole France won't resemble an obstacle course that is dangerous, difficult to navigate, noisy & makes your shoes dirty.

Settling in

We finally arrived in Pézenas, our home town for the winter. The first 2 nights we spent at a B&B where we received the warmest welcome from Robert & Isa, our hosts, who went out of their way more than once to help us. It was Sunday evening & we found that dining choices were pretty limited, a preview of things to come. We ate at a Breton restaurant in the cellar of a 14th century building. The salads were some of the best we've ever had, but the galettes (buckwheat crêpes) went mostly uneaten. Wine was inexpensive & good. Portions in France have changed radically over the last 20 years and, sadly, are imitating the American "more is better" style.

On Tuesday we got the key to our house & went to look at it before bringing our luggage, etc.  From the outside it is essentially a tower, 3 vertical floors, one room per floor. It was built around 1640 at the height of the Religious Wars when houses were built both for comfort & defendability. Like most houses in the area it has a beautiful wrought iron balcony.



 We came inside & found that the ground floor is decorated nicely with a large wood table & chairs, a small sofa & a corner kitchenette. There isn't quite enough room to cook gourmet food, & the stove/oven are not great. There is a washing machine (no dryer); we used it once but gave up using it because the spin cycle does not work & the clothing comes out clean but dripping wet. There is a laundromat within walking distance, but it is very expensive.

Up the first flight of winding stairs is the living room, shower room & WC. Again, it's tastefully furnished, but don't look too closely at the Ikea quality. On the top floor (again up a winding staircase) is a large, sunny bedroom overlooking the roofs of Pézenas.

There are, however, a few "interesting" features here. There is air in the pipes so every time the toilet flushes it sounds very much like the beginning of the Kirk Douglas movie, "The Vikings", when the ships come into the fjord & someone blows on a 10-foot horn trumpet to signal their arrival. It seriously can be heard blocks away.

The shower leaves something to be desired as it has a starburst shower head that only drips; the hand-held shower nozzle works, but feebly. The room that has the shower & sink is barely large enough for one person. Aaahhh.....We are growing fond of it.

Our television is interesting in that the Irish owner of the house bought Sky TV & we can have our choice of English-language news channels which all have the identical news feed, except for RTV, the Moscow-based English language Russian news station. The have a very different take on news events & we wish everyone could see this.

One thing that didn't make us happy when we first got here was the weather. It rained every day for the first 3 weeks. We were told it was not normal, but it was still depressing & made it difficult for us to walk around town or do anything. Luckily, things have gotten better, weather-wise.

We are only 2 short blocks from the small shops in town & the weekly Saturday market, which is famous in this area. There is a large (bigger than most Safeways) grocery on the edge of town, about a 7-10 minute walk, & there are some other groceries, etc. in that direction as well.

The food in a French grocery store is generally of a quality hugely better than what you'd find in US groceries, unless you tend to buy your food in gourmet shops. This is nice & it makes us happy. If we want pheasant or duck or lamb, or any other thing that's considered a delicacy in America, it's available at every-day prices.

One not-so-great thing we discovered is that Pézenas must be the dog poo capital of France, if not the western world. Those of us who remember New York City before the pooper scooper law will have a small understanding of what we mean. New Yorkers, however, always made sure their dogs pooped in the gutter; not here.  To be fair, in much of the town there aren't really sidewalks wider than a few inches so there aren't really curbs. The locals feel that leaving a gift of poop in front of your door is a nice gesture. We've learned to look down when we walk & wipe our shoes well when coming into the house. To be fair, most houses have shoe scrapers on the outside -- not ours. The Piscenois seem to really love dogs, because it looks like nearly everyone here has one.

Our laptop battery ran out of juice shortly after we arrived in Pézenas, & our small 220/110 converter blew, so we were without a computer. This was a disaster so we quickly bought a new laptop. The challenge is that the keyboard is different & the commands, etc. are all in French.

Also, our Rosetta Stone language software is loaded on our US laptop & the discs are in storage in the Bay Area, at least until our furniture & household goods arrive this spring. This means we have fallen behind in learning French, but it's amazing how many things we've managed to accomplish. We arranged for Internet & phone to be installed, we bought a new cell phone, we opened a bank account, got car insurance, mandatory rental insurance & are getting our health insurance. There are still many bureaucratic hoops to jump through, but we're taking them one at a time.

We discovered that public transportation in Pézenas is limited. There is no train station & there are only a few bus routes here. This was more important to us between the time we returned the rental car & when we picked up our car at Le Havre.....More about that in a future post. Meanwhile, here are a few photos of Pézenas that we took shortly before Christmas.

 

  

  

         

France, At Last

We have now been in France more than 2 months, and believe it or not, we have been busy. After landing in Paris, we spent a couple of days driving south, with stops in Chartres & Issoire.

Chartres is a lovely city, with a beautiful cathedral famous for its blue stained glass, a color that nobody has ever been able to recreate. The day we were there was slightly cloudy, so we didn't get the full effect, but it's still quite breathtaking. We were there on market day & were sorry we did not have a kitchen because the food was so tempting. Although Halloween is a very American holiday, even in Chartres there was evidence that it is a small world.

Our next stop was the small town of Issoire, which is about half-way between Paris & our winter home in Pézenas. As is the case in most French towns, it was beautiful & very medieval. We were there on a Sunday & just about everything in town was closed (more on French closures in a future blog post), except for the church, which was our main reason for selecting Issoire as our stopover.  The church is very, very old -- 9th century -- & has the most amazingly painted Romanesque interior. Painted interiors were the norm at that time, but this one was unlike anything we've ever seen before.

  

We were beginning to fully realize that we were no longer in the US, & that people in small towns are different. When we were leaving Issoire we needed to put gas in the car, the cost of which is huge compared to the cost in the US. A tank of gas is around €80 - 90 (depending on your car), or $100 - 120. It was a Sunday, there was no gas station attendant & our credit card did not work in the machine, so the man at the next pump offered to use his credit card & we gave him cash & we were on our way.