Grande Brocante Sète

Today we went to Sète's Grande Brocante in centre-ville. That's an upmarket flea market to you and me ;-)

We got a little distracted by this giant modern sculpture outside the library; we had to get a closer look!

As we wandered around, a group of people in "Belle Époque" dress paraded through the esplanade, followed by a dance exhibition.

We headed out of the sun to the Halles (covered market), and decided to find a table, have some wine, and think about lunch.

I went for oysters and more wine :-) If you look closely, you'll see that we were at table 7! (Table sept à Sète)

While I was in line for my oysters, I saw this lovely array of seafood on offer

I told Rick about some of the options, so he went next! Came back with garlic mussels (a big win) and curried shrimp (not very spicy)

I'm getting a little more comfortable here, and how things work in the Halles. When we sat at a table, a waiter from the bar came over - just to make sure, I asked how it worked. He said that we get drinks from his bar, and go to any of the surrounding businesses for food. He left us to think about what we wanted to do; when we caught his eye, we ordered wine (and water), and took our time. By the time we were nearly done, new people came to the tables on either side - and asked us to hold their places! Aha! We were happy to do it, and now we know one more thing that is common to do there :-)

On the way back home, we stopped for a baguette and couldn't resist an eclair (gone before I could get a picture, but it wouldn't have done it justice anyway). I saw these plants, and finally thought to get a picture - I do not know what they are, but they're certainly in full bloom this week!

Museum Night

Europe has a very nice event each year, where museums are open to the public, free of charge, and often with a series of "extras," such as art workshops, concerts, or wandering musicians.

This year, we went to a couple of museums in Sète.
We started with the Sea Museum - there was supposed to be a wandering group playing and singing sea chanties. We were both looking forward to that, but after an hour, there were still no hints of music in the air. We still had a nice (and educational) time.
There were a *lot* of boat models, some showing the construction and interior layout

When I saw these knots, I knew I needed a picture!

There was an entire section on Les Joutes, or water jousting. These are models of the boats used - each team rows toward the other, while one jouster stands on the forward platform. Each jouster has a heavy wooden shield and a long lance tipped by a metal crown. The two teams collide, and the winning jouster causes the other to fall into the water (while the winner remains on his platform, and in control of his balance).

These are some of the costumes worn by jousters over the centuries

You can see just how damaging the impact can be

Next, we headed to the Espace Brassens to catch a concert by a fellow who sang covers of songs by Georges Brassens, an extremely popular son of Sète. This museum is very close to home; we regularly pass by, and had been wondering what it was like. As the concert was in the front lobby, we still haven't seen it!

~~~
The official agenda: https://icisete.fr/jv_events/nuit-des-musees-sete-2017/
The big celebration of jousting in Sète is La Fête de la Saint Louis - it last for a week in August: http://en.tourisme-sete.com/the-saint-louis-day-sete.html

Sunset - No Words

No Words...

Things That Go Ahhhhh

Things That Go Ahhhhh

That first sip from a sparkling spring, after hiking through a forest
Breaking into a meadow full of flowers, and taking a deep breath
Watching the ocean waves break, one after another, sitting in a slightly protected alcove
A fireworks finale after a convivial dinner
Standing at the front of a boat, as it makes its way through a heaving sea
Waking up to dappled sunlight and a light breeze from a nap in a hammock

These are all things that give my heart a lift; that make me feel that I belong in the life that I've chosen. These are moments to revel in. Yet for several months, I've suppressed the feeling as soon as I recognized it - it was just too dangerous to my psyche to let myself get attached to Sète, to France, and then find I had to leave. Well, now the presidential election is over, and we don't have a fascist xenophobe for a president. Tonight, when I watched the sun setting over the Étang, I let my heart lift...

~~~
And I can't help but share some skies from this week :-)

Election Day Distractions

Today is the final round of the presidential election in France, and results won't be published until 8:00 pm. So we needed quite a distraction!

We went into centre-ville to see if there was anything interesting related to the election. Well the mayor's office was open, but there was no line out the door. But it was noon... We meandered down to the "Halles" (covered market), and amazingly found a vacant table! We had a "quart" of wine (about 3-4 glasses), and split a tielle for lunch (we are addicted to these octopus pies; some day we'll get something else, I'm sure) and relaxed for a while.

From there, we went to the MIAM (Musée International des Arts Modistes), which was free today (I think all museums in Sète are free on the first Sunday of the month). I had a few huh! and hmm... and wow! moments, but (not being a huge modern art fan) I'm glad it was free ;-) I know that several of my friends would love it!

After that, we walked back along the canal to the tourist office (stopping for a quite hot baguette on the way). Somehow, I thought we had to buy tickets there for an orchestra gig we want to go to next week. Well, no. But we can buy them online, and we did get our monthly booklet on events for the month (May, this time, of course).

We headed to the bus stop for home, but - this being a bus-sparse Sunday, *and* a fantastically beautiful day - we decided to walk home.

An hour later, we're home, sufficiently distracted, but with several more hours to kill. Maybe if I think about all those ice cream shops we passed...

Health Coverage in France

We've been in France now for the magical 3 months, AND I have my immigration stamp, so off we went this morning to CPAM (another government office) to sign up for our health coverage. Health coverage in France (and *every* other developed country) is different than in the USA. Here, every adult gets a health card (Carte Vitale) - you take this to your doctor appointments, they run it through like a credit card, the government pays 70% and you pay the rest.

We took our first steps toward getting​ our cartes vitales. Friday (and it took these French-file-creating-newbies *forever*), we each put together a file according to the government website (http://www.ameli.fr/assures/droits-et-demarches/la-protection-universelle-maladie.php), containing:

1. a filled-in application form (1 page, fairly basic, available for download from the website)
2. a copy of an ID (Rick's ID card, and my passport and visa pages)
3. copies of receipts showing we had been in France for 3 months, in a "regular manner" (hotel, vacation rental, and the bill for our apartment lease)
4. our French bank account information (aka "RIB")

All-Important Folders for French Files of All Sorts!

We could have mailed it and waited, but (1) getting to the office is easy enough for us, (2) we prefer being able to talk to someone about the process and the file; in particular, to know if it is complete or not, and (3) it's always possible that they would process the application right then ("haha" I hear you say, but some things have actually happened that way).

So, we got to the office by 10, and were done by 10:15, including standing in line! The woman started by showing us the application form, and as she started to highlight the items to include in the file, we said that we actually had our files :-) . << Genial ! >> (French for "that's great!") - she flipped through them, checked that we had the documents needed, stapled them for us, and told us to deposit them in a box (like a post office box, but for their applications). Then she said it would be about 2 months before we would get our numbers.

What I have heard will be next:

• CPAM will contact us about our income; probably, they will want copies of our last 2 income tax returns (USA)
• Our social tax will be based on our income (probably from 2015, possibly from an average of 2015 and 2016). Any amount above 9710€ is multiplied by 0.08, and that is the yearly tax.
• Normally, this tax is paid quarterly, but the system is  in flux - no one has been getting a bill, and probably will have one giant bill in 2018. We will have to save off that tax on our own...
• We will get temporary numbers in about 2 months; at this point, we can get reimbursed for health costs
• CPAM will ask us for face photos to be used for our cartes vitales
• "Some time later," we'll have the cards, and can start using them directly (instead of applying for reimbursement)

~~~

Part 2

Part 3