Three Month Review

Three Month Review

Three months! This is as long as we could stay if all we had were tourist visas, so that all on its own is a weird feeling. I've been thinking about how to categorize each month here.

February was all about househunting, and therefore *FULL* of STRESS!! We were staying in a studio apartment in Palavas-les-flots, so we had wonderful walks along the beach. It was always cold enough to need a coat (liner in) with gloves and a scarf, although a few times I was warm enough at the end of the walk to carry everything :-) . We got sandblasted a few times - pretty fierce winds; we saw a few kite-surfers taking advantage of it, too. We had a car, so we found our way around to bigger stores in a neighboring town, and got reacquainted with driving.

In March, we had an apartment (signed the lease on the *last* day of February) in Sète. Every sunset was spectacular, and fully enjoyed by us looking West across the Étang (a large salt-water lake connected to the Mediterranean Sea). We were again without a car, so we spent a lot of time investigating the bus system and taking walks - both for fun and for profit :-) We got internet, a shopping caddy, and a bus pass; we veeeery sloooowly got through the basics of settling in. Spring arrived, and we had flowers and sunshine. Then rain. We tested out even longer walks; we went to a festival and planned a few more. I started leaving my gloves and scarf behind. I arranged for my immigration appointment, and Rick got his French passport - the roots are going in.

April couldn't make up its mind - I no sooner put my coat away, then it cooled off again! One day we worried about sunburn possibilities, and the next, I wished I had traded my windbreaker for my coat. *Everything* was in bloom! Our walks became perfumed sniff-fests (both in enjoyment and in allergic annoyance). Our sunsets calmed down and got later. We made it through a national holiday, went to a music festival, and took a trip into Montpellier to participate in the March for Science. I finalized my residency!!!! We survived our first French presidential election (part one), and are surviving the anxiety of waiting for round two!

OFII Timeline

OFII (French Office for Immigration and Integration) Timeline

So, we got to France, and I had three months to "get legal" - here's my timeline (apologies, as it's a bit dry - just like the champagne getting cool in the fridge)

29 Jan: arrived in France
28 Feb: moved to long-term apartment (address)
8 Mar: got phone numbers
9 Mar: mailed OFII paperwork
10 Mar: confirmed it reached Montpellier office
Mid-March: electric bill and rent receipt in my name
28 Mar: received OFII paperwork, and appointment
27 April: OFII appointment - morning medical (very quick x-ray of my lungs), afternoon welcome. Take:
- passport (with visa page and Europe entry stamp)
- face photo (1 - I had a copy from when I applied for my visa, so used it)
- rent receipt and electric bill + copies (only needed one, no copy needed)
- timbre for 250€ (paid online and printed the proof)
- medical records and notes (not needed, but helped to prepare for questions)
- prescription bottles (useful)
- livret de famille (not needed)

We left by 8:50 to catch the bus to the train station, then took the train into Montpellier - it was initially 10 minutes (!!!!) late, but ended at 5 minutes late (honestly, I had been most worried about the bus to get to the train station, but that was basically on time). We had already walked past the medical center (link), so that lessened the anxiety, as we knew where it was. When we got there, there was a line to check in (and I saw quite a few OFII papers in hand). We waited, then I spent *maybe* 5 minutes getting an x-ray, then we waited a bit more for the results (I added that to the OFII packet). I was done with my 10:30 appointment by 10:45 - because it was cold, we headed back to the train station.

We had a couple of machine coffees, ate our packed lunches, and killed time until 1:00. We headed to the OFII office (very close by), but some nice ladies told us it wouldn't open until 1:30 (my appointment time, and apparently the appointment time of everyone else ;-) ). Well, when we showed up a bit before time, there was quite a line. But when the fellow came to open the floodgates, everyone surged forward - yep, I pushed too (I'd already seen the bus-line culture here, so frankly expected the rush).

Well, we were all checked in, and we had the welcome meeting - it was all in French, which I fortunately understood (although I feel for the girl in front of me who stated that she had zero French). Rick and the many other supporting family members were able to stay for that. Then the support group had to leave, and we poor visa-seeking souls had to take a 20 minute written test.

After the test, our support group could come back ;-) . We waited for my name to be called, the I went to the medical check. They make sure you know that the medical appointment is completely confidential.

It seemed to me that (1) the medical check was very geared towards making sure I had all my vaccines (they only asked; no proof, such as vaccine card or blood test, was required) and (2) that my lungs were clear (probably because of the on-going threat of TB). Other than that, they asked my weight and height, and what prescriptions I took. They didn't want to see my medical notes; no questions about surgeries or chronic problems. I asked about how to find a doctor, and they said pharmacists were a good resource (LOL - I should have thought of that!)

I went back into wait-mode, then on to my individual "what do you need, and how's your French" meeting. I was tested to confirm that my level of French was at least A1 (short discussion in French about my life so far in France, combined with the written test), and got a personalized welcome, which included an evaluation of my needs, got assigned 2 training courses (French civics and history, to fulfill my CIR - contract of integration to the republic), and got an orientation of services available to me. I frankly was so anxious about the entire process that I screwed up mightily on what in retrospect were basic questions meant to help them evaluate my French. Well, she still said my French was good enough for now, but offered "if I wanted to take them" French language classes... I don't think I'm insulted. I found out that near the end of October, I should make an appointment for the next residency period - I can qualify for the 10 year card, as long as I "pass" A2 level in French. The agent said I could, if I wanted, take up to 100 hours of French lessons - these are in Montpellier, so not extremely convenient, but I will look into whether an "attestation" to level A2 is part of it - probably worth it for a 10 year card! Part way through this meeting, she invited Rick to join us, and found a possible way for him to come to the French training courses too! These are really only for new people like me, but perhaps he could come as my personal translator (my courses are in French, and the English courses are full). She will look into it and let us know :-)

At the end, she put my "vignette" sticker in my passport, and gave me a packet of documents to keep, including appointment information for my classes - in a couple of weeks, I'll know all there is to know about French civics...

She confirmed a few things for us:
- I can exchange my driver's license now that I have my "vignette"
- we can sign up at CPAM for health coverage, since we have been here 3 months, and I have my long-stay visa finalized
- we won't need a numéro d'identification fiscale (tax ID number) until next year, when we will pay income taxes for this year (we weren't here on the first of January, so we have until next year to deal with that!).
- for normal daily life, I should make a copy of my passport information, visa, and vignette pages to carry around (and leave my passport locked up unless I travel outside the country)

We hopped the next train home (used the ticket machine this time), tried out a new bus route, and were home by 6:15 - definitely a longer and more eventful day than usual for us!

~~~
http://www.ofii.fr/s_integrer_en_france_47/all_you_need_to_know_about_the_cai_458.html
http://www.ofii.fr/article.php3?id_article=466

French Elections I

French Elections, part 1

We got to France in time for the presidential elections, but not in time for Rick to be able to vote (he would have had to be registered by the end of December, and we got to our permanent digs at the end of February) :-\.

So, we're simply anxious bystanders.

Politics in France is a tiny bit different than in the states. Here, the presidential election is in two rounds - the first was last Sunday (yep, a non-working day, so people can more easily vote). The second round is 2 weeks later (May 7, this year), and is a run-off between the top two vote-getters from the first round. In June, the legislature is voted in. In each of these elections, the voter can "vote blank" - an official method of abstaining, or saying "none of the above." I haven't quite figured out why anyone would go to the trouble of doing that, especially in the first round, when there were *eleven* (yes, 11) candidates for president. The vote is counted as a straight percentage - no electoral college, no districts having an advantage - your vote counts the same as anyone's, no matter where you are in France (those living abroad have some different rules, and I'm not keeping up on them well enough to say more).

This year, about 80% of eligible voters turned out. Our two candidates going to the second round are Macron (with roughly 24%) and Le Pen (~21%).

Here's how our town of Sète voted (http://mobile.francetvinfo.fr/elections/resultats/herault_34/sete_34200):

One thing everyone seemed to be afraid of was the wildly inaccurate polls in both the USA and UK elections. It turned out that, at least for the first round, the polls and results were very close.

We'll just have to wait a couple of weeks to find out if that will remain true for the second round...

How Things Work

How Things Work - well, we're working that out LOL

When we first looked at our apartment, we laughed at this half-dishwasher - it has a half-oven above...

But! It turns out, it is nearly perfect for us - who knew?

We also were *certain* that this little under-counter refrigerator would not work long-term. I frankly expected that we would buy a larger one and cram it in somehow. But I'm actually getting used to it!

And this is the washing machine - it does a medium sized load at a go. Since there is no dryer (gasp!), I hang out the clothes on the loggia - meaning I only get one load of wash done in any given day =-O

(and did you notice the pipes? Water pipes just go where they need to - no hiding them in walls or floors)

Figuring out the fuses was another fun experience - we had to reconnect a fallen wall sconce - part of that (naturally) involved switching off the circuit breaker (nicely labeled though, right?):

And this is a supposed 3-way switch (em, no...)

Here's a plug (now really! Who could resist that smile?)

And a phone jack

The great bit happened today - a plumber came to inspect our gas (yep). He explained all about how
- the main line to the building could sense a problem and auto-shutoff
- to easily turn off the gas if we go away a long time (and how to safely turn it back on)
- turning the water temperature *down* was the way to get rid of our experienced hysterisis in the shower! It turns out that our on-demand gas water heater senses the water temperature and the setting - if the setting is too high, it guns the heat (making it too hot), then overcompensates by shutting off (making it too cold), and so on, hot/cold - so frustrating...

How did this plumber visit happen? The gas company notified us that an annual inspection of the gas system is required for safety. Well, that was fine, but we had just had someone out to fix the system when we moved in, and doesn't that count? Well, yes and no... The apartment had been unoccupied, with the gas off, for 6 months (amazing how you finally find out things like this), and so they would send a technician out free of charge (!!!) to verify that all was well. What next? They will send us a report - if anything happens, our insurance will see that it was inspected, and go from there...

What else works, if differently? Elections! More on that later, I suppose...

Montpellier March for Science

Today, we went into Montpellier and joined the March for Science (see the map here: https://www.marchforscience.com/satellite-marches/)
We gathered at the Promenade du Peyrou

We outlined "SCIENCE" on the ground for a 12:59:30pm satellite pick-up (I'm wondering where to find that photo - I've asked, so we'll see...), then most people had a picnic (we strolled along to a pizza place). At a bit after 2pm, speeches began, people started to gather, and quite a bit later, we ambled out into the city center - police stopped traffic for us all along the route, starting through the Arc de Triomphe (Montpellier, of course)

And ending at Place de la Comédie

~~~
We used this as an opportunity to refresh our memories re: riding the rails. Certainly, if you are used to how things work, you can get around very easily - it's the newbies (like us today) that wonder which train machine to use, worry about where to stamp the ticket, don't know about all the different types of trains (and that there are more runs than are obvious from searching online).

Duck with Fruit Sauce

Duck with Fruit Sauce

Score skin of one duck breast in (3/4-1 inch) diamond pattern (do not cut into flesh). Melt 1 tablespoon butter in medium-high skillet. Add duck, skin side down, to skillet and cook until skin is browned and crisp, about 5-8 minutes. Flip duck, add sliced mushrooms (2 large), reduce heat to medium, cover, and cook until browned and cooked to desired doneness, 4-8 minutes. Remove duck to plate, cover to keep warm, and let rest ~10 minutes.

Add small chopped onion (or shallots) to drippings in skillet and stir over medium heat 30 seconds (shallots) - 2 minutes (onion).

Add desired combination*:
- broth / red wine (1/4 - 1/2 cup)
- cherries / kiwi / orange / strawberries (~1 cup)
- port / sherry / Grand Marnier (splash)

Increase heat to high and boil until sauce is reduced, stirring often, about 3 minutes. Stir in 1 tablespoon butter. Season sauce to taste with salt and pepper. Slice duck and serve with sauce.

Serve with salad, brown rice, and asparagus or green beans cooked in butter with black pepper. Goes great with this bubbly!

~~~~
* I used red wine, strawberries, kiwi, and Grand Marnier. Served 2, with leftovers

Basis:
http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/seared-duck-breast-with-cherries-and-port-sauce-353376
http://frenchwomendontgetfat.com/content/duck-breasts-strawberries
http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/robert-irvine/duck-breast-with-berry-sauce-recipe

California Poppies in France

I couldn't believe it when I saw these California Poppies, here, in France!

I guess they are transplants, just like me :-)

The flowers were at our bus stop; we were on our way to L'École des Beaux-Arts​ (no one was there)

Shades of Costa Rica - we had a lot on our todo list, and only succeeded at getting some done.

But we did see flowers and sunshine, and had a very nice lunch out!

There's a Spring In My Step!

There's a Spring in my step :-)

Today's haul of pictures, on this beautiful Spring day!

Wildflowers along the road

 These look familiar...

Almonds!

 These don't (I have no clue what this is)

Or this (well, I know the Hollyhocks, but not the other)

This is my boat (riiiight...)

And. This. :-)

Moules Roquefort

So, YES! I finally cooked mussels! We're living right next to shellfish central, and I've been looking for a recipe to try.

Moules Roquefort, à table

As it turned out, the Étang is in the middle of an algal bloom, so the mussels I actually got are from Spain...

For two of us, I used this recipe for Mussels Roquefort, approximately halved. For my convenience, these are the ingredients:

3/4 kg of mussels (moules) - I tossed about a quarter of these because they were cracked :-(
I ended up with 2 dozen mussels, so still plenty for two.

1 1/2 shallots

1/2 cup (+) white wine

25 cl heavy cream (30% fat)

60 g Roquefort cheese (yes, *real* roquefort, 'cause we can get it here easily!, about half a "usual" package)

Salted butter
Parsley (not my favorite herb, so I only have some dried)
Salt, pepper

Since this was my first time, I was a bit nervous about just how to clean the things - this website gave some clear instructions.

We had the moules and sauce separate (I just couldn't see wasting any sauce on the shells, and it just seemed too messy!), and had brown rice and green beans as sides. The leftover wine went on the table :-)

It was great! But what would I do different next time? Although it tasted good, the sauce was pretty thin - I didn't add the cooking wine (I used the Sauvignon), and so I would keep that out again; I would use less cream, too. I might try some fresh parsley, but not too much. I am probably going to use the leftover sauce on some fish tomorrow :-)

I liked the muscat sec; I'll have to look for that one again...

Why Sète?

Why Sète?

Several people have asked why we chose to live in Sète. I guess I could get flip, and say that 7 (Sète sounds like sept, or 7, engendering plenty of puns) is a magical number in mythology, Snow White had her 7 dwarves, or 2 à Sète is better than 5 à 7*. But no, it was the bread.

OK, the bread is fantastic! But certainly, the question deserves a real answer...

Over a decade ago, we looked into moving abroad. At that time, we made a list to help us narrow down countries - there were "must haves" and "wants."
Our musts were these, and we revisited them:

1. Affordable (one of the hardest things to pin down, since you have to know what you have available, and what it takes to live there)
2. Safety (politically, environmentally, and culturally)
3. Able to live year round (weather, as well as residency rules)
4. Religious freedom (no overwhelming, entrenched religion)

So, how does France stack up? Surprisingly, France is affordable! Our projected budget is less than we spent in either San Josè, Costa Rica or Albuquerque, New Mexico. France in general is safer than the USA. The weather in our area is comparable to the San Francisco Bay Area, where we had lived for many years, and the residency rules for us are reasonable. On top of that, France is not only officially secular, but some time ago, fought a revolution in part against the power of the church. (So, some serious religious freedom history)

France's iconic red poppy

When we said "let's move to France," we immediately thought of the places that we had visited in the past, and compared that time to what we know we like about life. We discovered a *lot* about ourselves when we lived all around in Costa Rica:

1. we like city life
2. friendly people are a must
3. a sense of civic pride is nice
4. weather (our kind) is important
5. AND we really missed living near the sea

Some of the cities we stayed in and liked:

• Sète - we live here now...
• Nîmes - interesting history, carrying through to now!
• Montpellier - great vibe! 
• Toulouse - wonderful city; exciting aerospace (but quite cold when we were there in late May)
• Perpignan - fantastic cultural mix

Others that only got a day-trip (so not enough to evaluate):

• Carcassonne
• Arles
• Marseille
• Collioure

We stayed in several very nice small towns ​as well, but knew that while they were great for relaxing, living there would just not suit us. There were several larger cities that were on our list to visit, but we never made it (so, no evaluation either).

Ultimately, the chance to live on the seaboard sealed the deal for Sète! Besides ticking all the boxes on our list, other big pluses are:

1. it is extremely vibrant! From daily life to Summers full of festivals, there's something interesting going on. And Summer starts early and ends late!
2. public transportation is fantastic! And when wanted, we can rent a car right in town. Buses run often (although I could wish they ran later at night), there is a fairly major train station, and (!!!!) it is France's biggest Mediterranean port (so, *lots* of boats!)!
3. if public transportation doesn't meet your needs, it is easy to walk from one side of the island to the other (less than an hour)
4. we haven't found a dodgy area yet 
5. I don't think there is a poor view anywhere
6. it's big enough at roughly 40,000 people to have a good infrastructure - various services, good tourist office full of information, helpful mairie, several museums, a school of fine art (with workshops open to the public), and various clubs (we've discovered a hiking club, and I'm keeping my eye​ out for others)
7. I see great opportunities to further my experimentation in eating and possibly cooking "different" foods (there are a *lot* of types of seafood caught and sold here)
8. rent is reasonable (although finding a place is a challenge!)
9. seriously, the bread is just the best - crunchy crusts, springy mie, fabulous scent and taste...

~~~
* 5 to 7 p.m. is "traditionally" the time in a day that people spend with their lovers. So of course, the two of us in Sète, or 2-7 (5 hours) is much better ;-)

Blame It On the Weather

After yesterday's so-so weather, this sky gave me some hope for today

But, no - we kept putting off going out, skipping concerts, markets, museums, and regatas, until we finally said "let's go!"

We forgot (again) about the different Sunday bus schedules, and must have just missed one. We waited a while to make sure he wasn't just late, then walked along to catch another line. On the way, it started raining! By the time we got to the stop, we had decided to throw in the towel - we blamed it on the weather, went home, and started a nice stew :-)

Of course, you can also blame these on the weather...

~~~
Update: I just saw that it is *snowing* in Albuquerque! Do I feel bad? Heh.

MusicaSète

MusicaSète

Tango, Tango, Russians, Movies - sounds like a game, right? But no! It was a weekend of fantastic music!

Thursday evening, we took the bus into centre-ville, to the Eglise de St Pierre. We listened to almost an hour and a half of lovely tango and tango-style music, played on a violin and a guitar - the playing and the acoustics were phenomenal!

Friday, we went to more tango! This time, we had tickets, and it was in the Théâtre Molière - the second half was one piece, with over 150 performers, including a chorus and dancers!

Saturday evening belongs to the Russians, and Sunday afternoon is for movie scores - we decided to skip these, as tempting as they are. This was our Saturday afternoon Étang view...

~~~
MusicaSète is in its 8th year - it is held every Spring. This time, all the concerts at the Eglise de St Pierre were free, and the tickets for the big concert at Théâtre Molière were 16€. The evening concerts started at 8:30, and the bus stops running by 9 p.m., so we could take it in to town, but not home.