Heat and Waves

Yesterday, we went out on the boat, thinking it would be a good way to escape our heatwave. It worked, to a degree ;-)

The sea was especially eerie - swells, but with a super smooth surface, and a light fog in the distance

Still, between the heat and the heat, the sea was just too inviting! We had our first dunking from the boat - an all-time first for us, swimming in the Mediterranean from a boat - a first for the others for the season!

Up till now, June had been cool (highs in the 70's), with some rain every week. Now we're in our first heatwave of the year, and trying to remember our keep-cool tricks...

Music Festival

The 21st of June each year is La Fête de la Musique - the streets, parks, and cafés are full of different types of music!

This year, we headed to centre-ville, aiming for 7pm. As we walked along, we heard (far in advance) this traveling percussion group

We stopped off for some Vietnamese take-out, and continued to the town hall plaza - the orchestra was tuning up while we had our dinner :-)

The forecast was for rain, and it was not wrong! The orchestra made it all the way to their final song before they had to stop, and people dashed for the cover of the trees.

We decided to cut our evening short, and meandered back to the car, hearing bits and pieces of all kinds of music.

Then we saw this!

We got home in time for the final moments of our sunset :-)

Old Friends

Last weekend, we had visitors! My friend and boss from roughly 25 years ago made a detour from London; she and her husband spent a couple of days here in Sète, and we showed them around a bit.

Day 1
We picked them up in our new car (did I mention that we got a car?), and drove from downtown to the top of Mount St. Clair for great views

Windy day on the mountain!

We stopped at the forest for a look around, then on to the beach for lunch at La Ola. We were a little early, so they plopped us down at a bar table with this nice bottle of red wine

The forecast was for rain in the afternoon, so we decided to go to Loupian and see the mosaics recovered from a roman villa. Sure enough, while we were enjoying the sights inside, it poured outside (and then was done) :-)

These 3 photos show the same 3-dimensional/optical illusion mosaic (10 cubes) from different angles

We came back to our apartment for an apéro dînatoire, thinking we would go on to a local dance. But we got caught up in the sunset...

Day 2

The weather was considerably nicer - sunny, dry, and just a breeze.  We walked around downtown, had a light lunch at Les Halles (spelled with an "e" - thanks to Larry, my slip-up was short-lived :-\ ), then walked around the Simone Veil park. 

Then we drove to the môle and found the plaque commemorating the ship Exodus (read more about it here).

From there, we drove to Marseillan, to the winery that produced our lunch wine - La Madeleine Saint Jean - Linda and Larry tried out the reds, and we walked out with a box...

We were all pretty tired by then, but decided to check out the Noilly-Prat distillery. My French friends later clarified the prononciation - "No-yee praht" to Americans. Well, that stop was a little disappointing - there was no way to simply taste the different vermouths; you had to go on a guided tour for 45 minutes! So, I took a chance, and bought an untasted bottle of Ambré (it is pretty darned good).

We all opted for a couple of hours of rest, then had an early (early for France, anyway!) dinner at Chez Mino.

Then

Linda and Larry took the train to Marseille the next morning, having already booked their dinner at Linda's favorite restaurant in the entire world :-)

Over these days, fast and few, we did a *lot* of catching up!

Driving Round-Points

Now that we have a car, I'm driving again after quite a dry spell. I had to find this helpful graphic for using the correct lane and blinker when navigation a round-point in France...

Now I just have to get used to the GPS!

Driven Crazy!

Driven Crazy!

Ta Da! Our Clio!

We moved to France over two years ago, and on our ToDo list for the first month was "buy a car"... Well, with so many other things on our plate, it was easy to put off. Then, we were a little surprised by the differences in the way it's done here.

At first, we thought we'd get a used car - then we found out that (1) cars really hold their value here, and (2) new cars are very affordable! There was also that looming concern about just how to buy a used car - lots of hoops, apparently...

So, we're getting a new car. But which one? I really, *really* wanted a small car, and Rick agreed that this wasn't such a safety issue in France (whew!). So, we kept our search to a 5-door citadine (that is, a small hatchback with 4 doors). But then we came up against another wall - you don't just walk into a dealer and test-drive, or even necessarily see, a car. So how do you know if you'll fit? How do you know if you'll like how it drives? We checked reviews, and narrowed it to three brands. Then, we happened to rent a Peugeot, and I never got comfortable with the gearing - so that moved off the list. We had rented a Renault Clio a few years ago, and liked it, so that was a strong contender. But the list-topper was the Toyota Aygo - fantastic mileage, and worth trying.

Now, what about options? At first, we thought that all we really needed was heating and air conditioning. Then, when my parents visited, we rented a car and drove all over. That convinced us that we also needed a GPS, and some system to help in backing up without hitting something! These were part of a reasonable package on the Aygo a while ago, but the price seemed to jump suddenly - just as we were set to go look :-\.
Instead, we checked a broker site, and decided on a Clio. Even though we wouldn't be able to see it, we decided that our several-years-old experience, combined with the mandated 2-week period for changing your mind, made it worth the risk. This return-or-replace concept was also new to us. You buy a car, and you have this grace period within which time you can return or exchange the car (less licensing fees, and I'm sure, a few other gotchas).

Wednesday, we had an appointment, and our fantastic neighbors gave us a ride to the broker - we thought we were all set, and the only outstanding, but very minor, question was the color... But, no! I had completely misunderstood the significance of "Exclusif LOA" - What I thought was that the car we wanted was one of the few that was also available for a lease. What it actually meant was that the car was *only* available via a lease. :-\

Well, a too-quick-for-comfort search of the inventory showed us an identical car, but for ~$1k more than we expected. It was still less than the actual total of the lease option, and *still* less than our alternate car, so... we signed.

But we didn't just sign, pay, and drive off! That isn't how it works here. Instead, we:
- showed our IDs and driver's licenses (copies taken)
- had a mad scramble, ultimately unsuccessful, for a justificatif de domicile, amid incredulous looks and whispers of "whaaaat?!?" finally ending in an agreement that we would email one ASAP, and meanwhile signing 2 versions of the sale form (I still don't know why).
- paid the various fees, about $1k, by credit card (our US card wasn't usable for this)
- made an appointment to return in a week to pick up the car
- left with a folder full of documents, including the bank information to transfer the rest of the cost of the car.

Then (!), over the next few days:
- Wednesday, emailed the justificatif de domicile (internet bill, and 2 phone bills, just to cover everything), and then received the OK from our agent that he was proceeding.
- Thursday, waited through a bank holiday :-\
- Friday, went to the bank in person to arrange payment. The estimated timeframe to complete was 24-48 hours, but we got a notification from our car broker after only 5 hours! And that included a lunch break!
- Friday, started the car insurance process (actually, we had set this in motion some time ago, so this was filling in some blanks specific to the car)
- Saturday and Sunday, no news, but we investigated and ordered a GPS, which should be delivered Wednesday! Although, not in time to use it driving home...
- Monday, our car insurance sent a quote by email, and we sent back our approval. They needed our "bon de commande" (car order form), RIB (bank account info); they already had our driver's licenses. Our car broker also sent us our temporary license plate number. Our confidence is growing that we'll have the car on Wednesday. I bought a sunscreen for the windshield...
- Tuesday afternoon, the car insurance company sent a contract (with a nice 8% discount for paying yearly); we e-signed it, and then emailed a copy to the broker (just before closing time!). Our Carte Verte (certificate of car insurance) will be mailed. And! Our GPS arrived! I spent the usual frustrating minutes setting it up and getting used to how it works.
- Wednesday, we called to make sure all was OK, then our neighbors drove us to go get our car! We got the tour, then drove back to Sète for (1) gas! and then (2) lunch! We had a leisurely lunch at a beach restaurant, then came home and parked in the garage 🙂

Something to know - Documents we have to have in the car while driving:
- Driver's License
- ID (driver's licenses don't count as ID in France)
- Carte Verte (certificate of car insurance)
- Carte Grise (car registration)

Still to do:
- in about a month, we'll have our permanent plates; we'll have to have them put on, and notify our car insurance of the number. No appointment at the garage is necessary; we just show up. We can pick up the owners manual in French then too (the one in the car is in a language I don't recognize!)
- our carte grise (car registration documents) will arrive after some time; this stays in the car
- order an environment sticker, letting us drive in the bigger cities
- buy a beach parking permit, available to Sétois for 10€/mo during the summer (maybe; our friends showed us the free beach parking, so...)
- drive, drive, drive! Till I'm driven crazy :-)

Costa Rica Police Report

Because I lived in Costa Rica within the last 10 years, one of the documents I need here in France is a Costa Rican police report. I'd done this before for my Costa Rican residence, so I knew how to get one while living there. But, when I looked at the justice department website, it said I had to go in person to order it 🙁 Well, that put me into a spin, until I thought to ask on one of my French forums. Someone pointed me to the Costa Rican embassy in Singapore! This at least gave me a path - I supply a lot of info to the embassy, and they order the report. Then I have to have someone in Costa Rica pick it up and send it to me.

Armed with the knowledge of this possibility, I asked for help from friends (gonna try with a little help from my friends 🎶🎶). Linda in Costa Rica agreed to pick it up and send it, and Marie-Claire helped me write to the Costa Rican embassy in France to get their process and requirements (naturally, each embassy does things differently, and the embassy in France has no helpful webpage on this process). We also wrote to the French embassy in Costa Rica, who confirmed that they didn't have to add anything to the process.

Sure enough, the embassy in France had different requirements - I emailed them my full name and old cédula (residence permit) number, as well as a copy of both sides. I included Linda's name and cédula number, so that they could identify her as my trusted, authorized representative to pick up my report.

All seemed to be going well; the report would be ready in a week! Well, when Linda attempted to retrieve the report, they said that they couldn't use my cédula because it had expired; instead, they needed my current passport. I quickly emailed it directly to them, and they said for Linda to return after lunch. Then (!), after lunch, they said to come back the next morning! Well, at least after that, it was smooth sailing...

A couple of weeks later, here it is! And it even says that I've been good 🙂

Thank goodness for friends!