La Pointe Courte

La Pointe Courte, The Short Point, is generally known as an "authentic Sétois" neighborhood. It was made famous by Agnes Varda, when she used it as the setting for her debut feature film in 1955. The movie, named after the neighborhood, highlighted life in the fishing village, and was a forerunner of the French New Wave.

We, however, went there for dinner! Before dinner, we walked around the neighborhood.

Here's the view across the canal, towards the Long Point

The bridges were open for boat traffic

Some street scenes

We loved this sign - "Closed due to Closure". Or perhaps, "Closed Because I Said So!"

Definitely a fishing village

Remembering our film-maker

Socializing Again

We're starting to socialize again, in a limited way. So far, it's all been outdoors, and we've been keeping a good distance.

Picnicking has a prominent place in our lives now...

Tomorrow will be our first time dining out in a restaurant (well, not "in" - we'll be on the terrace 🙂 ) - we're keeping warm thoughts of an apéro for a later time.

Cancellations and Refunds

We just received the last of our refunds for our trip-that-was-not. 

Every one of our six flights - Norwegian Air, Southwest, and Air France - was cancelled! Even though we bought our entire trip as non-refundable, because we waited for them to cancel, we had the option for a refund, and took it.

Our Airbnb in New Orleans also cancelled and refunded.

We did have to jump through some hoops, but eventually World Nomads refunded our trip insurance as well.

The one place that doesn't seem to be able to refund, despite their assurances on their website, is Expedia, for Quality Inn. Fortunately, we only had one night booked for our arrival.

UPDATE July 13 - finally used the last of our reimbursed funds; we've been using them for groceries 😉

Lavender and Sunflowers

Today, we drove through the countryside to view the beautiful lavender fields!

As a bonus, the sunflowers popped theirs heads in...

We stopped for lunch in an apple orchard

The fabulous Wendy gave us the heads up, and I plotted a path, with a starting point at the Renault dealership in Lunel. Well, best-laid plans, and all that... We did follow the blue path for a while, but then missed a turn, and ended up in Marsillargues. A little fiddling with the GPS, and we followed the red path, missing quite a few fields. But it was still a pleasant drive (not counting the one-lane, bumpy dirt road)

Just for fun, here are some more photos 🙂

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Waypoint info:

1) First (and last) stop, sunflower field (on the way to Lunel from Grande Motte) D34E4

D34E4, 34590 Marsillargues

https://maps.app.goo.gl/KCCmroaK5AAsn3W4A

2) Renault dealer - Route de la Mer, 34400 Lunel

https://maps.app.goo.gl/tdtoK98cK3EL2gudA

3) lavender - 43°40'25.4"N 4°09'16.5"E

Mas de Pourtier, 34400 Lunel

https://goo.gl/maps/BJVHVXLwyqwvZX3e9

4) lavender on dirt road - 43°40'18.3"N 4°09'27.3"E

34400 Lunel

https://goo.gl/maps/K3udtEhVnUZ7Nzfx6

5) lavender on busy road - 43°39'59.7"N 4°09'24.4"E

34400 Lunel

https://goo.gl/maps/v1QmB52mEnuwF8mg9

6) missed - 43°39'40.6"N 4°09'46.3"E

Marsillargues

https://goo.gl/maps/eY4ZmHVP5QgGmif97

7) missed - 43°39'08.4"N 4°10'00.5"E

Marsillargues

https://goo.gl/maps/NJexB9KWHHsbvK1t5

8) missed stunner - 43°38'36.1"N 4°10'05.6"E

Marsillargues

https://goo.gl/maps/8Po5XzjfDAkDm3Xn6

9) apple orchard - Dropped pin

Near 34590 Marsillargues

https://maps.app.goo.gl/URA2Cn76AeRqEABT6

10) landmark for navigation - Centre Equestre, écuries de La Chantalette

Route des mas, mas de la chantalette, 34590 Marsillargues

06 30 27 73 25

https://maps.app.goo.gl/bvLdr16ANRVUWRuQ9

Updated Carte de Séjour

My new Carte de Séjour* arrived today!

Way back in December, I went to the préfecture in Montpellier to change my address (we had recently moved, from one neighborhood in Sète to another). I got a receipt (récépissé), and waited.

Normally, I would have gone back to pick it up, but with the coronavirus, procedures are changing.

Instead, on May 20th, I first got a phone call, saying my card was ready, and asking for an email address - I am naturally suspicious of this sort of thing, but he said enough of the right things, so...
A little later, I got the email with instructions - pay 25€ of tax (online), send the receipt attached to an email response, and I would receive my new card by mail. I also added more specifics to my snail-mail address, to be absolutely sure of getting it.

Nearly a month later, and I was literally composing an email to ask what happened, when... Yep! There it is, in the mailbox! I had expected to have to sign for it, but it was just a suivie (tracked) letter.

Now what? Here are the instructions included - basically, check that the information is correct, then mail back my old CDS and récépissé.

~~~
* Carte de Séjour (CDS), is the physical card showing my Titre de Séjour (TDS), which is my residence permit. (A lot of people get confused by these terms - I wonder why...

Picadillo in France

Picadillo in France?

A quick search through my refrigerator showed that I would have to use up some carrots pretty quickly! I started chopping those up, then added half a zucchini that was just hanging around. I chopped them small, like I would for a picadillo in Costa Rica. (Picadillo means chopped, but in Costa Rica, it's a type of dish made from a variety of vegetables, all chopped to the size of a fingertip)

I had just watched a Jaques Pépin video on garlic, and had some *fresh* garlic that I wanted to try. So, I smashed them, and chopped them fine. (My knife doesn't work quite as well as his, but it was good enough!)

From there, I just added a few things I thought might go - it worked!
~~~

In a medium high pan, add
olive oil

3 chopped carrots
1/2 chopped zucchini
1-2 TBS allumettes fumées (these are finely chopped smoked bacon, or extra skinny lardons)
Cover, stirring occasionally until done and lightly browned
Turn heat to low, and add
2 smashed and chopped garlic cloves
1 tsp shallots
1/2 tsp dried cilantro leaves (coriandre feuille)
Stir well, cook less than 1 minute, and serve.