Category Archives: Life in France
Read my lips
Bill models one of the masks he made for us
And we were doing so well. Long before we had any plans of living in France we were watching French movies with the English subtitles turned on so that we could understand what was being said. That was a compromise since the real reason we were renting these films was for the scenery, be it the Eiffel Tower, Medieval castles, or fields of lavender in full bloom; all were really just inspiration for our next vacation. It’s a challenge, however, to read the dialog and try to take in all of the beautiful landscapes sharing the same screen. Then we moved here with access to 100 TV channels broadcast in French with only a few offering some programs subtitled in English but all having the option of displaying the spoken text on the screen for the deaf or hard of hearing. If you can’t beat ‘em, join ‘em so that became our next step in comprehending what was going on. At least we could match up the words we were hearing with those across the bottom of the screen. Read the rest of this entry
On your mark, get set…
Looking forward to walks along the Canal
Tomorrow is the big day when France begins a gradual emergence from nearly 8 weeks of lock down in an effort to slow the spread of the coronavirus. According to government reports, it’s been a successful effort in saving over 60,000 lives and preventing 85% of the infections that would have occurred had there not been a stay-at-home order. Most businesses have been closed but shops that sell food, medications, wine, and/or cigarettes did not have to hang the “fermé” sign on their doors. Delivery services sprang up overnight so we were even able to keep the wine rack full without stepping out the door. When the rules were being written about which shops would be allowed to begin welcoming customers first, guess who made it to the top of the list: hair salons and barber shops. After two months without haircuts and coloring, we gotta look good! Read the rest of this entry
Riding a Moustache
Ready for a fun ride
Our goal has been to be very positive in our writing and our outlook on life through the years and we have managed very well. This is not to say that everything works out perfectly every time but it does work out in the end as you will read.
I bought my first e-bike just over two years ago from our local bike shop that carries many different brands of bikes. They are very helpful and have a great service department with wonderful people. I have to admit that I did not do any research in advance and saw a German built bike with a German motor on the website and purchased it with only a short test ride. This store also has an adjoining rental shop where they told me to go and try different bikes to find what I wanted and the cost of the first three rentals would be deducted from the price of any bike I purchased. Did I take them up on their offer? Well I did not and I paid for my mistake as it was a lemon. I should have done more research online before spending a lot of money and time with the bike in the shop. In less than two years my bike was in the shop for four (4) motor replacements. Each time I would be riding and the computer on the bike would flash up a warning “Waiting for drive”. Sometimes I could just power off and on the bike and everything would be back to normal for 20-30 kilometers. Other times it required removing the battery and resetting the computer and all would be fine for a few days or not. The company had extended the warranty from two to three years due to all the problems they were having with different motor failures and these were well documented in the complaint forums. My local dealer was very kind and gave me a free loaner bike to use while mine was being serviced and shipped back to Germany twice. It was helpful to try the different bikes but I did not like any of them so I knew some others to drop off my shopping list. Read the rest of this entry
Get your fiber
The city’s website announces fiber installation
When we moved to Carcassonne in 2016 the plan was that all of the city would be wired with fiber optic cable within 2 years and that even the surrounding communities would be covered by the end of this year. Then the devastating floods arrived one night in October, 2018 taking with them lives, portions of villages, and lots of infrastructure including telephone lines. Personnel who had been involved in completing that original coverage plan within the city were understandably redirected to the outlying areas to reconnect those who were now isolated because of washed out bridges, rail lines, and any means of communication. Happily, last month we received an email from our Internet provider that our home was now eligible for fiber and we could schedule an appointment by clicking on the provided link, which we did almost as soon as we opened their message. Next we had to figure out how to cope with the installation in the middle of the Covid-19 lockdown. After a delay of 16 months we were determined to make this work. Read the rest of this entry
Yes, Virginia, there is an Easter Bunny!
Easter chocolates
French folklore says that church bells are silent on Good Friday because they’ve flown off to Rome to see the Pope. When they return on Easter morning they are filled with chocolates that they drop to all of the children eagerly waiting below. Public health travel restrictions this year canceled all of those flights so Plan B(unny) went into effect to ensure that we would all have our goodie-filled baskets today. Our young neighbor went door-to-door, socially distant of course, with an order form from one of the local artisanal chocolate makers who agreed to share the profits with the school system to support extracurricular activities.
The title for today’s post is an adaptation from an 1897 editorial by publisher Francis Church who was answering a question from 8-year-old Virginia about Santa Claus: “He exists as certainly as love and generosity and devotion exist…how dreary would be the world if there were no Santa Claus.” For safety purposes, we may be temporarily staying home, but with that plateful of chocolates you see above, it’s definitely not dreary. Happy Easter!
Until further notice
Daffodils in our courtyard
We’ve seen those words “until further notice” or to be precise it’s been the French phrase jusqu’à nouvel ordre many times during the past two weeks as new measures have been announced in an attempt to stop the spread of the coronavirus. The first affected us immediately since it was to close down all schools all across the country. That meant my weekly French classes were canceled as were the English classes where I volunteer that take place in the same building; therefore, in the spirit of Shakespeare, neither a student nor a teacher be. Accompanying that official decree were suggestions about keeping your distance from others, not shaking hands, avoiding gatherings of any kind, etc. but the concept of not being convivial seemed totally foreign. Read the rest of this entry
Renewed
An early springtime renewal in our courtyard
To live in France full-time for our initial year here, our first step was obtaining a visa from the French consulate in Miami. Once we arrived in Carcassonne we then had to make an appointment with the Immigration Office in Montpellier for a medical checkup that would qualify us to stay here legally for the duration of that one-year visa. Three months before that expired we visited our local Préfecture (think, Federal Building, in US terms) to arrange for a time to drop off copies of our financial statements, utility bills and a few other documents to prove that we actually lived here and had the resources to support ourselves. A one-year carte de séjour (residency card) has annually been the result. We’ve been repeating that process each winter since our arrival in February 2016 and you can read about that in our blog post Fort-unate that includes a link to the post from the prior year. This week we obtained our newest carte de séjour with only a few minor changes from the previous experiences. Read the rest of this entry
