Joyeux Noël et Bonne Année!

Joyeux Noël et Bonne Année from France!  We are finally settled in our apartment, despite some setbacks with our air mattress (dog claw puncture, patch issues, a pump that won’t pump, a night sleeping on the floor, and a replacement mattress that doesn’t stay inflated).  Note to our North American friends: even if you buy a voltage adapter to transform the 220V electricity to 110V, you can still burn out the motor on your electrical appliances.  Why?  Electricity here is 50 Hz (cycles per second) while in the US and Canada, our electricity is provided at 60 Hz.  This means that motorized devices (such as the pump on an aerobed) turn approximately 17% slower here while working against the same air pressure, and consequently you can fry the motor in minutes.  Unfortunately I learned this at 9pm once the stores were closed – hence, the night spent sleeping on the floor.  Live and learn!

On a much brighter note, L called me at work today to let me know we finally got mail!  The mailman stopped by today with a huge stack he had been saving for us.  (On a sidenote, he also tried to sell her a calendar with kittens on it, explaining to her that in France it is tradition to buy a calendar from your mailman at Christmas.  Not sure if I believe this, but in any case, L promised to have 5€ ready next time he stops by.  Ok – end sidenote).  In the stack, along with routine house stuff, she found CHRISTMAS CARDS!!! Since I have not been home yet to see them, I don’t know who sent them out, but seriously friends and family, thanks.  Getting Christmas cards means a lot, especially this year.  I am sorry to say we have not had time to reciprocate, and since I only have email access at work we won’t even be sending out an e-card.  Next year we will be better!

Our plan this weekend?  Brave the crazy crowds in Paris tomorrow (Christmas eve) to eat dinner at the market on les Champs Elysées, and check out the elaborate Christmas window displays at the Galleries Lafayette and Au Printemps, which are two big gorgeous department stores in Paris.  I haven’t been  yet, but my co-worker tells me that at Au Printemps, the display includes dozens of mini Karl Lagerfeld figurines in various poses.  I’m not sure if it’s true or not, but I will find out soon enough.  Pictures will most certainly follow.  Sunday, we will take advangage of our new appliances (and gas stove!) to cook up a mini Christmas dinner.  My guess is that the little one will skip the roast and vegetables for his new favorite food, yogurt.  He ate four of them for lunch yesterday and has regularly been consuming at least 6 little pots per day.  Doesn’t matter what flavor, or even if it’s technically fromage frais and not yogurt, he is obsessed.  I guess it could be worse – at least he is getting protein and calcium.

Since we still have no internet at home and I am off next week, this will be the last blog post until 2012.  I promise to post Christmas photos as soon as we are back online.  In the meantime, happy holidays to all!

-         -  E

Cambriolage

Well, not really: attempted cambriolage is more accurate.  Which, I am told, is very unusual for our little community of apartments.  Yesterday afternoon, after doing our apartment walk-through and getting our keys, we headed out to run some errands during the afternoon.  When we returned, the little one was asleep so L stayed in the car with him while I headed inside to drop off our Ikea loot in the apartment.  We had a little trouble understanding the key system earlier in the afternoon, so I didn't think it was too wierd when I had trouble getting the key in the door to unlock it.  To make sure, I had L come inside and have a go at it, but neither of us could get the key in the lock - one of the pistons (right word?) had popped up into the empty space and was jammed there, making us and our keys useless.

What do you do when you're in a foreign country, with no phone, no internet access, no knowledge of the immediate neighborhood, it's dark and raining, and you can't get into your apartment?  Oh, and what do you do when it's a Friday night and all of your appliances will be delivered on Saturday morning? 

Our first thought was to drive around some of the major streets in the city and look for a locksmith.  Given that it was dark, rainy, and after business hours, though, we quickly abandoned that plan in favor of stopping at the closest gas station.  I went inside, explained our predicament, and the station attendants were kind enough to dig out the yellow pages and make some calls. 

The first locksmith I called suggested that it would be much cheaper if I could wait until business hours, and that she could not send anyone until Saturday.  If we weren't expecting our appliances early the next morning, that would have been ok, but given the situation we really needed to figure this out ASAP.  And, I figured, how bad could it be?  The second locksmith told us he could send someone within 45 minutes, but when he found out we didn't have a cell phone he refused to send someone out.  At this point I pretty much snapped at him that it was cold, rainy, we had a child in the car, we were locked out of an apartment we just moved into, in a country we just moved to, and how ridiculous he was being.  To my surprise, he agreed, and sent someone out 25 minutes later.

L and I were sure that the locksmith would spend about 30 seconds, determine we were completely incompetent at opening our own door, open it for us and be on his way.  So, L stayed in the car with the (thankfully still sleeping) little one while I headed back into the apartment with the locksmith.  Imagine my surprise when he told me that the reason I couldn't open the door is because the lock had been busted by someone trying to break in to our apartment!

We must have had "sucker" written all over us (new to the country, no phone, no keys, no phone number to the property manager, baby in the car) but given how little options we had, we were stuck with what we could get.  The locksmith had a new keyset (of course, only one option) with him to install, but it just so happened to be a ridiculous (500€) lock that has four individually chipped keys as well as a separate code that's needed to duplicate the key set.  Super secure, and I appreciate that, but really - 500€???  Add that to the 300€ emergency locksmith fee and we were staring at over 800€ to get back into our apartment, only 6 hours after taking possession.

What really pisses me off (other than the locksmith) is that obviously someone knew we were just moving in.  I understand that coincidences happen, but really?  We didn't even have a single item in the apartment yet.  Obviously this amateur didn't case the apartment properly, and then couldn't even bust a simple lock.  Thanks for nothing, loser.

Next steps: try to file a claim with our renters insurance (I'm told it "should" be reimbursed, but not exactly sure yet, because my policy only began that day), and then head to the police department tomorrow to file a report (necessary for said reimbursement).  We now have a super reinforced entry door (double deadbolt) and I told a few of our new neighbors, on the off chance they had noticed anything unusual.  There is some renovation work being done in one of the units in our building, so there are more people than usual coming in and out. 

On a better note, most of the appliances were delivered today.  Our discount floor-model dishwasher turned out to be a dud and needs to be replaced, and the stove/oven will be delivered on Monday (finally - after waiting 7 years I am finally cooking with gas again!).  We'll get our Ikea purchases delivered Wednesday: after realizing that individual boxes weighed in at 55kg, I realized there was absolutely no way that I was going to be able to tie them to the roof of our tiny car, or haul them up the stairs into our place.  Fortunately around here, many people get Ikea stuff delivered so they have a pretty sweet system.

Time for sleep, for all of us.  It's been a long 24 hours!

- E

Apartment!

E here.  I'm still in Chantilly, but about to hit the road to pick up L, the little one, and head to our apartment for a walk through and for the gas to be turned on.  I don't think we will actually sleep there for a few more nights but it will be nice to progressively move suitcases from the hotel to our new digs.  Since we are only 9 days away from Christmas, there will definitely be no decorating or hosting large gatherings this year, which will free us up to explore the city.  In Montreal, one department store (Ogilvy's) puts up an animated Christmas window every year - here, apparently, there is a whole section of amazing Christmas windows that we will hopefully get to explore on Sunday.  I'm not sure if the little one is really old enough to enjoy for more than 2 minutes, but who knows?

Although the cost of living here is higher, I found one very pleasant surprise this week: telecommunication services are MUCH cheaper here.  For 37€ per month, we get super fast fiber-optic internet, cable TV with a free DVR and blu-ray player, and phone with unlimited calls to 104 countries, including the US and Canada.  Sweet!  I am told it will "only" take about 3 weeks for our equipment to be delivered.  Super fast internet, super long set-up time.  Given that this timeframe spans both Christmas and New Years, I am not holding my breath for a faster delivery, but miracles do happen, right?

Before and After pics of the kitchen to come soon.  Happy Friday!

More random observations...

L here -

I feel like I need to bring a pad and paper with me or perhaps a recorder.  Although, I am fairly certain I would be getting some weird looks if I had the recorder.

• Trash bags here have a string that hangs out the bottom.  We have yet to discover why or how to use it to tie the bag.  It is obviously there for a reason...  Today, I was stalking trash bags that were on someone's balcony trying to see what they did with the string.  I couldn't figure it out.
• It is very quiet here.  Apparently, people have cell phones just don't use them??  I can count the number of people I have seen on their cell phones.  The first time was on a train during rush hour from Paris to suburbs.  She was on it for a few minutes and that was it.  This was in a train car that was literally packed with people with no elbow room.  Yet, she was the only one on her phone.  The second time was today as I was walking in to town through the college campus.  I probably passed about 50 or so college aged kids and only one was on her phone...and she wasn't speaking French, perhaps Japanese.  
• I am fairly certain that Little One can consume his weight in yogurt.  
• I had to buy E toothpaste for her business trip.  I had to go to the pharmacy to buy this that was connected to the grocery store but had to make 2 separate purchases.  Second - I found toothbrushes and children's toothpaste but couldn't find adult toothpaste.  Finally, the phamacist asked if he could help me (at least, that is what I think he said).  I couldn't remember what E had told me toothpaste was called in French so finally, he asked me if I spoke English...ah, yes!  Then he had no idea what "toothpaste" was...  I showed him the children's and asked him for the adult kind.  That worked.  Toothpaste is kept behind the counter and their are several different brands...none of which looked remotely familiar to me.  When he asked which one I wanted, I told him whatever he recommended.  He gave me the toothpaste he has been using for 30 years.  Good.  
• There is a French version of A Baby Story...it scared me.  E told me to stop watching it...I haven't watched it since.
• Friends comes on here every evening and is dubbed over in French.  I can't stand to watch it because it is just weird to hear different voices for the characters that I know and love.  Simpsons is also another weird one to watch dubbed in French.
• The weather is given on the Children's station everyday for the whole country...I understand it better than the regular weather.  Haha!

We found out our stuff won't be arriving until February some time...  I don't even know how to feel about that.

"Business Trip"

Two blog posts today... holy smokes!  L posted earlier today about her adventures, and I figured I was overdue for an update as well.  We're actually in separate cities right now, as I'm attending a meeting in Chantilly this week.  The week leading up to this was definitely eventful, so here is a recap:

1. I purchased appliances (woohoo!) that will be delivered on Saturday morning.  We get the keys to our apartment on Friday, though my guess is that we'll stay in the hotel through the weekend.  Once appliances are installed, we can measure out the leftover space for a small countertop and take a trip to the local Ikea (incidentally, there are two Ikea stores within 10 miles of our apartment - they are ubiquitous here).  Our rental car gets returned at the end of the weekend, so we're trying to fit in all of our large errands before we become completely dependent on the trains and busses.

2.  Adventures without GPS: on Tuesday, the GPS unit that came with my rental car stopped charging, and once the battery ran out, that was it.  This area is full of crazy hills, crazy highways, and towns that were built centuries ago, so needless to say there is no grid system.  The rental agency had no more GPS units available so I was left to my own devices to pick the family up at the airport on Thursday morning.  I managed to make it to the airport with only minor detours, but took a wrong turn on the way home and added an extra 30 minutes to the trip.  (Sorry, honey!)

3. Family is here!  As L wrote earlier today, we're finally all in the same country.  The little one is slowly adjusting to the time difference, but as you can imagine, there is no reasoning with a toddler who has a perfectly valid reason for not going to sleep.  The second night, the little one was up from midnight to 6am.  We finally got smart and set him up with the ipad in between us on the bed, so we could at least snooze while he watched yo gabba gabba and played with some toddler apps.  He's going to sleep about an hour earlier each night, so we should be back on schedule by the end of the week.

4. Business trip!  Yesterday afternoon I left town for a series of meetings, which means L is flying solo with the little one and the animals.  She has a WAY harder job than I do, and I am so amazed by her ability to be an incredible mom in a new country, with no support system and little knowledge of the language.  In short, my wife rocks :o)  While she is holding down the fort in Bures, I am in Chantilly, about an hour north, for a series of meetings with our scientific advisory board.  It's lots of brain work, and the hours are long, but the setting is just incredible.  We're staying at a ridiculously nice chateau, eating like royalty, and, after 11 hours of meetings today, enjoying the salt water pool and squash courts (I told you L's job was way harder than mine).  When I return to my room at night, my sheets are turned down and there is a handwritten note on my bed informing me of the weather for the next morning.  Once I use my key card to enter my room, I put my key card in a slot on the wall, which automatically controls all the lights in my room.  The menu over the past 24 hours has included filet mignon, smoked herring, caviar, duck, scallops, escargots, so much cheese, chocolate, amazing bread, and of course, great wine.  From a food standpoint, I seriously don't think there's a better country in the world than France.

On a more serious note, I love my job so far, and these meetings have been an incredible opportunity to connect with some of the scientific leaders in our field.  My brain is being stretched every day, and my french is getting more and more fluent.  Our team is pretty international, with at least 5 countries of origin among 15 of us.  Our advisory board also hails from all over Europe and the USA.  I feel incredibly fortunate to have been given this opportunity and am so thankful that L was on board for this crazy adventure. 

Next up: moving into our apartment, getting our medical visits arranged so we can obtain our Cartes de Séjour (residence permits), finding a midwife, and setting up phone and internet service.  Slowly but surely, we're organizing our new life here.  More updates to follow!

- E

We are all together again!

The little one, the animals, and I made it to France with the help of our dear friend.  We are still adjusting, as you can imagine.  We arrived on a Thursday morning...slept most of the day and really began our time here on Friday.  It is now Tuesday and E left on a business trip yesterday for 4 nights/5 days.  Fun times!  Oh and the wonderful weather we were having prior to her departure has left with her...  It is now rain and strong winds.  Blech! 

On a happier note, we will be getting the keys to our apartment on Friday afternoon when she returns and we will move in on Saturday.  our appliances should also be arriving on Saturday, too so the apartment should be ready for us.  Now - if we only knew when we would be getting our stuff.  I am not even sure if our stuff has left the US, yet or not. 

A few randoms things that I have noticed since being here. 

The yogurt taste much better here and I am not the only one to notice...  Little one has eaten his weight in yogurt.  Seriously!  He is eating on average 4-5 baby yogurts a day.  I think the first day he probably ate 6 or 7....he couldn't get enough!  He also loves the cheese...as do we!  Speaking of cheese, I wanted to get him some of his favorite string cheeses.  There are 3 kinds here - Nature, Emmenthal, and Gouda.  His favorite, hands down, is the Gouda.  He is also a big fan of the bread and the bakeries.  How funny, so am I! 

Dogs are allowed pretty much anywhere.  Unless there is a sign that explicitly says no dogs, you can pretty much take them with you including to dinner!  We were shocked when we saw not one but two dogs at a nice restaurant the other night.  I am not sure if we will ever attempt that but it is nice to have the option.  :) 

If you need to use the toilet and you are not in your apartment, you better have 50 cents with you whether or not you are a customer.  I got to experience a free toilet the other day...it had no seat.  That was a pleasure.  ;) 

So far - I have not experienced the "rude" French people.  All in all, our experiences have been positive.  Well, except for that rude Italian woman at the Eiffel tower but again, she wasn't French.

Things to do in the upcoming weeks - find French lessons, find a midwife, learn French, walk off all of these jambon et fromage sandwiches!

Franglais

In general, English translations here are pretty decent, but sometimes you come across one whose author surely meant well, but failed miserably.  Franglais, part 1: these were some of the instructions on the dryer at the hotel:

 My favorite part of this quote is the conversation that I imagine happening between the translator and a colleague at the time of the translation: "Hey, Alex!  How do you say 'défoulés' in English? ... No idea? ... ok then... ah, screw it.  They'll figure it out."

As for the assertion that wollens are more mellow, I'm not even sure what the intended word was.  But I kind of like it: knit clothes are more mellow, I suppose, than their woven counterparts...

New Place

Lazy Saturday morning in Bures: it's raining, I'm (finally) getting some laundry done in the hotel laundry room (€7 for 1 load means I don't want to do this too often), making a grocery list for this afternoon, and finally have a moment to upload some photos of the new place. We don't move in for two more weeks but I can't resist sharing the "before" photo of the kitchen, which is by far the worst room in the apartment.

Those of you who know us well know how much we like to cook. We will definitely need to perform some kitchen updates to make that possible. For starters, we need a fridge, stove, and oven. Oh, and a countertop. What you see in the photo is what you get: a double sink (sweet!) and some cabinets. On the plus side, this means that we get to customize our kitchen a little bit. There are several large superstores here that sell relatively cheap appliances (goodbye, stainless; hellooooo, cheap white fridge!) with free installation. There is also a French version of craigslist (called "leboncoin"), but given the heft of most major appliances and the lack of vehicle, it just makes more sense to get these items new. Plus, I really don't want to install large appliances on a power grid that I don't understand.

The rest of the apartment is considerably better. Below are the living room and bedrooms:

One peculiarity is that windows in France don't tend to have screens. On the first floor with both two-legged and four-legged children, I don't see that working too well during the warm weather months. Fortunately, we have a good 6 months before we need to worry about that.

The apartment also has a toilet room (typically separate from the bathtub/shower and sink in French apartments) and a bathroom (tub, sink, and washer/dryer hookups). Both of these rooms are tiled floor-to-ceiling in kitschy pink tile. It's the type of thing that you just have to embrace. Decorating ideas are welcome - and, on the bright side, it will be easy to keep clean.

Unlike many apartments that open right up onto the sidewalk, this apartment also has a nice, grassy courtyard, is 2 minutes (walking) to the bakery, 8 minutes to the train, and 15 minutes to the grocery store and library. I have no idea what the schools are like, but we have a year and a half to figure that out (kindergarten starts at age 3 here). In the meantime this will be a convenient home base from which to explore the area, with easy access to Paris (about 20 minutes by train) and to a great outdoor recreation area with bike paths and hiking (about 25 minutes by train).

Because we may want to travel both with animals and bikes, I was curious to see what the rules were for local travel. I have seen several dogs (and bikes) on the train (including a full size labradoodle on someone's lap in downtown Paris at 11pm). It turns out that on the Paris metro system, no dogs are allowed, but on the RER trains (that pass through the heart of Paris), leashed dogs are welcome. You must, however, purchase each dog a "reduced fare ticket", same as a child. Bikes are allowed during off-peak hours. Awesome on both counts!

That's it for the apartment.  We also get a basement storage room and garage (for bikes and strollers) which will be incredibly helpful as we cram into 660 square feet.  Obviously it will be nice to get our furniture, kitchen accessories, and extra clothes, skis, and bikes - but oddly enough I don't really miss anything that's packed away.  As much as we pared down (viciously!) before leaving, I have a feeling that once our container arrives, we'll have the urge to pare down our stuff even more.  Perhaps I will get to be as familiar to the Goodwill collection guys (or the equivalent) here as I was to the Goodwill staff in Portland!

As far as plans for the rest of the weekend, I am feeling the need to just curl up and do absolutely nothing at all.  I'm sure part of it is the weather, and part of it is that I miss my wife and son terribly (listening to Christmas-themed Vinyl Cafe podcasts is probably not helping, either).  Two weeks is a long time to go without seeing your loves, especially when one is pregnant and one is just a wee one: a lot happens in 14 days.  I feel like the little one will have grown two inches, and that L's belly will have grown so much.  Nothing like a little absence to make you remember how much you have to be grateful for.

- E

Random French Observations and Apartment Update

After a couple days of hiatus, I have lots of pent-up ideas to share about life in France - some very random, and others related to the progress on our apartment.  Let's start with the randoms, shall we?  There are so many downright strange things about daily life in France that I'm sure that given long enough, I could probably write an entire book on the subject.  Here's an assortment from my last 48 hours.


1. Rollerblades.  They're popular here.  I have probably seen 30 people on rollerblades since this weekend, which is more than I saw in 5 years in Portland!  The funniest part about it is that some of these rollerbladers have been in the supermarket.  Not shoppers, but employees: at first I thought it was a fluke, but then I visited a different grocery store chain in a different mall and saw the same thing.  The front-end staff (the ones coordinating the check-out lines) wear rollerblades to they can zip back and forth, re-stocking baskets, making change, talking on their walkie talkies, etc.  It's awesome!  I'm sure the smaller grocery stores don't require rollerbladers at the entrance, but at the larger grocery stores it seems to be a trend.  I shall research this further (because my current n=2) and get back to you!

2.  Grocery stores in general.  Where should I start?  First, the meat department.  Meat here confuses me.  I don't recognize most of the cuts, which is hard enough - but the type of meat is what's most surprising.  In addition to beef, veal, lamb, pork, chicken, and the typical american standards, there are large sections devoted to rabbit, duck, and horse.  No thanks on the horse - but I guess it's convenient to be able to get duck or rabbit without placing a special order.  Second, when you check out, the cashiers give you these tiny "stamps" (for those of you who remember the Subway club card, remember the little stamps you got?).  I asked what they were good for, and the cashier told me they were good for "scissors or knives".  I'm not exactly sure how these stamps help you obtain scissors or knives, since the amount they give you appears to be random, and there's no card to stick them on.  I guess I'll find out eventually.  Last but not least, the "prepared salads" refrigerated case.  It's huge.  And filled with really odd food combinations: tabbouleh with raisins and "oriental chicken"; carrots with celery, ham, egg, and mayo; tuna with mashed potatoes (yes, really).  I was starving yesterday and grabbed what seemed to be fairly normal (pasta salad), but when I got home and took a closer look, I found pasta with mayo and surimi - the fake "krab" used in some sushi.  HUGE, thumb-sized pieces of surimi.  Fishy pasta salad - no thanks. 

3.  The morning weather report.  The news channel that plays during breakfast at the hotel delivers the weather report to a soundtrack.  Yesterday's selection was Rick Astley's "Never gonna give you up" (circa 1987).

4. Elevator floors: this isn't so much weird as genius.  The USA should adopt this policy as well, instead of labeling floors as Lobby or Mezzanine.  The ground floor is "0".  Floors going up are labled with positive integers (1, 2, 3).  Floors going down (basement) are labeled with negative integers (-1, -2, -3).  So simple!

5. Coed Bathrooms. My workplace is HUGE - not a mom and pop type of operation.  Hundreds of employees work there... and the bathrooms are coed.  I don't mind, really - but when you've grown up in a world where public bathrooms are never ever ever ever open to members of the opposite sex, it's startling to open the door to your stall and see a dude washing his hands.  Granted, the individual stalls have doors and walls that extend floor-to-ceiling (nice touch), but it's still a coed bathroom.

6. Doctor's visits.  As part of my employment, I have to go to the company doctor for regular checkups.  I had my first visit today, which included both a physical exam and height, weight, etc.  For my weight, the doctor instructed me to step behind a partition, strip down to my underwear, and step on the scale.  He was very clear that my weight was very private - I could just call the number out to him and I could even lie if I wanted to.  I assumed he told me to just call out the number because I had stripped down to my underwear - but no.  He then asked me to hop up onto the exam table to do my physical exam - still in my underwear (no robe).  Take-home message?  Your weight is very, very private - but your selection of undergarments is not.  Oh, and before I can set foot in the company gym, even after an exam and complete medical and family history, I need to have an EKG done.  You can never be too careful, I suppose.  Good thing I carry a copy of my EKG in my purse (thanks, previous job!).

That's enough random French-ness for one day.  On to the apartment!

Our dossier was accepted by the owner, so we can now sign papers for our 660 square foot apartment!  It's actually awesome - small, but with 2 sunny bedrooms, a basement storage room/wine cellar (yes, really), and a garage for bikes and strollers.  Walking, it's 10 minutes from the train, and 15 minutes from the grocery store.  It has no kitchen appliances, but it has excellent tiled walls (pink and brown) in the bathroom and kitchen, respectively.  We take possession on December 15, but since I'll be out of town for a work meeting that week we'll move in the next weekend.  It will likely still be 4 weeks before any of our stuff arrives, so we'll be spending Christmas on our air mattresses.  I guess it's a good excuse to spend Christmas wandering around Paris.

It's been really fun writing this blog - at first I thought that posting regularly would become a chore, but the reality is that I really enjoy writing these dispatches from France.  Hope you all are enjoying reading them as much as I'm enjoying writing them!


Cheers,


E

First day at work - done!

Today was my first day at work.  Despite being exhausted (I haven't managed a decent night's sleep since arriving in France), the day went remarkably well.  The only reason I feel compelled to post, however, is to tell you about our (company sponsored) lunch: caprese salad with prosciutto and watercress, chicken kebabs with pasta and smoked salmon mousse, mini molten chocolate cakes... and wine.  Yup.  At lunch.  I could get used to this...

From Bures to the Marché de Noël

At breakfast this morning I learned about the Christmas markets that are set up all over Paris during this time of year.  The largest of the bunch is on the Champs Elysées - 170 temporary vendor chalets are set up along both sides of the boulevard, along with carousels, a small ice skating rink, kids' roller coasters, and a "museum" boasting 200 animated exotic animals.  Needless to say I skipped the last attraction, but I did decide to head into the city to check out the market.

While L is most definitely the photographer in the family, I did bring along our small point-and-shoot camera to give all of you a sense of where I'm living now (Bures), along with a few photos from the market.  Below is my temporary apartment (top floor, right side).  It's incredibly well set up, with a few luxuries (electric towel-warming rack!) that I know we won't have in our apartment.

Résidhome Bures sur Yvette

 
From here, it's a 10 minute walk through the woods into the village of Bures, where I catch the RER-B line into Paris.

Chemin de la Fontaine Saint Matthieu

RER-B station, Bures-sur-Yvette

From the Bures station, it's about 30 minutes to the center of Paris.  There is an extensive metro network through the city, but from many of the city center stations it's just as easy to walk.  And since walking builds up an appetite, I decided to stop along the street and get a snack: another sandwich!  I know that at some point these amazing little bundles of meat and bread will lose their appeal - but until then, I remain amazed at how inexpensive and delicious they are.  And they're everywhere!  Today's selection came with butter and not mayonnaise, but no matter: it was still delectable.  The scenery at lunch wasn't bad, either.

Sandwich!  Nom nom nom...

On to the market: today was gray and cloudy, and I have a feeling that the place feels a lot more magical after dark when all of the Christmas lights are lit, but nonetheless it was nice to walk around, people-watch, and check out the food and wares for sale at the various booths.

Eiffel Tower shaped lollipops

There were typical street-fair foods (cotton candy, candy apples, crepes, waffles, candy) and typical street-fair stuff to buy (scarves, jewelry, cheap toys, anything and everything with "Paris" written on it).  Lots of french fries and hot dogs, but also onion soup, tartiflette (a potato, bacon, and cheese casserole), roasted chestnuts, and even raw oyster bars set up among the booths (don't worry, Mom, I steered clear of the raw oysters).  My favorite booths held incredible wheels of cheese, cured meats and sausages, and other salty delights - although at this point I was still full from my sandwich and chose only to partake of the free samples.  I did, however, give in and try the vin chaud (hot wine).  Spiced with cinnamon and orange slices, it was absolutely delicious!

Raw oysters with fresh lemon served at the open-air market

 

More meat and cheese!  Nom nom nom!

My vin chaud.  Yep, the tree has been sprayed with fake snow for dramatic effect.

 
When L and the little one arrive, it will be fun to head back up here with them and take a carousel ride, maybe try out the skating rink, or ride the ferris wheel.  I'm sure that the market will continue to get more and more crowded as Christmas approaches, but since we will not have any of our stuff by Christmas (it will still be in a container arriving via the Atlantic), it might be nice to see so much holiday kitsch.

Tomorrow also marks my first real day of work (finally!), which is both exciting and bittersweet.  We waited a long time before my work permit and our visas were finalized, and it was incredible to have so many unhurried days with the little one.  However, we can't both be stay at home moms, and I am looking forward to starting a challenging job with an incredible team.  I figure that with only 660 square feet or so to maintain, we can't possibly spend our weekends cleaning the house, which means we should have plenty of time to explore our new city...

- E

Temporary Wheels!

Yesterday was eventful: visited some apartments, set up a bank account, and picked up my rental car, which my company has so graciously provided for 4 weeks as we get settled.  The car is a Renault Twingo, manual transmission, and tiny and zippy enough to race through the narrow streets that lead to my temporary apartment in Bures-sur-Yvette.  Driving here feels much more like a sport than a leisure activity: sharp turns, roundabouts, narrow streets and single-lane bridges abound.  Fortunately, my boss had enough foresight to also provide me with a GPS unit; without it, I truly would not be able to find my way out of Bures.

First things first: apartment hunting!  I've been told that the rental market is tight right now, and that's no joke.  Out of 6 appointments booked on Tuesday, 3 apartments were rented by Thursday, which left 3 more to see.  Another one was rented Friday morning, when I had a Friday afternoon appointment.  Thus, I only got to visit 2 of the original 6 apartments.  I may be able to visit two more on Monday evening, but at last check on the realtor's website, they aren't listed, so I'm not quite sure if they are still available.  The good news, though, is that we may have found a place.  The first apartment I visited on Friday was a surprisingly nice find.  It's small by American standards (660 square feet), but seems about average for 3-room units in this area, which range from ~500 to ~750 square feet.  Sunny windows, wood floors, and floor-to-ceiling kitschy pink tile in the bathroom.  The real bonus, though, is that it comes with both a cave (basement storage room) and a box extérieur (garage).  Holy storage, batman!  And no lugging a stroller or bikes up and down the stairs!

The way apartment rentals work here is that if you like a place, you submit a dossier to the listing realtor.  Your dossier includes bank and employment information, as in France there are strict limits on how much you can spend on rent (most places use 33% of your take-home income; some will allow 38%).  Our dossier has both some strong points (I work for a well-known and respected large company), and some weak points (I am new to France, no rental history, and am a new hire).  We should hear back by Monday whether we were accepted as renters.  There were several other dossiers submitted by other interested parties, so I honestly don't know what our chances are.  We'll just have to wait and see.

Whether we end up with this apartment or some other one, there is one inconvenience: the vast majority of apartments here come with unequipped kitchens.  No fridge, no stove, no other appliances, and, in this case, no countertops.  There is a nice double sink and lots of cabinets for storage, but that's it.  On one hand, this means that we have a little freedom to organize the small kitchen in a way that suits us.  However, the prospect of immediately having to purchase major appliances is also a little daunting.

Now, on to the car.  Having wheels means that I can run some errands, which is a great relief because there are no grocery stores in Bures.  There is a fantastic bakery (more on this later), a butcher, and a fruit stand, but when your grocery list also includes an iron, hangers, and deodorant, there's just nowhere to go.  France has their own version of Fred Meyer (for Pacific NW peeps; Super Target for the rest of you) - a superstore (or hypermarché) called Cora.  It's completely overwhelming, even for an American.  Cora has everything - major appliances and small appliances, TV and electronics, housewares, auto parts, a home improvement section, a massive clothing store, jewelry, a lingerie section that might make Hugh Hefner blush, a full grocery store, a travel agency, and many other departments that I missed altogether.  They have a huge selection of wine, fresh fruit and vegetables, and even a fishmonger.  Their fish section (which sits right in the middle of the store) consists of massive ice-covered tables with fillets, steaks, and whole fish on display.  In the middle of the table, a massive shark head and shark tail were artistically displayed so that the head appeared to be breaking through the ice, about to leap dolphin-style through the air.  The shark also had a lemon in its mouth.  In the middle of the superstore.  Right across from the pineapples. 

Clearly, it's easy to get totally overwhelmed in a place like this, so I spent a good 30 minutes wandering around and getting my bearings.  I'm glad I took my time watching the other shoppers, too, or I may have missed out on an important difference between US and and French grocery stores.  Here, after you bag your fresh produce, you must get each bag weighed and affixed with a price label before heading to the checkout.  Fortunately, I caught on to this before loading my purchases onto the conveyor belt. 

Groceries successfully purchased!  I headed back to the apartment and then walked into Bures (10 minutes through the woods) and went into the local bakery.  The baguettes looked enticing, but I was pretty hungry and ordered a ham sandwich (€3,70) instead.  Freshly made, it was heavenly in its simplicity: a fresh baguette, sliced open, with 2 thin slices of ham, a little lettuce and tomato, and the BEST homemade mayonnaise I have ever tasted.  Creamy, and thick, with a little Dijon to brighten the flavor, I swooned over this stuff.  I plan on being a regular customer for as long as I stay in this temporary apartment, for sure.

I also got to Skype with L and the little one last night.  At first, the little guy wasn't quite sure what to think of mommy being in the computer screen, but after a few minutes we exchanged waves, high fives, and fist-pounds.  So much fun.  I can't wait for them to be here in a week and a half!  Between now and then, though, there's lots to do: work starts on Monday, and the apartment rental is far from finalized.  Here's hoping to a productive week.

- E

Happy Thanksgiving!

24 hours and ~140 pounds of luggage later, I'm sitting in my hotel in Bures-sur-Yvette waiting for my Thanksgiving feast (Chinese takeout) to be delivered.  While I am not able to celebrate with L and the little one, who are still in Portland, I certainly have a lot to be grateful for over the past 24 hours:

- Our friends A & C who volunteered (really, insisted) to take me to the airport at 4:00am so that the little one could keep sleeping
- Easy, on-time flights from Portland to Vancouver to Montreal
- Family supper (with my parents, brother, and sister in law) at the airport in Montreal: ribs, beer, and chicken wings!
- Excellent flight from Montreal to Paris.  My seatmates were nonexistent, so I had an entire row to myself to stretch out, lie down, and even nap a little.

Travel up to this point was easy-peasy.  From the airport in Paris, I took the train (RER-B) south to the town where my hotel was located.  I had used google maps before leaving to map out a walking route from the train station to my hotel: google said it should take me ~10 minutes.  Even with luggage to haul, that seemed manageable.  Unfortunately, the walking path was rocky, pitted, and half-paved... not great for dragging suitcases!  I somehow managed to veer off course and my 10 minute walk turned into a 45 minute sweatfest, at the end of which I found myself on the corner of a street I didn't recognize, with no phone service, no map, and no one around.  This brings me to another thing I am thankful for: the kindness of strangers.  A guy stopped to ask me if I needed help with my bags, helped me find my hotel, and dragged my suitcases all the way to the hotel's lobby.  Turns out he's an assistant professor at the local university, spent some time doing a postdoc in the USA, and is married to an english-speaker.  I am so grateful to him for making today a little easier!

On the docket for tomorrow: open a bank account, visit 3 apartments, and hopefully pick up the keys to my rental car.  Meanwhile, I will enjoy my Chinese take-out feast, watch the French news, unpack my suitcases and try to fall asleep at a reasonable hour. 

- E

AZERTY?

Zell; hello folks:

Oh, wait, that doesn't look right.  Let's try this again: well, hello folks.  I am test-driving my new French keyboard.  I got sick and tired of copying/pasting the various accents and other alphabetical accoutrements required in French, and found a great deal wireless French keyboard online... super, right?  Well, sort of.  While I can now type accents with ease, the French thought it would be a great idea to switch only a handful of strategically-placed letters.  Goodbye, QWERTY; hello, AZERTY!  Other fun facts about the French keyboard: you have to hit "shift" every time you want to type a period.  Really.  Efficient?  Not so much.  I feel like I need an eighth grade typing class refresher.

In other news... we're moving right along on wrapping up loose ends on American soil.  We sold our RAV-4 today (woohoo!) just 4 days after posting the ad.  Our renters have been settled in our old house for almost 3 weeks now.  The dog and kitty now have their international health certificates, stamped by the USDA and ready for export.  We're posting our last few craigslist items, getting documents notarized for the little one to fly solo with L, and are trying to see as many friends as possible between now and Tuesday.  After being in "wait and see" mode since August, it's surreal to be approaching our leave date so quickly.  We were in the Alberta Arts district of Portland today (near where our home is located) and it's bizarre to think that in mere days, nothing will seem familiar.

Once I depart from PDX early next Wednesday morning, I will still have some familiar faces to see on my way to France.  I have a decently long layover in Montreal on Wednesday afternoon, and will have a chance to celebrate and have dinner with my parents, my brother and his fiancée (see? the accent feature comes in handy!).  Even better?  My flight path goes through Canada so I may even avoid most of the Thanksgiving holiday traffic.  Now if I can just get upgraded to business class...

- E

Same-sex marriage in France?

L found this blog post online yesterday and while it's several months old at this point (from June of this year), I thought it was worth sharing.  About a decade ago, one of my professors at Duke predicted that transgender folks would end up being the ones who win us all the right to marry.  This story is just one more piece of evidence to support that prediction.  Stéphanie Nicot and her partner Elise were legally married by the town's mayor because according to official records, Stéphanie was born as Stéphane.  While she had undergone sex reassignment surgery, she was still listed as male in the official government registry.

http://digitaljournal.com/blog/11896
http://www.20minutes.fr/societe/736211-stephanie-elise-dit-oui

Kudos to the happy couple for using the country's laws to their advantage.  While France, as of this writing, still does not allow same-sex couples to marry, they do allow a form of civil union called a pacte civil de solidarité, or PACS.  As we learn more about the rights and responsibilities I will post a longer update about what a PACS means for our everyday life and beyond. 

- E

Visas!

Ladies and gentlemen... We have lift-off!

I am still amazed at how quick the turn-around was between submitting our documents in SF and having our visas in hand. L drove to the post office this morning to pick up our Express Mail envelopes. One more HUGE step completed. Next on the list: fancy pet paperwork! The dog and cat have vet appointments on Wednesday to fill out their international health certificates. We then need to drive to our closest USDA office (fortunately only an hour away in Salem) to have their paperwork certified. I dare say we are nearing the end of the paperwork on this side of the ocean.

My departure count-down now sits at 9 days. L and the little one will follow with the animals in 23 days, with the help of a friend who is part pet-whisperer, part baby magician, and all around awesome. Time to start looking up apartments!

-E

Express Mail Fail

Yesterday (Saturday) we came home from running errands to find a "sorry we missed you" slip from the Postal Service, who tried to deliver BOTH of our packages. This means that visa decisions are in for all three of us. Considering our appointment was Tuesday, and Friday there was no mail, that is incredibly quick turn-around...

The bummer is that now we have to wait until the Post Office opens on Monday. Rawr. I am hoping it's good news since the decision was so quick. L is worried that we just got rejected quickly. I guess we will find out tomorrow... until then, send good vibes this way please!

- E

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Fun with visas!

After 3 months of false starts and missed deadlines (which is a whole other post), we finally had our visa appointment at the closest consulate (San Francisco) this week.  With some exceptions for small children, anyone applying for a visa to France must apply in person, so L, the little one and I took a (much needed!) 48 hour mini-vacation.  We rode the cable car, visited Fisherman's Wharf, ate our way through North Beach, and enjoyed surprisingly sunny and warm-ish temperatures. Of course, the real reason for our trip was to bring all of our paperwork to the French Consulate.  Given Europe's reputation for being relatively progressive on gay and lesbian issues, we were surprised to find out that France does not recognize same-sex marriage.  They do have a form of civil union (called a PACS) open to French residents, but for immigration purposes, same sex couples are left with few options.  To clarify, I will be in France on a work visa.  For most heterosexual couples and their kids, this means (almost) automatic approval for the spouse and children (as accompanying family members).  For us, on the other hand, my wife and son essentially had to apply on their own (as "Long term visitors").  As you can imagine, the difference in paperwork is substantial:

Married, heterosexual couple with kids - paperwork requested:*
- Passports
- Application forms and processing fees
- Marriage certificate
- Birth certificates for the kids

Married, lesbian couple with kids - what we provided:
- Passports
- Application forms and processing fees
- Marriage certificate (Canada)
- Registered domestic partnership certificate (State of Oregon)
- Birth certificate for the little one (note: because of Oregon's registered domestic partnership rights, both of our names were automatically put on his birth certificate at the time of his birth.  If this hadn't been the case, we would have also needed a notarized letter from the donor giving permission for him to move overseas)
- Notarized letter written by L stating that she promises not to seek employment while in France
- Notarized letter written by me guaranteeing that I will provide financial support for L and the little one(s) while in France
- Copies of bank statements
- Copies of retirement account statements
- Proof of health insurance while abroad
- Proof of a residence while abroad - lease or deed (which, of course, we don't have yet, but we did provide a letter from the housing agency that I will work with upon my arrival)
- Letters from our local police department stating that neither of us have criminal records (while this wasn't listed as a required document for the SF consulate, it was a requirement for other French consulates in the USA)

As crazy as this all sounds, this is just the beginning of the bureaucracy that one must navigate in order to become a legal resident of France.  Once we arrive in France, I'm told, it gets even more fun: pour yourself a nice glass of wine and check out this incredible blog, written by two gay American expats who have also made a home for themselves in Paris. 

What's the most frustrating is that after all of this documentation, L and the little one's visas are still not guaranteed.  As the visa officer put it, all of the proof of our relationship above does not equal a marriage certificate (even though we got married in Canada, it's not recognized by the French government as legitimate).  All of this means that even though we already have our plane tickets (yup, another requirement - your confirmed itinerary must be included at the time of application), we still don't have approved visas in-hand.  We'll be checking the mail religiously for the next two weeks, every day hoping to see the Express Mail envelopes that will contain our passports and, ideally, our visas.

- E


*Common Sense Disclaimer: Immigration is a tricky subject.  This is in no way meant to represent official requirements to obtain a visitor's visa - rather, this reflects our experience with a single consulate.