When I do the dishes I always get a sore back. Why? Because I can't reach the bottom of the kitchen sink without bending over. When I studied interior design, I learned that the standard height of countertops is 36" or 91.5 cm. It's not that different from the 33" I have in my kitchen, but it's enough to make doing the dishes uncomfortable. I'm not particularly tall (5'-7" or 171 cm) but I find a number of things here just plain tiny.
Take our kitchen table, for example. Average table height is 29" or 74 cm but the one we inherited from Jean-Marc's parents is only 27" or 68.5 cm. Add to that the height of the apron underneath and you barely have enough room to fit your legs under the table. In fact, at JM's parents' house, I can't get my legs under their table because there is only about 4" of clearance!
Then there are bed sizes. In Canada I had a spacious "queen" size bed (60 x 80" or 153 x 203 cm) and here the standard size is 140 x 190 or 55" x 75". When we purchased double beds for the farmhouse, we splurged on luxurious 160 x 200 or 63" x 79" because we knew we would have taller North Americans and Northern Europeans coming to stay (that's like a queen, only 3" wider, for those of you doing the math). Jean-Marc and I have the standard 140 bed at home and it's fine, considering we are both the same height, but there is really only an extra 20 cm to spare in length, so sometimes I find my feet dangling over the edge a bit because I don't sleep with my head against the wall. I just checked online and the average height of men and women in Canada and France is the same. I find it interesting that the scale of furnishings is different by as much as 5 inches. I can't wait to have my own kitchen one day and choose the height of my countertops and sink! In the meantime I may resort to my friend Caitlin's method of doing dishes in France by standing with my feet far apart to make me shorter. Hey, it may save me a few trips to the chiropractor! (more about chiropractors and how they ask you to take your pants off, later)
Wednesday, October 13, 2010
Sunday, October 10, 2010
scavenging for food
If I say that it's been raining for a few days and now it's sunny, what's the first thing that comes to mind? Ask any French person, and the answer will be: champignons! We've had a few weeks of rain with a few sunny days and Jean-Marc has gone mushroom hunting two times in the last week. Last Sunday, when I was away at an all-day rehearsal, I came home to three sorts of mushrooms: cèpes, mousserons and fausses chanterelles. We ended up eating them in an omelette as well as fried up with garlic as an accompaniment to a chestnut risotto (the chestnuts were found near our village's castle).
Today I asked Jean-Marc if we had any walnuts and he said no, but he knew where to find some. Apparently there is a walnut tree in a field that seems to belong to nobody and, since Jean-Marc has never seen anybody picking any of the walnuts and the field is open, he went and picked a whole bunch. He's also found some abandoned apple and pear trees and we have been making batches of applesauce and eating the pears just as they are because they're currently perfectly ripe. It's amazing what is provided by nature and quite often left to rot on the ground. Soon we will be picking the figs in a neighbour's garden (we've been granted permission to pick them!) and eating them in our salads. Not only that, but we are still enjoying the lovely heirloom tomatoes from our garden. I am in produce heaven.
Today I asked Jean-Marc if we had any walnuts and he said no, but he knew where to find some. Apparently there is a walnut tree in a field that seems to belong to nobody and, since Jean-Marc has never seen anybody picking any of the walnuts and the field is open, he went and picked a whole bunch. He's also found some abandoned apple and pear trees and we have been making batches of applesauce and eating the pears just as they are because they're currently perfectly ripe. It's amazing what is provided by nature and quite often left to rot on the ground. Soon we will be picking the figs in a neighbour's garden (we've been granted permission to pick them!) and eating them in our salads. Not only that, but we are still enjoying the lovely heirloom tomatoes from our garden. I am in produce heaven.
Saturday, October 9, 2010
passing "le code de la route"
Well, I did it! After three months, 50+ hours at the auto-école, and 15+ hours spent doing practice tests at home, I passed my code exam this past Wednesday. Even immediately after taking the test and waiting for the results I wasn't sure I had succeeded.
I was asked to take the test at 8:15 in the morning and, because I had never been to the place before, I got up extra early just in case I got lost on the way. The previous evening I had a Mozart Requiem rehearsal until 11pm and by the time I got home, studied a bit and got into bed it was well after midnight, so the night was a short one. I woke up with dreams of code photos and questions to a Requiem soundtrack and it felt like my head was spinning. I did get a little lost on the way to the exam but I was still 20 minutes early. The extra time was used for revising my notes (I managed to fill a 50-page notebook during my studies). At 8:10am the doors opened and all the exam-takers filed into a waiting room. A representative from each auto-école was there to present our papers to the officer and then we proceeded to wait for an hour while he got set up. Once he was ready for us, he called us into the room, one at a time, and asked to see our ID and gave us the boîtier (keypad) with which to record our answers. Each person was asked to sit in specific chairs that were placed around the room. The exam started and my heart was pounding, but once I realized that the questions were easier - or at least more basic - than the ones I had seen during my studies, I started to relax. There were a few questions that I was unsure about but in the end I only got 1 out of 40 wrong (yes, it was a "can I pass this car?" question! I dared to say yes when the answer was no.).
I can't tell you how much of a relief washed over me once I found out I had passed. My need for a French licence is getting down to the wire and I absolutely needed to pass on Wednesday otherwise I would have had to wait for at least another 2 weeks to try again (and then wait for the driving test another 2 weeks minimum after that!). This means that I can proceed with my driving lessons as scheduled and take my practical exam on the 29th and (hopefully!) have my new licence for the beginning of November.
By the end of it all, this experience will cost me around €600 and almost 100 hours. I can't say it's not worth it because I have already learned a lot about driving in France. Even though I've been driving here without incident for 10 years, I still had questions and didn't understand certain intersections or road signs. In the end it's all about safety - even though I see people breaking code rules ALL the time - and safety is a good investment. Of course, this also makes me an even worse backseat driver than I already was!
I was asked to take the test at 8:15 in the morning and, because I had never been to the place before, I got up extra early just in case I got lost on the way. The previous evening I had a Mozart Requiem rehearsal until 11pm and by the time I got home, studied a bit and got into bed it was well after midnight, so the night was a short one. I woke up with dreams of code photos and questions to a Requiem soundtrack and it felt like my head was spinning. I did get a little lost on the way to the exam but I was still 20 minutes early. The extra time was used for revising my notes (I managed to fill a 50-page notebook during my studies). At 8:10am the doors opened and all the exam-takers filed into a waiting room. A representative from each auto-école was there to present our papers to the officer and then we proceeded to wait for an hour while he got set up. Once he was ready for us, he called us into the room, one at a time, and asked to see our ID and gave us the boîtier (keypad) with which to record our answers. Each person was asked to sit in specific chairs that were placed around the room. The exam started and my heart was pounding, but once I realized that the questions were easier - or at least more basic - than the ones I had seen during my studies, I started to relax. There were a few questions that I was unsure about but in the end I only got 1 out of 40 wrong (yes, it was a "can I pass this car?" question! I dared to say yes when the answer was no.).
I can't tell you how much of a relief washed over me once I found out I had passed. My need for a French licence is getting down to the wire and I absolutely needed to pass on Wednesday otherwise I would have had to wait for at least another 2 weeks to try again (and then wait for the driving test another 2 weeks minimum after that!). This means that I can proceed with my driving lessons as scheduled and take my practical exam on the 29th and (hopefully!) have my new licence for the beginning of November.
By the end of it all, this experience will cost me around €600 and almost 100 hours. I can't say it's not worth it because I have already learned a lot about driving in France. Even though I've been driving here without incident for 10 years, I still had questions and didn't understand certain intersections or road signs. In the end it's all about safety - even though I see people breaking code rules ALL the time - and safety is a good investment. Of course, this also makes me an even worse backseat driver than I already was!
Saturday, September 25, 2010
navigating the grocery store
Grocery stores in France are a lot like their counterparts in other countries; indeed, the invention of the "super store" is a French one from what I understand. The first hypermarché opened in 1963 and they have taken over the French landscape ever since. There are some differences, of course, between what I grew up with and what is available to me here.
the smell
I've heard that they use aerosols to make the supermarkets smell appetizing. I think they've got their scents wrong. When I enter a French supermarket, I am usually greeted with a odorous mix of baking (good!) and fish (bad!).
the selection
This is France after all, so there are lots of things you can't get in Canada. In the wine section, they have a special area for wines to go with foie gras and there is a whole aisle dedicated to tins of cassoulet, terrines and confit de canard. The meat counter has all sorts of pâté, charcuterie and sausages. The yogurt and pudding coolers are to die for; there are at least a hundred times more types of yogurt, fromage frais, pots de crème and crème fraiche than I have ever seen in Canada, and most of the items come in individual servings, so the visual effect is overwhelming. Let's not forget the cheese, too; it goes without saying that you can find hundreds of cheeses at reasonable prices (and I've even recently seen local cheeses in the big chains). Anything to do with whole grains or slightly "alternative" products, however, is pretty much impossible to find, so I go to the organic co-op stores to pick up brown rice, whole wheat flour, almonds and other things such as natural peanut butter (you can take a girl out of Canada, but you can't take the peanut butter away from the girl!).
organization of aisles
There is a different logic to the aisles and shelves of French supermarkets. Many items can be found in three or more different locations, depending on how you view them. Here are some examples:
- chocolate: candy aisle, fair trade aisle, organic aisle
- tortilla chips: apéritif aisle, chips aisle, international food aisle
- canned tomatoes: pasta aisle, tinned vegetable aisle, organic aisle
- cookies: cookie aisle, breakfast aisle (!), organic aisle,
- coffee: breakfast aisle, fair trade aisle, organic aisle
This is means that if you want to compare prices and packages of certain items, you need to run around the store. I personally would love to see all the coffee - fair trade, organic and regular - in the same place, so that I can compare and make my choice in one location. I'm not sure why they've broken it down they way they have, but somehow it's what works for them. The thing about cookies in the breakfast aisle is a bit of a concern for me, but apparently there are cookies (sandwich-type chocolate ones) that are considered a breakfast food. This reminds me of the typical after-school snack given to children: a chunk of white baguette with a slab of chocolate inside.
ambiance
Bright lights, white tiles and annoying music. There is nothing sexy about these supermarkets! I'm not sure if the North American trend of tolerable lighting and more pleasant interior design will ever catch on here, but I think there's a market for it! I have noticed that some of the megastores are starting to open up boutique markets in the city centres. This is a start. We'll see if something like Whole Foods, or a European counterpart, can make a go of it in France.
Of course not all supermarkets are the same and there are different selections and styles of organization, depending on where you go. Ideally, we try to go to the outdoor market and the organic stores, but organic products are even more expensive here than in North America and the markets are only open in the morning, with the weekend ones being the furthest away. We also go to the little asian supermarkets that carry things like soba noodles, rice vinegar and soy sauce. Savennières, our village-to-be, is lucky enough to have a small cooperative supermarket that carries organic and regular products. It's also got a killer wine cave with local wines! I plan on becoming a member and volunteering my time there in order to meet people and to help the store along. Maybe I can even make some suggestions!
the smell
I've heard that they use aerosols to make the supermarkets smell appetizing. I think they've got their scents wrong. When I enter a French supermarket, I am usually greeted with a odorous mix of baking (good!) and fish (bad!).
the selection
This is France after all, so there are lots of things you can't get in Canada. In the wine section, they have a special area for wines to go with foie gras and there is a whole aisle dedicated to tins of cassoulet, terrines and confit de canard. The meat counter has all sorts of pâté, charcuterie and sausages. The yogurt and pudding coolers are to die for; there are at least a hundred times more types of yogurt, fromage frais, pots de crème and crème fraiche than I have ever seen in Canada, and most of the items come in individual servings, so the visual effect is overwhelming. Let's not forget the cheese, too; it goes without saying that you can find hundreds of cheeses at reasonable prices (and I've even recently seen local cheeses in the big chains). Anything to do with whole grains or slightly "alternative" products, however, is pretty much impossible to find, so I go to the organic co-op stores to pick up brown rice, whole wheat flour, almonds and other things such as natural peanut butter (you can take a girl out of Canada, but you can't take the peanut butter away from the girl!).
organization of aisles
There is a different logic to the aisles and shelves of French supermarkets. Many items can be found in three or more different locations, depending on how you view them. Here are some examples:
- chocolate: candy aisle, fair trade aisle, organic aisle
- tortilla chips: apéritif aisle, chips aisle, international food aisle
- canned tomatoes: pasta aisle, tinned vegetable aisle, organic aisle
- cookies: cookie aisle, breakfast aisle (!), organic aisle,
- coffee: breakfast aisle, fair trade aisle, organic aisle
This is means that if you want to compare prices and packages of certain items, you need to run around the store. I personally would love to see all the coffee - fair trade, organic and regular - in the same place, so that I can compare and make my choice in one location. I'm not sure why they've broken it down they way they have, but somehow it's what works for them. The thing about cookies in the breakfast aisle is a bit of a concern for me, but apparently there are cookies (sandwich-type chocolate ones) that are considered a breakfast food. This reminds me of the typical after-school snack given to children: a chunk of white baguette with a slab of chocolate inside.
ambiance
Bright lights, white tiles and annoying music. There is nothing sexy about these supermarkets! I'm not sure if the North American trend of tolerable lighting and more pleasant interior design will ever catch on here, but I think there's a market for it! I have noticed that some of the megastores are starting to open up boutique markets in the city centres. This is a start. We'll see if something like Whole Foods, or a European counterpart, can make a go of it in France.
Of course not all supermarkets are the same and there are different selections and styles of organization, depending on where you go. Ideally, we try to go to the outdoor market and the organic stores, but organic products are even more expensive here than in North America and the markets are only open in the morning, with the weekend ones being the furthest away. We also go to the little asian supermarkets that carry things like soba noodles, rice vinegar and soy sauce. Savennières, our village-to-be, is lucky enough to have a small cooperative supermarket that carries organic and regular products. It's also got a killer wine cave with local wines! I plan on becoming a member and volunteering my time there in order to meet people and to help the store along. Maybe I can even make some suggestions!
Sunday, September 19, 2010
back to school
I officially started giving lessons again on August 16 and my work has been very intermittent since then. Before the summer holidays I was offered some work at a professional high school, but there was an autorisation d'enseignement to apply for from the school district and at the end of August, I was still waiting to hear if it had been accepted. On August 30 I heard that I was expected to be at the school's pré-rentrée meeting (la rentrée is the start of school); I guess I'm officially allowed to teach in the school district! I showed up for a day of rules, regulations, expectations and powerpoint presentations of pie charts showing the numbers of tardies from the previous year. The 'school speak' was filled with acronyms that I didn't understand; each class is referred to by an acronym and there are 32 of them! I was given my emploi du temps (timetable) and was told that I would start teaching the following week Friday. Super! Jean-Marc and I had planned to go to the farmhouse for a few days before school started and this gave us a week to get away.
While enjoying the farmhouse and the late summer weather, I had the idea to check phone messages on the Monday. To my shock, there was a message from a school principal at the other school site (I work at two sites) saying that I was expected to be teaching a class that day and that they were waiting for me! Yikes. I had no idea I was supposed to be teaching that day and nobody had informed me that I needed to pick up the other timetable from the other site separately. I also learned that I was expected to teach a class on the Wednesday. So Jean-Marc and I packed everything up a little earlier than expected and headed home so that I could start my new job.
I am teaching apprentices who are salaried workers who work for two weeks and then come to school for one week. That means I see each of my four groups every three weeks for two hours; that's not much English! So far my groups (CR2A, CR2B and MHL) are people studying to be road builders and maintenance workers. Most of them are 16-18 years old but I also have one student who is 21. The groups are fairly small, with a maximum of 10 students per class, and so far they are all boys. I have to say that I never thought I would go back to teaching high school, but in little doses - two to six hours per week - it's actually kind of fun. They're very cute and even though they are not crazy about learning English, we've been having a good time so far. This week I will meet my AEM1/2 group and I'll find out what they are studying to become. Since they are salaried workers, it is in their best interest to show up on time and to do their homework. If they show up late, their pay is docked and if they misbehave, they can be fired. I like this kind of high school! Oh, and I should mention that three of my groups are at the site that is based in a castle. Of course I don't have my classes in the castle - it's reserved for administration - but it's still kind of cool to go to the château to teach school.
This new work has added a lot more running around to my already busy schedule and I'm madly trying to keep track of the rotating classes. So far, aside from the one missed class, things are going well and I'm managing to keep on top of it all. The best news for me is that this work pays more than double what I make elsewhere, so the 2-6 hours will make a difference to the bottom line (although I'll have to wait until December for my first cheque - they pay two months after the end of the month worked!).
While enjoying the farmhouse and the late summer weather, I had the idea to check phone messages on the Monday. To my shock, there was a message from a school principal at the other school site (I work at two sites) saying that I was expected to be teaching a class that day and that they were waiting for me! Yikes. I had no idea I was supposed to be teaching that day and nobody had informed me that I needed to pick up the other timetable from the other site separately. I also learned that I was expected to teach a class on the Wednesday. So Jean-Marc and I packed everything up a little earlier than expected and headed home so that I could start my new job.
I am teaching apprentices who are salaried workers who work for two weeks and then come to school for one week. That means I see each of my four groups every three weeks for two hours; that's not much English! So far my groups (CR2A, CR2B and MHL) are people studying to be road builders and maintenance workers. Most of them are 16-18 years old but I also have one student who is 21. The groups are fairly small, with a maximum of 10 students per class, and so far they are all boys. I have to say that I never thought I would go back to teaching high school, but in little doses - two to six hours per week - it's actually kind of fun. They're very cute and even though they are not crazy about learning English, we've been having a good time so far. This week I will meet my AEM1/2 group and I'll find out what they are studying to become. Since they are salaried workers, it is in their best interest to show up on time and to do their homework. If they show up late, their pay is docked and if they misbehave, they can be fired. I like this kind of high school! Oh, and I should mention that three of my groups are at the site that is based in a castle. Of course I don't have my classes in the castle - it's reserved for administration - but it's still kind of cool to go to the château to teach school.
This new work has added a lot more running around to my already busy schedule and I'm madly trying to keep track of the rotating classes. So far, aside from the one missed class, things are going well and I'm managing to keep on top of it all. The best news for me is that this work pays more than double what I make elsewhere, so the 2-6 hours will make a difference to the bottom line (although I'll have to wait until December for my first cheque - they pay two months after the end of the month worked!).
Tuesday, September 14, 2010
our new place: savennières
We've actually known this for a few days now, but we have finally found a new place to live. It's been quite a long process, starting in July when we gave our 3+ months' notice. We focused on a few villages and areas of Angers where we were interested in living and we both had our criteria: I wanted charm and loveliness and Jean-Marc wanted access to outside. We both wanted a place that was bigger, closer to work and affordable.
Before we took off for Holland, my yoga teacher emailed to say that he was moving out of his great apartment in Angers. It had 3 bedrooms, wood floors, lots of windows and some (non-working) fireplaces. It felt meant-to-be because he was moving out exactly when we needed to move. It had the loveliness I was after but there was no access to outside, it was a bit more expensive, and the kitchen was tiny. It was an option that we kept in our back pocket while we looked at other houses and apartments, most of which were in the 600€ price range.
In the meantime, I went to a few mairies (town halls) in our preferred villages and asked about any rentals that they might know about. When I was in Savennières - our first choice for a village - the helpful secretary at the mairie asked if I had applied for social housing. I had heard of it and knew that it was widely available even for those with a regular income but I had never applied. She gave me the form and explained how the process could take a number of months or years (!). I filled out the form, attached all sorts of paperwork (tax returns, pay stubs etc.) and within a week we had a applicant number. One week later, a social housing agency, of which there are many, called to offer us a 3 bedroom 1000 square foot apartment in Savennières. We had a look and we decided to take it.
The apartment is in a building that was once a manor and then a retirement home. It was redone about 4 years ago. The building is set back from a tiny winding one-way street and it has a large piece of land around it, so it's quiet. We are on the ground floor, with access to outside: the front has a shared outdoor courtyard and the back has a more private large patio surrounded by trees. They say it's 3 bedrooms, but it's actually got more rooms. It's airy, bright and neutral. The kitchen and two of the bedrooms have windowed doors that lead to outside. There are a few downsides: no actual garden - just paved courtyard and patio - the whole place is tiled in cream tile (Why, oh why? I'm writing my rug list!), and the charm is a little lacking but not completely missing. As I mentioned, it's neutral and I think I can create something lovely with this blank canvas. The real clincher for us was the price: 415€/month. That's less than we are paying right now! Plus it's in a charming village a stone's throw from the Loire, in a wine-making area with lots of walking and cycling trails, and only 5 km from Jean-Marc's work and 15 km from mine. It's pretty much win-win with just a few compromises.
Our notice was for November 1, but we will get the keys on October 1 and get two weeks free. It means paying two rents for the last two weeks of October, but the amount that we are saving (real estate agency fees which are normal for rentals) and the ability to move in slowly makes it worth it.
Before we took off for Holland, my yoga teacher emailed to say that he was moving out of his great apartment in Angers. It had 3 bedrooms, wood floors, lots of windows and some (non-working) fireplaces. It felt meant-to-be because he was moving out exactly when we needed to move. It had the loveliness I was after but there was no access to outside, it was a bit more expensive, and the kitchen was tiny. It was an option that we kept in our back pocket while we looked at other houses and apartments, most of which were in the 600€ price range.
In the meantime, I went to a few mairies (town halls) in our preferred villages and asked about any rentals that they might know about. When I was in Savennières - our first choice for a village - the helpful secretary at the mairie asked if I had applied for social housing. I had heard of it and knew that it was widely available even for those with a regular income but I had never applied. She gave me the form and explained how the process could take a number of months or years (!). I filled out the form, attached all sorts of paperwork (tax returns, pay stubs etc.) and within a week we had a applicant number. One week later, a social housing agency, of which there are many, called to offer us a 3 bedroom 1000 square foot apartment in Savennières. We had a look and we decided to take it.
The apartment is in a building that was once a manor and then a retirement home. It was redone about 4 years ago. The building is set back from a tiny winding one-way street and it has a large piece of land around it, so it's quiet. We are on the ground floor, with access to outside: the front has a shared outdoor courtyard and the back has a more private large patio surrounded by trees. They say it's 3 bedrooms, but it's actually got more rooms. It's airy, bright and neutral. The kitchen and two of the bedrooms have windowed doors that lead to outside. There are a few downsides: no actual garden - just paved courtyard and patio - the whole place is tiled in cream tile (Why, oh why? I'm writing my rug list!), and the charm is a little lacking but not completely missing. As I mentioned, it's neutral and I think I can create something lovely with this blank canvas. The real clincher for us was the price: 415€/month. That's less than we are paying right now! Plus it's in a charming village a stone's throw from the Loire, in a wine-making area with lots of walking and cycling trails, and only 5 km from Jean-Marc's work and 15 km from mine. It's pretty much win-win with just a few compromises.
Our notice was for November 1, but we will get the keys on October 1 and get two weeks free. It means paying two rents for the last two weeks of October, but the amount that we are saving (real estate agency fees which are normal for rentals) and the ability to move in slowly makes it worth it.
Sunday, September 12, 2010
favourite things: no ads at night
This is just a little hats-off to the French public television stations (France 2, 3, 5 and Arte) that don't show advertisements after 8:30pm. It's so much more enjoyable to watch movies and documentaries without the annoying breaks!
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