French Naturalization Procedure

Since I am on a roll today, here is a little update on the process I am going through to obtain dual citizenship (French/American). Finally after 4 years of living here and being married to a French citizen I have the right to request dual citizenship like my son who already has it. Lucky him. So back in July I presented my dossier. Basically it takes one year to go through an approval process and yesterday, I cleared the last big hurdle.
Valerie and I had a interview with the National Police. They needed to verify that we lived together and that I have a job and can speak the language. Speaking was the simple part however, I also had to write a paragraph that he dictated to me. Talk about miserable failure. I am really bad at writing in French and even worse when someone is dictating the French to me. Anyway, apparently that didn't affect the outcome. He said he was going to pass along an approval from the National Police and he even told me where to get the best pizza in town. Pizza came up in the interview as my only religious belief when he asked me if I was part of any religious cults. So now all I have to do is go get a pizza and wait for the response from the immigration. Assuming all goes by next July I should be a French/American citizen.

Holiday in the South

We spent a few days down south visiting our old haunts (Marseille, Cassis and La Ciotat). Every trip down to Marseille involves two things these days. Hiking in the Calanques and eating at our favorite restaurant on a small port called "Au bord de l'eau" (not to be confused with the picture below of another restaurant on another port).
We took a boat ride out to the Ile Verte. A beautiful little island where we spent the afternoon swimming. Look at the formation of the cliff behind. It looks like it is about to fall over.

This is why Marseille and Cassis are so well known. There are several Calanques (cliffs dropping into the sea) that are only accessible by boat or by hiking in. The cliffs extend up to several hundred feet above the water in crazy formations, not to mention the breath taking clear blue water below.
We have gone to the Calanques by boat and by hiking but everytime we go to Marseille visiting the Calanques is a must. Isn't it beautiful? Swimming in these little oasis' is like a dream.

We met up with some friends Eric and Aramide from Marseille, and spent the afternoon at Parc Borely, the beach and at our old hangout, the Red Lion, in Point Rouge for a drink. Salome is close to Mathieu's age. What a great picture of the two of them.

This photo was taken at dinner in Saint Cyr sur Mer. The dinner wasn't that good but the view was spectacular.

Atlantic Coast of France

In Montlivet they had a little kids carnival every night. However, I think Val had more fun on the rides than Mathieu.
Montlivet is a small surf town not far from where we were staying.

Atlantic Coast of France

Val took a Sushi course one afternoon in Soulac sur Mer and the results were amazing. I am still waiting for her to make it again.
We also took our bike up to Soulac. They have tons of bike trails that pass along the ocean and in the forests. Well worth it.

Atlantic Coast of France

Little late be better late than never. We did the annual French pilgrimage/vacation in August. However, instead of going to the sea (Mediterranean) we went to the ocean (Atlanctic) for a bit of surfing, wine tasting, visiting the tourist attractions and lounging on the beach.
Here is Mathieu's first attempt at surfing. He wouldn't get off the board. Someday he will be doing the real thing.