John and Val go to France

Times are a changin

2010-08-01T17:58:00.005+02:00

Following my new French driver's license, I am going to receive French nationality. I have to go to Lyon on Tuesday to pick up the document that says I am French. Oh, and you might have noticed that I said "going to Lyon". I no longer live in Lyon. Well, technically. I started a new job in Geneva Switzerland about 1 month ago and things are going pretty good, except for the fact that I have lost 1 month of French holidays. In France I had 2 months, now I only have 1 month:(

Val is still in Lyon working for the time being. But, oops, I don't think I have mentioned that she is pregnant! Yep, number 2 is on the way. So much too talk about and so little time to talk. Val be moving here after we sell the apt in Lyon and she goes on maternity leave. All will hopefully occur around December. That way she will have plenty of time to work out the details since she will benefit from a good portion of her salary without having to work for a couple of years. Gotta love France!

Anyway, at the moment I am staying at Val's father's place in the upstairs apt. He is also allowing me to borrow a car for the moment until I buy a new one which is hopefully soon. His car is 20 years old and has already broken down twice, once crossing through the border check and a second time right after passing through a toll booth. Both were really shitty timing but what can you do.

So to sum it up for the first half of 2010. French driver's license, check. French Nationality, most likely complete on Tuesday, check. Pregnant, check. New job in Geneva, check and hopefully towards the end of the year an apt in Lyon sold and a new house near Geneva.

By the way the photo is from today. We went hiking at Les Houches. I definitely recommend it. The view on top is incredible. The Mt Blanc and 3 seperate glaciers. In addition, the mule made life easy for me.

I also added some new photos on the left in the Photos on Picasa section.

Crazy Kid and news

2010-07-03T20:12:00.003+02:00

Well, I thought it would be good share my recent news. I finally passed my driver's license test. It only cost me 1400 Euros after I took one test to pass the written part and 2 tests to pass the driving part. What a bunch of crap. I actually thought for sure that I has failed again but once again, as it always seems in France, everything is completely subjective. If you work with the right person anything is possible in France.
I am leaving you with a video of Mathieu from the weekend. He gets more courageous everyday.

Bali Pics now available

2010-05-31T09:29:00.004+02:00

Lots of monkeys, lizards, chickens, pigs, fish and cows. Not to mention lots of great surfing, snorkeling, kayaking in the rain, swimming and even renting a scooter for the 3 of us. Mom, don't look at those pictures. The people just loved Mathieu. Everywhere we went they all wanted to touch him and take pictures with him. Even with their limited English they would always ask him "What is your name?" and "How old are you?" Midway through the trip he started to get the hang of the questions and answered back. We were having such a good time it was difficult to comeback to reality.

Our trip started down in Balangan Beach, a small seaside village where I got to surf overhead waves on a 5'11" surfboard which is way to small for me. The next day I found a bigger board. The only time we got ripped off was here. I guess you live in learn. We did a trip to see the Uluwata Temple and to have dinner at Jimbaran Bay and we paid way too much. Dinner was really cool though. You get to pick out your fish and then go sit right on the beach and they serve you dinner. Not bad.

Then we headed up north to Pemerutan and Lovina where we snorkeled and kayaked. We went kayaking in the national park. Mathieu didn't want to get into the kayak so we had to leave him behind with our driver. Apparently he was quite happy staying behind. He loves boats but apparently not small boats. Anyway it rained the whole time we were on the kayak. Luckily it was still hot. Overall the north wasn't that exciting, partly because it rained the whole time, and the fact that there isn't much to do besides kayaking and snorkeling. We only stayed 2 days up there and then moved on.

From there we stopped for a swim in the hot springs (can't remember the name) on our way to Mt Batur, the volcano. The hots springs were a nice stop off. The volcano is actually 6000 ft high and there is a beautiful lake at the base! We couldn't see the top though due to the clouds and rain. We only made a short stop there and then headed down to Ubud, a town in the center of the island known for shopping, the Monkey Forest and Balinese dancing. Mathieu loved the Monkey Forest and the dancing along with all the dragons that came out at night on the streets (the kids dressed up as dragons and paraded around the streets).

We did a day trip to Sideman to see the "Terraced Rice fields". At lunch Valerie ordered fresh coconut juice and they actually climbed up the tree and cut down the coconut. It was pretty cool to watch.

Next we were off to Amed. This was one of our favorite spots. It is a very quiet seaside village with beautiful coral reefs just off the beach. Needless to say, we did a lot of snorkeling. We also rented a scooter here (Only 4 Euros a day). We all hopped on and drove from beach to beach to snorkel. There is very little traffic in this area so it wasn't dangerous. We were there during the Balinese holiday. During the morning all the Balinese go to the temple with their family and then they celebrate with food. The basket of food that the women were carrying looked really good. Unfortunately, tourist are allowed to join in.

Our final stop was Seminyak, Legian and Kuta. We tried to avoid these spots for the most part since they are big tourist areas. We were right to do so. The first night we stayed in a hotel with a bunch of Australians getting loaded in the pool. Might have been fun if I were 20 with no kids but that is not the case. I went to another hotel the next day to see if we could move there but he was completely booked. However, he had a friend with a hotel not far away and suggested that. He actually took me there on his scooter helped me get booked and then returned me, all for free. We ended up loving the hotel. It was small and quiet, with a big pool, no drunk Australians and perfectly located. Sometimes people can be surprising. I would have loved to pay the guy back by using his taxi service or staying in his hotel but we had no need for either.

Anyway, in this area we got our fill of sushi, surfing and swimming and then regretfully took our flight back to France.

Mathieu's First Time Skiing

2010-04-13T15:10:00.005+02:00

Ok, we were bored and decided to torture Mathieu last weekend. How better to torture him than to take him skiing for the first time. He actually really enjoyed it. Except he wouldn't let momma let go.

Look Mom I am really excited!!! Mom looks just as excited.

Easter in Sète

2010-04-08T11:32:00.000+02:00

We went down to Sète last weekend for Easter to escape to cold of Lyon. Séte is located in the south of France, on the Mediterranean, close to Montpellier. It is a beautiful little seaside town with long boardwalks and sandy beaches. Valerie’s cousin’s daughter was nice enough to give up her apartment for the weekend.

Mathieu did his first Easter egg hunt on Sunday. Of course, with the age range being from 3-8 Mathieu didn’t have much luck finding eggs. However, we came prepared. We brought chocolate eggs and hid them as we went so Mathieu could experience the sensation of finding eggs. He loved it!!!

Mahé, Mathieu’s semi cousin came over on Saturday and they both had a lot of fun playing together. I say semi cousin since it the boy of one of Valerie’s cousin’s daughters. He is the same age as Mathieu though.

On another note, Mathieu moved into a big boy bed. We got him new beds for grandpa’s house and our home. The transition was simple and he is really happy being in his new gigantic beds. I have added a couple of pics for entertainment.

2010-04-08T11:31:00.001+02:00

Ahhh, the pleasure of discovering chocolate eggs on the ground.

2010-04-08T11:28:00.004+02:00

Mathieu and Mahé hanging out together.

2010-04-08T11:26:00.000+02:00

Big boy bed with all Mathieu's friends.

Winter COLD Weather

2010-02-12T14:36:00.003+01:00

Well, we haven't had a winter like the east coast of the US but on the otherhand it has not been pleasant here. It has been cold, cold, cold. Since we got back from vacation back in early January the temps haven't gotten up above 40 and that is being conservative.

I have been in Lyon now for 5 years and have never seen so much snow. It doesn't stop. For 2 weeks we have been getting snow almost daily. Temps today rest in the low to mid 20s and it continues to snow.

In fact, it is rather annoying because even though we have gotten a ton of snow. It doesn't rest on the ground more than a day. In the morning Lyon is white. By the afternoon it is all gone. Crazy. Outside of Lyon a lot of the schools have been closed due to the snow (outside of the city it doesn't melt so fast) and of course, the train system has been in havoc. I feel sorry for commuters.

Anyway, this weekend is going to be exactly the same. We can't even go skiing because, it is the winter vacation in France and everyone is in the mountains right now. Of course, we are not at all envious since the temps are barely in the teens on top of the mountains. Enjoy your vacation frenchies.

In other news, Mathieu is starting realize that snow maybe cold but it can also be fun. He actually enjoyed the sled for the first time last weekend.

PS, don't forget to check out the new pics posted on the left.

2010-01-14T13:52:00.003+01:00

Had to post this one. It is not on vacation but I just received it today. It is a photo from here in Lyon.

2010-01-14T11:10:00.003+01:00

Mathieu is not to sure about Santa Claus. Christmas morning in Ft Lauderdale at our favorite hotel the Marriot.

2010-01-14T11:07:00.003+01:00

Christmas morning in Ft Lauderdale. Gotta love our Christmas tree. You have to give up some things when you vacation over Xmas. No complaints here.

Back from Florida

2010-01-14T10:56:00.000+01:00

We just came back from vacation in Florida where we did a home exchange in Ft Lauderdale. My mother came out and spent her first Xmas with Mathieu and family. Mathieu of course loved it and he doesn’t stop asking for Mamie. I think he wants more presents from her.

We spent our days at the pool lounging and happy hours at the cabana on the beach. Unfortunately, I found out there is really no surf in the area so that was a bit disappointing. On the other hand, we went over to Naples, Ft Meyers, and Sanibel Island and there were some nice waves but I didn’t have time to surf.

I got in touch with an old friend from high school, Mike Harris who lives out there. It had been 20 years and he still looks the same. We spent New Year’s Eve at his home in Boca Raton and had a blast listening to live Brazilian music and drinking Sangria. I had to practically drag Valerie out of the house at 3am. Thank you Facebook, for that.

We went to the famous Le Tub restaurant “supposedly the best hamburger in the country”. It was a really cool dive bar-type setting right on one of the canals. It was bit cold to sit outside but the interior was all about fishing. The hamburger was giant! it had to be over a half pound of beef. The hamburger was really good but I found it to be too big. Maybe I am becoming too French (small portions) or I just can’t eat like I used to.

As always the trip was too short but we left at the right time since the temperature hit all time lows a few days later. The last few days that we were there we actually had to wear pants and jackets. What crazy weather.

We had a bit of a problem on the return unfortunately. We took a train from Geneva to Lyon and when we got off the train in Lyon I forgot my backpack. I realized it about 15 mins later so I ran back to the station and the agent told me it had left for a cleaning depot. This was good news since that means the train was empty. 30 mins later the agent told me a cleaning crew found the backpack and that they would send it back on the next train. Well, when I picked it up I noticed that it was awful light. I looked inside and found out that someone had stolen our camera (all our vacation photos), my iPod, our American telephone, 30 American dollars, 2 bottles of alcohol purchased at duty free and some cards for Mathieu. The agent said it was probably a passenger and not the cleaning crew. Personally, I call bullshit. How would a passenger have had enough time to go through every little pocket of the backpack? Only the cleaning crew had the backpack long enough. I filed a police report but I highly doubt anything will happen. I am going to watch all the selling sites for the next month or so to see if my iPod and camera show up.

Anyway, luckily my mother took some photos. I will post those as soon as possible.

DINGGGGGG

2009-12-21T14:33:00.003+01:00

Well the driver's license test didn't go well. Looks like I will be retaking it in February. I am definitely pissed about that but there is nothing I can do and I need to stop stressing about it.

Anyway, there are some new pics available on the left from December.

Driver’s License Update

2009-12-18T10:39:00.000+01:00

It’s not over yet. Just to give a little update on the agony of my work to get a driver’s license in France. Yesterday, I took the actual driver part of the test. Of course, they don’t tell you right away if you passed or not. The only way you would know if you failed is if the inspector hits the extra brake in the car. The good news is that he didn’t have to use his extra brake.

I did do something that didn’t make him happy. There was a “roundabout” type of intersection that I kind of hesitated when exiting. The problem with this intersection was that it wasn’t a normal exit. The inspectors like to use this type of intersection to trick you. Luckily I had already done this type of intersection a couple of times before so I knew what to expect but when I exited I hesitated a little too long and a car arrived behind me and I kind of slowed him down. It wasn’t really bad but the inspector told me that I had caused the driver to slow down and that I shouldn’t have hesitated so long.

Besides that issue, at one point the inspector told me I was going to slow and should drive normally. Otherwise, I successfully answered all the questions he asked me and I successfully navigated the “French right-hand priorities”. So now I am awaiting the results. Unfortunately, even though these were not big errors it could cause me to fail the test. Obviously, I am a bit stressed out about it. I should receive the results in a couple of days and then I will know whether I have to take the test again in a couple of months or I am officially a French driver.

New Photos Available

2009-11-10T09:17:00.004+01:00

Check the photos albums on picassa section on the left. Mathieu just had his 2nd birthday and his first pumpkin carving experience, even thought the neighbor's kid did most of the work (it was his first pumpkin carving as well).

Otherwise, Mathieu is really starting to come into his own. He is starting to say a lot of things even if we don't understand him half of the time.

On my side, I am still working on the drivers license. Apparently, my bad habits will make me fail the test since they are very strict. I don't necessarily agree with all the things they say I am doing wrong. Most of my issues center around the fact that I don't look around enough and that I use the clutch too much. Because of these things I will fail the test so the monitor says I need to continue taking course until I have fixed them. Of course, each course is 62 Euros which means more money in the school's pocket. I am definitely going to spend more than I planned.

I can't believe that they aren't more lenient for people who have driven for 20 years! Pathetic.

French Drivers License

2009-10-21T14:47:00.001+02:00

Well, after 4 years of driving in France, it is time to get a real French drivers license. Unfortunately, that means devoting a lot of time and money to the cause. Getting a drivers license in France is not easy. First off, the success rate for the test is below 70% and we are talking about French people taking the test. Second, the test comes in one language, FRENCH; meaning foreigners are at a disadvantage with the language barrier. The test is 40 questions in which you can only miss 5 and to make matters worse they place trick questions on the test. You really have to pay attention to every little detail in the picture to answer the question. On top of that each question may have 2 parts and there maybe more than one correct answer but never all correct answers. So tell me this doesn’t sound stressful. Well, if not I haven’t even begun to discuss the cost which is a bit cheaper for me since I already have an American drivers license. The minimum cost is around 600 Euros and each time you fail a test you have to pay an additional 80 Euros and wait a month before you can take it again! Well, with a success rate of less than 70% imagine how many people are paying additional costs. I have talked to many French people who paid over 1000 Euros for their drivers license.

A little note: Valerie renewed her California drivers license in May. She failed 2 times on the same day and passed the 3^rd time all at a cost of $20???? Why can’t it be that easy here?

So, when I first started taking practice tests I was missing 20 on each test. As of a few weeks back I was hovering right around 5 mistakes. Some days I would miss 2 other days I would miss 8 or 9. I decided it was time to take the real test so I signed up to take the test last Monday. Anyway, last Wednesday I took a practice test at the school and missed 11. CRAP, this got me really stressed out. The thought of failing and having to pay another 80 Euros was killing me. So every night I came home and took practice tests on a software program I downloaded. It got better until Saturday when I took 5 practice tests in a row and failed all of them. Once again, more stress. Really has to do with my state of mind. So Sunday, I spent another couple of hours taking tests with better results.

Come Monday morning, I was really stressed out. I had to meet at the school at 9am and a bus transported us to the testing center. No one said a word on the way over. The driver tried to assure us that it would be ok but nobody was buying it. At the center we waited almost an hour. Of course, this only compounded my stress. Once we were checked in and seated they handed us a remote control to answer each question that flashed up on the movie screen. The test took about 20 minutes. Overall, I felt it there were some difficult questions but most I had seen before on one practice test or another. Finally, the moment of reckoning came. They called my name I went up to the front of the room "in front of everyone" and they handed me a piece of paper. I took the paper and walked out the backdoor. The Driver immediately asked, well? I said I don’t know I haven’t looked. He took the paper and looked and said, YOU PASSED!!They only tell you how many you missed if you fail so I have no idea how close I was.

Out of the 9 students who went 6 of us passed. HAPPINESS, I never have to take the stupid test again, unless they take my license away…

At this point, I have spent 450 Euros with no additional costs needed but I still have to take the actual driving test. I took a course recently with an instructor and they said I have a lot of bad habits that need to be fixed before taking the test. Hopefully, I can fix them soon so I don’t have to continue shelling out 60 Euros per driving course.

French Naturalization Procedure

2009-09-25T11:00:00.003+02:00

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

2009-09-25T10:44:00.004+02:00

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.

2009-09-25T10:36:00.005+02:00

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.

2009-09-25T10:21:00.003+02:00

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.

2009-09-25T10:16:00.003+02:00

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

2009-09-11T09:50:00.004+02:00

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

2009-09-11T09:44:00.002+02:00

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

2009-09-11T09:37:00.003+02:00

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.

Family in Paris

2009-07-23T09:34:00.004+02:00

Last weekend we met my family in Paris. Let me say first, it is hard work to take a group of people around Paris especially when you are not getting paid!, but we still had a lot of fun. Below I have posted a couple of pics from the trip.
This is my favorite picture taken at Chateau de Versailles.

2009-07-23T09:33:00.003+02:00

Mathieu charming anyone and everyone who is willing to look at him.

2009-07-23T09:31:00.003+02:00

My grandfather who is approaching 94 years old is still travelling the world like he was in his 20s (just a bit slower). I don't know how he does it.

2009-07-23T09:16:00.003+02:00

Mom, Aunt Karen and Papa heading to Versaille on the train.

2009-07-23T09:06:00.004+02:00

Uncle Ralph and Aunt Madlyn hiding from the family on the train to Versailles

2009-06-16T14:48:00.002+02:00

Marmots are everywhere. Mathieu really liked them.

2009-06-16T14:44:00.003+02:00

Our home for the night. The owners were very nice and we the dinner was superb.

2009-06-16T14:42:00.003+02:00

View from refuge. Mathieu is happy to be out of the baby carrier. We have finally arrived at the refuge.

2009-06-16T14:39:00.002+02:00

Off in the distance you can see the refuge. It doesn't look to far but this pic is deceiving considering the fact that there is a large drop off just up ahead. Here we are still about 1 hour away.

2009-06-16T14:36:00.003+02:00

Mathieu giving daddy's back a break.

Parc de la Vanoise

2009-06-16T14:31:00.006+02:00

"Val and Mathieu in front of the small lake we encountered just after starting our hike."

Last weekend we spent a night at a Refuge called Entré Deux Eaux in the Parc de la Vanoise. The Parc de la Vanoise is a national park in Savoie (not to be mistaken with Haute Savoie where Val’s father lives) about 2 and ½ hours from Lyon.

The refuge is located up at 2300 meters and there is still snow on the ground in some areas. We weren’t quite prepared for this seeing as we were both wearing running shoes (opps). However, it wasn’t enough snow to stop us especially when you see views. It takes about 2 hours normally to get to the refuge from the parking area. However, we managed to get lost adding an extra hour and we ran across a waterfall that we could not cross so we had to turn back and find another way down.Coming back up was difficult but shorter since we knew what not to do.

It's Already Over - US Annual Trip

2009-05-19T11:55:00.002+02:00

Today I am suffering from post vacation/ jet lag blues.. Depressed, very depressed… We got back home at 8pm on Sunday night after a grueling 15 hours of flights. No time to acclimatize since we both had to work Monday morning so we dropped our bags did a tiny bit of unpacking and went straight to bed.

Well, today is Tuesday and I feel completely exhausted. Mathieu slept all day yesterday and of course was wide awake at 2am in the morning. My guess is that he will sleep all day today as well and be awake again at 2am. The good news is that we have a short work week thanks to a holiday on Thursday. We are going to make it a long weekend and head to Ardeche a bit south of Lyon. It should be fun and allow us to recuperate a bit from our vacation : ) Nothing like the French life style…

It was really difficult to leave this the US this time. Probably because the apt exchange that we did (once again a success) couldn’t have been better. As I mentioned in a previous blog we stayed in Oceanside. Well, the apt lived up to all expectations and Oceanside was a lot more fun than we expected. The complex included a pool, spa, gym and a view of the ocean from our balcony. On top of that we were no more than 100 yards from the ocean. It was definitely one of the most relaxing vacations we have taken.

Each morning consisted of surfing, pool, gym and/or all the above. Mathieu spent a ton of time swimming and jumping of the edge of the pool into daddy’s and mommy’s arms. He definitely preferred the pool over the beach and ocean. The afternoons consisted of the usual SD hotspots: PB, downtown, Del Mar, La Jolla and several margaritas, chips and salsa.

We were a bit disappointed that we couldn’t eat a burger at Hodads though. We stopped by one afternoon around 3pm and there was a line down the street thanks to a recent ranking putting it in the top 5 US hamburger joints.

We broke up the vacation with a short weekend in Sac. My Mom had spent the week with us in Oceanside so the visit to Sac was to see the rest of the family and to meet the newest addition Sarah Coolican who was born 2 months earlier. It was great to see everyone and we can’t wait to see most of the family again here in Paris in July.

Here is a quick update from a previous blog. If you follow the blog you know we had a problem with getting a car seat for Mathieu. We didn’t want to pay $160 to rent one. Well, we solved the issue by finding a local Target about 5 minutes from LAX. Yes, we had to take Mathieu there without a car seat. We bought the car seat for $59 and used it throughout the trip and then returned it on the way out. Not very ethical I know, but extremely effective and cheap :)

Annual US Trip

2009-05-19T10:51:00.000+02:00

A Little Update

2009-04-07T15:44:00.001+02:00

An epic snowboarding season is coming to an end. This year’s snow fall was exceptional. Although we didn’t get to do the Vallée Blanche as planned due to bad weather on both the weekends we tried to go, we did get plenty of snowboarding and skiing in. I even skied for the first time in about 10 years. It felt like riding a bike. I lost a bit but not a ton. I can still manage the bumps pretty well. There may still be one more weekend of boarding left but I am not holding my breath. Depends on how Valerie feels when she gets back this Saturday.

Valerie had an extra week of vacation so she took off to Italy with her father and Mathieu leaving me at home to work. It is the first time I have been away from Mathieu this long. I definitely miss seeing him in the morning and the evening but on the other hand, it is nice to have a week to myself.

On a side note, I am devoting this week to kicking off the process for getting French citizenship. I am now eligible so I just need to fill out the dossier and printing out about a 20 copies of crap that prove that I am married and living in France and am not a criminal. Of course, typical to the French administration, if I forget even one copy or don’t sign in the right spot I will be turned away so I am really concentrating on make sure everything is correctly filled out and exactly in the order required. Other than having my U.S documents translated into French the hardest part will be obtaining my FBI background check.

Once, the dossier is complete it takes about a year. In that time, my wife and I will be required to meet with the administration to prove we are married and I will have to meet with the police where they will give me an oral test to prove I can speak and understand French.

Hopefully in a little over a year I will have dual-citizenship just like Mathieu! I will keep you all updated.

P.S. We are looking forward to seeing everyone in California next month…

Couple of more pics from the wkd

2009-02-27T13:43:00.001+01:00

Snowshoeing in Haute Savoie. This was fun but next weekend we are going to have a fondue at the midpoint. I am looking forward to that.

Oscar is happier than Mathieu.

And the winter continues

2009-02-27T13:35:00.001+01:00

Yes it is still winter here. Mathieu and Oscar are enjoying it and so are we.

This was last weekend so we are looking forward to skiing this weekend (yes I will be skiing instead of snowboarding). I haven't skied in about 8 years and we are planning to ski the Valley Blanche in Chamonix at the end of March which is supposed to be one of the most exciting out of bounds descents in the Alps starting at 12,500 ft. The hardest part is getting down to the area for skiing since you must walk along a ridge that drops off 1000s of feet on either side. Unfortunately, snowboarding the valley would require a lot of walking so I am going to ski a couple of days and hopefully I will remember how everything works before we go.

Annual US Trip Planning is Under Way

2009-01-30T10:37:00.006+01:00

We are heading to SD and Sacramento again. Well now that we have our trip booked and lodging covered, albeit not in San Diego but in Oceanside. It wasn't easy to find a couple to exchange homes with this year due to the current economic climate, however, we did find a willing couple and they have a place in Oceanside right off the beach. We will be about 5 minutes from Carlsbad and right near the Oceanside pier. I am looking forward to waking up in the morning and going surfing. It sounds like it is going to be a cool place to stay.

Anyway, there are a couple of things still up in the air. We still need to rent a car in LA and drive down and with the car comes the baby seat issue. We do not want to carry a baby seat over from France. We will already be carrying 2 big bags and a couple carry-ons. So I looked at the price of renting a car seat from the car rental place and it is $10/day.

Hmm, 16 days x $10 = $160. Can you say RIPPPPOFFFF!

So now I am looking at other options. I have checked Craigslist but so far there is nothing and anyway it is too far out. I have also looked at Ebay, once again too far out and nothing in the neighborhood. That leaves us with one last option assuming neither of those works out, and that is to buy one at the nearest store. I have found a Walmart nearby (within a few miles) that I can order the baby seat online and have it delivered to the store for in-store pickup. The cost: $65. Total savings $95. Personally, I am willing to run to the store, pick it up and then come back and get Val and Mathieu if necessary.

This of course, leaves one problem which we still have not figured out. What do we do with the car seat once we return the car? Well, there is always the possibility of Craigslist and meeting the person near the airport. But being a bit devious, I am thinking that maybe it would be possible to return the car seat… Hmmm, maybe, just maybe…

A little update

2009-01-20T10:56:00.003+01:00

We went up to Metz 2 weeks ago to celebrate the 80^th birthday of Valerie’s uncle. On the way up there as we passed the toll booth just outside of Metz, the temperature registered 10 degrees. “Welcome to the Arctic”. Yes, it was cold, fricken cold! Metz is a beautiful city but I have trouble understanding how people can endure winter there. I know it doesn’t get as cold as the midwest of the US (especially recent temps in the Midwest) but come on how do you live in this weather. I guess California weather is ingrained in me.

We didn’t spend much time outside since it was so cold but we did manage to get out and buy a few things since January in France is “Les Soldes” meaning “Sale time”. Valerie and I both managed to find a couple of things to buy plus everything is generally cheaper in Metz than in Lyon which makes it easier to find good bargains.

News from Mathieu

Mathieu is starting to talk. He is blabbing about everything saying mama and papa for the most part to the right person and he is saying “doudou” which is the French term for “preferred stuffed animal”. When he arrives at daycare in the morning he runs over to the “doudou” wall, finds his doudou and says “doudou”. He even says “toutou” which is the slang term for dog.

He is really easygoing. We can take him anywhere and he just seems to get along with whoever is there. Last night we went to dinner with some friends and we left him down at the end of the table in a high chair. He was having a blast with throwing his arms up in the air with our friend Irvin for half the night.

Anyway, we were up in the mountains last weekend with friends but we didn’t get to go boarding but we are heading back up this weekend to board. We did take Mathieu out on the sled. I will post some pics in the next few days. He is not sure about the whole sled and snow thing yet. I think we are going to have to wait until next year.

je m'appelle Mathieu

2009-01-08T14:28:00.002+01:00

je m'appelle mathieu
Video sent by frimouss159

MUSIQUE :Auteur inconnu : "mon coin de paradis"

Maman,Valérie : fille de mon ancien compagnon,née en Haute-Savoie.

Papa,John : né en Californie,sa maman habite à Sacramento.
Ils se sont rencontrés en Californie,où Valérie a vécu plusieurs années,d'abord à Phoenix,puis à San diego.
Ils ont décidé de revenir en France,où ils se sont mariés,et vivent à Lyon,où ils travaillent
Je les remercie pour les photos

Certaines de ces images sont prises à Boston,lors d'un voyage en mai 2008

Je les embrasse tous les trois tendrement

frifri

This video was produced by our friend Francine.

MERCI BEAUCOUP FRANCINE pour un œuvre vraiment super !

Col Malval

2008-12-15T21:42:00.001+01:00

Mathieu is much happier in his mother's arms. :(

We got lots of Snow

2008-12-15T21:29:00.001+01:00

This is right outside of Lyon which is no more than 600 ft above sea level. It snowed most of the week so it is looking good for some late December boarding.

You Can Do It!!!

2008-11-23T19:44:00.004+01:00

2008-11-16T19:16:00.003+01:00

Unfortunately, we don't have any good video of him walking but this was shot right after he did his little tour.

MATHIEU WALKS!

2008-11-16T19:01:00.002+01:00

Mathieu took his first steps in Boston. We were on the Freedom trail on the 3rd of November in the USS Constitution Museum and Mathieu stood up on his own and took about 5 steps and fell over. It was so cool. He had been getting up on his own for about 2 weeks but this time he actually put a foot forward to move.

New York and Boston

2008-11-16T18:58:00.002+01:00

We just got back from a trip to the US. Other than the baby jet lag we are back to normal now. The trip was everything we expected and more. We decided last May to do this trip because Air France/Delta started offering a direct flight from Lyon to NY in August and Valerie had a free flight.

Before the flight day we were a bit nervous because Mathieu had recently had ear problems. In fact the night before he didn't sleep. We aren't sure if it was because of the ears but it made the flight over that much more difficult.

During the flight he did better than we expected. We were worried that he was going to be as difficult as when we took our first flight to the US back in May to California. During that flight we spent 15 hours trying to calm him down. Sorry passengers.

Once over in the NY we visited some family about an hour north of the city. We had a wonderful time and they all loved meeting Mathieu for the first time.

Following our family visit we headed up to Boston. Neither of us have been up there before and I have an old college friend who I haven't seen in over 10 years living out there. We did a home exchange in Boston which once again worked out perfectly. We stayed in Cambridge and had the chance to do the freedom trail, Harvard, MIT and spend a wonderful evening catching up with my V.J. and his wife. We traveled down south to visit the Cape but neither of us were overly impressed. We were expecting ocean views throughout the drive but the road goes down the center of the Cape and there is no ocean views unless you find a private road off the beaten path and we didn't have a ton of time to explore. However, we did like P-town. We were there on Election day and there were a bunch groups out pushing their opinions on the street.

We found the north of Boston to be much more interesting. We visited Gloucester, Marblehead, Essex, Salem and Rockport. These beautiful fishing towns were exactly what we wanted to see.

From Boston, we headed down to NY where we did a second home exchange in Brooklyn. This needs a bit of explaining. The couple from NY had already stayed in our Lyon home back in August while we were up in Brittany.

It was the first time we have been to Brooklyn and we will definitely be going back there if possible. It is known by New Yorkers as the place you move to when you are ready to have a family. The whole town seems to be taylored to kids and the home we stayed in was heaven for Mathieu. They had more toys than a toy store! On top of that I found a beer and sandwich store down the street that was my heaven.

In NY we visiting the Empire State Bldg, Central park, and of course Brooklyn. We also spent some time with a couple of my friends Gabe and Sarah who live in the city.

Of course, I should mention the shopping. If you are ever in NY or Boston, it is a must to stop at Filene's Basement. This store has everything at outlet prices.

Well, now we are back in France already thinking about our next vacation.

Mathieu's B-day

2008-10-24T15:40:00.002+02:00

OHHHHHHHH, fire.....

Mathieu's 1st Birthday

2008-10-24T15:34:00.004+02:00

It has been a crazy week leading up to Mathieu's birthday. He had a cold last week which turned into two ear infections. Last Friday we has to pull him out of day care because he was so down. It was definitely a bit scary since we had never seen him so sick before. He went through one really bad night but felt much better on Saturday which was just in time for Sanoe's (Mathieu's friend) 1st birthday. We took some pics at Sanoe's birthday and some more for Mathieu's birthday, oh, and there are couple from a picnic the same weekend, so take a look at "Our Photos" for the link. I will leave you with one here on the page to hold you over.

Nimes

2008-10-13T21:10:00.001+02:00

They stole our baby.

Matt and Mahe

2008-10-13T21:06:00.001+02:00

Fun in the tub and who will get up to the top of the slide first.

Weekend with family

2008-10-13T20:10:00.002+02:00

We spent last weekend near Nimes in the south of France visiting Mathieu's cousin Mahe (pronounced Ma ay). The weather was beautiful, as is typical of the south. We spent a bit of time Nimes, known for bullfighting culture and then some time in the small village where Val's cousin lives. The village and the area was so beautiful that we will be going back soon. Even better yetm it only takes 1 hour and 1/2 to get down there on the train. Here are a couple of the pics I really liked from our trip.

Nothing Like Musilac

2008-10-05T19:08:00.001+02:00

Well, for all of you who have never heard of Musilac which is most of the world, it is a 3 day music festival held in Aix Les Bains each summer. You can't beat the location since it is right on the lake overlooking the mountains. There are 2 stages that face each other. They are about a soccer field length apart so there is plenty of room. Only one stage is live at a time and within 5 minutes after a band finishes their set the second stage starts up so it is very well organized. You basically just walk across the field to the other stage or turn around depending on where you are standing.

We have been going to Musilac for 3 years now and have yet to be disappointed. The first year I didn't know any of the bands except Simple Minds (80s band) and I wasn't really excited about going. But once Simple Minds took the stage they really took me back and they put on a great show. The same night we saw a band called Cali which, once again did nothing for me but he put on an even better show. He actually crowd surfed from one stage to the other (think crowd surfing the length of a soccer field) and then started singing on that stage.

The second year we saw the Pixies and Muse. Both were excellent shows and I was really excited to see Muse so it made the experience all the better.

This year was a bit different. Once again I was a little less excited but Valerie wanted to go since Vannessa Paradis was performing. However, Patti Smith and the Babyshambles also were playing so I thought they might be fun to see. Having Mathieu with us makes everything a bit more challenging, however Val's uncle lives right by the festival site and he volunteered to watch our him for the night.

Anyway, when we arrived they were predicting rain so we decided to walk down early with Mathieu in a stroller and just take a look at the festival. We hadn't bought tickets yet since we knew we could buy them on site and plus we were afraid it was going to rain. The festival started at 4pm but we planned on going around 8pm depending on the rain and since the shows we wanted to see were playing late evening.

At the festival Val went up to the window to check out the tickets. They said they had plenty at 49 euros/piece. Val wanted to buy right away but I wasn't so excited looking at the sky above. I told her we didn't need to buy them until 8pm that way we wouldn't waste 50 euros if it started raining. So we decided to sit down and people watch for a while right by the ticket booth. Well, 15 minutes later this woman comes up to us and asks us if we were going to the show and if we had tickets. Val said we were a bit hesitant because of the rain. The woman replied, "here are 2 tickets, enjoy the concert." I asked if they were real and she said yes, go have fun and enjoy Patti Smith. Val and I looked at each other and all we could say was thank you. We had just saved 100 euros and now we didn't care if it rained or not.

So, we decided to go in for 30 minutes and after we would take Mathieu back home and come back. However, there was one small problem they don't let you reenter once you exit. I went up and asked to verify this and he said no. Val decided to go to another gate and ask and the guys were really nice and said just come back to us. I don't know what it was, but everything was in our favor.

Well, to make an already long story short. After we returned from dropping Mathieu off we went to watch Patti Smith. If you haven't seen her, I recommend it. She sings with her heart and is very emotional. She put on a great show. Next we watched the Babyshambles. They were a bit disappointing. The music was good but Pete slurred out only a few words during the show and never really acknowledged the crowd. Finally the last show Vanessa Paradis was the most interesting of all. About 5 songs in it started pouring rain. All of sudden the sound went out. The band stopped playing and that was it. However, they felt really bad. They all stayed on stage for about 5 minutes waving goodbye and working the crowd. The concert promoter had to announce that the show would have to stop there because of the rain. By then I had had enough and was ready to go home. All in all this year's festival will definitely be memorable and it was FREE.

The Creche (Day Care)

2008-09-19T17:10:00.003+02:00

Mathieu was finally accepted into a Creche (day care center) here in Lyon. What an ordeal!!! Sometimes I feel like we are in the baby capital of the world. Everywhere you look there are babies. Well, it definitely becomes more apparent when you are trying to secure a spot in a day care center.

After 6 months and several letters they have finally placed Mathieu. There are 2 day care centers in our area and of course we didn’t get into the one that is right around the corner. Instead, my new morning commute involves a 15 minute walk down to the day care with Mathieu which is conveniently located next to a Vélo station (Lyon’s semi-free biking system – greatest invention in the world by the way) where I take a bike and then bike 20 minutes to work. At least I am getting my exercise but I am not looking forward to this routine in the middle of winter.

Anyway, as always there are a few wrinkles to iron out. Basically once you are approved you have a meeting with the Director of the day care and at that point they tell you about their center and they give you the rate you will pay which is an hourly rate. Well, this rate is based on your combined revenue and cannot exceed a specified level which is defined by the city each year. Well, lucky us, we have to pay the highest amount and even more interesting is that it is higher than actual established rate by the city. Hmmm, seems a bit bizarre. Makes me think we are paying for all electricity bills.

So, Valerie called the city hall and they said that the director is not allowed to charge more than the set rate which will not rise this year. Well, after confronting the Director, she said that she never received information stating that there would be no raise in rates from the city hall. Ok, she works for the city but she never heard this information and she has conveniently created a rate just for us. Once again seems bizarre. So, now we are playing the waiting game to see what we are actually billed at the end of the month. Should be interesting.

On another note, Mathieu seems to be doing fine at the day care. Unfortunately, I have the crappy shift (the drop off) in which the second I put him down or hand him over he starts crying and reaches out for me, but apparently after I leave he quits crying. Val has the good shift since he is really happy to see her and go home. C’est la vie.

Mathieu Loves Rocks

2008-09-06T11:44:00.003+02:00

All the Bad in Brittany

2008-09-02T10:30:00.002+02:00

Ok, our trip was really fun but it didn’t come without its problems. We rented a car when we arrived from Hertz. I didn’t take the insurance because I thought that we had a base coverage through Opodo, the site I used to reserve the car. Well, apparently, I was wrong.

On our way down south we got a nail in the tire and it deflated right on the freeway. We immediately pulled over and Valerie called Hertz. Hertz said that it wasn’t covered and we needed to pay for that. On top of that, we needed to call a tow truck because it is illegal to change a tire on the freeway. Well, there was no way we were going to pay for a tow truck and a tire out of our pockets so I quickly changed the tire to the spare and got the hell out of dodge.

Anyway, the next day we went to the garage to have the tire fixed. It was only 20 euros for the repair so it wasn’t that big of deal. Now here’s the whammy. On the way out of the garage I rear ended another car. Boom! No insurance for the tire repair and now an accident. Well, it so happened that there was no damage to the rental car except a bent license plate. However, the other car, I must add was a piece of crap Twingo, had some bumper damage. Initially, I had given Hertz a caution of 670 euros. Our first thought was there goes our 670 euros so we decided we would ask the person (a woman in her 70s) if they would have the car checked out without going through insurance hoping it might be cheaper. A day later the husband gets back to us and says it will be 1200 euros. 1200 EUROS, for a little bumper damage on a car that is probably worth no more than 3000 euros. There was another dent in the back of the trunk that I don't believe we caused and I guarantee the garage wanted to fix that too. Of course, we said no and are now waiting for the response from Hertz. Hopefully we will get back some of our caution… On a side note, I just subscribed for an American Express card which will cover these types of problems next time.

All the Good in Brittany

2008-09-02T10:04:00.006+02:00

I have to say Brittany is beautiful. Everyone says don’t expect to see the sun while you are there but for some reason we must have brought it with us. Located in the west of France bordering the Atlantic and the English Channel it tends to get weather typical of the UK. But during our trip it rained the first 2 days and then it was sun, sun, sun.

First, Brittany is well known for crepes, seafood and its beautiful architecture in which we were not disappointed. We spent 2 days visiting St Malo (a fortified port city still surrounded by the walls of the original fortress located on the English Channel) and Mont St Michele (town that was built on a small island 1 kilometer from the shore).

The Mont St Michele is really an architectural beauty. At certain times of the year when the tide is high the island is completely surrounded by water and it appears as if the town springs from the depths of the sea. As you enter the gates of the town you follow a cobble stone path that circles around the island town to the highest point on the island where the cathedral is located. We really enjoyed the beauty of the Mont St Michele however there were way to many tourists when we were there. Along with the rain and the massive crowds it made it difficult to really enjoy walking through its cobble stone streets.

I want to make quick mention to the town we stayed in the first night called Dinard. This is a beautiful seaside town with houses easily rivaling anything in California. They were huge!! We would have liked to stay a couple of days there but we were a bit anxious to get over to the Atlantic Ocean.

Anyway, once we arrived in the south of Brittany to a town called Erdeven the sun came out. We stayed in a Mobile Home about ¼ miles from the beach. We spent the next 5 days visiting beautiful little villages along the ocean, meeting locals, basking in the sun, swimming and even a little surfing. The amount of people surfing rather surprised me but also made me happy since it was easy to find a rental shop so I could go.

I can’t stop writing without mentioning the food. Seafood, crepes and beer was the theme or more specifically mussels and oysters. I ate mussels twice maybe 3 times, I lost count, and Valerie ate crepes a couple of times. One night we stopped in an oyster farm where the oysters are fresh from the water. They are opened up right in front of you and you find yourself a seat on the ground or at a table if you are lucky and eat oysters with a nice bottle of Sancerre. The best part is that they forgot to charge us so it was all free! And I have to mention the beer, I don’t get this one. The beer is really good in Brittany. They have tons of great microbrews but they don’t sell them anywhere else in France. Beer every else in France sucks. WHY???

Bise in Ardeche

2008-08-19T16:46:00.003+02:00

For the final weekend of my Mom's visit here in Lyon we did a home exchange and once again it was extremely successful. Well, technically the person who we exchanged with stayed at our place back in July so last weekend was our turn. Bise is about 2 hours southwest of Lyon in the middle of NOWHERE. In the village you will find 2 bed and breakfasts and a very small store carrying regional specialties including wine and anything made from chestnuts.

The home was nothing out of the ordinary, 2 bedrooms and a small garden in front but what made it spectacular was the view. The house is on the hill overlooking the valley and mountains.Besides the small village below there was nothing in front of us for miles. Even the sound of cars were missing.

In the afternoon we visited some of the region's beautiful medieval villages and at night we relaxed and enjoyed the serenity. We could have easily stayed there a couple more days. It was a wonderful way to end my Mom's visit in France. Hopefully next time she is here will find something just as exciting.

On a side note, Mathieu was missing her on Monday.

Mathieu Attempting to Crawl

2008-08-09T22:24:00.004+02:00

Mathieu Goes Mobile for Grandma

2008-08-08T09:59:00.001+02:00

Mathieu is finally crawling. With the arrival of Grandma, Mathieu has decided to progress to the next level. In the last week 3 new teeth came out and he started to move around. Now we are really going to have to start paying attention to him. I have already secured most of the front room but we are going to have to start closing doors so he doesn’t go in places he shouldn’t be.

Grandma arrived last Thursday and has become our live-in nanny since our real nanny (who isn’t a live-in nanny by the way) has taken the month of August off. Anyway come the month of September Mathieu will be going to Day Care instead. We believe Day Care will be better for his development since he will be around more kids. However, I am not looking forward to more runny noses.

On another note, he has also started to develop his personality. He is becoming really good at throwing little tantrums when he doesn’t get what he wants. Over the last few months mommy has been feeding Mathieu off her plate anytime she is eating. Now Mathieu thinks that every time someone is eating he should get some and throws his little tantrum which sounds a bit like the roar of a Lion. This is a bit irritating. Hopefully this stage passes soon. I will add some new pics soon.

The Alps continue to amaze me

2008-07-22T09:53:00.003+02:00

It is fun to live in Lyon but it is also great to get out of Lyon. On the weekends we like to get out of the city and head to Val’s fathers. It is always a pleasure to be in the mountains winter or summer and the Alps definitely hold true to their reputation of one of the world’s most beautiful mountain ranges. In the summer Val’s father likes to go up into the mountains to eat and hike and each time we visit a different place. Now, we have been here for 4 years and we have experienced many different restaurants, trails, waterfalls, valleys, cows, sheep, lambs, chickens, etc. You would have thought by now that we would have exhausted the list but this weekend definitely didn’t disappoint us.

On Saturday Val and I were on our own so we took Mathieu to an ecological lake in Combloux. Combloux is a ski town just below one of the more famous ski towns in the French Alps called Megeve. They have created a mountain lake for swimming with clear, pure water that requires no chemicals to clean it. Aquatic plants, a fountain, a waterfall with a running stream all guarantee an irreproachable water quality. But the coolest thing about this lake is the view. You look up and the Mt Blanc is towering above. On a side note, I had the best tiramisu I have ever eaten in my life there. It was not a traditional tiramisu but a tiramisu made with rum and pineapple. EXCELLENT!!

Following our swimming adventure we headed over to Megeve. Megeve is similar to Chamonix. It is a charming little ski town that is as alive in summer as in winter. When we arrived there was a welcoming reception. A band was playing and they gave us a glass of champagne. It wasn’t really a welcoming committee we just stumbled across it and everything was free so we decided to take part. Then we took a walk through the village stopped for a beer and did some people watching until Mathieu told us it was time to head home. This town is well worth visiting any time of year.

Sunday Val’s father, once again, amazed us. We went for a picnic in the mountains at the Cirque du fer à cheval (basically a cul de sac in the mountains). You walk the trail at the base of the mountains and at one point you can see about 7 different waterfalls that drop more than 100 feet. All the waterfalls flow into a river at the bottom that snakes down through the valley. Just when you think you have seen it all in the Alps you stumble across another hidden gem.

Bastille Day

2008-07-21T20:55:00.003+02:00

One more photo. Yes, as my wife says, we need a new camera.

2008-07-21T20:47:00.004+02:00

Well, we were unable to go out with friends because Mathieu was giving us a bit a trouble. Instead, at 10pm we got into bed, turned off all the lights and this is what we saw.