I guess I felt like updating my blog today. In the summer it becomes almost unbearable to stay in Lyon between the heat and the pollution, on the weekends you must get out of town. For this case we are a bit lucky, or you might even say spoiled, since Val’s father lives in the Alps. On the weekends you will tend to find us swimming or biking at Lake Annecy, walking in the mountains, or eating lunch in a small restaurant hidden in the middle of the mountains.
I have no idea how people find these restaurants. They must be passed down through word of mouth. There is no direct route to these restaurants and most of the time it involves unpaved roads. But on Saturday and Sunday don’t expect to walk in and find a seat. Without a reservation you are shit out of luck.
The restaurants typically are situated along a hiking trail so people can hike in, eat lunch, and then head back off into the mountains. The food is very traditional and most of it comes directly from the land around the restaurant. There is one set menu and if you don’t like it don’t comeback. To begin, they serve you a huge plate of chacuterie (cold cuts), no doubt coming from the farm raised pigs not far from where you are sitting. Next you eat lamb or sheep depending on the day which is usually served with some vegetables such as, cauliflower in a white cheese sauce. Then the green salad and a huge plate of selected cheeses arrive. And of course, don’t forget the dessert which is often fromage blanc (white cheese with sugar added) or a tarte. It is almost impossible not to over eat.
However, it is not only the food that lures you to these hidden jewels, it is the picturesque scenery. The terrace has a 360 view of mountains, cows, and lambs and in some restaurants there is even a lake included in the price. And no worries after you eat you can walk off all those calories on one of the many trails that disappear into the mountains. If you are a vegetarian you are screwed!
Monday, August 07, 2006
Traveling in Corsica
We just came back from Corsica a few weeks ago. For those of you who don’t know the island, it is located in the Mediterranean just below France. It was originally inhabited by the Italians and later taken over by the French. Today the Corsican language is basically variation of French with a strong Italian accent. Like the Basque, Corsica would like to separate from France. Personally, I have no idea how the island would survive without the aid of France. Tourism plays a major role in the Corsican economy which is extremely popular with Italian, French, and German tourists.
There are two ways to get around in Corsica. The first way is to own or rent a multi million dollar yacht and travel from town to town by water. Unfortunately, we don’t fall into this lifestyle category. The second was is to bring your car by ferry or rent a car. We choose to fly and rent a car. The island is about 120 miles long and takes about 5 hours to cross due to small 2 lanes roads which at some points are unpaved. During the winter you can actually ski on this island but the summers are hot and dry.
We started our journey in Bastia. Bastia is one of the biggest cities on the island. It is not very impressive so we only stayed the night and left in the morning. However, dinner in Bastia was rather interesting. We sat down to eat at a little restaurant and at the table behind us; a woman started throwing up everything she had just eaten. It was a perfect way to start the vacation. I decided not to order the shrimp.
From Bastia, we headed to Cap Corse, this side of the island is really desolate. You drive right along the cliffs over the water, similar to driving Highway 1 in California. The coast line is really beautiful. We arrived in St Florian that evening. It claims to have one of the most beautiful beaches along the Med. coast. The town was really alive. At night everyone was out in the streets eating ice cream and listening to live music.
The next day we headed to Calvi another small town that is alive during the evening. The port is beautiful. We stayed in Calvi for two days. In fact on a little tour just outside of town we found a little hidden beach where a woman and her son built a small restaurant. The woman was so nice she sat and had coffee with us for about an hour. We showed up early in the morning just to have a coffee and ended up staying all day on the beach.
That night we went to a restaurant in the mountains recommended by a guide. It was rather interesting. It was supposed to be a dinner slash theatre. We arrived and a man in his mid 70s gave us a couple of glasses of orange wine. The he took some cards from a couple next to us and tried to do a magic trick which he ultimately failed. After he had us sit down at the table and started to cut ham of the shank which he then proceeded to throw at you. You had to be quick with your plate or else you were screwed. He even would place a piece of ham on a plate and throw it to you. At first we thought this was funny but after about an hour it got really old. The man kept drinking and drinking while trying to perform stupid songs and throwing plates and food. By the end of the night we were watching an old drunken man throw plates out the window onto the street. That was basically the whole show. Needless to say we were not impressed and will not recommend it to others.
Next, we headed down through Ajaccio and Propriano. We ended up staying in a really small town in a hotel with a view of the sea. It was really nice. We bought a bottle of wine and some food at the local market and eat dinner on our terrace overlooking the water.
The next morning we headed to Bonifacio. In Bonifacio we took a boat tour out to a small island. The tour took us through caves and gave us a little history of the region. We spent a few hours on the island snorkelling and exploring.
The last town we visited was Porto Vechio where we did a little wine tasting and a lot of swimming. The town, like all of the towns has a small port and an old town. The old town is very much alive at night with views extending to Sardina and Italy.
The only thing that bothered me about Corsica was the heat. It is extremely hot, hitting over 100 degrees during the day. Needless to say we beat the heat by swimming on average 3 times a day. After our first night in Bastia in a hotel without A/C I decided we would either have A/C or a pool going forward. It was helpful. But in the end, we decided to camp for the last 3 nights. We had brought a tent and blankets and some really nice sleep pads. Camping ended up being the best way to beat the heat. Each campsite had a pool and full facilities. We set up our tent in the shade and at night it was similar to Sacramento, perfect for sleeping out doors.
There are two ways to get around in Corsica. The first way is to own or rent a multi million dollar yacht and travel from town to town by water. Unfortunately, we don’t fall into this lifestyle category. The second was is to bring your car by ferry or rent a car. We choose to fly and rent a car. The island is about 120 miles long and takes about 5 hours to cross due to small 2 lanes roads which at some points are unpaved. During the winter you can actually ski on this island but the summers are hot and dry.
We started our journey in Bastia. Bastia is one of the biggest cities on the island. It is not very impressive so we only stayed the night and left in the morning. However, dinner in Bastia was rather interesting. We sat down to eat at a little restaurant and at the table behind us; a woman started throwing up everything she had just eaten. It was a perfect way to start the vacation. I decided not to order the shrimp.
From Bastia, we headed to Cap Corse, this side of the island is really desolate. You drive right along the cliffs over the water, similar to driving Highway 1 in California. The coast line is really beautiful. We arrived in St Florian that evening. It claims to have one of the most beautiful beaches along the Med. coast. The town was really alive. At night everyone was out in the streets eating ice cream and listening to live music.
The next day we headed to Calvi another small town that is alive during the evening. The port is beautiful. We stayed in Calvi for two days. In fact on a little tour just outside of town we found a little hidden beach where a woman and her son built a small restaurant. The woman was so nice she sat and had coffee with us for about an hour. We showed up early in the morning just to have a coffee and ended up staying all day on the beach.
That night we went to a restaurant in the mountains recommended by a guide. It was rather interesting. It was supposed to be a dinner slash theatre. We arrived and a man in his mid 70s gave us a couple of glasses of orange wine. The he took some cards from a couple next to us and tried to do a magic trick which he ultimately failed. After he had us sit down at the table and started to cut ham of the shank which he then proceeded to throw at you. You had to be quick with your plate or else you were screwed. He even would place a piece of ham on a plate and throw it to you. At first we thought this was funny but after about an hour it got really old. The man kept drinking and drinking while trying to perform stupid songs and throwing plates and food. By the end of the night we were watching an old drunken man throw plates out the window onto the street. That was basically the whole show. Needless to say we were not impressed and will not recommend it to others.
Next, we headed down through Ajaccio and Propriano. We ended up staying in a really small town in a hotel with a view of the sea. It was really nice. We bought a bottle of wine and some food at the local market and eat dinner on our terrace overlooking the water.
The next morning we headed to Bonifacio. In Bonifacio we took a boat tour out to a small island. The tour took us through caves and gave us a little history of the region. We spent a few hours on the island snorkelling and exploring.
The last town we visited was Porto Vechio where we did a little wine tasting and a lot of swimming. The town, like all of the towns has a small port and an old town. The old town is very much alive at night with views extending to Sardina and Italy.
The only thing that bothered me about Corsica was the heat. It is extremely hot, hitting over 100 degrees during the day. Needless to say we beat the heat by swimming on average 3 times a day. After our first night in Bastia in a hotel without A/C I decided we would either have A/C or a pool going forward. It was helpful. But in the end, we decided to camp for the last 3 nights. We had brought a tent and blankets and some really nice sleep pads. Camping ended up being the best way to beat the heat. Each campsite had a pool and full facilities. We set up our tent in the shade and at night it was similar to Sacramento, perfect for sleeping out doors.
Tuesday, April 25, 2006
The New Apartment
I just realized I never discussed the new apt. We found one and it is beautiful. We have been living in our new apt for just about 2 months now. We both love the place. It is about the same size as the apt we had in
It sits at the edge of the Old town called Vieux Lyon. The front room is equipped with an ornamental fireplace, high ceilings and huge windows extending about 6 feet high looking down onto the street below. The floors are traditional wood both light and dark grained depending on where you are standing. The main bedroom includes a small bathroom with shower and sink. As you enter the room some of the old rock structure has been left exposed to give character and decoration. The second bedroom is small but cozy fitting a double bed as well as a computer desk. The main bathroom has a full-sized bathtub and double-sink countertop. With plenty of room left over for a stackable washer and dryer. In the hallway there is a walk-in closet as well as a full regular closet. The rooms do not really include closets so they are used for everything. At the front door there is a toilet (the only toilet in the apt) recently remodelled with a small hand washing sink. The kitchen has also recently been remodelled and features beautiful cabinets with stainless steel fixtures and magnetic closures and the counter top includes an integrated faux-marble cutting board. We of course had to add a new oven and dishwasher along with all the light fixtures since the French take everything with them.
The view from the apt is inspiring. The apt sits at the corner of three streets and a tourist alley. To the north side you have the street below and the tourist alley which is alive with people walking all day long especially on the weekends. It reminds me of a television, I love to sit at the window and watch the people go by. Some day, I may even see someone I know. You never know. To the west there is a big tree-lined hill.
Oh, and I forgot to mention location. Being in the center of the biggest renaissance quarter in all of
Monday, April 24, 2006
Customer Service or should I say lack of
Ha-ha, that is a good one. I am cracking myself up. Customer service is practically non-existent. We have written to companies only to have them reply with a mean and sarcastic response. During our moved we had planned to take our internet account with us which seemed to be easy enough. All you do is fill out a form online and send it by mail to the provider. Well they apparently lost the paper work and closed our account proceeding to bill us for the closure fees. We wrote several emails to them (it costs 35 cents a minute to call them) and every time we received a different response as if they didn’t keep the history of the email we were sending to them. The worst part is I sent back the box, since they closed the account I had no choice. 3 weeks later we inquired to see how our account was doing and they said it was stalled because they hadn’t received the box yet. Well, I checked with the Post Office and apparently it was delivered 3 weeks earlier. They conveniently located the box after Valerie called them.
So today marks 2 months and we have yet to receive Internet which sadly enough includes the phone and the television as well. Supposedly they have straightened it all out on their end but I am not holding my breath.
I bought a television online as well. I will never do this again in
Saturday, January 21, 2006
French food rant after weekend in London
As I mentioned in my last post we were in London last weekend. Well, let me start by saying London is great. If you can put aside the crappy weather London has a ton of things to do. And for an American, it gives a taste of home because there are so many similarities between London and the states.
First, I enjoy living in France and there are a lot of great things to see and do but my main pet sometimes I miss the food diversity. Now you are thinking to yourself, France is supposed to have some of the best cuisine in the world. There is no doubt about that and I love the french food. But, the food is not diverse. You can get French food or more French food. If you want something international I suggest going to another country because the options are few and the quality is suspect. For example, if you want good sushi, Indian, Chinese, Mexican or Italian, haha, good luck.
I love to eat sandwiches but every sandwich shop here in France has the same 6-8 types of sandwiches either served on baguette or panini. There is no exploration. Why, I don't understand. I would love to see just once a sandwich with some avocado on it.
I miss Starbucks. I don't personally love Starbucks but I love the concept. I can choose between a regular coffee, an espresso, mocha, etc.. and then I can choose the size. On top of that the Starbucks may be located in a Barns & Nobles so I can sit with my big regular coffee and read a book for an hour. The French love coffee but for some reason they only want a small espresso which lasts all of 2 minutes.
London offers all these things. Quality Indian, Asian, Italian food, and great sandwiches. You notice I don't mention the english food here. Overall, I can't complain since last weekend we flew to London for 45 euros round trip. Valerie is unaware at the moment but we will be doing this more often so I can get a small taste of home.
First, I enjoy living in France and there are a lot of great things to see and do but my main pet sometimes I miss the food diversity. Now you are thinking to yourself, France is supposed to have some of the best cuisine in the world. There is no doubt about that and I love the french food. But, the food is not diverse. You can get French food or more French food. If you want something international I suggest going to another country because the options are few and the quality is suspect. For example, if you want good sushi, Indian, Chinese, Mexican or Italian, haha, good luck.
I love to eat sandwiches but every sandwich shop here in France has the same 6-8 types of sandwiches either served on baguette or panini. There is no exploration. Why, I don't understand. I would love to see just once a sandwich with some avocado on it.
I miss Starbucks. I don't personally love Starbucks but I love the concept. I can choose between a regular coffee, an espresso, mocha, etc.. and then I can choose the size. On top of that the Starbucks may be located in a Barns & Nobles so I can sit with my big regular coffee and read a book for an hour. The French love coffee but for some reason they only want a small espresso which lasts all of 2 minutes.
London offers all these things. Quality Indian, Asian, Italian food, and great sandwiches. You notice I don't mention the english food here. Overall, I can't complain since last weekend we flew to London for 45 euros round trip. Valerie is unaware at the moment but we will be doing this more often so I can get a small taste of home.
The night before our trip to London
Last weekend we took a quick trip over to London. Valerie found some cheap flights on EasyJet that were only 40 euros/person. So we figured why not go over on Saturday morning and return on Sunday night. Short but fun. Valerie had never experienced a pub in London so she was really excited about going to one.
Well it turns out that we were invited to a dinner on Friday night before our trip to London. Our plan was too leave early before midnight and not drink too much so we would be ready for our trip in the morning. Well, this is easier said than done when you go to have dinner at a friend’s place.
When we arrived we started with a beer and then came another beer. Ok, two beers isn’t bad but with dinner I drank two glasses of wine. This is usually not a problem either but after dinner I had to follow-up with a whiskey and then another which I immediately made my way to the sink to dump out since I was already feeling a bit over the top. Ok, it sounds like a lot but the real problem came with the fondue. The fondue was made with a whole bottle of wine which is rather unusual since normally it calls for only about 1 glass and I ate a ton of fondue. Going back to my college years when I could drink almost a twelve pack of beer and be ok the next morning, I thought to myself I can handle this.
We left around midnight. On the way back, which thank god only requires taking the metro, I was loaded. I hadn’t been that loaded in years. When we returned home Valerie immediately passed out. Me, I laid in bed spinning and then in the bathroom getting rid of dinner.
The next morning, we woke up at 8am to go to the airport. Of course I woke up with a tremendous hangover. All I wanted to do was stay in bed but we had to go. To make matters worse Valerie was driving and we were late so the whole way to the airport I felt like I was going to throw up and let me tell you taking an airplane hung over is no treat either.
The whole day in London I felt just miserable and we were walking non stop around the city to see the sites and shop. Of course, Valerie didn’t feel perfect either but she felt better than me. She still wanted to experience a pub. By around 6pm I was feeling better so we went to a pub and drank about half a beer. After the pub we went to have some Indian food and I was even feeling hungry again. We had a big taster plate and a glass of wine each. About half-way through the meal I started feeling nausea again. Maybe it was the wine, maybe it was the spicy food, I am not sure but towards 10pm I was done. I told Valerie there is no way I am going to walk into another pub tonight so we went back to the hotel and I slept. By Sunday I was back to my normal self. But never again will we go to a dinner party before taking a trip.
Well it turns out that we were invited to a dinner on Friday night before our trip to London. Our plan was too leave early before midnight and not drink too much so we would be ready for our trip in the morning. Well, this is easier said than done when you go to have dinner at a friend’s place.
When we arrived we started with a beer and then came another beer. Ok, two beers isn’t bad but with dinner I drank two glasses of wine. This is usually not a problem either but after dinner I had to follow-up with a whiskey and then another which I immediately made my way to the sink to dump out since I was already feeling a bit over the top. Ok, it sounds like a lot but the real problem came with the fondue. The fondue was made with a whole bottle of wine which is rather unusual since normally it calls for only about 1 glass and I ate a ton of fondue. Going back to my college years when I could drink almost a twelve pack of beer and be ok the next morning, I thought to myself I can handle this.
We left around midnight. On the way back, which thank god only requires taking the metro, I was loaded. I hadn’t been that loaded in years. When we returned home Valerie immediately passed out. Me, I laid in bed spinning and then in the bathroom getting rid of dinner.
The next morning, we woke up at 8am to go to the airport. Of course I woke up with a tremendous hangover. All I wanted to do was stay in bed but we had to go. To make matters worse Valerie was driving and we were late so the whole way to the airport I felt like I was going to throw up and let me tell you taking an airplane hung over is no treat either.
The whole day in London I felt just miserable and we were walking non stop around the city to see the sites and shop. Of course, Valerie didn’t feel perfect either but she felt better than me. She still wanted to experience a pub. By around 6pm I was feeling better so we went to a pub and drank about half a beer. After the pub we went to have some Indian food and I was even feeling hungry again. We had a big taster plate and a glass of wine each. About half-way through the meal I started feeling nausea again. Maybe it was the wine, maybe it was the spicy food, I am not sure but towards 10pm I was done. I told Valerie there is no way I am going to walk into another pub tonight so we went back to the hotel and I slept. By Sunday I was back to my normal self. But never again will we go to a dinner party before taking a trip.
Snowboarding in Chamonix
Well, I finally got too experience one of my snowboarding/skiing dreams, “Snowboarding in the
This year was totally different. We spent the weekend in
It just so happens during that particular weekend there was a promotion at the station we went to offering woman a free lift ticket. I have never seen a deal like that before and it covered the whole weekend. I believe salomon was hosting it otherwise I can’t imagine how the ski resort could survive losing that kind of money. Anyway it always seems to be the women never the men. It just so happened that there was four of us total; me and 3 girls (oh la la).
Not forgetting the mountains. When you travel up the chair lifts in any of the resorts around
Ok, I think I am a pretty good boarder but the whole day I was trying to keep up with these 3 girls on skies who were tearing down the mountain. Not only that they were trying to get me to go on black diamond runs that have bumps about waist high. This is not an easy task for a snowboarder. I personally like boarding in the bumps but when they look more like a wall in front of you I tend to find myself on my ass more than my board.
Midway through the first day I was already feeling dead-tired and ready for the lunch break. I must say there is nothing like a hot wine to help you relax at lunch. Sitting in a lounge chair with a sandwich in one hand and a hot wine in the other staring at some of the most beautiful mountains in the world is really living. In the
Anyway, after a day of skiing it was time to experience the nightlife of
Friday, October 14, 2005
Still Searching for our apt
First, let me say that real estate in
We have been searching to buy an apt for over 4 months now. We have had one major heartbreak and several near misses as far as Coup de Coeur (love at first site). The amount of money we wanted to invest originally has steadily increased as we have found out more about our desires and our needs. Unfortunately, our desires are perfectly aligned with every other white collar apt hunter in the region. You know; nice view, big spacious front room and bedrooms, lots of sunlight, modern kitchen, with lots of storage. So when an apt becomes available that we really like, it most likely will stay on the market for less than 1 week. All the crappy ones we have seen over the past 4 months are still on the market.
Anyway, our latest let down, was a beautiful 100 m² (1100 ft) apt with a beautiful view overlooking the
Anyway, we are still on the hunt. We are going to spend the weekend at a Salon d’Immobilier (real estate convention). Sounds exciting I know, but you never know what may turn up there. We also, just recently saw another apt in the same quarter of the city. The interior is beautiful but the view leaves a bit to be desired. It isn’t quite the coup de Coeur that we are looking for.
Wednesday, September 07, 2005
Fetes et Bal en France
Ok, what can I say, I am feeling inspired today. Anyways, I realized that it was necessary to mention the village festivals or should I say drunken festivals that occur every summer. In France there is a festival for about everything you can imagine in the summer but the most common are the Fete de village and if you live in the country, the Bals. The Bals are a once in a lifetime experience. It is highly unlikely a tourist will come across a Bal. In fact if they can, I highly recommend it. I most likely am one of very few Americans who have attended a Bal. In Haute Savoie there is a Bal every summer. Everyone from miles around attend the Bal. Of the 4 or 5000 people, ages range from 14 to probably 70 and 80% of them are drunk. It is based around a theme and this year was country western. An American flag was even flying. However, I don't think much of the drunken crowd even took notice.
At this particular Bal, we came with a crowd of about 15 people. When we walked up there was a line of about 100 people but when you come from the area apparently there is no such thing as waiting so we walked right up to the front of the line. As we were walking in there was a full cow roasting on a spit. Apparently it was to be eaten the next day.
There are several different areas of entertainment. The VIP area is for champagne only, a live music area, a dance and techno tent, a designated throw up area, (just kidding) and about 3 other areas which for some reason I can't recall there names. Hmmm, a bit strange.....
The people are the best part of the Bal. When the alcohol is flowing the crowd gets wild. There are people dancing on the tables between bottles of champagne. There is champagne coming from every direction unfortunately most of it isn't falling into your glass. Most of the younger crowd are the ones out of control but there are few old ones mixed in.
We left a bit early; I think it was 3 in the morning. At that point Valerie had had enough. In fact she had enough for both of us. I had to control myself since somebody had to get us home. Needless to say the next day was a bit rough for Valerie.Apartment Hunting in Lyon
I know it has been a while since I have written. I figure now is as good a time as any. It has already been 1 year of life in
However, there are some small problems to overcome as always. First, we need to buy an apartment in
Once we find an apartment, it will take at least 3 months for everything to clear. At this point we are looking at November or December and most likely longer before Valerie can move here.
We are still together every weekend. We have been doing a lot of small travelling on the
Wednesday, March 09, 2005
Moving Again......
Wow, just 5 months after moving to Marseille, here we are moving again. I have a job in Lyon which started last week. I am 1 week in and have already written one press release and am working on the corporate brochure. Not bad. However as I write it is snowing pretty hard. It has snowed about 3 out of the 8 days I have been here. Surprisingly it doesn’t bother me too much. It snows constantly all day long when it snows but it really doesn’t stick for long since we are in the middle of the city.
The Apartment
We, actually I for the moment, since Valerie is still living in Marseille, found a place in Lyon on the Presque’ile. The Presque’ile is considered an island bordered by two rivers called the Saone and the Rhone in the center of Lyon. The area of Lyon is considered to be one of the most desired areas to live in Lyon. Not saying we have a nice apt by any means but we do have a great location. We walk out the door and there is a square one block down with a few trendy restaurants. One of the main pedestrian shopping areas of Lyon extends from the square to the center of the Presque’ile called Bellecour. Around the corner from our apt is a small grocery market and the boulanger is right on the corner. A 10 minute walk and we can eat in on Rue Mercier which is probably the most-trendy (very touristic) area to eat in all Lyon. In the same area there are all types of pubs and bars to have a drink at. Across the Saone is Old Lyon. I have yet to explore it but once again it isn’t more than a 15 minute walk. Across the Rhone is where I work. Did I mention the metro takes from my apt to work in less than 15 minutes. No complaints there.
The apt is not glamorous but it works. There is a view of the Rhone and at night it is beautiful. You can see the tall buildings with there blue lights lining the roofs and the ultra modern tramway traversing the city. The river is quiet and flows quickly through the all the edge of the Presque’ile.
The only bad part about the apartment is the bathroom is quite small and we must climb 6 floors which Valerie conveniently counted out to be 125 steps to our apt. It is hell to move into but once moved in I feel content. I get lots of exercise climbing the steps.
Working in France
Working is very different in France. So far I really like it. My company offers several benefits but I think there are two that really stick out. First, there is something called RTT, which I am still not sure what it stands for. The normal work week is supposed to be 35 hours however, no one really finishes their work in 35 hours so the govt fashioned a term called RTT to take care of the extra hours worked. At the end of the year you basically end up averaging the 38 hours a week which comes out to be 17 days of overtime. So RTT allows you to take those days anytime during the year. There are some stipulations however. You can only take 3 days in one month once during the year. You can take 0 days in one month once during the year. So ideally you should take 1 to 2 days per month throughout the year. Anyway, these 17 days are given on top of the 4 weeks and the 10 or so holidays per year. So I have about a total of about 7-8 weeks per year of vacation. Ouch!!!!
The second benefit I am enjoying is the Ticket Restaurant. These are checks each worth €7,50. You receive around 20-25 a month so you can use one a day while you work and you are only required to pay 30% of the cost which comes out of your paycheck. It is inherent in the culture at least, nowadays, to go have a long lunch during the work day. Most people head to the restaurant for a full meal and the average meal costs around €10-12. So you use the check to pay for most of the meal and then you pay cash for the leftover. Most restaurants and some grocery stores accept these checks. You are not supposed to use these checks at night but it seems that most restaurants still accept them.
Otherwise, there is also what is called a Comité d’enterprise. The purpose of this organization is to provide leisure benefits to the employees such as, weekends skiing, hiking, etc for a deep discount. For example, we are going snowshoeing next weekend which includes all the equipment, guide and a Fondue Savoyard for lunch. This will cost 15 euros per person. I don’t know about the snowshoeing but I LOVE the fondue.
All other options are typical to the US, stock options, medical, bonus plan and so on….
The Apartment
We, actually I for the moment, since Valerie is still living in Marseille, found a place in Lyon on the Presque’ile. The Presque’ile is considered an island bordered by two rivers called the Saone and the Rhone in the center of Lyon. The area of Lyon is considered to be one of the most desired areas to live in Lyon. Not saying we have a nice apt by any means but we do have a great location. We walk out the door and there is a square one block down with a few trendy restaurants. One of the main pedestrian shopping areas of Lyon extends from the square to the center of the Presque’ile called Bellecour. Around the corner from our apt is a small grocery market and the boulanger is right on the corner. A 10 minute walk and we can eat in on Rue Mercier which is probably the most-trendy (very touristic) area to eat in all Lyon. In the same area there are all types of pubs and bars to have a drink at. Across the Saone is Old Lyon. I have yet to explore it but once again it isn’t more than a 15 minute walk. Across the Rhone is where I work. Did I mention the metro takes from my apt to work in less than 15 minutes. No complaints there.
The apt is not glamorous but it works. There is a view of the Rhone and at night it is beautiful. You can see the tall buildings with there blue lights lining the roofs and the ultra modern tramway traversing the city. The river is quiet and flows quickly through the all the edge of the Presque’ile.
The only bad part about the apartment is the bathroom is quite small and we must climb 6 floors which Valerie conveniently counted out to be 125 steps to our apt. It is hell to move into but once moved in I feel content. I get lots of exercise climbing the steps.
Working in France
Working is very different in France. So far I really like it. My company offers several benefits but I think there are two that really stick out. First, there is something called RTT, which I am still not sure what it stands for. The normal work week is supposed to be 35 hours however, no one really finishes their work in 35 hours so the govt fashioned a term called RTT to take care of the extra hours worked. At the end of the year you basically end up averaging the 38 hours a week which comes out to be 17 days of overtime. So RTT allows you to take those days anytime during the year. There are some stipulations however. You can only take 3 days in one month once during the year. You can take 0 days in one month once during the year. So ideally you should take 1 to 2 days per month throughout the year. Anyway, these 17 days are given on top of the 4 weeks and the 10 or so holidays per year. So I have about a total of about 7-8 weeks per year of vacation. Ouch!!!!
The second benefit I am enjoying is the Ticket Restaurant. These are checks each worth €7,50. You receive around 20-25 a month so you can use one a day while you work and you are only required to pay 30% of the cost which comes out of your paycheck. It is inherent in the culture at least, nowadays, to go have a long lunch during the work day. Most people head to the restaurant for a full meal and the average meal costs around €10-12. So you use the check to pay for most of the meal and then you pay cash for the leftover. Most restaurants and some grocery stores accept these checks. You are not supposed to use these checks at night but it seems that most restaurants still accept them.
Otherwise, there is also what is called a Comité d’enterprise. The purpose of this organization is to provide leisure benefits to the employees such as, weekends skiing, hiking, etc for a deep discount. For example, we are going snowshoeing next weekend which includes all the equipment, guide and a Fondue Savoyard for lunch. This will cost 15 euros per person. I don’t know about the snowshoeing but I LOVE the fondue.
All other options are typical to the US, stock options, medical, bonus plan and so on….
Tuesday, February 22, 2005
Lyon- 2 Weeks and Running
2 weeks and running.
After receiving my Working Authorization I have been given two weeks to search an apartment and arrive for my first day of work on Feb 28th. The good news is we have found an apt.
I spent 2 days in Lyon last week pounding the pavement in search of an apt. Valerie called several places to set up appts and I went to look at them.
I arrived last Tuesday morning to a sporadic snow shower. Temperatures never rose about freezing and I definitely did not enjoy the cold. However, regardless I trudged on for 2 days straight block after block, bus after bus, and metro stop after metro stop. I think I probably walked between 10 and 20 miles. However, in that time I was able to see a lot of the city and from first impression; I really like this city. There are tons of great quarters with bars, stores and restaurants. The city is lightyears ahead of Marseille in terms of technology and cleanliness. The architecture is second to none and the food is supposed to be legendary. My kind of city.... I stayed in a Bed & Breakfast which was in quarter filled with restaurants from all over the world. The B&B was literally one extra room and bath that a lady was renting out. She was amusing. She talked to me for an hour about her and her children's travels. Overall I would definitely recommend staying with her and it only costs 37 euros/night.
The story
Anyway on the 2nd day, with recharged cell phone, map and metro pass in hand I was getting heading to my 3rd apt of the day. I had been getting so many calls from people to set up appts I was starting to get a headache. The appt I was headed to was at 1pm and I had another appt at 1:30 pm about 10 blocks away so I had to get in and get out of this apt as quickly as possible. The good this is that I was going to be the first person to see this apt. They wanted everyone to come at 6:30pm but I was leaving at that time so he scheduled me in on his lunch break.
The apt was in one of the most desirable quarters in Lyon. As I approached there was a metro stop about 2 blocks away and tons of restaurants, bars and shopping. The location was perfect!!! Also, not to mention, if I liked the apt I would jump on the metro and be at work in 10 minutes.
Anyway, I arrived at the door right at 1pm and pulled out the cell phone to call him. As he answered the cell phone died.. (battery or something). I had been using it constantly all morning. As I went to open my bag to get out another phone number my bag ripped apart!! What luck. There was no way I was going to figure out where he lived exactly without calling him since there were about 18 residents in the building. So I ran down to the local Tabac to buy a telephone card. (Talk about a ripoff. I paid 8 euros for 50 minutes of calling and I think it lasted about 20 minutes.) I quickly found a telephone booth and called him. By this time it was about 1:10pm and I had another appt in 20 minutes. Also, this guy had come home just for me to visit his place. I quickly told him the story and asked if he could wait downstairs. I ran back to the apt and he was waiting at the bottom. We went up about 6 flights of stair (no elevator) to the apt. The apt was really nice. It was bigger than our current apt with a big bedroom, large open kitchen, some storage but not a lot and even a small view of the Rhone River. I was really impressed and the price was easily in the budget. I talked with him for about 10 minutes, took some pictures and ran to my next appt. I had to stop by a telephone booth and call once again to get in to the apt. In fact the rest of the day was spent stopping at telephone booths to ask if the person could meet me at the door. Crazy Luck!!
Signing the Lease
Needless to say, the apt I have described above was my favorite apt. The following day Valerie called to set up an appt with the owner and we were the first to arrive. In France, it is about timing when renting. At times I walked into apts with 10 other people looking to rent. Lyon is a very tight rental market and can be very difficult to find a place. In fact as we were signing the lease someone called saying they would come over to sign right away but, First Come First Serve!! We are going to be living in one of the most desirable areas of Lyon. Lucky Us. We will have to really get used to a lot of stairs though. 6 flight!!
PS, so I start work on Monday and Monday night I pick up the keys to our new apt. I am taking a train on Monday morning to Lyon with two suitcases that I will be living out of in our new apt for the following 5 days. I have bought an air mattress so at least I have a bed. But I have no Fridge, stove, or oven. I guess I will be eating out a lot until the weekend. First purchase will be the Fridge.
After receiving my Working Authorization I have been given two weeks to search an apartment and arrive for my first day of work on Feb 28th. The good news is we have found an apt.
I spent 2 days in Lyon last week pounding the pavement in search of an apt. Valerie called several places to set up appts and I went to look at them.
I arrived last Tuesday morning to a sporadic snow shower. Temperatures never rose about freezing and I definitely did not enjoy the cold. However, regardless I trudged on for 2 days straight block after block, bus after bus, and metro stop after metro stop. I think I probably walked between 10 and 20 miles. However, in that time I was able to see a lot of the city and from first impression; I really like this city. There are tons of great quarters with bars, stores and restaurants. The city is lightyears ahead of Marseille in terms of technology and cleanliness. The architecture is second to none and the food is supposed to be legendary. My kind of city.... I stayed in a Bed & Breakfast which was in quarter filled with restaurants from all over the world. The B&B was literally one extra room and bath that a lady was renting out. She was amusing. She talked to me for an hour about her and her children's travels. Overall I would definitely recommend staying with her and it only costs 37 euros/night.
The story
Anyway on the 2nd day, with recharged cell phone, map and metro pass in hand I was getting heading to my 3rd apt of the day. I had been getting so many calls from people to set up appts I was starting to get a headache. The appt I was headed to was at 1pm and I had another appt at 1:30 pm about 10 blocks away so I had to get in and get out of this apt as quickly as possible. The good this is that I was going to be the first person to see this apt. They wanted everyone to come at 6:30pm but I was leaving at that time so he scheduled me in on his lunch break.
The apt was in one of the most desirable quarters in Lyon. As I approached there was a metro stop about 2 blocks away and tons of restaurants, bars and shopping. The location was perfect!!! Also, not to mention, if I liked the apt I would jump on the metro and be at work in 10 minutes.
Anyway, I arrived at the door right at 1pm and pulled out the cell phone to call him. As he answered the cell phone died.. (battery or something). I had been using it constantly all morning. As I went to open my bag to get out another phone number my bag ripped apart!! What luck. There was no way I was going to figure out where he lived exactly without calling him since there were about 18 residents in the building. So I ran down to the local Tabac to buy a telephone card. (Talk about a ripoff. I paid 8 euros for 50 minutes of calling and I think it lasted about 20 minutes.) I quickly found a telephone booth and called him. By this time it was about 1:10pm and I had another appt in 20 minutes. Also, this guy had come home just for me to visit his place. I quickly told him the story and asked if he could wait downstairs. I ran back to the apt and he was waiting at the bottom. We went up about 6 flights of stair (no elevator) to the apt. The apt was really nice. It was bigger than our current apt with a big bedroom, large open kitchen, some storage but not a lot and even a small view of the Rhone River. I was really impressed and the price was easily in the budget. I talked with him for about 10 minutes, took some pictures and ran to my next appt. I had to stop by a telephone booth and call once again to get in to the apt. In fact the rest of the day was spent stopping at telephone booths to ask if the person could meet me at the door. Crazy Luck!!
Signing the Lease
Needless to say, the apt I have described above was my favorite apt. The following day Valerie called to set up an appt with the owner and we were the first to arrive. In France, it is about timing when renting. At times I walked into apts with 10 other people looking to rent. Lyon is a very tight rental market and can be very difficult to find a place. In fact as we were signing the lease someone called saying they would come over to sign right away but, First Come First Serve!! We are going to be living in one of the most desirable areas of Lyon. Lucky Us. We will have to really get used to a lot of stairs though. 6 flight!!
PS, so I start work on Monday and Monday night I pick up the keys to our new apt. I am taking a train on Monday morning to Lyon with two suitcases that I will be living out of in our new apt for the following 5 days. I have bought an air mattress so at least I have a bed. But I have no Fridge, stove, or oven. I guess I will be eating out a lot until the weekend. First purchase will be the Fridge.
Working Authorization
Well, it was two weeks ago now. I decided to go check up on my file at the Prefecture in hopes that it was close to finished. It was a Thursday afternoon and I arrived at the Prefecture around 2pm with the usual 50 people waiting (99% Arab and Algerian and 1% white). There are 3 windows that you can approach and for some bizarre reason everyone goes to the first window nearest the door. This is good for me since I am beginning to know well the queue at the Prefecture. I immediately headed to the 2nd window where the line was much shorter. After waiting about 30 minutes I reached the window. I asked the man behind the window in my best French if he could tell me what stage my file is at and if it would be finished before the end of the month because my job is dependent on me receiving this authorization before the end of the month. He took my passport typed in the some numbers on the computer and nothing came up so he told me that it had not been started yet. In fact, he told me that they were 7 weeks behind and still working on cases filed in December. So I left the Prefecture thinking I am screwed!!! I will not receive my papers in time and I will have to tell the company who has been waiting for 3 months now that I will not be able to work for them. AHHHHH!!!
I immediately went home and told Valerie about the predicament. She said she would try to call the Prefecture and get some info. I told her we should go back in person tomorrow so she could talk to them. I knew that she would ask better questions than me since I am still in the infancy of the French language. We decided that the best thing to do was to try and get the Prefecture to write some kind of letter stating that my file was in the process so I could give the company some notice. We knew this was a long shot but at the time our only shot.
The next morning she contacted the Prefecture. They told her that they were behind on processing files so she asked about the possibility of a letter stating the file was in the process. They said there was nothing they could do. She also asked about the possibility of speeding up the process and they told her that she would need to speak to the Chef de Service (boss). He apparently, has all the control.
So, back to the Prefecture we went. At the Prefecture we talked to the same guy and he said to Valerie the exact same thing he said to me. However, Valerie threw out the name of the Chef de Service and he said you can go upstairs to talk to him but, unfortunately, he is on vacation. But Of Course..........!!!! Anyway, he said we could at least talk to the underlings to see if they could help.
We have been to the Prefecture several times stating the same case and not once have we been told about an upstairs. Upstairs we went. Once upstairs we took a number and sat for another 30 minutes. When we were called we went into a small room where a lady sat. Valerie quickly explained our case to the lady. The lady then said let me go find your file and see what the situation is. As she left with my passport in hand she passed by another lady in the office and said, hey he is from the US. The other lady said really? She immediately got up and came over the window to tell us about her recent trip to Florida and how much she loved it!! She even told us that she was taking Country Western dancing and preceded to show us her cowboy boots. Needless, to say we were both laughing.
The lady who was helping us came back with NOOO file in hand and said she couldn't find my file. She asked, "Did you mail it in?" We said, "No, we turned it in downstairs." She was actually dumbfounded. She turned to the other lady and said my file was actually lost in the transition from downstairs to upstairs. Valerie and I turned to each other and once again that dreaded feeling washed over me. So the lady asked if we could fill out a file right now. We said we could however, we didn't have all the documents required. Then she asked what documents do you have so we gave her everything we could produce. Luckily it was most of the documents required aside from 3 passport photos and a proof of living together. Valerie said to the lady that we could comeback Monday. Per typical of the French she would be on vacation so she said no, we will complete this today. She told me to go downstairs and make some passport photos and then come right back up to her. Within 10 minutes I returned and within another 10 minutes Valerie and I were walking out of the Prefecture with the Working Authorization in hand.
Fricken Crazy!!! France is truly about speaking to the right person. If you come one day and get the wrong person just return another day and hope to speak with the right person.
I immediately went home and told Valerie about the predicament. She said she would try to call the Prefecture and get some info. I told her we should go back in person tomorrow so she could talk to them. I knew that she would ask better questions than me since I am still in the infancy of the French language. We decided that the best thing to do was to try and get the Prefecture to write some kind of letter stating that my file was in the process so I could give the company some notice. We knew this was a long shot but at the time our only shot.
The next morning she contacted the Prefecture. They told her that they were behind on processing files so she asked about the possibility of a letter stating the file was in the process. They said there was nothing they could do. She also asked about the possibility of speeding up the process and they told her that she would need to speak to the Chef de Service (boss). He apparently, has all the control.
So, back to the Prefecture we went. At the Prefecture we talked to the same guy and he said to Valerie the exact same thing he said to me. However, Valerie threw out the name of the Chef de Service and he said you can go upstairs to talk to him but, unfortunately, he is on vacation. But Of Course..........!!!! Anyway, he said we could at least talk to the underlings to see if they could help.
We have been to the Prefecture several times stating the same case and not once have we been told about an upstairs. Upstairs we went. Once upstairs we took a number and sat for another 30 minutes. When we were called we went into a small room where a lady sat. Valerie quickly explained our case to the lady. The lady then said let me go find your file and see what the situation is. As she left with my passport in hand she passed by another lady in the office and said, hey he is from the US. The other lady said really? She immediately got up and came over the window to tell us about her recent trip to Florida and how much she loved it!! She even told us that she was taking Country Western dancing and preceded to show us her cowboy boots. Needless, to say we were both laughing.
The lady who was helping us came back with NOOO file in hand and said she couldn't find my file. She asked, "Did you mail it in?" We said, "No, we turned it in downstairs." She was actually dumbfounded. She turned to the other lady and said my file was actually lost in the transition from downstairs to upstairs. Valerie and I turned to each other and once again that dreaded feeling washed over me. So the lady asked if we could fill out a file right now. We said we could however, we didn't have all the documents required. Then she asked what documents do you have so we gave her everything we could produce. Luckily it was most of the documents required aside from 3 passport photos and a proof of living together. Valerie said to the lady that we could comeback Monday. Per typical of the French she would be on vacation so she said no, we will complete this today. She told me to go downstairs and make some passport photos and then come right back up to her. Within 10 minutes I returned and within another 10 minutes Valerie and I were walking out of the Prefecture with the Working Authorization in hand.
Fricken Crazy!!! France is truly about speaking to the right person. If you come one day and get the wrong person just return another day and hope to speak with the right person.
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