daily life

End of Week One

| Tracy

Now that we’ve completed week one here are a few things we’ve learned so far.

1) If you set off the smoke detector three times, the hot water stops working.

2) If you stand still in Gambetta Square the pigeons will come after you like a scene from Hitchcock’s “The Birds.”

3) If you walk a 2-pound Chihuahua all stereotypical attitudes of French people no longer apply.

4) Not every gathering with flags and drums is a parade. Sometimes, it’s a strike with color and music and people dancing in the street.

Here are a few fun photos from week one.

Carcassonne Pizza Kiosk
Carcassonne Pizza Kiosk

Just around the corner and down a block is the Pizza Kiosk. Don’t all French neighborhoods have a Pizza Kiosk? No. Well we think they should!

A French staple?
A French staple?

No grocery store we’ve visited has had French Dressing, but they all have American Sauce.

Local butcher uses "scent advertising."
Local butcher uses “scent advertising.”

Business is slow around here on Sundays. Our neighborhood butcher has found an ingenious way to get the message out that he is open for a few hours on Sunday. The smell of rotisserie chicken and duck can be smelled the moment you open the front door. But we need to be sure to get there early, by 11 a.m. they are all gone!!

Oops, not naked dancing girls!!
Oops, not naked dancing girls!!

One must take a second look and READ the signage before guessing what a business actually is. At first glance we thought this might be a topless bar, upon closer inspection we found that it was a beauty school.

Trip to the Apple Store in Montpellier

| Tracy

We had to make a trip to the Apple Store today. My baby is sick and needs therapy. Those of you who own Macs will understand. The average PC just needs a medic, a Mac needs a therapist. The actual report listed a “panic attack.” Apparently that is what it’s called when your MacBook doesn’t understand what it’s supposed to do next, it has a panic attack and reboots, all on it’s own. It’s kinda freaky to experience since Macs tend to be pretty hardy, at least mine have always been, so when it got sick I got worried. Thankfully we anticipated future issues when we bought the MacBooks 2 1/2 years ago and purchased the Apple Care Warranty so the new logic board will be replaced free of charge.

I was a little worried that with practically no French language skills that it might be difficult to explain the problem, so last night I stayed up late and used Google Translate to translate into French the problems I was having, what the report said, and a couple of helpful phrases like “May I use one of the computers to open Google Translate.” This trick has been pretty helpful over the last 6 days. When we get stuck with pronunciation, we just hand the person the notebook. Alan did this at the train station on Friday when we had to purchase tickets for today’s jaunt to Montpellier (a 2 hour train ride from Carcassonne, with a transfer in Narbonne — you really want to get the right tickets). Amazingly, though, today I didn’t really need it as the young man at the Genius Bar spoke very good English, and with a Scottish Brogue — which is always pleasant to the ear (Cheers Gregory).

We have found that by using this little trick of anticipating what we may need to say and then attempting to say it in French prior to handing over the notebook is actually getting us a really nice response from the French people we’ve been interacting with. In nearly every case, the person has switched from French to English — except the poor gal at the Post Office, but sign language helps too, not as in American Sign Language, but that sign language you would use with a small child or an animal where you point to something and then to something else like the section on the certified mail receipt and the address your sending mail too. But it’s been working and we’re getting by without too much trouble.

The people that intimidate me are the ones that start speaking in French after you’ve said “Bonjour!” and think you may actually know the language, it’s kind of sad and a bit of a poke to the ego to see the look of disappointment come into their eyes when they realize that’s all the French I know. Oddly enough, Kiara doesn’t seem to have the same problem. Apparently cute is cute in any language and the “aww” that escapes peoples lips when they realize she’s a social butterfly sounds pretty much the same in English, French, and Japanese (at least I think they were from Japan, they were super friendly regardless).

Anyway, for today’s adventure we had to navigate the train system, Carcassonne to Narbonne, a switch of trains then Narbonne to Montpellier, then outside the Gare du le Montpellier, Saint-Roch (train station) to the tram across the street to the Odysseum Mall. We found the Apple Store with an hour or so to kill so we had coffee and danish (chocolatey, warm and yummy) and wandered through some stores. We came across a place called Geant Casino and it’s like the Walmart of France. Great deals, huge lines and an entire aisle of hair care appliances. YIPPEE!! While they did not have the In-Styler I was hoping to find, they did have something similar, and that was good enough for me. Blow dryers are nice by they are not exactly a styling tool, the girls out there will understand.

We also found that the Montpellier IKEA was in the same area so we decided to check that out after the Apple Store appointment. Swedish meatballs . . . need I say more. While we did see Subway and McDonalds franchises, we passed right by those without a second glance. But when we found the cafeteria in IKEA and the sign showed Swedish Meatballs on the menu, that was right up our alley. I am a pretty good cook, but I’ve never been able to make meatballs that don’t taste like little round hamburgers. It was like Mecca for the tummy. And they serve wine, by the glass, by the bottle and even from a miniature wine cask where you can fill a tiny carafe with about 6 oz of wine . . . Alan liked that very much. I cheated and had my first soda in a week, not my first choice but red wine when I’m cold and wet has the same effects as taking a sleeping pill for me.

On our way back to the Gare du le Montpellier, Saint-Roch we noted that we still had about 90 minutes to kill before our train was leaving, so upon arrival at the tram stop, we headed over to the Jardin (garden) at the intersection of the train and  tram stations. It’s obvious spring is on its way here in the Languedoc with everything budding up ready to bloom, but I was still surprised to see the amount and variety of flowers already in full bloom in the jardin. It was raining and we were fully loaded down with purchases from the mall, but I still managed a couple of photos that were not half bad.

After a few minutes of wandering through the garden, we had had just about enough of the rain and headed to the Brasserie du le Gare and ordered up a couple of espressos and sat in the warm, cozy interior until it was time to head to the train.

Upon arrival in Carcassonne, we hopped off the train and started the .6 miles back to our apartment. It is rather amazing how fast a half-mile can become a “short” walk to someone who no longer owns a car. We have been averaging several miles per day on foot and after six days, it is hardly even noticed anymore . . . the rain however, is another story. We are looking forward to the dry season, as one gets plenty tired of being wet really quickly. On a side note: I now own a new umbrella!

At Gare de Carcassonne for our first train trip!
Yeah! Almost Time to Go!
A nod to the daughter, Dallas, who is also quite talented with a spray can and canvas.
Full bloom at the Jardin

Dog on a Plane (Part Two)

| Alan

Finally, D-Day (Departure Day!)

On Easter morning, Sunday the 31st, we checked out of our hotel room and headed to Reno-Tahoe International Airport with all our (much downsized) worldly possessions and Kiara the Chihuahua.

I dropped Tracy, Kiara, and the bags out in front of the main terminal and swung around to return the rental car.  As I walked back to the terminal I found our niece Lyssa, her husband Chris, and baby Selah saying farewell to Tracy and Kiara. Tracy also had for Lyssa a bag of 110 volt hair care appliances that would completely “self-destruct” if used with Europe’s 220 voltage system. With final good-byes complete we headed inside to check-in with Delta Airlines.

To our surprise we found that our two checked bags would go all the way through to Toulouse. No having to reclaim the bags for customs inspection in Paris. Yippee!

The we met Delta agent, Sarah. What a joy! She was extremely helpful ensuring Kiara was booked for cabin travel with us on every leg of the flight. She made sure we had copies of Kiara’s cabin booking to show the gate agents in Salt Lake City and Paris, if needed. Especially in Paris where we would switch from Delta to Air France.

Interesting to note that with the exception of asking if we had Kiara’s veterinary and USDA clearances, no one ever actually examined the documents. Although we will need the documents for the French veterinarian for Kiara’s EU Pet Passport, apparently we could have flown without all the effort of seeing the vet and USDA. But we operate on the “better safe than sorry” principle and we didn’t want the nightmare of being stopped at customs in Paris and refused admission or worse, Kiara being quarantined.

Although Kiara had to stay in her carrier aboard the plane, the gate agents in Reno-Tahoe, Salt Lake City and Charles De Gaulle airports graciously allowed Kiara to get out of her carrier, stretch her legs, and “strut her stuff” as an international jet-setter, a status she has long aspired to.

Kiara slept quietly and did not seem upset by the flights, although she would have been happier in one of our laps. Tracy did the closest thing possible to that with putting Kiara’s carrier in her lap with slipping her hand through the zippered door. No problems even medicating Kiara while enroute, though Tracy did forewarn the flight attendants that it would be necessary to do so because of her medical condition. Thankfully the flight attendants were more than understanding regarding the medication issue.

Upon our arrival in Toulouse we had the most amazing surprise of all . . . our checked luggage actually arriving with us! It was quite the relief to realize that there IS an airline that can get both you and your luggage to the same destination, at the same time. A feat that United, US Airways and Continental Airlines have never, ever been able to accomplish . . . ever!

Our final surprise was that our new landlords, British expats Jason and Annette, happened to be in Toulouse dropping off some paperwork for their daughter and offered to swing by the airport to pick us up rather than Tracy and I taking the train to Carcassonne. They were kind enough to drive us (and our luggage) the 54 miles to our apartment. That let Kiara ride in our laps for the final lap to our new home, and gave us a chance to get acquainted with another expat couple.

In all, the trip for Kiara (and us) was minimally traumatic, although our new “Miss International Diva” believes she now merits living in the adjacent castle of  la Cité de Carcassonne. In the mean time, we are settling into our new apartment . . . without issue, well mostly without issue.

Today’s Lessons

| Tracy

Some people learn by watching others, some people learn by reading and doing, some of us learn by trial and error. Here are today’s lessons:

Our daily routine has suffered a bit being nine hours off of a lifetime schedule. We have found over the last few days that naps help, but that we also get up at the ungodly hour of 3 a.m. when we have had one. That being said, this morning at 6:30 a.m. we found out several truths about making friends with our neighbors.

1: 3 a.m. is an unreasonable time for any living person, over the age of 30, to be wide-awake.

2: 6:30 a.m. is an unreasonable time for any living person, who is retired, to be wide-awake.

3: Being wide-awake for hours on end in the dead of night does not help one make good decisions.

4: Breakfast at 6:30 a.m. is a reasonable idea if:

a: one remembers that one is not alone in the building

b: one remembers to turn on the fan above the oven

c: one remembers to not burn anything when the fan is off

d: one has the slightest clue where the shut off switch is to the smoke alarm

Lesson 1: One does not make friends, in France or elsewhere, by waking them up at the horribly early hour of 6:30 a.m. with a screaming alarm for nearly 20 minutes. Suffice it to say that we are extremely blessed that no one called the fire department as we do not have the language skills to explain ourselves.

Lesson 2: When moving into a new apartment learn how to turn off things that make loud noises.

Lesson 3: Turning off the main power switch from the circuit breaker does not cut the power to a hard-wired smoke detector with a battery backup.

Lesson 4: A man of 6’4″ and a cane of 3’4″ does not equal enough height to remove the battery from the smoke detector of an apartment with 15 ft ceilings.

The award for French faux-pax #1 goes to the Husband. And I must add that even after 20 minutes of trying to silence the smoke detector my eggs were wonderful if just a bit chilled. Tomorrow we should try them again without the alarm!!

First Visit to La Cite

| Tracy

Our first visit to La Cite was quite an experience . . . and we still haven’t made it past the second wall! La Cite is a double-walled fortress here in Carcassonne and it is quite magnificent. It sits atop a hillside east of our apartment across the Pont Vieux (old bridge). The walls are well over three feet thick and dwarf anyone standing near them. It doesn’t take long for you to start imagining yourself as the leader of an army attempting to gain entry into this fortress.

La Cite has over 3 kilometers of outer wall, nearly 1.6 miles, and we wandered through approx. 500 yards in all on this first visit. We headed over from our apartment about 20 minutes before sunset and approached the avenue that goes up the hill to one of the entrances between the two outer walls. From our vantage point we could see seven of the 52 towers on the outer walls.

The wall was built over centuries and it is apparent even with this first visit that the architecture of the times changed throughout the building process. We noted both romanesque and gothic arches built within a space of a few feet of one another. Overall the outer wall appears very romanesque in design which makes sense since most of the walls were built over the original Roman foundations from approx. 100 BC.

The colors are amazing in the early evening, the sky is very, very blue and the grassy hillside is very, very green which gives La Cite an almost cartoonish feel of color, especially in photographs.

While we were exploring we met a group of people on their way to the round tower to the left of area we were exploring and on our way back home, we noted there were flames and fire spinning and drumming happening in that open turret.

Not a bad first experience.

Final 24

| Tracy

Hours that is.

We are under the 24 hour mark and have successfully moved out of the apartment and into the hotel. Props to the Quality Inn at Virginia and Plumb for being dog-friendly and having a wonderful outdoor space for Kiara to soak up some sun and nibble on cherry-blossoms (they must taste great!)

We have repacked our luggage  . . .  yet again, and successfully managed to fit everything into two checked bags and two carry-on bags (well one carry-on and Kiara for me!).

We have downloaded the Delta app and logged in for updates/changes to our flight itinerary, but decided to do the check-in in person since we have luggage and the dog to check-in tomorrow morning.

But we are READY, very ready, and the nice spring day is making it all the more difficult to deal with the anticipation. Just a few more hours Reno and then we’ll on our way to Carcassonne and a brand-new adventure!

This is our last State-side post friends, the next one will be live after we settle into our new place.

Au Revoir!

Dog on a Plane

| Alan

“How are you flying to Europe with Kiara?”  “Is there a quarantine on arrival?” “Can she fly in the cabin or does she have to go in the hold?”

Getting ready to fly to Europe with Kiara the Chihuahua has been a challenge.  Lots of research to find the right way to bring a pet to Europe.

First, there are a limited number of international airlines that allow pets to fly in the cabin.  We want Kiara to fly in the cabin with us.  Flying is stressful enough for dogs and there are all sort of horror stories about pets flying in the cargo holds of aircrafts.  Over Saint Patrick’s Day this year, a dog that was enroute from Newark to Phoenix was accidentally shipped to Ireland.  We decided on Delta as our airline choice for this trip.

In order to be allowed in the cabin, pets are limited to a maximum weight of 9 to 20 pounds depending on the airline.  Kiara is only 2 and a half pounds so we had lots of leeway.  Pug-nosed (brachycephalic) cats and dogs are not allowed to fly because of their high incident of in-flight deaths.

There are a limited number of pets allowed in the cabin depending on the aircraft.  Most commonly the limit is two pets in first class, two pets in business class, and a maximum of four in economy.  Delta no longer allows pets in first or business class on international flights.  We had to make a reservation for Kiara early to ensure a spot for her.  We pay an extra $200 fare for Kiara to fly in the cabin.

The dog carrier must be an approved model that is leak-proof, ventilated, and able to fit under the seat.  Tracy loses her carry-on “personal item” to bring Kiara’s in-cabin carrier.

Kiara has a seizure disorder and takes two anticonvulsant medications every twelve hours.  We have a TSA approved cooler pouch for her meds.  We will have to give a her a dose of medicine while enroute.

Finally, there is all the required paperwork to take a pet abroad.  In order to avoid having Kiara quarantined on arrival in the European Union, there is a specific process to get a United States Interstate and International Certificate of Health Examination for Small Animals” from the US Department of Agriculture.  (Seriously, exporting dogs internationally comes under the jurisdiction of the US Department of Agriculture.)  The airlines requires a final health clearance be performed no more than ten days before arrive in Europe.

So last Friday Kiara had a complete veterinary exam from her own veterinarian (who must be USDA accredited) with boosters for all vaccinations and a rabies inoculation “at least 30 days before travel but not more than 12 months” with a rabies certificate issued. The doctor completed the forms in both English and French and faxed the paperwork to the USDA office for preliminary review.  Our nearest USDA office is in Sacramento, California.  We then waited until our veterinarian telephoned us back Friday afternoon to tell us the paperwork looked good to the USDA and we can pick up the original forms from Kiara’s vet’s office.

Today we took a four-hour road trip to Sacramento and back to visit the USDA to get Kiara’s health paperwork certified.  USDA-Sacramento was friendly, helpful, and it only took the USDA’s veterinarian about 20 minutes sign off, stamp, and certify the paperwork.  We believe we are now ready for Kiara to join us on the airplane on Sunday.

Fingers crossed that all the research and work pays off on Sunday.

We Are Pedestrians And A Granddaughter Visit

| Alan

We are rushing toward our departure date and frantically working on our final minimizing with 29 days to go.

We needed to sell our last remaining car.  We really wanted to have that major “loose end” completed with the car sold with registration and insurance cancelled before we leave.  In addition to listing the car on Cars.com and Craigslist, the Mercedes-Benz/Smart Car  dealership’s very helpful representative, Emily, had previously sent an e-mail about their Buy-Back program.  Apparently it is difficult to maintain Smart cars in their used car inventory since the owners hate to part with them.  A road trip to the Mercedes dealership in Sacramento resulted in a sold car.

For the first time since 1973, I am without a vehicle.  I really enjoyed the Smart car over the last four years.  The weather over the last week was pleasant enough to have the ragtop down.  I so understand now how Tracy felt after she sold her convertible.  After years of used minivans, station wagons, and SUVs, it was a real pleasure to have cars we enjoyed driving every day.  Tracy and I are now totally pedestrians.  We will sparingly rent a car or use the bus for our remaining transportation needs.

In between working and running errands this week we had the pleasure of granddaughter Lorelei visiting from Utah.  Although Lorelei was fighting an illness we did get some time for games and trip to the park.

Second Packing Trial Run, Carmel, and San Martin

| Alan

As our countdown gets below 40 days until we depart, we keep finding there is still more and more tasks to get done.  We made a quick drive over to San Martin, California to see Tracy’s Aunt Debbie and Uncle Gerry.

We delivered some family heirlooms Tracy received from her grandfather, Deb’s father.  With our efforts with minimizing possessions, we have been distributing keepsakes to family members before we go.  Tracy brought photos, papers, memorabilia  collector money, and a family Bible from her grandfather that she thought should go back to her Aunt Deb.  We also asked Deb to keep a three-inch binder of legal documents for us:  certified birth certificates, marriage and divorce paperwork, baptismal certificates, etc.  We are bringing a smaller zippered binder with us to Europe with our essential legal documents.  Debbie is kind enough to hold our extended paperwork collection should we need any additional documents while abroad. Deb would be able to send needed documents by DHL when and if the need occurs.

We were able to squeeze in a hike in at Uvas Canyon County Park and Waterfalls.  Deb and Mac the dog guided Tracy, Kiara, and me through the green, lush park.  Great hiking trail with scenic bridges, flowing streams, multiple waterfalls, and quiet pools.  One of those amazing “pocket parks” tucked away unexpectedly at the end of a county road.

The next day we drove to Carmel-by-the-Sea.  Carmel is a favorite locale of ours and the visit let “California Girl” Tracy see the Pacific Ocean a final time before we relocate.  It was a beautiful day walking along the beach, watching the waves, looking up at Pebble Beach golf course, and a picnic lunch.  Dog-friendly Carmel welcomed Kiara to have her first visit to the ocean and opportunity to walk along the beach.

On our way back home we discussed the logistics of travelling with eight bags and whether or not we needed to rent a car in Toulouse in order to transport it all to Carcassonne.  We decided we could minimize our luggage still further from our first practice run packing our luggage.  We believe we could lighten the load from a three bedroom house to luggage still more.

We repacked our bags using our first packing list.  We started this time with eight bags weighing a total of 270 pounds.  We then unpacked and split the contents into “must have,” “maybe,” and “eliminate” piles.  It wasn’t just the idea that extra bags cost progressively more, it was the realization of the work and potential frustration trying to move eight bags with only two arms each.  We considered the cost of replacement versus the cost for items compared to re-buying the item in France, the necessity of having the item in the first place, and the frequency of use for the item. Could we justify a $100 for an extra bag, $285 for a third or fourth bag?  Could we justify having rent a vehicle to transport luggage rather than just using public transportation?  Would the replacement of an item be difficult or extremely costly in France?

Immediately we reconsidered the books we slated to bring. We are “book people” and wanted art, history, and language references to come with us, but you just don’t realize the weight of a stack of books.  We had already gone digital with Kindles for our recreational reading, so we reduced the number of physical books to just a few art books.   We decided to scan and digitize the remaining books into PDF files we could upload to our computers and Kindles.

We further eliminated packing materials, a few clothing items, some carry bags, decorator items, and an additional “back-up” camera.  We decided to pass some additional keepsake items on to the kids. I replaced my previous carry-on bag with the maximum size possible carry-on bag.  We re-shuffled and re-organized the contents from eight bags down to six bags weighing 200 pounds total:  a single checked bag and a carry-on bag each, with a camera bag for me, and Kiara’s carrier for Tracy.

The final results was that we eliminated two checked duffel bags and 70 pounds from our initial packing practice.  Tracy is already talking about a third trial run to maybe eliminate still more.