Tracy and I have never been so excited to receive a bill in our lives; yet we were smiling like new parents when we checked the mail and found our first electricity bill from EDF (Électricité de France). Also like a new parent, we photographed it, scanned it, and placed it carefully back in its envelope for safe keeping.
“Your electrical bill is the most important document you own.”
Ah, the justificatif de domicile. Proof of residence is perhaps the most sought-after document in your personal arsenal of administrative papers. If you want to get your driver’s license, renew your passport, open a savings account (yes, at the same bank where you’ve had a checking account for the last two years) or do anything else involving a visit to a guichet (service counter like DMV), you’ll need to prove where you live. No, the address on the back of your state-issued ID card doesn’t cut it. You’ll need to print or dig out an electrical bill less than three months old.”
“You keep a relatively recent electric bill in your purse; never know when you’ll need to prove your address… again.”
Our previous rental contracts in France included the cost of utilities, so we never had to obtain an electricity, gas, or water account. That has frequently created a bureaucratic issue for us as to how to establish our physical address. Just like visiting the Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) back in the US, French government agencies have specific lists of approved documents they will accept as documentation.
Tracy and I have managed over the last few years in France without a utility bill to serve as our justificatif de domicile (proof of physical address) by using alternative methods to establish our physical address like: 1.) having the bank send a registered letter to our apartment and returning it to the bank also by registered mail, 2.) producing a rental contract with a stack of signed rent receipts (having our own Quittance de Loyer book [rental receipt book] has repeatedly been a lifesaver for us), 3.) obtaining an “attestation sur l’honneur” (an affidavit) of occupation from our landlord, and 4.) obtaining from the Mairie (town hall) a memorandum stating we were residents of that town and listing our physical address.
Now, just in time for our application process for our third annual renewal of our Carte de Séjour (our Residency Permits, what in the US would be our “Green Cards”), we now possess the “Holy Grail” of French identity documents, an electricity bill.
With moving to new unfurnished apartment (A Change of Address) in Argelès-sur-Mer, Tracy and I were faced with getting broadband internet service, something that had always been included as part of our previous furnished apartment rentals. We very much rely on the internet for our communication and entertainment.
There are numerous options for internet service in France: Alice, Bouygues Telecom, Free,Orange, SFR, and additional smaller providers. Since we lack the language skills to really comparison shop well, we took the easy path by selecting Orange (formerly known as France Télécom), the largest national brand who provides service to more than 40% of France’s internet customers. A large “plus” for us was that Orange has an English language customer service line (+33 09 69 36 39 00) for sales, questions, service, and trouble-shooting. We liked the security of being able to resolve possible future problems in English rather than attempting to do so using our very limited French.
Orange logo
I telephoned Orange, spoke with a service representative, and had the account arranged in a few minutes. Installation was scheduled for a two-hour window in six days. Between my phone call and the appointment, I was told to expect the “LiveBox” (a combined modem and wireless router) to be delivered to our new apartment by La Poste (the French Post Office.) The LiveBox device did arrived two days later. I also received also an e-mail reminder of my installation appointment (with the option to “click” on a button to delay the installation if necessary) and a mailed “hard copy” of my contract with Orange.)
Six days later while we were waiting to go to the apartment to meet the installation technician at 3:00, we received a phone call at 1:00 saying that the technician was ahead of schedule and asked if we could meet him early. We went right over to the apartment and met our technician. He set up the apartment’s LiveBox, went to the end of the block used his truck’s “snorkel” to “switch on” the connection on the telephone pole, and then went to the main control box down the block to activate our service. The LiveBox is only the size of a hardback book and it is a “stand-alone” unit that does not require that it be connected to a dedicated computer.
The whole installation was done in less than an hour. We then had active broadband internet as well as landline phone service that is included with the account.
Orange LiveBox
In France the norm for internet service is by ADSL (Asymmetric Digital Subscriber Line) carried over the copper telephone lines. France is the second largest ADSL market in Europe after Germany.
An issue we had over the last year has been the slow internet speed and narrow bandwidth at our prior apartment in Argelès-sur-Mer. While the landlord’s provided internet service was technically “broadband,” at best it measured at .52 Mbps, most often at .42 Mbps with frequent periods of even slower and sometimes complete outages. Several times I attempted an internet ‘speed test’ and the return was so slow the test “timed out” with no results possible. Tracy, who enjoys Netflix, often had an episode repeatedly interrupted and she was forced to sit and watch the frozen show buffer and buffer and buffer and buffer. Uploading photos to Facebook could be problematic, YouTube videos might never actually load, and often we both could not be on the internet at the same time. Our biggest problem occurred when the internet was out-of-service during the November 13, 2015 Paris terrorist attacks and friends and family were unable to reach us to confirm our safety.
Our new internet service “speed test” shows an increase of more than 20 times faster download speed with at least 10.5 Mbps and a 300% increase in upload speed. The difference in “Ping” return is much better; 32 ms for our new service compared to an average 678 ms at the old apartment.
Netflix recommends a broadband connection speed of at least 1.5 Mbps download for standard viewing and 5.0 Mbps for high-definition. Skype recommends 0.1 Mbps for voice calls, 0.5 Mbps for video calls and 1.5 Mbps for HD video calls. (But since most speed tests measure download and upload speeds separately, a person making a Skype call needs higher internet speeds than the minimum recommendations because the communication is in two directions at the same time.)
While we were moving items to the new apartment this morning and putting together a new shelf unit, I received a follow-up call from Orange. They wanted to double-check how our appointment went, if everything was working properly and if we were pleased with the technician who installed our service. Very nice customer service from Orange so far.
So along with the excitement of moving into our new apartment, Tracy and I are thrilled to once more have efficient internet access and that the whole process was simple and easy.
So with Tracy and I “upping our game” from living in a “furnished one year vacation rentals” to taking on a “Bail de Trois” (standard three-year lease) of an unfurnished apartment (A Change of Address), our real estate agent Camille advised us we needed to obtain renter’s insurance before we can take possession of the new apartment’s keys. Contrary to renting a furnished apartment, there is an “obligation on the tenant of an unfurnished tenancy to take out insurance against the risk of fire, explosion, and infiltration of water etc. for which they may be responsible. The minimum insurance required by a tenant is for risques locatifs, but a more prudent policy would be for multi-risques d’habitation, which would include damage or theft to personal belongings. The tenant is required to supply the landlord with a copy of the insurance certificate each year.” (French-Property.com)
Asking Camille if she had any insurance companies she recommended, she advised us there are many insurance companies available, but the quickest and simplest way would simply be contacting our French bank for coverage. (Yes, in France you can get home, vehicle, and supplemental health insurance at the bank. Pet insurance, too. Equally odd to US expats, you can set up a bank account and buy cell phones at the Post Office.) With visions of 1.) a long difficult conversation in our stumbling French, 2.) difficult to understand contract options – all in French legalese, and 3.) a delay in obtaining insurance resulting in a delay in getting the new apartment, we steeled ourselves and headed to our local branch of BNP Paribas.
The bank receptionist was very helpful and was happy to try to complete our request for renter’s insurance, although she did not speak English, she was patient with listening to our poor French. After a moment she enlisted the help of Julien, a conseiller de clientèle bancaire (bank officer), who spoke English and who could make the transaction easier. Julien’s excellent English was the result of working in his youth for a year outside Detroit as an au pair and then spending his final month in the US driving Route 66 across America. His wife and he had just returned from a vacation in New York City.
Julien made the process easy with €20,000 worth of liability, theft, and damage coverage for about €14 a month. (More than enough coverage with Tracy and my minimalist lifestyle.) We elected to pay an annual premium rather than a monthly payment. Three signatures and we had the document required for our real estate agent, an Attestation d’Assurance Habitation. We don’t think we ever purchased insurance coverage as easily before. Quick, painless, and fun discussions with Julien about his experiences in America.
In 2014, my Aunt Deb and I hiked from St. Jean Pied-de-Port to Los Arcos, caught a bus to Logrono and a train from Logrono to Sarria, then hiked the last 100 kilometers from Sarria to Santiago de Compostela. It rained a lot in 2014, but I finally had the opportunity to cross the Pyrenees (in 2013 we took the southern route through Valcarlos). What I really enjoyed though was spending the two weeks with Deb. She’s one of my personal role models and a woman I respect very much. She loves the outdoors and I enjoyed every mile we hiked together. She has a fantastic sense of humor, is quick to laugh, shares my love of occasional junk food binges, can hike 20 kilometers a day for weeks without seeming tired, and doesn’t mind getting up early. It was a fantastic journey and I’m so glad that she shared it with me.
But as Alan and I were discussing vacation options (such as Marrakech, a cruise from Venice to Greece, etc.) the husband mentioned that he was a little jealous of my trek in 2014 with my aunt. So I suggested that we do it again, the whole 800 kilometers. We figure that cruise lines will always be headed to Greece, that Marrakech will always be a short flight from France, but the ability and desire to hike 800 kilometers across Spain may wane over time. So we’re gearing up and going again in September/October 2015.
We’ve compiled a new equipment list based on our experiences in 2013 (see 2013 Equipment Review) hoping to learn from our first trek and make changes according to our own reviews of the equipment we chose for 2013. Our idea of “wear one, wash one” worked very well for the entire six weeks and we plan to stay with that idea except for socks. As we mentioned again and again in 2013, foot care is the most important issue on the Camino. Dry socks = happy feet. So we’ll bring extras!:)
One of the biggest bonuses with living in Argelès-sur-Mer within the Pyrénées-Orientales Department has been Le Bus à 1€ (the €1 Bus), a public transportation system providing bus service throughout the department with dozens of bus routes to scores of cities. This is an amazingly useful and economical way for Tracy and I to travel since we have elected not to buy a car.
Our transportation for the day.
With a €1 Bus stop 100 yards from our front door, it is actually more convenient for us to take the €1 Bus to Perpignan to go to the large supermarket shopping there than to walk to the smaller supermarket that is in Argelès. The current bus schedule list 19 buses a day from Argelès to Perpignan, Monday through Saturday, starting at 6:50 am until 8:40 pm. There is a reduced bus schedule on Sundays. In July and August there are additional routes during the summer season connecting the small beach towns along the Côte Vermeille. Additionally there is an expanded schedules for regular routes during these peak summer months.
1€ Bus Schedules
The €1 Bus service is provided by the Conseil Général des Pyrénées-Orientales, an elected board of 31 Conseillers Généraux (one for each of the 31 Cantons of the Pyrénées-Orientales) and a Chairman. Members of the Conseiller Général are elected for a 6 year term. The Conseil Général decides public policy at the department level similar to the role and responsibilities of a county commission in the United States.
1€ Bus Map
For the price of a single Euro each (currently about $1.11), we can reach nearly anywhere in the Pyrénées-Orientales. The tickets also allow transfers for two hours to other bus routes traveling in the same direction within the €1 Bus system. That means we can take the bus from Argelès to Perpignan for €1, do some shopping, get on a different bus still outbound within the two-hour transfer time limit, and go to Prade for lunch. A return ticket for €1 each will bring us back to Argelès. A traveler would spend more on gasoline than the €2 cost of a round-trip on the bus. (Currently gasoline costs about €1.37 a liter, about $1.50. There are 3.8 liters to a gallon, so gasoline would cost about $5.70 a gallon.)
1€ Bus Tickets
The buses are clean, modern, and comfortable motor coaches. They are dog-friendly and Sami the MinPin can travel with us with the use of a travel bag while she is inside the bus. There are overhead racks for backpacks and under-the-bus-carriage storage for large suitcases or even bicycles. There are even several “Réso 66” stops, “Park and Ride” locations where commuters to park their cars for free and let the bus drive them to work or school. The bus drivers are friendly and helpful, but pretty much they exclusively speak French (if the drivers do speak a second language it’s most probably Spanish or Catalan.) But between our very basic French language skills, pointing at the stop we want on the map, or showing the driver a promotional brochure for a tourist sight, we have not had any problem communicating. (And there is always the red “Stop” button to indicate that you want off the bus.)
€1 Bus Interior
Tracy and I have been making great use of the €1 Bus for our Micro-Adventures. With just €4, a camera, a bottle of water, an inquisitive MinPin, and a picnic lunch, we have an entire day’s entertainment exploring in the Pyrénées-Orientales.
Tracy enjoying one of our Micro-Adventures at Les Orgues d’Ille-sur-Têt, which we reached by the €1 Bus
While we were doing our final preparations to move from Carcassonne to Argelès-sur-Mer, we received an e-mail from our future landlord that our letters from the Préfecture des Pyrénées–Orientales notifying us that our Cartes de Séjour (residency permits) were ready for pick-up. We decided to wait the until we completed our move before we would go to collect our new cards. It had taken the Préfecture about three weeks to officially approve and produce our new Cartes de Séjour.
We moved to our new residence, unpacked, settled-in, completed and submitted our US tax return, shopped for kitchen basics, found the local open-air market, got to know Argelès-sur-Mer’s public transportation system, met a couple from Collioure for drinks, and even hosted friends overnight who were on a vacation through France.
We sorted out the “€1 Bus” schedule to Perpignan and left early on a Thursday morning with the documents the notification letter said were required: our passports, current Cartes de Séjour, €106 payment each in timbres fiscaux (tax stamps), and the notification letter. I double-checked the letter and we headed to the Préfecture des Pyrénées–Orientales in Perpignan.
“Le Bus à €1” – Conseil Général Pyrénées–Orientales
The trip went flawlessly . . . almost. We correctly figured out the regional bus schedule from Argelès to Perpignan, we remembered the path from the station to the prefecture without error, we successfully planned enough transit time to enjoy a leisurely cup of café crème in a nearby cafe, and we were waiting at the right door when the immigration office opened for business. We were feeling very pleased with our skills navigating life as “strangers in a strange land.”
However, I made the embarrassing and very rookie error while reading our notification letters and mis-translated “mercredi et vendredi” (Wednesday and Friday) as “du mercredi au vendredi” (Wednesday through Friday.) That day was, of course, a Thursday. So we spent the remainder of the day exploring Perpignan, took photos, enjoying a nice lunch before catching the bus back to Argelès.
The next day, Friday, we repeated our inadvertent “trial run” and returned to the Préfecture des Pyrénées–Orientales in Perpignan. This time everything did go flawlessly. We enjoyed our morning café crème, was near the front of the line when the Préfecture’s immigration opened, and the receptionist gave us the first two numbers to be called to the service windows. Tracy had our documents well-organized and our immigration official very professionally processed our forms and payment and issued us our new Cartes de Séjour with receipts complete with digital photos should we lose our cards.
It took eleven minutes from walking into the Préfecture to walking back out with our new Cartes de Séjour tucked in our wallets. We are now all set for another year of living in France.
The issue we expected to deal with was that we were moving to the city of Argelès-sur-Mer during the same week that our current Cartes de Séjourexpire. The new city is in a different department than where we currently live (a department is one of the three levels of government below the national level, between regions and communes.) These administrative levels of French government are roughly analogous as US states to French regions, US counties to French departments, and US cities to French communes. Because of the change in physical location we had the question, “Do we renew in our current department or at the one where we will actually be living for the duration of the permit?”
After double-checking with both prefectures (a prefecture being the government office that performs national level business at the local level – think visiting a “Federal Building” in the US) we learned that the Préfecture des Pyrénées–Orientales would prefer to handle our renewal (although the Préfecture de l’Aude very kindly told us they would be happy to help and do the renewal if there was any problems.) So after two visits to the Préfecturedel’Aude and a couple of e-mails to the Préfecture des Pyrénées–Orientales I was a finally able to request an appointment date.
“Take a Number”
We now knew “when” and “where,” the next step was “what.” Although immigration is performed by the national government, we have been told that there is some discretion at the individual préfet offices in issuing renewals for Cartes de Séjour. The Préfecture de l’Aude provides an in-house form and check-list of “what” supporting documents are required. Not knowing “what” documents the Préfecture des Pyrénées–Orientales may require and in an attempt to avoid a four-hour round-trip train ride to Perpignan, I requested the correct renewal forms and check-list from that préfet by mail and by e-mail. Yes, I know it’s redundant for both, but I wanted to make sure I received a response so that we had plenty of time to acquire all the supporting documents before the appointment. I’m sure anyone who has ever gotten turned away at a window at the Department of Motor Vehicles because of a forgotten document can relate.
The Préfecture des Pyrénées–Orientales very promptly responded with a confirmation date for our renewal appointment, the renewal forms required, and a list of supporting documents that need to accompany the renewal application. The forms themselves simply asked for identification information (i.e. name, date of birth, address, nationality, and such) and the required documents is a short list (the originals to be brought with us and copies to be attached to the application):
1. Current Carte de Séjour (residency permit) that is being renewed.
Carte de Sejour
2. Passport with copies of pages with identification information, expiration dates, entry stamps, and visas.
3. Marriage certificate since our passports do not confirm marital status. This document was not specifically on our list from the Préfecture des Pyrénées–Orientales but marital status was mentioned on the copies of passport pages. A marriage certificate was also not on the required document list at our previous renewal, but was requested during that appointment. We always opt for the “better safe than sorry” theory so the marriage certificate was included with our application. We carry our dossier file to all government meetings, our dossier file is a binder-briefcase that contains all our important documents in case an additional document is requested.
4. Birth certificate.
5. Proof of the location of residency with a utility bill and our landlord’s identification information. Our new landlord was happy to provide that information as was our current landlord during last year’s renewal.
6. Three recent passport-style photographs. There are passport photo machines in a dozen locations around Carcassonne. Photos are required with almost all government applications.
7. €106 payment each in timbres fiscaux (tax stamps.) The tax stamps are sold in specific Tabacs (tobacco and convenience stores.)
Tax Stamps (timbres fiscaux)
8. Proof of financial independence equivalent to 12 times the monthly French minimum wage (in our case with bank statements and pension confirmation letter from the Nevada Public Employees Retirement System [NV PERS] as retirees.)
9. Sworn handwritten attestation not to exercise any occupation in France. (There was actually an attestation on the form that could be filled in.)
10. Self-addressed, stamped envelopes.
All of these documents and items were then obtained over January and February. In several cases it takes a couple of weeks to process the requests plus transit time in the mail. Some agencies or companies will only mail to our “official” US address and then that document has to be re-mailed to us in France, which Tracy’s sister graciously handles for us.
Tracy (AKA the “Queen of Organization”) arranged and organized our applications exactly in the order of the checklist we were provided. There was one folder for me and one for her in the event we saw separate officials rather than together as a couple. (We have so far always had “couple” appointments.)
Carte de Sejour Renewal Paperwork
On our appointment date of March 2 we traveled by train the 114 kilometers (71 miles) to Perpignan. Since this was the first time we have visited Perpignan, we built-in a “cushion” of extra time in order to locate the Préfecture des Pyrénées–Orientales, do a bit of sight-seeing, and enjoy a leisurely lunch before our appointment.
The train trip included beautiful views of the snow-capped Pyrénées mountains and flocks of pink flamingo on the salt marches between Narbonne and Port-la-Nouvelle
Préfet des Pyrénées-Orientales, Perpignan.The Bassa river and the Castillet in Perpignan
Just before our 2 pm appointment, we went to the Prefectures’ information desk to check-in. A very friendly staff person (speaking both French and English) explained that renewal office was located around the corner at a Prefecture annex in the Hôtel D’Ortaffa. Once we checked in at the reception desk, we were directed to a waiting room and we noticed immediately that there was an electronic display board with numbers and the other patrons were holding number slips. I went back to double-check with the receptionist if I needed a number. Another patron kindly explained to Tracy that there were two waiting areas, one with check-in numbers and a second with appointments to be called by name. Tracy called me back from the reception desk and we moved to the second waiting room. It is always little things like this that seem to cause us the most confusion.
Hôtel D’Ortaffa, PerpignanAfter a
After a twenty-minute wait we met with our immigration representative, a very patient woman who spoke no English. Almost immediately the discussion about “issues” with our renewal applications started.
The first issue: We are moving to Argelès-sur-Mer the day after our current Cartes de Sejours expire. This means we are moving between departments. Our representative first believed that we needed to apply for our renewal in Carcassonne. I was prepared with the e-mailin which I had previously confirmed where to apply for renewal. That seemed to fix the problem quite nicely.
Second issue: We had no proof we were living in Argelès-sur-Mer. Of course not, we haven’t moved yet. However, once we produced our current rental agreement and receipts she shook her head and mentioned that our stuff from Carcassonne didn’t work there. We then pointed out the address for the upcoming residence. Our representative pointed out that the residence was described as a “holiday” property. We indicated the arrival and departure dates on the lease. Our rep ran upstairs and had her supervisor approve it. She came back smiling and saying, “Okay, Okay.”
Third issue: Normally residency is proven with a utility bill in the name of the applicant. But with the Argelès-sur-Mer rental property, like our current home in Carcassonne, the utilities are in our landlords’ names. We produced a copy of the utility bill for the Argelès-sur-Mer property and a copy of our new landlord’s passport as the utilities holder. Our new rental home is a form of duplex. The landlord lives on the opposite side of the property with her entrance on a parallel street opposite from our entrance. The two units have the same number, but use different street addresses. The utility bill, although it is for both properties, is mailed to the landlord’s address. After many attempts in our limited French to explain the architecture of the buildings, Tracy solved the concern with a quick sketch of the two unit’s adjacent floor plans. Oddly, that seemed to work just fine.
Fourth issue: Our pre-addressed envelopes for pick-up notification were made out to our current Carcassonne address. (We assumed that notification would come prior to the 30 days we had before we moved.) Our representative insisted that the address be changed to the new address and kindly provided “white-out” tape for Tracy to change them. We are hopeful that we will have mail upon arrival.
With those issues resolved, the representative accepted our renewal applications for final approval, took our digital fingerprints to confirm our identities, and prepared our Récépissés de Demande de Titre de Séjour (receipt of application for residency permits) that serve as temporary Cartes de Sejours.
Surprise fifth issue: Although the Prefecture’s checklist for the application asked us to bring three passport-style photos each, our representative needed four photos to complete the application process. Easy to fix, we always keep extras in the dossier.
Our representative had us sign our paperwork, issued us our Récépissés de Demande de Titre de Séjour, and advised us that once we received our notification letters we needed to return with our timbres fiscaux (tax stamps), passports, and Récépissés de Demande de Titre de Séjour to collect our Cartes de Sejours for 2015-2016 with our new Argelès-sur-Mer address.
Récépissés de Demande de Titre de Séjour 2015
Success! Although we were getting apprehensive in the middle of our meeting, our representative handled everything with relative expediency. Relieved, we happily walked back to the Perpignan train station with our Récépissés tucked safely inside our dossier. There was even time for a celebratory beer at a café before we boarded the train back to Carcassonne and start packing for our move.
Our biggest lesson: if there is any confusion in terminology. i.e. vacation rental, or addresses that don’t match for utility bills, it needs to be addressed prior to the appointment. A lot of the confusion could have been easily resolved with a letter from the landlord that indicated the dates and duration of our stay, that it would be our permanent address during those dates, that she owned both properties and covered them under one utility bill, and that our utilities were included in the rental price.
Tracy and my retirement system requires pension payments be made into an US bank, so we have a logistical issue of how we get funds to France. Also, being on a fixed-income, we want to get money to us in France in the most cost-effective manner possible. Everyone has seen bank service charges and ATM fees quickly add-up over time, bleeding funds from bank accounts that we would rather keep for ourselves.
Euros Currency
Contrary to my original expectations before we moved overseas, there are no “global banks” in the US. There are international banks like Barclays, HSBC, Halifax, UBS, and Deutsche Bank with branches in the US, but you cannot deposit money in an US branch of an international bank and simply withdraw funds in another country without fees. Banks in the US are state and federally regulated and are separate legal entities from their European home branches.
1.) Currency exchange before leaving. When we still lived in the US and would travel internationally, we would pre-order foreign currency ahead of time so we would have the local money when we arrived at our destination. Our US bank is Bank of America and its online banking web site has a link to easily order foreign currency. Larger orders of foreign currency would be shipped and held for pick-up at the local bank branch. The exchange rate is good and a request took just a couple of days to fill. Doing the exchange before leaving let us have the local currency in our pocket for immediate needs like eating and transportation. Carrying more than $10,000 by a family into or out of the US has to be reported to US Customs and Border Protection. (Currency / Monetary Instruments – Amount that can be brought into or leave the U.S.)
2.) ATM. If you are already in Europe, one of the easiest way to obtain local currency is at a bank’s ATM machine. (Make sure before to leave on your trip you give your bank a travel notification that will be making purchases abroad so the bank won’t disallow foreign transactions because of “suspicious activity.” Also be aware that many international ATMs accept only a four digit PIN, the PIN may not be able to start with “zero,” and often the keypads will not have letters – only numbers.) Most US banks have specific “partner institutions” abroad that if you use their ATMs you can minimize fees. For example, Bank of America’s current partner institution in France is BNP Paribas. Bank of America’s foreign transaction webpage explains costs in greater detail:
“When you use a foreign ATM, you could be charged a variety of fees, including non-bank ATM usage fees, ATM operator access fees, and international transaction fees for conversion to U.S. dollars. One way to limit such fees is to use your Bank of America ATM or debit card at one of our international partner ATMs. This enables you to avoid the Non-Bank of America ATM $5 usage fee for each withdrawal, transfer or balance inquiry as well as the ATM operator access fee. Keep in mind that when you use your debit card to withdraw money from an international ATM, Bank of America will assess an international transaction fee of 3% of the converted U.S. dollar amount. Foreign ATM operators may offer to do your currency conversion for you, but they may charge a higher fee for conversion. You can refuse the foreign ATM conversion and be assessed the 3% Bank of America international transaction fee instead.”
BNP ATM
ATM fees at a non-partner institution can add-up, but are still much more cost-effective than the rates at currency-exchange businesses or exchanging cash at a hotel desk. The currency-exchange businesses are notorious for poor exchange rates, handling fees, and very expensive commissions. A loss of up to a 1/3 of the value of your US money at a currency-exchange business is not unusual. Do not bring US cash to Europe with the intention of exchanging it at a local bank. When our son Casey recently arrived in Paris with US cash, he attempted to exchange US dollars at a couple of local banks. The banks all referred Casey to currency-exchange businesses (with the resulting loss of value due to poor exchange rates and high commissions.) The Paris banks only exchange foreign currency for their account holders. Even when I took the US dollars to a Paris branch of Tracy and my French bank we were told we had to go to a specific bank branch to exchange the funds. Once at that branch we learned the US cash had to be deposited into our French bank account and would be unavailable for withdrawal for week. I wondered if we could have exchanged the US currency at all if we weren’t in a major city like Paris.
3.) Credit and debit cards. Major credit and debit cards are generally accepted throughout Europe, while not always at small shops and cafes which may be “cash only” businesses. It’s always smart to keep some cash in your pocket to avoid embarrassment. US credit card companies often impose a surcharges on foreign transactions and conversation fees for purchases made abroad.
While US cards nearly always work in European ATM machines, there is sometimes the issue of whether or not a business can accept an US “swipe and sign” credit card because the “chip and PIN” “smart” EMV cards have been the norm in France for 20 years and the rest of Europe for almost as long. Some European businesses point-of-sale devices, lack the ability to “swipe” a current US credit or debit card. Tracy and I will normally use our French cards for European purchases and US cards for US businesses to minimize foreign transaction fees. US banks and credit card issuers have started to issue “chip and sign” “smart” debit and credit cards at the customer’s request. We have updated all our US credit and debit cards (Visa, MasterCard, American Express) to “chip and sign” “smart” cards to broaden where our cards can be accepted in Europe. The European “chip and PIN” cards from US issuers will be coming several years in the future as US businesses have to first upgrade their infrastructure to accept “chip and PIN” cards.
“American Express smart card” by Source (WP:NFCC#4). Licensed under Fair use via Wikipedia –
4.) PayPal. We have occasionally used PayPal to transfer money “person-to-person” to our adult children in the US. We have found it convenient to send money by PayPal so that an adult child can access funds almost immediately. (i.e. Payday is tomorrow, but a car tire needs to be replaced today.) It is simple for the recipient to transfer cash from a PayPal account over into their checking account. There is no delay compared to mailing a check from France to the US or waiting more than a week for a bank transfer to process. There are zero fees for us to send money using PayPal, but the fees for receiving money from one US account to another US account, up to $3,000, is 3.4% plus $0.30. So sending $100 on our end will be $96.30 when it arrives at its destination. We have also used PayPal to transfer a “first month” deposit to a landlord in France. 5.) International Wire Transfer. Tracy and I have been using wire transfers to move more substantial funds from our US bank to our French bank account. (Getting A French Bank Account.) International bank wire transfers are reliable, safe, and in our experience they takes 7 to 10 days to process. Bank of America’s Online Banking web site has all the links to transfer money by wire to an oversea bank account. To set up the first wire transfer we had to request from our French bank its “Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunication – Bank Identifier Code” (its SWIFT-BIC number) and “International Bank Account Number (its IBAN number)” to correctly receive the money in our French bank account. After the initial wire transfer our Bank of America web site retained the SWIFT-BIC and IBAN information for future transfers. As additional security for transfers larger that $1,000, Bank of America will also provide two-factor authentication with a SafePass card. The SafePass card will generate a six-digit one time use code number that is used to authorize an online wire transfer request over $1,000. With Bank of America there is a fee of $35 to send a wire transfer. At the “other end of the wire,” BNP Paribas will charge us €18 to accept the wire. Depending on transfer rates, there is a cost of about $55 to send yourself money with a wire transfer. Built into the wire transfer is an additional cost because the bank uses the premium currency exchange rate which is much less advantageous than the mid-market, interbank exchange rate you see posted to currency exchange rate sites like XE or on Google. That can add up to a 5% additional cost to a transaction because of the bank’s premium “adjusted exchange rate.” Our goal was not to have transfers every month so we can minimize the transfer fees. Like visiting the ATM machine, it is better to pay for only 4 or 6 transfer fees a year rather than paying for a monthly wire transfer.
Bank of America SafePass Card
6.) Peer-to-Peer Transfer While we have had no problems with the wire transfer, we are always looking for ways to reduce our transfer costs further. We have started using London-based financial company TransferWise as our P2P money transfer service in the place of a bank wire transfer. The process is simple to perform online and funds have been available for us within five days rather than the 7 to 10 we previously had with bank wire transfers. TransferWise is sometimes referred to as “the Skype of money transfers” because one of its founders, TaavetHinrikus, who was one of the original members of the Skype development team. TransferWise has been providing Peer-to-Peer money transfer services since January 2011. TransferWise is a registered money service business with the British Revenue and Customs department and fully authorized by the UK Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) as a payments institution.
“TransferWise is making inroads as a foreign exchange service, with a twist: it doesn’t exchange any money. Instead, it pairs people who want to get rid of a currency with those who want to get hold of it. If Alice in the UK sends £10 to Bob in Ireland and at the same time Charlie in Ireland sends €12 to Diane in the UK, then the money doesn’t cross any borders at all; Charlie just sends his money to Bob, and Alice sends hers to Diane. That lets the firm slim its fees down to a minimal level, charging less than £5 to send £1,000 overseas.”
TransferWise eliminates currency conversion fees and international transfer fees for clients. The start-up company has $58 million in investors as of January 2015. In its first four years of operations, TransferWise has transferred roughly $4.5 billion through its platform saving users about $200 million in banking fees usually incurred when moving money abroad.
With a $2,000 transfer we save the $35 fee sending a wire transfer from our US bank account, the € 18 fee receiving the wire into our French bank account (about a $55 saving), and we get the midrange exchange rate from TransferWise rather than the lower “bank adjusted” exchange rate which is a hidden cost to sending a traditional wire transfer. TransferWise charges €1 or 0.5% (whichever is larger) in an equivalent amount in the customer’s currency. TransferWise makes its profits with exchange volume, reduced infrastructure, and avoiding the fees inherent in international transfers. And it is a growing business model, there are now other P2P currency exchange companies including CurrencyFair, MidPoint, Kantox, and PeerFX.
Any other issues?
Traveler Cheques. Traveler Cheques are pretty much obsolete and it’s difficult to find businesses that want to accept them. ATMs and debit cards have replaced the Traveler Cheque in Europe. I understand Traveler Cheques can still be useful in visiting China.
We keep a close eye on Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (FATCA) issues. Congress passed FATCA in 2010 to deter tax evasion by making it more difficult for U.S. taxpayers to conceal assets held in offshore accounts by international shell corporations. The law requires foreign financial institutions to report to the Internal Revenue Service about their US clients’ accounts. The unintentional side effect of the law has been that rather than deal with the costs, additional paperwork, and potential penalties by the US government, many European banks have elected to close the accounts of US expats. (Time Magazine: Swiss Banks Tell American Expats to Empty Their Accounts, The Guardian: ‘I was terrified we’d lose all our money’: banks tell US customers they won’t work with Americans, Forbes: 10 Facts About FATCA, America’s Manifest Destiny Law Changing Banking Worldwide.) So far BNP Paribus is keeping us as customers and providing good service for us.
That is a peek at the complexity of our financial lives as expats. It’s a “moving target” for us trying to stay on top of the rapidly evolving global financial picture.
I recently had a friend ask how speaking French was going for me. He had assumed that with nearly two years in France I would be near fluent with French. It has been about a year after my first post on this topic (Learning to Speak French in France) and I have to admit to coming up extremely short on my goal to “speak French as well as a five year old child” by the end of 2014.
While Tracy tells me I have made some good progress speaking French, that progress is not nearly the fluency of a five year old French child. An honest self-assessment is that I was not consistent enough in my language studies over the past year. Like many “New Years Resolutions” I began to slip in my studies about April and was “hot and cold” for the rest of the year with my language work.
I have friends who were foreign exchange students who after six months were on their way to speaking their new languages well. I think the biggest difference was that those friends really were “totally immersed” with a host family that often didn’t speak English and the “sink or swim” daily survival motivation greatly helped. With Tracy and I as a couple of living abroad, the majority of my conversations are in English with her.
The start of 2015 is a good time to reassess, consider changes to my learning strategies, and re-commit to learning to speak French well.
Part of this re-motivation is reminding myself why I want to learn French. If I have managed to function in France for nearly two years without a good proficiency in French, why bother?
The first reason is to really develop meaningful friendships and to really understand people in our new home, I need to be able to communicate beyond the “Me Tarzan, you Jane” or the set formula (“Je voudrais un . . . ” I would like . . . ) levels of “getting by.” Even only being able to speak and understand concrete concepts in French would greatly broadens our interaction with French people. Some of our expat neighbors have developed wonderful relationships with local French people. This is denied to us because of the communication barrier.
The second reason is that,“(t)he French have the lowest level of English proficiency out of all the nationalities in the European Union.” Only about 39% of residents in France can hold a conversation in English with the greatest English proficiency being found in major cities. The number of English-speakers in France has slightly declined in recent years. To function well in France I need a greater command of the French language. While we have been able to locate an English-speaking doctor, ophthalmologist, veterinarian, and pharmacist, we have struggled with communications issues with our visa renewals, health insurance, and our banker. We are living in France, we need to learn to speak French.
Finally, I am having “glimmers of a breakthrough” with learning French. I like the challenge of learning to speak and understand the second-most spoken language in the world after English. French and English are the only two languages spoken on all five continents with French being an official language in 29 countries and one of the six official languages of the United Nations. I hope learning French will be a good tool for our future travel and helpful with better understanding other Romance languages like Spanish and Italian.
I just read an extremely motivating article in Time Magazine, “The Secret to Learning a Foreign Language as an Adult.” The author, David Bailey, described his process which he claims allowed him to learn French to conversational fluency in 17 days. I wanted to immediately dismiss the claim, but the author had prior fluency in another Romance language to build upon and he described a committed and intense regimen to achieve his goal. While I’m not Mr. Bailey, it is motivating to see what is possible in rapidly obtaining mastery of a new language with hard work. My personal goals are not nearly as ambitious.
So what are my goals and how do I plan to achieve them in 2015?
GOALS:
1. I am repeating my 2014 goal of being able to speak and understand French as well as a five year old by the end of 2015. I want to be able to have basic conversation about concrete concepts with the correct use of elementary grammar and tenses.
2. I will take and pass the Diplôme d’études en Langue Française (Diploma in French Studies – DELF) at the A1 level (beginning basic user) in 2015 and then prepare to take the A2 level (elementary basic user.) This is a “hard” quantitative goal to add to my more subjective goal of being able to communicate as well as a five year old.
PROCESS FOR 2015:
There is a lot of research into second-language acquisition and that the process for learning another language later in life is more difficult for adults than children due to the reduced “plasticity” of the mind with age. (The Science of Learning a New Language (and How to Use It).
My approach is to continue to use different methodologies to involve different learning modes.
1. I will study French language an hour a day, 20 days a month (Monday through Friday with make-up time on the weekend for any missed days.) I often incorporate the audio lesson with walking Sami the MinPin in the park where I can freely repeat the lessons out loud.
Alan Listening to Audio Lessons
2. With the recommendation of a friend I met on the Camino de Santiago, I’ve added the Michel Thomas Method French audio program (http://www.michelthomas.com/how-it-works.php), to my learning process. Both Tracy and I have been impressed with the methodology and the speed of acquisition with the Michel Thomas program. It’s a very enjoyable and engaging way to learn. Its emphasis is on relaxed listening only and the use of a text and notes are discouraged. In the “The Secret to Learning a Foreign Language as an Adult” article Mr. Bailey’s also described his use of the Michel Thomas program too.
Michel Thomas French
3. I am continuing to use Coffee Break French (http://radiolingua.com/shows/french/coffee-break-french/). I especially like its practical short scenario-based lessons and the PDF lesson notes that allows me to practice reading as well as speaking French.
CoffeeBreak French
4. I will maintain using the Pimsleur French program (http://www.pimsleur.com/Learn-French) for its methodology of “spaced repetition” for building vocabulary. Pimsleur is the most formal and traditional of these three audio second-language acquisition programs. The Pimsleur program is the most demanding to maintain focus with throughout its 30 minute lessons.
Pimsleur French
5. I’ve added a DELF A1 study guide, Reussir le Delf A1 book and CD. The text is designed for students preparing for the DELF A1 examination. The guide was developed with Centre International d’études Pédagogiques (International Centre for Studies in Education – CIEP) who administers the DELF proficiency level exams. The downside is that the guide is completely in French and I have to figure out any questions myself.
Réussir le Delf A1
There is also a language school in Argelès-sur-Mer, where we are moving in April 2015. That school offers a preparation workshop for taking the DELF A1 test. I need to research, but the workshop may be worth the time and cost. I also intend to investigate the language schools in nearby Perpignan, but most of those schools are priced for tourists and not retirees’ budgets.
For supplemental learning I am making a point of reading and translating at least one article in a French newspaper daily and using “close-captioning” on television to both hear and see French simultaneously. I haven’t been using the French TV previously, but I believe it will help me further “train my ear” to understanding French better and to speak with the correct pacing.
I wrote in my last year’s blog post about second-language acquisition, “The programs I picked are certainly not the . . . only options, but these are the learning programs I selected for my personal andragogy (adult self-learning) and learning style. The biggest success factors I think for any adult second-language learner is their motivation and perseverance. There is no “Magic Bullet” of the perfect learning program, no “learn French in just 10 days.” Learners must be consistent and actively involved in their self-education like any other pursuit – golf, cooking, knitting, playing a musical instrument – there is no passive approach to mastery”
For 2015 I believe I need to follow my own advice about “motivation and perseverance” and maintain consistency in my study efforts.
An Italian Point Of View 
