365 days as Madame Léger

Happy Anniversary James!

One year ago today I married my amazing husband! Wow, that is a bit crazy to write considering all that has happened in our life this past year. The day of our wedding was almost perfect (only missing some family members from afar)! I woke the morning of our wedding and had a calm about me. I remember being a bit surprised by this as I have attended many weddings (and been intimately involved in many as well) and it often seemed that there were more nerves and anxiety present. The morning was spent with some of my favorite people in the world, getting pampered and made beautiful. It was relaxing and wonderful. Since it was an evening wedding there was no rush felt during the day and things just seemed easy. The only minor glitch was when I went to leave the hotel and walk over to the ceremony and I got stuck in the elevator. Thankfully I had one of my best friends with me who reacted enough for both of us and made it very clear that there was a bride in the elevator on her way to her wedding. I remember once I arrived and saw James he laughed and said, "I wasn't worried, the wedding wasn't going to start without you!"

The ceremony was intimate, dinner was delicious and the desserts and dancing were fantastic. I know I have a biased opinion but it really was perfect! The day went by way too fast, don't all couples say that looking back on their wedding?
 
A year ago we didn't know how long we would have to wait for paperwork to be complete and allow me to move to France.  James had to return to France 4 days after our wedding and we didn't know when we would see each other again. I think back to that and I am really proud of how strong we were to make it through all of this. Sometimes I am impatient and feel like things are not happening fast enough for us. I have to remind myself of all that we have accomplished and try and be patient. 

James and I haven't completely decided what we are doing today to celebrate but I have a few things up my sleeve. I can't tell you yet because he may just read the blog and I want to surprise him first.

Christmas Part 2

Christmas morning we woke up and headed towards home. A few days before Christmas, James and I had talked about what we wanted to do for a meal on Christmas and he suggested that we just grab something on the way home. I asked about the likelihood that stores would be open since it was Christmas and a Sunday. I shared that in the US very few places are opened besides gas stations. He thought for sure things would be open until noon (I will let you all guess how that one turned out).

We arrived home and got ready to open gifts by each taking a spot next to our stack of gifts.

Maelle with her gifts, just a little bit excited

James and his gifts

We took turns opening gifts and felt truly blessed by all of the wonderful thoughtful things we received. My family is nothing short of amazing and so many of them sent things for us to open to feel a bit closer to them this Christmas.

Here is a sampling of some of the wonderful things we received...

Monster High doll

Good old American Levi's and Polo Sweater

He loves beef jerky and it is not available in France, needless to say he is excited about this supply

Bead making kit

Bangle bracelet kit

Friendship bracelet kit (this girl could open a jewelry store after making all of these bracelets)

Loving his new sports jacket to look good at the gym

Contemplating what this gift could be

Thumbs up for Budweiser BBQ sauce (Budweiser is his fav American beer)

Stylish new hat and Coach wristlet (with a new Coach purse that was opened later)

Stocked up on hair supplies

New slippers

New tie blanket made with love

After opening gifts we had lunch and relaxed. Then in the late afternoon we got to skype with my family back in MN as they all opened their gifts together on Christmas morning. It was as close as I could get to physically being there and it was awesome to be a part of it even 4000 miles away.

I enjoyed having a relaxing Christmas day at home but did miss being with my family in person and having those homemade waffles at my Grandma's house for Christmas brunch. My brothers and nephews ensured me that they would eat some for James, Maelle, and I.

Thank you to everyone who made our Christmas special. We love all of the gifts, Christmas cards in the mail, emails, text, and viber notes received.

1st Christmas Eve in France

For my first Christmas in France we spent Christmas Eve with James' family and a quiet Christmas Day at home (more on that later). We left the house on Christmas Eve around 6pm, after I had spent 3 hours of the afternoon making more bon-bons and treats to bring to the celebration because the ones made over the last few weeks had been consumed more quickly than they had been made.

We arrived at his father's house and spent about an hour talking (and eating bon-bons, which were a huge hit and requested again next year) before everyone left and went to the Christmas church service. The church was pretty busy and the service was a bit boring according to my standards. I am used to LOTS of music at the Christmas service along with candles. This service did include music so maybe it was more of the fact that I understood very little of the service and attempted to sing the few songs I knew in English while everyone else sang them in French.

The church after the service

After church all of us went back to the house. I entered the house and was quickly ushered to the basement. I thought that they were trying to pull a prank on me but was assured that it was part of the tradition. It was quickly explained to me that everyone has to go to the basement and line up in order of age. Once this has been accomplished the door is opened and everyone rushes upstairs to find their gifts and open them as quickly as possible. This was quite a sight to see as there were at least 50 people there including all of the children.

James and Emma showing off their new jackets

Elly and James after opening gifts

After the gifts were opened the children sat down and started to eat. The meal was made by one of James' brothers and consisted of sticky rice and other Asian cuisine.

Some of the kids enjoying dinner

Once the children were done eating they all scattered to play with the new toys and gifts they received. The adults then sat down for dinner (at about 10:15pm). I had been informed ahead of time what common Christmas food was, most of which was included in the meal. We started off with smoked salmon and foie gras (duck liver). I have had the salmon before and enjoyed it (even if it is raw, smoked and eaten cold). The foie gras was a new experience for me. Like some of the other food I have tried here, I am not so sure what is so great about it. Maybe it is something that is special since it is eaten on rare occasions.

One of the salmon platters

Some of the foie gras getting ready to be sliced

Once the salmon and foie gras course was almost complete, James and a few of the other guys went outside to open oysters. They then brought in platters of raw oysters. As much as I am trying to embrace my new culture and be brave, I couldn't bring myself to try them.

A platter of raw oysters

They also brought out trays of roast beef, chicken and duck (all of which were cooked and sliced but served cold, sort of like we would for sandwiches). At this point I had consumed enough salmon and bread that I wasn't even hungry enough to eat any of this. I did however have room for cheese and there was a large cheese table with many options.

The cheese table

Of course there were many bottles of wine that accompanied the meal and I continue to enjoy this aspect of the French culture. It was quite comical that they were using a power tool to open the bottles (bosch power drill with a cork opener attachment).

Mylene showing me her "James Bond" wine bottle opener

June opening one of the many bottles with supervision from his brother, sister and Dad

A few of the choices

Overall it was a nice meal but a bit strange for me to have everything eaten cold and for it to be primarily a protein based meal without side dishes. The desserts were Les Buches de Noel (which translates to " The Yule logs" and is kind of like a pumpkin roll but were chocolate or strawberry). 

 

Les Buches de Noel

 
Dinner wasn't completed until about 12:30-1am. Since being in France I have adjusted to the later dinner time (typically 8pm) but this evening was an experience for me. After dinner people continued to hangout and talk while watching the kids play with their new toys. As I mentioned the other day, it is tradition that everyone stays up late and spends the night which is quite a feat as James is 1 of 12 children (and I think all but 2 were present for Christmas).  I made it until about 3am and was one of the first ones to go to bed.

Here is a picture of us after dinner and with Maelle wearing her new pajamas.

And what Christmas would be complete without starting Christmas morning off eating chocolate. 

One of James' nephews with his mouth full of chocolate

So that is what my first Christmas Eve in France was like. It was a new experience and I had a good time even if it was very different from what I am used to.  I will share some pictures of our Christmas day together in the next post.

The Christmas Season

It was a bit difficult to feel like it was Christmas here in France since the weather is much different from the Christmas weather I am used to. There has been no snow yet this winter and the temperatures have been pretty mild (warm enough that I was outside running on the morning of Christmas Eve, so strange)!

Despite the weather not getting me into the holiday groove there were Christmas decorations all around and I made sure we put up a Christmas tree at the house.

The Christmas lights were on at the train station. I was pretty impressed by that (it doesn't take much these days)!

The trees were for sale at the stores (and look at the base, so ingenious! I think we should do that in the states, or maybe we already do and I am just out of the real Christmas tree loop).

There were Christmas trees in most of the offices that I visited over the last few weeks for work. It was fun to see how simple or fancy the trees were decorated. Here are a few of them.

Now those trees may be pretty but they don't have anything on this one we did at home!

It was great that the girls were willing to humor me for an evening and put the tree and decorations up!

I didn't notice light displays as grand as I see back home but this was a fun little sight to see walking home at night, our friendly neighborhood reindeer.

James and I passed Santa a few times when we were out shopping. I commented to him that Santa looks a bit skinny here in France. I am not sure how that is possible with all of the amazing desserts here. However, I suggested that Santa remedy that situation while he is in the states making his deliveries as I know for sure that there is a large supply of goodies in a few homes there (my mom's for one)!!

And just in case we needed a reminder, our home is represented by more than one country this holiday season.

I will be back tomorrow (hopefully) to give the run down of what my first Christmas in France was like!

Merry Christmas

Merry Christmas to all of my family and friends on the other side of the pond! We will be leaving shortly to head to my father-in-law's for a Christmas Eve celebration. First stop is church and then on to his home. James has a very large family and I have had the opportunity to meet many of them. I met a large group of them at a holiday gathering this past spring but there are still some I haven't meet in person. This evening the family in attendance will consist of 50+ people, a bit intimidating (then add in the communicating in French factor, and it becomes even more intimidating)! I am excited to experience a French Christmas. I have heard about what types of items are on the menu, all very different from the traditional Christmas Eve and Christmas Day food I am used to back in MN. It is tradition in James' family to stay up very late, talking, eating, drinking and playing games and then spending the night at his father's house. I hope I can keep up a little bit with conversation and participate more than smiling and nodding my head! Wish me luck!!

I miss my family back in MN very much! I will be there in spirit! Hope you all have a wonderful Christmas, enjoy the food, being surrounded by love, and lots of laughs (and have safe travels)!

Wine tasting at work

Today at work a colleague was having a session with her student who happens to be a wine sommelier (click here if you need an explanation of what this is). She came into the staff work area and asked that we join her as he had brought wine in to conduct a tasting. So the few of us that were lucky enough to be in the office joined them. He had brought 3 different bottles of wine, cheese, and bread. He even provided real wine glasses and had wine in a decanter waiting to serve to us (I didn't notice if he had luggage with him but was curious as to how he managed to bring all of this with him to his class). He explained to us which wines to pair with what cheeses and had us taste the wine before and after having the cheese to notice the difference in the taste.
Another great part of the experience is that all of the wine that we tried was organic, a first for me. He explained that this is a rare thing in the wine making industry as it lessens the production amount and can take longer for the wine to ferment. An important side note that he passed on is that since organic wine does not contain any sulfate it doesn't cause any headaches or hangover effect, can we all say bring on the organic wine?! 
Of course since it was a "tasting" we didn't really drink a lot of wine but it was great to learn more about wine and how to match it with different cheese. I think that immigration should conduct free classes in this subject area because it appears to be equally important to have a good basic knowledge of wine and cheese for my assimilation to this culture!!!
I really enjoyed the job I had back in the states but this experience would have NEVER happened there! However, I think that it makes for a happier work environment and should be considered standard operating procedures! Anybody agree with me or had something like this happen at work?

Assessment of my French level

Today I had to report for another appointment regarding my immigration to France. The purpose of today's meeting was to assess my level of French. One of the requirements for me to stay in France is that I have to be working on acquiring the language and at some point I will have to be tested and succeed at a certain level. No pressure!!

I arrived at the meeting today and was in the company of 3 other women (2 of which had their husbands with them which I quickly found out was because they spoke almost zero French). The person leading the meeting today(who I believe is one of the French instructors) only spoke in French! She asked for basic information about us...where do we live, our phone number, and do we have any children. I was surprised by how much I understood as she asked these questions and was explaining all other details. She went on to explain that we would be doing a written test and that she would use that along with our verbal interactions today to assess our current level of French.

Prior to the meeting today, I had read that the maximum number of hours offered by the government to acquire the language is 400. The teacher reported that the maximum that they would be assigning people was 330 hours.

She reviewed our written tests (in front of everyone and making comments as she went). She then gave each of us the number of hours we would be given. She explained that they will assess us throughout the process and that if we progress more quickly we can take the exam without finishing the hours. I was given 250 hours! Seriously, that is a lot of French in my future! Of the participants in the group today I was the highest functioning with the French language (sad but true that my level was as good as it got today). At one point I even had to translate information from French to English for a Thai woman, no joke!

The teacher shared that classes would be held on Monday, Thursday and Fridays for 3 hours in the morning and 3 hours in the afternoon. Uh, slight problem, I have a job! I shared this information with her and she stated that I would have to provide them with a copy of my work contract to prove this. She then stated that they will try to offer me a class on Saturday mornings but need a minimum of 5 students to hold the class and they do not have that at this time. Regardless, I have to participate in at least 1 class each week and to figure out which day works for me. While I am excited to improve my French I am disappointed that this will affect my work week. I have just finally gotten my teaching hours filled up and now will have to figure out how to rearranged and juggle both of these things.

Classes are held at 2 different locations, neither of which are easy access to the house so I will rely on James to take me when he can and otherwise will have to figure out the local bus system or walk (30-40 minutes). I thought I was already a professional at mass transit in this country but I haven't used the bus system yet. That may soon be changing. The classes start the beginning of January. I am sure there will be many experiences to share about this process so stay tuned...

The big day with Immigration

So yesterday was the big day of having to go to the Immigration office in France. Upon arrival here 3 months ago I had to submitted paperwork to them and let them know how to find me. About 3 weeks ago I finally received a letter in the mail with the date and location that I must appear and all of the documents that would be required as well.

I had read some forums online that detailed other people's experiences of this immigration appointment and there were mixed reviews, but of course some horror stories which added to my anxiety. I double and tripled checked that I had all of the papers that I needed and some that I threw in my bag just in case.

I was scheduled to be there at 1:30pm and the location that I had to report to is about an hour away from Chartres, in Orleans. Thankfully James took the day off to accompany me to this appointment and to ensure that I got there on time. Upon arrival at the building there was a line of people outside waiting. James started laughing and said, "yep, I am pretty sure we are in the right spot!" We quickly figured out that all of these people had a 1:30pm appointment too. I didn't count the exact number but there was at least 30 people waiting for entrance.

Once the doors were unlocked we entered the office and I showed my passports and paperwork, I was then given a stack of papers and ushered into 1 of 2 rooms. I think that the distinction between the rooms was based on why you are in France, on a student visa or the "other" category (spouse visa, work visa, etc).

A women then entered the room and began speaking to the group (in French). She asked for our names, if we spoke French and if not what our language of choice was. After getting all of this information she turned on a DVD and left the room. To the best of my comprehension, the DVD gave an overview of live in France, that women and men have equal rights and so on. James was watching the video with me and giggled a few times. I can only imagine what it would be like to watch the video shown in the US for those that are trying to immigrate. I am sure it is a strange experience to be a native of a country watching the immigration video.

After the video different people started to come in and call names. I was finally called and entered an office with 1 staff person. She asked me questions about the documents I had with me, asked if I was working in France and what level of French I was able to speak and understand. It was a pleasant surprise that she asked me all of these questions in English. After gathering the information she informed me that there would be 3 more days of mandatory meetings I would need to attend to complete the immigration process. These include: 1 day to learn about Civics and Formation in France, 1 day to learn about life in France, and the last day to have someone assess my French and determine if I would be required to take French classes as part of maintaining my visa and immigration status in France (I was exempt from a 4th day since I have already obtained employment). She told me that the first 2 days would be from 9:30-5pm and on the language testing day it will only be a few hours. I am not really looking forward to 2 full days of classes and hope that it isn't a waste of my time. However, I am interested in the language assessment day (not the testing part). I have been told by others that if there is a need for me to take further French classes(uh yeah, I can tell them that without assessing me) that the number of hours they authorize me then allows me to take French classes for free. Since I want to improve my French, that would be a bonus!!!

After meeting with this person I was told to go back to the waiting room and wait for the next portion of the day. After a short while my name was called and I was taken to a room with a nurse. She asked me general medical questions, asked when my last medical exam was, took my height and weight and then told me I would also have to have a chest xray and meet with the doctor (standard procedure).

After waiting again I was called by the xray technician for the chest xray (side-note, she was the most unpleasant person I interacted with). This was brief and painless (was a bit worried as others had described walking down halls topless without gowns). I then met with the doctor who asked about my immunizations and she looked at my record of those. She then signed a piece of paper, handed me my xray to keep, and sent me back to the waiting room.

The final person I met with made sure that all of the steps had been completed and that I had paid for the stamp that was required for this meeting. This is something that we were able to do online prior to the appointment and costs 340 Euros (roughly $450-500 American dollars depending on the current exchange rate). James and I were talking that paying that bill is our Christmas present to each other. Totally romantic right?! I can sure think of a few other ways I would prefer to spend that kind of money.

I was given the green light to leave and had to give a piece of paper to the receptionist to be allowed to leave the building. So in total the time spent at the Immigration office was about 1 1/2-2 hours, not so awful. I was also able to leave with another sticker in my passport showing that I have cleared immigration (except for the 3 days of classes that I have to attend yet).  Woo hoo!!!

Showing off the newest stamp outside the Immigration office (OFII)

We spent the next hour or two walking around Orleans. It is a really cute city and is considered "green." It has a light rail that goes all through the city center to encourage less use of cars. It was great to see some Christmas decorations and the city is also getting ready for it's outdoor Christmas market that begins on December 9th. Here are some of the pictures from our walk around the city. Enjoy!

The carousel next the the outdoor market

The soon to be Christmas Market (there were lots of these little buildings)

The tree inside the mall

These wooden Christmas trees were all over the city

Getting all the letters to Santa

James showing how cold he is in front of some snowy trees

Yep, those trees above were fake, but James is still a freeze baby!

Bank account and crepes

Over the weekend a big event happened...I opened a bank account in France! Headline news right?! It wasn't an experience that is anything like that of the bank service I am used to in the states. However, it is almost a done deal (I have to bring them one more piece of paper) and then everyone is welcome to wire money into my French bank account (almost as cool as saying I have a Swiss bank account, isn't that what all of the movies refer to?).

After spending WAY too much time at the bank we went to lunch at a cute little place in Chartres.

If the name doesn't give it away, they specialize in crepes and salads. They have every kind of crepe one could imagine. James ordered the most interesting one of the three of us. In addition to some other ingredients it included duck.

After having our main crepes James and Maëlle ordered dessert crepes. It is a shame that I didn't take a picture of those because they looked (and according to them tasted) amazing! It was a cozy place to have lunch on a rainy day and my lunch dates were adorable!

I am adding this little restaurant to my list of places to return. I think next time we can skip right to the dessert options on the menu! Anyone care to join me here?

So I am pretty sure that opening a bank account in France makes me 1 step closer to being "official" here. If that isn't enough then my scheduled appointment at the immigration office tomorrow afternoon should be the ticket. As many of you know I have a slight aversion to the paperwork and bureaucracy that I have experienced thus far with France. Maybe tomorrow will change our relationship and I will be BFF's with them. However, until then I welcome all and any good vibes that you can send my way!