An American in Provence

After months of begging and bugging, Alain finally convinced me that he should get a motorcycle. In a way, it makes sense. Parking is hard enough for one car in Marseille, let alone two. Plus, if I have to keep taking the train, I might just break down into a quivering, sobbing mass of jelly in the human-pee stinking underground tunnels at the train station as I wait for the strike to end.

I have this week off, as my office decided to close for the week. This is mainly because almost everyone was already on vacation, and it becomes practically impossible to do business mid-August in France as all OTHER business are closed. Since we are still busy working on the apartment, I decided I would rent a dewallpaperer and attack. Last week, I reserved a machine from the company Kiloutou ("Who rents all"- mainly building supplies). I picked it up early Monday morning- it is 20€ for a day and 60€ for a week. Uh, I think I will take a week thanks. Hauled it home, as well as four bottles of the chemical product that supposedly aids in the removal.
Started it up, managed to figure out the best way to use it. Great idea Megan, rent a steam machine in August! I have burned fingers now and a sore back.
Yesterday I managed to remove the wallpaper in the two largest rooms- the living room and our bedroom. No nasty surprises, just ugly bare walls underneath. Today I decided to work on the hallway. To my surprise, it was painted blue underneath. Not exactly the shade of blue we want (too bad) but gives us a good idea of how it will look when we paint it. Only this wallpaper is proving much more difficult to remove. It is textured with a foamy crepe-like layer, so the top layer just peels off, leaving the glue layer underneath. I managed to get about half the hallway done, then started on the kitchen. I removed half of the kitchen wallpaper, revealing a yellowy paint underneath. Tomorrow- try to finish the hallway and perhaps the toilet room. Then all that will be left are the two extra bedrooms, but those will prove more difficult, as we have a lot of stuff stored in them, such as boxes, tools, and bathroom tiles.

On Saturday, Alain and I went to visit one of his friends, Nicolas, and his girlfriend Sylvie. Nicolas and Alain were postdocs together in Virginia. Now they are living about three hours away in the southwest of France, near Narbonne. They just had a baby boy in July, so they invited us to come spend the weekend with them. The last time we saw them was in October, when they came to visit us here in Marseille, the week before we moved into our new apartment. We hadn't visited their home before and wanted to see the new baby.

(me holding Gabriel- probably the first baby I have held that didn't start screaming immediately)

My gym is closed from July 30th to August 15th, so I have signed up for a nearby indoor/outdoor pool, run by the community.
Aquagem
It has several pricing options, less expensive if one is a resident. I chose the 10 hour option for 22€ instead of the ten entry option (could stay all day if desired) for 42€. Every day I arrive, scan my card, enter through the turnstile, remove my shoes, and walk into the unisex dressing room. There are small cabins that you pass through to change, then go out into a general locker area. It is all quite open, evidenced by the direct view of the urinals one receives when walking towards the showers.
We are supposed to rinse off before going into the pool area. Then I must pass through a shallow pool, to further remove contaminents from my feet, before accessing the pools. There is a serious swimming only pool indoors with seating for matches, and then an indoor pool that is connected to the outdoor pool. The outdoor pools is nice, with jets of water in the sitting area, a waterfall to go under, little showers in the pool. There is a large grassy area where you can sit for free (and get covered in ants) otherwise you have to pay 1.30€ to use a lounge chair, which I found out when I got kicked out of mine on the third day (pretending I couldn't understand the sign didn't help). Mostly I just sit in the sun, and go in for a dip from time to time. I eat my lunch, read, listen to music, and then leave around 1:30 to rinse off (can’t get properly clean), then change as quickly as possible and get out, so as to not waste my precious minutes. Back at work, very sleepy and relaxed for the rest of the afternoon. But once the gym opens up or my hours run out, whichever comes first, I will stop going. Unfortunately for my pool habits, the heat seems to have broken. But fortunately for me in general this summer has been unusual cool, which is fine with me, seeing as how we don't have air conditioning at home.

6 am Monday-Friday: Way too early to get up for work
6 am Saturday-Sunday: Perfect time to wake up

During the weekdays, I wake up slightly before 6 am to get ready for work. This is way too early. I spend my time eating in front of the computer while checking out my favorite blogs and sending emails, getting dressed, preparing my lunch, and then head to the train station to catch the 7:04 (assuming they are not on strike).
On the weekends however, I make sure to turn off my alarm clock so that I can “sleep in”. Like clockwork though, I spring out of a bed at 6 am. Sometimes I can manage to sleep in until a whopping 7:30, but that is about max for me. Early mornings just seem the perfect time to drink a hot chocolate and surf the web. On Saturdays, I get up early in order to get in line for La Poste before it opens at 8 am. Then after usually about 15-30 minutes in line there (to deposit my paycheck, pick up packages, send letters, etc) I head over to do my grocery shopping.
I wish all the stores could come to an agreement on what time they open. Casino opens at 8 am. This is where I go to get slightly more fancy cheeses and specialty ingredients I can’t find at other stores. Monoprix opens at 8:30. They have some groceries, but also a selection of clothes, hair and beauty products, stationary, kitchen utensils, etc. ED finally opens at 9. This is where I go to get almost all fruits, vegetables, pasta, meat, cereal, milk, etc. Usually am done with all my errands by 9:30. It is best to go early on Saturdays to avoid crowds and the heat in the summer. By about 10:30, the stores are way too crowded for my tastes. Sunday mornings are when we buy two croissants and one pain au chocoat. Sometimes, when we are really feeling energetic, we go and run on the nearby track. But this isn’t very often.

Sunday evenings: reset my faithful Spanish speaking alarm clock which is about 17 years old now, it was given to us as a gift when we were in Ecuador. I have, unfortunately, forgotten almost all my Spanish but can always tell what time it is in Spanish since to find out what time it is, you have to push a button on the top and a voice tells the time in Spanish. I have looked for a French one, but have not found one yet. Cinco et cincuenta y uno pour la manana? That is way too early to wake up!