An American in Provence

Sunday was spent (on Alain's part) tiling like crazy. My part was spent internetting, sweeping, running out for another marker, and cleaning out buckets.

He managed to use up all the tile (sure glad I bought 2 meters squared instead of 1 m2 like I had measured), except there is one small square that is missing at the top left (not in the picture), so I have to go get one more square tomorrow. He had a piece of leftover tile that would work, but it would be cut on both sides, instead of cut on just one side. Unperfectionist me would have just put it and not cared, but he wants it done perfectly. He also managed to put all the white caulk as well.

Hopefully tomorrow the toilet will be functional. McDo two days in a row is enough. Not sure when we are going to get around to painting.

So the plumber came yesterday and tore apart our bathroom. When the boss had come a few weeks ago to give an estimate, Alain had specifically mentioned that the wall was thin, and asked if the frame could be installed without breaking through to the other side (ie the bathroom which we have just finished tiling after many many month). Yeah sure! No problem!

I went back to Leroi Merlin on Thursday during my lunch break, determined to buy the tiles for the toilet (to cover the frame that the seat with sit on) as well as paint for the toilet room, two bedrooms, and the hallway. On Wednesday I had bought these three samples of blue-grey tiles (light, medium, and dark) to get Alain's opinion. Turns out that instead of scheduling our retoileting for some Friday in the future, they decided that this Friday would do.




I think it must be an excellent selling strategy. A client puts a downpayment for half of the work. You go out and buy all of the materials, thereby ensuring that they will then commit to having you do all of the work. Then you just fix a date, without waiting for them to dillydally around and change their mind.




So Alain and I had to decide and quick. We picked the lightest of the blues, and so I went and bought a box of tiles (about 2 meters squared) for 20 euros, then went over to the paint section. When I had looked on Wednesday, I had seen that there were some 2.5 liter pots approximately the same color, for about 45 euros each. Since we had calculated that we would need 8 pots, it was going to be expensive. I asked the guy in charge of the paint section, just to get his advice. Turns out, it was cheaper to have them mix the exact color and type of paint I wanted (double layers, able to be sprayed by paint spray gun, matte) than it would be to buy the pre-mixed. I thought the custom color would be much more expensive, but no. I was able to get two pots of 10 L for about 50€ each. What a deal! Came home and Alain lugged it into apartment. Ready for Day 2.

Hello everyone. Just wanted to mention services such as Bloglines.com. They help to keep up with blog feeds, if you are like me and have several that you follow on a daily basis. You just enter the website of each blog that you would like, then log in to the single site, and see which sites have been updated since you last logged in, and then you can read the entries right from the site, saving time clicking on each one.
Also, if anyone has added me to your blog links, but I haven't added you to mine, please let me know and I will add you to the link of blogs on the right. I enjoy discovering new bloggers, whatever your nationality and wherever you are.
Thanks. Never fear, back to toilet humor tomorrow.

Came home from work today, and was quite surprised to see a toilet sitting in my living room. You get extra points if you can use it in this position.

(so take off all your clothes, I am getting so hot, I want to take YOUR clothes off)
-Nelly "Hot in Here"

At my gym, there is a sauna and a hammam. Had no idea what the difference was before I started going there, and at first I thought one had to pay in order to use the sauna and hammam. But no, it is included in the monthly fee. There is a clear rule "You must wear your swimming suit in the sauna/hammam". Ahh. But they should be even more clear about what is and what is not allowed as we will see.
The first time I wanted to use it, I took a quick peek into the room that has both cabins. There was a couple in the sauna (dry heat). They weren't doing anything outright wrong, but enough uncomfortable that a third person enclosed in the space would want to soon leave. I went and changed into my bathing suit, then went back in. They were no longer in the sauna. I figured they had moved into the hammam (more steamy) or had left so I went into the sauna. Spent my 15 minutes or so in the sauna and then got out and heard funny noises. Are they doing what I think they are doing? I didn't see them in the steam, thought maybe I was hearing things, looked around the corner, and yep. Two people in the shower. Had their bathing suits on at least. Didn't look much closer than that, that was enough. Uhh, yeah, I really want to use that shower after you now.
Haven't seen them back in the sauna room, which is good. I go about once every two weeks now. Usually I am the only one in the room. Today there was another woman in the sauna with me. One those situations that throws me into an etiquette tizzy. Do I make small talk? Shut up and close my eyes? Avoid looking at the other person? Enter into some deep philosophical discussion? How strange is this, being stuck in a small hot sweaty box in my bathing suit with someone I don't know? In fact, would I prefer to know the person or not? Hmm. Need a sign on the door telling me what to do. Do not talk. Avoid looking at other people's body parts. Do not get busy in public places.

Have not yet seen this movie yet. I don't think it has come out yet here. Maybe it will come out soon, or just be in art house theaters, I don't know. Not really looking forward to it. My first thought was "Great, another awkward topic of conversation for dinner parties where I am put in the spotlight and bombarded with comments about how horrid my country is." (from people who have really no idea what they are really talking about, have never been to the US, and can't admit that every country has flaws).

Let's face it- France is not the shangri-la of health care either. Sure, it is great paying nothing for many things, but we do have a monthly mutuelle that compliments the rest of what social securité won't pay. There is a lot of fraud. And how about having to bribe certain experienced surgeons to work on you instead of their fresh faced 26 year old colleague?
I must admit I think the doctors here do a lot more of the work that nurses in the US do. Go to a gyno. appt and there is no nurse to take your weight, blood pressure, etc. The doctor does that. Which probably accounts for the enormous wait times.

Given the choice between France and US health care systems, I would most likely choose France for the yearly coughs, sniffles, baby-having, eyeglass-needing, teeth-cleaning, etc. but would (most likely) hightail it back state-side for open-heart surgery or brain tumors.

Working in France has taught me so many things about crazy rules. This is a General French Job Rule, not a Specific My Job Rule, so I feel I can safely mention and complain about this one. Everyone knows about the five weeks of vacation per year in France, which works out to 2.5 days per month, which works out to surprisingly 30 days per year. Then, divided by five days per week, you get 6 weeks, not five. Yet the French have come up with an ingenious way to work out this little dilema.
For the week of August 15th (Ascension Holiday here in France, which I happily spent removing wallpaper), I figured I would have 4 days deducted from my vacation account. Let's count them now together, shall we? Monday- one vacation day hahaha (à la the Count from Seasame Street). Tuesday- two vacation days hahaha. Thursday- three vacation days hahaha. Friday- four vacation days! hahaha! Four vacation days!
Only to my surprise when I received my paycheck that five days had been deducted. Huh? I went to the accountant and asked what happened, and she said that they deduct one extra day. That way, when you take your five weeks of five days, then the extra 5 days are removed for a total of 30 days. Hmm. So if I take fifteen individual days (such as to do le Pont between a national holiday that falls on a Tuesday or Thursday) they would take two, for a total of 3 weeks not five per year? What a fabulous idea!
How about giving 2 REAL days per month, for a total of 24 days, then give one more day as a great Christmas/whatever present per year?! Wow!!

Person 1: You look like you have lost some weight.
Person 2 (pleased): Why, yes I have, thank you for noticing.
Person 1: Because you had really big hips before.
Person 2 (less pleased now): Uh, thanks.

Different cultures have different standards on what is okay and what is not okay to say to other people. I find the French to be less effusive in their praise. Alain feels that Americans give a lot more praise, such as work: Oh what a great job you did! Whereas in France, if you did a good job, no one will really comment on it because you are SUPPOSED to do a good job. The French, in my opinion, are a lot more ready to criticize. Hmph.