An American in Provence

Yesterday, we went and visited Alain's paternal grandparents, who live about 30 minutes away. They are François and Françoise, but more commonly called Pepe and Meme. (French nicknames for grandparents, also Papi and Mami are used.)
They are both of Italian origin, and know some Italian. The family also has a small little house in San Remo, right on the coast. We have not been there to visit yet, but I hope to go sometime this summer.
Meme really likes to cook, and if you give her advanced warning, a large meal will be prepared, even if you just ate. Most of my culinary adventures have happened here- wild boar, horse, etc. All very good.
So usually Alain and I go visit for a couple of hours, drink tea, eat cake, talk for a long time, and like all grandparents, hear the same stories over and over again. Good times.

Yesterday, Alain and I went to see a nearby doctor for the medical exam for getting married. This involved first, me looking up "medecin" and our zip code in the yellow pages to try to find a nearby doctor. I found one a couple of buildings away, and called him. His protestation: "But I am a psychologist!" Okay, try to find a générale... I found one a few blocks away and called him.
Tried to explain what I wanted: "The medical exam for the marriage!" You mean the pre-nuptial exam? "Yes, yes, that is it! What do I have to do?" Bla bla bla. "What, I don't understand?!" Bla bla bla bla. "You mean Blah Blah Blah?" (slightly exasperated tone by now) Non! Bla bla bla! "Okay, my fiancé will call you!" After various phone calls by me to the poor man demanding his hours (after which he would rattle off some various numbers) we finally went yesterday afternoon.
Basically he gave us both the regular check-up (heart, lungs, blood pressure, height, weight, medical history) then gave us a prescription for the blood tests, and told us to come back when we had the results and he would sign the papers. We also had to choose a doctor to be our primary doctor, so we chose him.
(Warning: next section might not be totally accurate, it is just what I have been able to piece together with my various bits of understanding French and the French bureaucracy)
I haven't been feeling well lately, round-the-clock stomachache that doesn't seem to be affected either way by eating or not eating. He gave me a prescription (the French LOVE pills). As there is a pharmacy on every corner, it is really quite simple. You go in and hand them the prescription, they give you the pills. The French health care system (securité sociale) is quite comprehensive. Every French person seems to have a carte vitale that has his or her medical history on it. The doctors have a reader and just pop in the card with it's smart chip. The billing then goes right to the state. I guess the state covers a certain percentage and then if you want, you can get a mutual insurance that pays for the rest of the bill. I have a student insurance and don't have a card yet, and so the exam cost me 40 euros. Then I have to send in the paper to my mutual insurance to get reimbursed. The pills were free.
For the blood test, we have to go to a Laboratoire Analyses Médicales, again, one on every corner it seems like.
And another thing- you can actually get (can you believe this?!)
A DOCTOR TO COME TO YOUR HOUSE!
WOW!

My sister Leah had her first baby on Monday, February 27th. They have named him Tobias Gene. He was born in Thailand, so he is our little Thai. :) He is now the second grandchild in the family, and the second boy.

Yesterday Alain and I went to visit Les Baux-de-Provence, a small fortified village about an hour northeast of Marseille.
www.chateau-baux-provence.com
For more pictures, please see my photo album at
http://community.webshots.com/album/548004372umAcXQ

Here is what the guidebook says
"Les Baux sits on a spur of the Alpilles (bau in Provençal means escarpment),
with views across to the Camargue. The most dramatic fortress site in provence,
it has nearly two million visitors a year, so it is best to avoid midsummer, or
to go early in the morning. The town is pedestrianized wtih a car park beside
the Porte Mage gate.
When the Lords of Baux built their fine citadel here in the
10th century, they claimed one of the three wise men, King Balthazar, as
ancestor and took the star of Bethlehem as their emblem. Though fierce warriors,
they originated the troubadour Courts of Love and wooed noble ladies with their
poetry and songs. This became a medieval convention known as courtly love and
paved the way for a literary tradition.
The citadel ruins lie on the heights
of the escarpment. The entrance to the citadel is via the 14th century
Tour-du-Brau, which houses the Musée d'Histoire des Baux-de-Provence."
We arrived around 11 and parked in the parking area below the fortress (paid 3 euros and gave one euro to a man that only had two euros. My good dead for the day.) We walked into the town, which mainly consists of tourist shops (all selling the same stuff- packets of lavender and herbs de provence, ceramic cigales- the chirping cicadas in summer, postcards, provençal fabrics, olive wood utensils, etc) and small restaurants, mainly selling crepes for some reason, which are not native provence. Part of the town was blocked as some Germans were making a documentary of some sort. So it was rather amusing to see some 16th century peasants walk past the tourist shops.
It was a great time of the year to go, as it was not too crowded. A little cold, but not too bad, weather was nice. Heard some Americans, French, and Germans. It was a bit strange to hear Americans "Like, oh my god! This place is like old!"
We stopped and had lunch, Alain had a pizza, salad, glass of wine, and a crepe with Nutella (menu 12.50) I had a crepe with ham, cheese, and mushrooms (had mushrooms coming out of my ears), salad, and crepe with Nutella (menu 9.50). After that we went and toured the Chateau. I think it was 7 euros for him, 4.50 for me as I had my student card. They had these audio guide tours in several languages, she gave me a French one. Got to practice my french listening skills, but don't think I got as much out of it. All in all, I found the different sites well explained with drawings and text. There was more to see than I thought there would be. It took us over two hours to visit the Chateau.
Afterwards, we made a visit to the bathroom, here is a Turkish toilet (see Bretagne part 1) in real life. Not fun.
Then we stopped and had some tea (overpriced as usual, we got two tea bags and two cups of hot water for 5 euros), then visited a church and a chapel, right next to each other for some reason. The chapel had been entirely painted with a mural of shepherds and the announcement of the Nativity, something I had never seen before. On the way out, we stopped at La Cure Gourmand and bought some biscuits, then drove home.
http://www.la-cure-gourmande.com/

Yep. Today was the first time.
Stepped in a big orange squishy dog turd.
Was walking and talking to another girl in my class, didn't watch where I was stepping and squish.
Sigh.
They say it is good luck, but I think they say that just to make you feel better about it.
After that we went into a museum. I was afraid I was leaving big organge footprints on the floor, but no.
When I got back to the school, I went into the bathroom and removed most of it, then used Alain's toothbrush.
Haha, just kidding about that last part. I waited until I got home, bien sûr, before using his toothbrush.