Hello everyone and bienvenue! I started this site so that you can all hear about the awesome year I am having here in Aix-en-Provence, France. I hope to let you know all the little tidbits I love about the French, and all of the little tidbits I can't stand. Hopefully this will give you an glimpse into life in France and answer some of your questions about this awesome country like "how many cheeses do they really over there (a lot)," "do they all walk around wearing berets (hee, hee, thank god no)," and "what's up with their lack of deoderant (still not sure)?" So, if you have any questions you wish to be adressed, let me know and I'll get to them.
I went to the grocery store today a couple blocks from the apartment and attempted to use a VISA card to pay for my groceries. Let me just say I have never seen the usage of a credit card as such a hassel. The man working had absolutely no idea what he was doing. He tried to slide it through the machine everyway but the right way, including using the left and right side, as that is how french cards work, until he finally had to call someone to come down to the store and show him how to slide the card through the machine. While normally this would annoy me, it is kind of nice to be in a society where people still deal in hard currency and the credit card doesn't pay for everything. At the same time, the French are real sticklers for exact change. They get very upset with you if you try to pay for something that costs 10 FF ($1.50) with a 100 FF bill ($15). The concept of making change appears to be beyond them sometimes. Then when they finally give you change they give you all the coins they don't want, in denominations so small a machine won't even take them for a Coke. But hey, that gives you good change for the market!
Hey all you out there let me know how it is going and what you think!