Merry Christmas!

Béziers, France

21 December 2024

Dear Family and Friends,

I am back from a two week visit to Michigan, with a really quick day trip to Chicago.  It was great to see many folks and I regret to say there were many of you I did not have the opportunity to see, if I missed you I am truly sorry and hope that we can find a time to visit soon. I can’t believe I’ve been back in France for two weeks already, but here we are. I came back to cooler weather for sure but not as cold as the Midwest, and certainly no snow or ice. The highs are in the mid 50’s lows around 40. It’s the sunshine that I was most looking forward to, and it is gorgeous. 

Les Halles, the market, opened just before I left for the States. The Christmas market was just about to open and decorations were almost complete, so when I arrived home the Christmas season was in full swing. Thousands of pine trees and millions of lights are spread throughout Centre Ville and Christmas songs (mostly in English) play on the speakers in the streets and the ambiance of a Hallmark Christmas movie pervades. You might think I would tire of the music, but mostly it just fades into the background and I don’t even hear it. If it does start to bother me when I’m at home it is easily drowned out by a little music of my own choosing. It rarely happens that I even notice it.

The market on the Allées is a combination of food a few venders selling seasonal and decorative items.  There is one boutique that has lots of crafty sewn items and seasonal sewing supplies that definitely makes me think of my sisters. There is a stand that sells “American Hot Dogs.” A little disappointing that all we’re bringing to the table are hot dogs, but I suppose I’ll have to try one eventually, just to see how they measure up.

There are many treats to eat, but one that I find most surprising is the stand that sells nothing but nougat. They have big round wheels of nougat, about the size of a big wheel of cheese, each wheel is a different variety. They hack you off a slice, just like they would if it were cheese, and charge a small fortune, just like they would if it were cheese. I didn’t think I was going to like it, but in the spirit of trying new things I bought a slice (had a little heart palpitation at the price) and brought it home to satisfy my sweet tooth after dinner. I tried the rum raison flavor, and the stuff is amazing. The raisons have a very slight rum flavor and they go very well with the toasted almonds that give the soft chewy nougat texture as well as flavor. While I was pleasantly surprised, I won’t buy anymore this year because it’s definitely an expensive treat. I will try another flavor next year.

There are many other treats that I do not recognize and I’m slowly working my way through the various versions of melted cheese with pork. I kid you not.  There are the ham and with cheese sandwiches, they take a baguette, cover it with the ham of your choice and then melt cheese on top; there are potatoes with onions, lardons (bits of smoked bacon)  and cheese; there are pastas that are poured into a cheese bowl and swirled around to melt in some of the cheese before it is scooped out for your dining pleasure; and a few other varieties of sandwiches, like  fancy toasted cheese with your choice of a ham or another cured meat, or sausages with cheese and potatoes. In general, you get the idea, lots of melted cheese and pork that has been smoked, cured, or fashioned into a sausage of some sort with a starch of one form or another. I’m happy to try them all.

Meanwhile, there has been some progress on the paperwork front. My application to transfer my driving license has been approved. I will have my new license any day now and if you can’t tell, I am super excited that this process was successful and is coming to an end!

Now, I’m looking forward to progress on the next visa, or residence permit. Just before I left for the States, I had a request for additional information.  It is some of the information that I anticipated being asked for, but there was one surprise that was a little bit tricky.  There is a requirement for insurance, and I have the insurance, but my contract expires midway through the year.  The request was to show that I have insurance for the entire period of the new one-year residence permit. That proved a little trickier than you might expect, but I think I have worked through it and believe what I have submitted should be adequate. Checking the website, my application is still in the “instruction” phase, that means they can still come back and ask for more information, and there are some things that I have be allowed to stay while I complete the process. Fingers crossed!

As Christmas is upon us, I am wishing you all the warmth and light during this cold and dark time of year. May your celebrations bring you peace and joy!

Joyeux noël!