Wow, September flew by!

Béziers, France

5 October 2024

Dear Family and Friends,

First, thanks for a fabulous birthday! I know I missed the entire month of September so I’m long overdue for an instalment.  It’s perhaps overkill to blame it all on the birthday fun, but in large part the fun just kept on going. I can’t thank you all enough for the cards, texts, and well wishes, and I can’t thank my new friends in Bezier enough for all the lunches, dinners, cocktails, walks, and visits.

September flew by and I cannot really believe it’s October. There was the usual paperwork and processes that took up a bit of my time.  The good news is that I have applied for a driver’s license, I have my supplemental health insurance, and I have applied for my permit to reside in France for another year. My current extended stay visa expires in January. The reality is that any day now I expect that I will get requests for additional information.  Thanks to others who are going through the same processes, I’m pretty sure I know what they will request, and I think I’m prepared for what they will ask and can provide it without delay.  But stay tuned, I might be surprised. All my fingers are crossed.

I know football season has started in the States.  While I miss watching on Sunday afternoon, I had the good fortune of attending a rugby game where Béziers’ Red and Blue represented well and beat Provence, (yes their uniforms are lavender, of course.)

And this is where we were seated :)

Great seats!

I am looking forward to watching more rugby, and it’s clear I also need to learn more about what you and I call soccer. Here of course it’s football. At the moment, I haven’t quite figured out what my options are for watching live sports on the television, but as the weather is getting cooler I am going to need to figure that out. I am a little bit surprised, but I do miss my Fall Sunday afternoon ritual.

Another great September event was a visit from my friend Cesar. We had a great visit, checked out the local sights, did a couple of day trips to Narbonne and Montpellier, and general just had a very relaxing week.  I did almost none of my usual chores, stayed up much past my bedtime and slept in almost every morning.  It was heavenly. There were a few things that I couldn’t skip. Manny and Moe and French. I was quite proud of myself that I did not miss a single morning French, didn’t quite do as much as usual but I did study for just a bit every day. 

Béziers continues to be full of fun surprises. As I’m writing this, there is a special sale going on at the shops in my neighborhood, and it includes live music.  Nothing like some American classic crooning with a deep French accent. Yesterday it was a strolling New Orleans style band with saxophone, tuba and drums. I heard “Oh When the Saints Go Marching In” several times throughout the afternoon, other songs were less recognizable, but John Philip Souza was definitely heavily represented in the rotation. Last weekend the fun surprises were a honey festival, and a local beer and food trucks festival.

The evening sun is spectacular!

It is true September flew by with many fun moments punctuated by live music, art, history, incredible food, wine and friends. I apologize I haven’t written to you, but it’s not because I didn’t think of you! I will try to do better this month.

I hope you are enjoying Fall. I know it’s busy with the change of season and everyone has much going on with school, careers, travel and general transitions in life. I hope you are all enjoying the moments!

Bonne journée!