Power is Back! A Frenchman in America...

No power in part of the house......an important part of the house....the KITCHEN.  It has been a day and a half so we are thrilled to see EDF show up to replace the melted box.

One of the men heard X and I speaking English and asked where I was from.....Caroline du Nord, Monsieur...."Oh, I love the USA. I have been there", he said!  "But there was one thing I did not understand".  Smiling,  he proceeded to tell of his trip to Austin, Texas.  While there, he always greeted friends and family the usual traditional French way.....a kiss on each cheek.  A stranger approached and told him that this is not done in America.  Surprised, he listened.

Did he misunderstand? Who knows what the stranger really meant.....were they just curious about the tradition or did they really mean that one should not greet someone in public with a kiss in America.  That is the way he took it so from then on he said he and his family shared no more French greetings in America.  C'est dommage

And, finally, we pass on a bottle of rosé acknowledging a job appreciated and well done.  Somehow I don't see us handing a bottle of wine to the Duke Power guys. Do you?

P.S. There was a geiko that must have been very close when the box was struck.  He is charred....absolutely black....but is still alive and well....must indeed have a suit of armor.  Have not been able to catch a photo of him.

Sainte Barbe Day, A Provence Tradition

In Provence, the Christmas season begins on 4 December, Saint Barbara's Day, with a tradition dating to Greek and Roman times. You begin by choosing a saucer or other small container. Cover the bottom of the container with soft cotton. You can use a sheet of cotton or simply pull apart cotton balls. Then lightly sprinkle the cotton with water. It needs to be wet but don't drown it. I like to drip the water off the tips of my fingers. Now, scatter grains of hard wheat over the damp cotton. I purchased my hard wheat from the bins at Earth Fare. Water lightly daily. The grains should germinate in a few days and soon you will have wheat grass. The germinated wheat represents prosperity and a good harvest for the following year. Be careful not to overwater as it will rot the grains.

You can see that I got a little carried away with the number of containers. I even used empty tealight containers, and my friend, Lin, used an olive boat. Use the sprouted wheat on the table at Christmas as well as in and around the creche (nativity).

Could this be the beginning????

I have always admired how the French hold on to their regionalism, the integrity of their provinces.....whether it is food, or wine or the number of 'les bises' (kisses) when one is greeting a friend.  In Provence, we do not cook with butter but in Normandy, they do. We have olive trees so we cook with olive oil......in Normandy, they have cows so their cuisine uses butter.  In Provence, we drink wines from the Var and the Rhone, not Burgundy or Bordeaux.  But things are changing....maybe not with food yet, but, hopefully, this is not the beginning of the end of each areas individuality...

From now on, new license plates will only reflect the region where the car resides in a small square on the right of the tag.  Always, if you saw a car with a plate ending in 06, you knew these people were from the area of Nice.....83 from the Var......84 Vaucluse.......69 Lyon......33 Bordeaux, etc.  Slowly new plates will replace the old and when one purchases a car, the plate will not reflect the region and that plate will stay with that car for the life of the car....even if the owner changes.....changes departements, etc  Well, I guess my little game of 'where are they from' might not  last forever....a little square today...gone tomorrow??

Cashiers, Carts, and Sacks

I live in the grocery store in France as much as I do here in the States. I have made several observations....not just about the food that is there...which is obviously different...but, the basics are different too.

First, once you are parked, you go to the cart area and get a cart. To do this, you must use a 1 Euro coin or perhaps you have a token from a grocery store promotion. Insert the coin and the chain releases and you have a cart for shopping. NO, you are not paying a Euro for the use of the cart. You get your Euro back when you return the cart and reconnect the chain.. SIMPLE....No carts rolling around the parking lot....and never necessary to send someone to round up carts. So when I think about how this could be done here, I realize that we don't have a 'common' coin that has perhaps enough value to insure the return of the cart....would a quarter do it......no one ever has a $.50 piece or a dollar coin in their pocket.

Second....Note the pic of the cashier....she is seated and has total control of all around her. Cashiers unite! You need to sit down...it works.

Third.....Over the past 2-3 years, ALL the grocery stores...big and small....do not give you any kind of sack or bag for your purchases. It is about 'being green' and environmentally conscious. You can purchase a plastic bag (like we have) for less than a nickel or you can bring your own bag and fill it. Heavy duty reuseable bags are always on sale for less than a Euro. I must tell you that I have never seen anyone buy the bags like we use. If they don't have a bag with them, many people keep a box or cooler in their car and just reload their cart at check-out and make the transfer when they get to the car. Obviously, it is easier to just take your reuseable bag into the store. And, you do bag your own groceries. I do that here but I think I am the exception. I like organizing them to make putting them away easier when I get home. OK ...enough of this.

Finally, I don't think there is much you and I can do about the first two items but we can certainly take our own shopping sack with us and diminish our impact on the planet. It is just a habit that we need to develop.

WRAP-UP ON ELECTION

Well, it is remarkable to me that at 8PM....seconds after the polls close, a winner is announced. How do they know so fast??? Truly, the clock was ticking down on the television and BOOM the announcement that SARKOZY WINS with 53% of the vote! Also, I am amazed at the voter turnout...85%.....they are passionate about their politics. No laisser faire ici....or voter apathy.

Xavier says they know how to count votes!

SARKOZY WINS

AMAZING....there is a countdown just like New Year's Eve for the 8PM announcement. Sarkozy has won with 53% of the vote.

FRENCH ELECTIONS

Today, Sunday, is election day here in France. There is excitement in the air. It has been THE topic of conversation for days...whether with friends and neighbors or around the table at meal times.

THe morning greeting this morning was "Today is the big day".......I'm thinking...big day....what is it.....what have I forgotten....where are we going???? Wrong! France is getting a NEW president! I won't pretend to know a tenth of what the average Frenchman knows but they are all animated and very excited about the change. The candidates are Segolene Royal, the Socialist illegitimate daughter of former President Mitterand...and you know the French could care less what her birth status was .....and Nicolas Sarkozy, the conservative candidate who is promoting law and order and economic reform. Now that is as far as I am going with the politics....

Our day here in Les Arcs moved from the declaration of a 'big day' to going downtown where Bernard, Madeleine and Xavier voted. It was pretty much like our USA set-up but NO computers. Each of them had a voting card that was to be stamped (see pic) when they presented their identification. Then there were 2 stacks of paper ballots....one for Royal and one for Sarkozy.....Most people pick up one of each and then go into booth and 'isoloir' (isolate themselves) to vote by placing the paper with their candidate into the box. Guess you could count the trashcan to see who loses!

Local jokes abound.....X received a text message from a friend yesterday ... Tomorrow, vote for Sarkozy so Royal remains only the name of a pizza!......

Today was only a presidential election.....the legislative election will be in June....never at the same time as we do.

It is 7PM here now. Most polls closed at 6PM except for the big cities which close at 8....Supposedly we will know at 8. Voter turnout is supposed to reach 85%. AMAZING!