Southern France

Finally! I have wanted to see Southern France since my first year living in France, and finally had a good chance to go there. H took one week off from his work and we planned a 6-day trip to see different towns. Travelling by train limited our options where to go to, so finally our destinations were set to Avignon and Marseille.

Old and one-colored town of Avignon

Avignon is a smaller town on the way from Paris to Marseille, about 100 km before it. From the very first views it seemed quite unique: pretty much all the houses had sand color walls with no extra paint on them and there was an old stone wall around the whole centre area of the town. In addition the old houses were left to look old without renovations made. That gave the town a lovely touch. We sat down for the best burger and tartar dishes we have ever had and then waited for the apartment hotel reception to open to get our luggage in our room. It was so hot to walk with the bags that we just found a place nearby the hotel with a shadow and sat down for an hour. After a shower and cooling down in the air-conditioned room it was much better to continue discovering the lovely town. It was so small that we almost walked around it already on the first evening.

On our only full day in Avignon we wanted to get inside the one huge building the small town has inside it: Palais des Papes (Palace of the Popes) that had all the towns tourists on its square. I was quite surprised that even during this pandemic time it had attracted so many people there. They offered free iPads the visitors could use to get information of each room and sometimes for them to see what the room looked like during the times when Popes stayed at Avignon.

Having a lunch right in front of the Palais des Papes was a completely different experience from our lunch on the previous day. We felt like the waiters had no plans who takes care of what area and we had to wait super long both for ordering and for waiting for the dishes. And additionally the food wasn't to our taste. Both the ceasar salad and the lasagna were quite tasteless even though they looked good. We also checked Pont d'Avignon, an bridge that had lost half of it within time, and a big ferris wheel right next to the river offering us nice view to every direction and to some of the towns illuminations that we saw more on our way back to the hotel.

The city of Marseille

On the following afternoon we took a train from Avignon to the sea, to Marseille. We used the remaining few hours of the day by cooling down at the hotel (it was over 30 degrees as it had been in Avignon, as well) and walking around the city, watching its beach and its harbor. The city was hillier than Paris and had its own atmosphere because of the sea but some streets reminded us a lot of Paris.

Hiking at Parc national des Calanques

On the next day we took a bus in the morning to go to the national park located 10 km South from the centre of Marseille. The bus was mostly filled by tourists wearing sports clothes in order to take the hiking rails in the mountainous park that we had planned to take. We walked for about 4 km, first uphills until we saw the ocean and then we took a path downhills to the most beautiful swimming place either of us had ever been to. The clear turquoise water between the light colored hills and green trees had attracted many other hikers there as well even though there was no proper beach there. The downsides of the place were the difficulty of descending to the water and the pebble bottom of the tiny beach and the water. Having no sand made sure the water was so unbelievably clear I could see my feet all the time. 

Also on our last full day we left towards South-East from the main Marseille. We traveled early in the morning to another coastal town called La Ciotat which offers lots of possibilities to rent a kayak, a sup-board or such. We rented kayaks for half a day and headed off to a small island nearby the main land. Luckily the kayak was quite stable so I didn't have to worry about it tilting over but I did worry for how my arms could do the whole way to the island and back and if my sea sickness would make it impossible. I really started to feel uncomfortable in the waves half way to our destination. The waves were not even big but the constant up and down movement surprised my stomach nevertheless.

Anyhow, we finally made it to the island and parked our kayaks on its shore. It felt so good to stand on a land and let my bad feeling to fade away. We climbed up the see the view from the top of the island and wondered the amazing-colored sea from the heights as we had done already on the kayaks. It was as wonderful as we had seen in Calanques on the previous day.

Kayaking back to the mainland took almost an hour and my bad feeling suddenly hit me half way again, this time up to the point I got the vomiting reflex. Luckily I had not eaten anything after breakfast (and it started to be hours since that), so nothing came up, and after three times I was sure I would get something up, my sea sickness disappeared. After a good lunch we wanted to enjoy our afternoon on the beach. Lying on the sandy beach would have been great if the temperature wasn't reaching over 30 degrees again. We had to take a swim constantly to cool our bodies down but even with that we gave up rather fast and took a bus back to Marseille.

Our vacation offered very nice experiences and was also a great variation to the city life. We realized that travelling small distances was much more tourist friendly and cheaper than in Paris. Paris only offers one-day tickets or until-the-next-Sunday tickets which costs over 20 euros. We were lucky to spend 3 days in Marseille because they offered 72-hour tickets for 10 euros and that covered also our way to Calaques and back. While traveling in the public transport though, we also paid attention to the people who didn't wear a mask or who left it under their chin if they happened to have one with them. That was more common in Marseille than in Paris even though it is mandatory everywhere in France now. Seemingly even having a risk of getting a fine of 135 euros doesn't get the ignorant people to follow the rules. And what it comes to following rules, we also noticed that some parts of Marseille were completely covered up in graffiti. H wondered out loud if it is because the city didn't seem to have much for the youngsters to do or proper places for them to hang around. It could be. If I could choose between living around Paris or around Marseille, I would need some time to think. They both have their own specific good sides. The best thing about Marseille would be being close to the sea and the nature more, but I think Paris offers better chances for going out for a culture or a restaurant (since I don't fancy sea food, haha).

A day of almost 40°C

This week has been the hottest one during this year in Paris. And I truly hope we don't get a new record anymore... Monday afternoon the temperature reached past 30°C but Tuesday and Wednesday it luckily stayed under that. Yesterday it got to 32°C again and today it is probably the hottest I have ever been to in my life, when Accuweather forecast said it was 39°C in the late afternoon. And lucky me who gets to cycle through that heat to go to work! Or not so lucky... I do prefer riding the electric city bikes compared to taking trains because the trains are like saunas in the summer and now we also have to wear a mask in those. Unfortunately though, I just didn't have a chance to take a bike today on my way to work. All the well-working electric velibs (the city bikes) were taken before me. That is always the down-side. You can never know if you'll find a not-broken or not-out-of-battery e-bike.

Luckily it got cloudy in the afternoon
but unfortunately the thunderstorm
never came. Rain would be needed.

Today I was sweating already before going anywhere when the thermometer showed 28°C in our small apartment. I would like to buy our freezer full of ice-creams but it is so tiny that I can barely fit one package in between other food. I also wish French super markets would sell single ice-creams like they do in Finland. Here the smallest box includes 4 cones so I cannot go and buy one to eat when walking on the streets. The only things to keep our home cooler are our small machine blowing cool air (and in the winter it also is our source of the heat) and the upstairs neighbor's balcony that nicely creates a shadow over our glass door. Our landlord in the next door has worse luck of having no balcony above his back door. That is why we often see his "iron curtain" pulled down to prevent afternoon sun shining straight inside.

Our small "air con" is the only thing that
keeps us a bit cooler at home.

Having this kind of "iron curtain"
for doors and windows is very
common in France. I am used to
think these are for stores, not homes.

Anyway, I survived the work today, and there are also some positive sides of the hot weather. I could wash two rounds of laundry because the first batch dried up before the second one was washed. A perfect day to wash also our blanket. In addition, our chili seems to like getting lots of sunshine because after 2 months of waiting it is finally turning red! I was already giving up the hope it would ever change the color because the biggest one has been 15-20 cm long for weeks and weeks. Nevertheless, our chili is almost the only nice thing in our garden now. The leaves have dramatically fallen down during this hot week and the grass is getting even more yellow, losing any greenness in it.

The chili getting red, the grass getting
dry and the tree getting bold.

Today was a perfect day to do more laundry before going to work.

We were drawing with the
almost-2-year-old at their
grandparents'. I am happy their house
is very cool even on these weathers.

I also went swimming at work for a couple of times this week.
Cooperation with the kids' grandparents is so great!

Strasbourg

I still have almost 3 weeks of work before starting my summer vacation. This year I do it the typical French way and have August off. Because of the shorter vacation time and the fact that I spent 7 weeks in Finland due to the corona, I won't spend this summer with my family and friends back there. Instead, we plan to visit some different places in France. I have hardly visited other towns outside Paris even though I have already lived here for quite some time. So better do it now that I still am here.

Last Tuesday was Bastille Day, the French national day. That obviously is a free day for everyone and H thought he could also take the previous Monday off, as well. What a good time to check one town in France! Because we hope to head to the sea when we have some proper vacation, we decided to go to the East this time. We both had been in Strasbourg once before, but since neither of us remembered too much of it, we thought it is a good destination for an over-night visit.

Sitting 3 hours in a train from Gare de l'Est to the border of Germany could be a bit more pleasant if you didn't need to wear a mask all the time but that's how things are here now. Strasbourg itself seemed more quiet when it lacked tourists that I imagine usually fill its streets. Now there were just some French and German people and randomly people from UK or other European countries. We didn't complain because it meant shorter lines to churches, boat cruises and ice-cream kiosks.

Strasbourg cathedral

The square in front of the cathedral was one of the places that
actually had quite some people already.

Saint-Pierre Le Jeune church

The cloister yard at the Saint-Pierre Le Jeune

Petite France quarter

We took a cruise on the canals of Petite France and Neustadt.

European Parliament

We ordered popular dishes of
Strasbourg: tarte flambée and
choucroute (Sauerkraut in German).

The city of Strasbourg was lovely with lots of flowers, churches and the river. Surely worth of visiting but I wouldn't stay there for many days. A weekend trip was just good. It was nice to get somewhere else for a change. Paris offers a lot but when you live here, you kind of get blind to many things that you might otherwise find interesting. Every now and then I have to remind myself that I actually live (almost) in Paris.

This view on my way to work (when cycling) always brings me
back to the fact that I am in Paris.

Many Parisians enjoy the life normally already and the safety distance
is neglected when you can dance next to Seine. Wearing a mask is
mandatory in the transport and since yesterday also in stores, but
otherwise life is more or less back to normal here.

The summer here has been quite good for now. Temperature has reached 30 for some days but luckily we have had cooler days and weeks in between, too. One thing I really really wish now is rain. I don't remember when it rained here but it must be over a month, at least. Our lovely garden is changing from green to yellow and all the leaves in the bushes and in the tree look so poor. I am afraid the leaves would fall down because of the dryness, like last year... We carry water for the bushes almost daily but I don't know how long that would be helpful if this continues. Soon the only green things on our garden are the flowers and herbs we are growing.

Our poor yard is in a desperate need of a proper rain...

Strange habits of the French

It has been about 2,5 years since I moved to France. There have been some things I have paid attention to that are more or less common in France (or at least in Paris since I don't have much experience outside the capital area) but that I find strange or at least different from what I am used to. All of these are not applicable during the corona restriction time but the following list is about my usual life in France. I don't mean to upset anyone with the "negativity", since it is more of a list that I just want to share about the cultural differences I have noticed. Every country has their downsides and odd things anyway.

1) No sink in the toilet

I have to mention this one first because it has bothered me from the very first day I lived in Paris. My previous home that I shared with a French family in the Asian district of Paris had a small toilet where the only thing inside it was the actual toilet seat. After using the toilet, I had to walk to the bathroom or kitchen in order to wash my hands. The same problem occurred at H's previous place and at my current job. It is somehow very unpleasant that everyone using the toilet has to open the door without washing their hands first. And to be honest, I really doubt if all French people even wash their hands always after their business... I am happy that our current apartment in Gentilly has the toilet and the bathroom together, so the sink is located right next to the toilet seat. Hygiene at these times is specifically important.

Toilets often have only the toilet seat.

2) Having a late dinner

Being a Finn, I was used to have dinner between 5 - 6.30 pm, unless if the occasion needed to push it a bit later. In France it is not very common to eat before 7 pm. For example if you want to go to a restaurant (that are actually allowed to have people also inside them now after the corona restrictions), going before 7 pm guarantees you get to choose basically any table you like. In the contrary, if going around 8.30 - 9 pm you should be prepared to sit in a full restaurant or even queue if you choose a popular place.

Sometimes French people like to go for drinks after their work before they would head for the actual dinner. I wonder how they can do that since I would be so hungry after my work that I'd want to go for food right away and not sit somewhere trying to enjoy only a drink. Due to my working hours we often have a quite late - around 8 pm - dinner, too, but I wouldn't mind eating earlier if possible.

Yes, and I know that in some other countries they eat even later, like in Spain. But for a typical Finn 8 pm dinner is already late. How else could you still enjoy the evening snack?

3) Baguette

Talking about food and France, I have to mention baguette again. That is eaten SO MUCH here! You always get baguette slices at restaurants and you often see people walking home with a baguette in their hand or bag. I know that my employers also buy a baguette basically every single day. Aren't French people getting bored of having always just baguette, baguette, baguette..?

Some baguette we got in a Parisian restaurant before our
starters even came. Onion soup and goat cheese salad.

4) "Oh là là!"

One of the phrases you maybe hear the most after "Bonjour" and "Ça va?" in France, the phrase that is not only a stereotypical idea of how French people react. You hear it a lot! It can be used both in positive and negative way, with an excited or a disappointed voice. And I have to say it didn't take too long before I started using "oh là là" constantly at work, as well.

5) Parking where fitting

I don't think it is actually allowed but I have seen cars parked partly on the zebra crossing, in the corners of intersections, partly on the pedestrian road, and sometimes cars have been stopped in the middle of a road (when there is enough of space for other cars to pass it). Some other times I see cars parked so close to each other that it is impossible for them not to push others when leaving. Actually I also have seen twice cars hitting other parked cars when desperately trying to fit in between. This all must be due to the huge amount of people and the density of Paris. Even though there are plenty of public transports all around the city, the amount of cars used every day is big. During the rush hours you can see the 3-lane highway that goes around the city getting completely stuck and cars have to stand in queues. I would never like to have a car of our own here. Luckily we don't need it.

I couldn't find any photos of my own about parked cars
in France, so I took this example from another blog:
https://aipetcher.wordpress.com/tag/french-parking/

6) Everything needs to be on paper and personally

Yes, the French bureaucracy that I also have written about before. France doesn't have an electronic system to hold information about its citizens and one cannot take care of much stuff online. In Finland I am used to do so much online and sign in with my bank access codes in order to identify myself for formal things. Here such things don't exist. You have to print and fill papers and go personally bring them on the spot. French people are highly against authorities having their information and there would be many people who would never have themselves in online registers even if possible. Hence, we go by paper. In fact it bothers me a little bit that the tax organisation is the only place that would know for example me and H being married together. I sometimes wonder if something was to happen to one of us, how long it would take that the information reaches the other one. People couldn't check if we are married to someone or not.

7) Lack of the spirit of customer service

This differs from store to store and place to place. Of course there are some very kind people who are more than happy to help. But the difference of the quality of service hit to my face stronger since it had not been long since I came back from Japan before I moved to France. The Japanese customer service is something of its really own and I cannot compare it to any other place I have ever been. The politeness in Japan is something to be wondered for the rest of my life. So, after getting used to that, it was a bit strange to return to Finland where customers are often left to do their own choices in peace and with minimal interaction. Then moving to Paris, where I sometimes struggled to get any kind of help if I spoke only English, or where people tried to answer my question as fast as they could so that they can continue to other stuff, made me miss my time in Japan.

I think this might be highly due to living in a big city where there are just so many people that you cannot care for each person around you. Also living in the noisy areas where you always have to wait and put yourself first in order to get what you want, causes stress for sure. In some way I find it interesting though because French people are also more social than Finns or Japanese. But maybe they keep that socializing for their free time more. Again, saying this doesn't happen everywhere. I have also got very nice service in English or patience when I struggle with my French.

8) Working culture

The rush hours take place at a later time in France than in Finland. French people starting working later than Finns on the average and they also stay much later at work. It is not uncommon that the parents return home between 6 and 7 pm and that is why it is often a nanny or a grandparent who picks up the children from the schools and day cares (like I do). I know that French people like to have a proper lunch break that usually lasts from one hour to two full hours, so it is no wonder they work until a later time.

Another thing I have paid attention to while working with children, is that parents seem to have a big pressure to go to work even in abnormal situations, such as someone being sick. Children are taken to schools and day cares even with a fever or a chance of vomiting. I am used to parents staying at home to take care of their sick children in Finland, but it was not only me who got tired of handling disease spreading at the preschool I used to work at. Even after we wrote a clear paper to inform the parents to keep their sick child at home until they have spent one full day without symptoms resting, someone still tried to have their child to come to school after just vomiting in the car on the way there or after having fever the previous night because "this morning he seemed better"... Somehow so strange for me. That risked not only the sick child to get worse, but also other kids and the teachers had a risk of getting it.

But actually even though it looks like French have a pressure to go to work, it simultaneously seems that they stay at home when having a reason for it. "Today there is a strike, cannot go to work." "It is snowing, cannot go to work." So, I am not completely sure what the reality about the working culture is...

9) No warm clothes

France doesn't get nearly as cold in the winter as Finland might get, but the temperature drops to zero or under each year. It is understandable that French houses or clothing are not as cold-resistant as what I am used to see, but it still is quite chilly also here if you are not prepared for the coldness. In addition to winter coats, scarfs and some occasional gloves or hats, people go in light clothes. Even many children go outside with usual pants or girls with a skirt and tights and without gloves or hats. I feel cold even watching them. But maybe it is not worth of it buying warm pants or others when those would be used for a several days or weeks only?

10) Mölkky

Mölkky is a Finnish outdoor game where you throw a wooden round billet to numbered pins. I was surprised when I noticed that it is quite popular among the French, as well. Every now and then I see people playing it in the parks and it still has the Finnish name written on it. We actually bought one of our own recently but we realized that our garden is not the best place to play it - at least not when the grass has not been cut for weeks.

Playing Mölkky at our yard was not the easiest place to do it.

My corona vacation

I have not been writing for a long time and there is a simple reason for that. Not much has happened to me. I have not been able to do my work as a nanny for the French family and all the restrictions in different countries have limited my options what to use my time for. I have stayed a lot of time just at home: cooking, baking, learning languages and watching series or movies. So it has been like an extra vacation for me.

Vacation in Finland

I flew to Finland on the following day as I had returned from Vietnam. And that is where I spent the next 7 weeks, even though in the beginning I had no idea whether I stay at my parents' for a few weeks or even a few months. I had come there with a way-one ticket. The first two weeks I spent quarantined at home - but we did give up on trying to keep the distance of each other inside the family. Being quarantined in Finland was so much better than it would have been in almost any other place. Since I was staying with my parents who worked at home, I could spend a lot of my time in the kitchen preparing all their meals and baking sweets. And one of the greatest things about staying in Finland was that I was still able to go for long walks outside home. Finland hasn't limited people going outside and since my parents live nearby a forest, I could walk around in the nature without needing to face many people. Additionally, I found a free online course for 2 months for practicing French a little bit. I didn't feel bored at all. The one thing I felt negative for, was the fact that my husband was on the other side of the world.

Lakes, forest and some animals. I couldn't complain
about my quarantine time.

The melting ice forms quite interesting shapes.

After my two weeks in quarantine, I started taking care of doing the groceries, too. And I could also help my previous employer who needs personal assistant in her life even during the corona time. That is how my 7 weeks in Finland went quickly. I could enjoy spending a lot of time for cooking, I could go to sauna whenever I wanted, I even went into the lake from sauna once, I played frisbeegolf with my family and surprisingly, I got to play with snow many times. Last winter was warmer than ever in the Southern Finland and there was hardly any snow. But that was followed by a spring when the winter strikes back several times. For some weeks I felt like it was snowing every 2 or 3 days and then the snow always melted during the same day as it came down.

Korvapuusti - Finnish cinnamon rolls

Chocolate cake with vanilla sauce

Oven apples

A cake for my brother who had
b-day close to Easter.

One day I and my parents drove a bit further from home in order to walk in a nature reserve. I love walking on small forest paths and the views were very nice especially around the lakes!

At the end of April H was finally able to find a flight back to France for early May. That and the fact that the French schools can open on May 11th were my hints to check return flights also for myself. And I flew to France to reunite with my husband after 7 weeks in different countries.

Vacation continuing in France

The schools in France were allowed to open on May 11th. But unlike in Finland where all the schools opened at once, here it didn't mean that all the children would return to schools on the same day. For example the school where the older child I look after goes to, will not open during the whole May and June is yet to be seen. Therefore I couldn't return to my normal working hours and in fact, I have not been needed at all yet. My first working day since the beginning of March will be day after tomorrow. The younger child is at the nursery, so I will spend some hours with the now-already-4-year-old, so that the parents can work better. So I have been in France for two weeks now but my vacation has only continued. My spring vacation has turned into a summer vacation when the weather here has reached over 20 degrees every day and some days almost up to 30. I almost feel guilty for not working and still getting 80% of my salary while some other are loosing their jobs or adjusting their work to a new environment or working more than normally...

So instead of making snowmen, I have been sunbathing and growing herbs and flowers. Now it surely feels even nicer than before that we have our own yard. All the parks here are closed and even though we are already allowed to go outside without permission papers, we don't go much elsewhere than for groceries or a run with H. He works at home and I try to keep quiet during his meetings. one time a few of his friends came over to our place and we had barbecue. Eating with Vietnamese people means a lot of food and a lot of variety. Cannot complain!

Growing chili, coriander and flowers.

Barbecuing with Vietnamese people
guarantees a lot of food.

We played my sushi game and ate
some cheese cake I had made.

We talked about going to Accrocamp - a place to go on different tracks in the trees - already when barbecuing. And on Sunday we went for it. Sunday of course was a busy day there but it would be more difficult for us during the weekdays because of everyone's work and because during the weekdays you have to have a permission from your employer in order to use the public transport during the rush hours. Many of the tracks were similar to the Accrocamp place that I went to with H last October but some tracks were very different. It was so much fun to climb up to the heights, be able to go through even the most difficult objects and always slide down to the ground at the end of each track! The scariest part was the Quick jump where you basically just jump straight down from around 17 meters.

This Accrocamp place had some different
obstacles than the other one we had visited.

Probably the highest slide-down