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29.07.2016

Local media and the attacks
Today our morning newspaper, Nice-Matin, headlined an article about the daily life of Nicoise people 2 weeks after the attack. We've been using the morning paper to practice our French reading skills and to glean a bit about the community. Basically the article tells stories of people who experienced the attack or the aftermath. Life seems somewhat back to normal in Nice, but that the beautiful and very popular Prom was recently a killing ground can't be easily forgotten. The Nice-Matin web page above has other useful post-attack news. One link is to a listing of Nice counseling centers. Other links include warnings to be wary of false rumors and information about several benefits to help the victims of the Bastille Day attack.

Nice and Alpes-Maritimes musicians benefit to raise money for child victims of Nice attack; The Nice-Matin website provides some details about the benefit 50 musicians come from Nice, 42 from the Alpes-Maritimes or neighboring departments such as the Bouches du Rhône and Var and others are expatriates in the United States, Brussels, Ireland or South Africa. Local firefighters also organized a bike ride to raise money for victims.

An 'alternative' journalist who is a native of Nice and now lives in Paris wrote this about Nice, the neighborhoods here, the Prom and the attack. There is some comparison with Paris after its attacks. It's a worthwhile read if you are interested in how locals deal with the aftermath of the attacks. If you have Chrome, right-click to translate into English.

Local adventures
John and I took a trip to an area of town I've been wanting to visit for a while. Castle Hill (Colline Chateau) Park overlooks the Nice Bay (Bai of Anges/Bay of Angels) displaying a gorgeous panoramic view. Just another reason to be in love with Nice.

There's a little tourist train that goes there up a hill or at the base is an elevator so you can take a city bus, walk to the base and go to the top via elevator. At the top is a garden and children's playground and a very cool view.

At the entrance to the park is a cool human-sized sundial where people stand in the center and become the Gnomon which casts a shadow depicting the time. You have to be a certain height to be able to cast a long enough shadow to show the correct time.

We walked around the park near the ruins of an old church (11th Century), by a very well designed play ground for children and around the ruins of the tower that was the center of a centuries old fort.

Here are some links telling the history of the area and showing some images and maps:
Link Link Link

On the way to the park we visited the Monument aux morts de Rauba-Capeù which is dedicated to the soldiers of Nice who died in WWI and the French resistance of WWII.

An intereting tidbit: The memorial Rauba Capeu of is located on the road from the waterfront , at the Quai Rauba Capeu, taking its name from the section of the Promenade des Anglais, near the monument, where the wind can be so strong that it "steals hats" ( "Rauba Capeu" ). "The monument measures 32 meters in height making it one of the largest in France. The urn, arranged in an arched niche, contains 3665 names of the dead Nice during the First World War . The monument has two high reliefs sculpted by Alfred Janniot: the left is based on the theme of war and the right one on the theme of peace." The central registration between them has a message for the decendents to remember those who died."

The park on Colline Chateau contains a beautifully designed memorial to a local mountain guide who was captured and killed by Algerian Jihadists. His kidnapping and threatened death were used to negotiate with the French government to stop the French airstrikes in Syria and Iraq.

Hervé Gourdel was a French citizen and mountaineering guide who was kidnapped on September 21, 2014, while hiking in the Djurdjura National Park in Algeria. The following day, a recently formed ISIL affiliate in Algeria, Jund al-Khilafah , released a video which showed Hervé Gourdel being held hostage. The group threatened to kill Gourdel if the French government continued to conduct airstrikes against ISIL. On September 24, they carried through on those threats when their deadline passed. The monument to Hervé Gourdel was dedicated in January of this year.

On the way home we went to the central and very popular open air market Cours Seleya. The sun was intense and I had left my hat at home so I bought a cute straw hat at the market from a guy who recently moved here from Tunisia. It was a good thing I waited to get my hat so the Rauba Capeu winds didn't steal it from me. At the market I finally found the kind of olives I like best -- kalamata. They sell a lot of green and black olives here (as stores do in the states) but I had not been able to find kalamata olives. Now I see them everywhere sold in a medley with a few other kinds of olive (but not black olives). I also bought some grapes, watermelon and peaches. All very good. Most of the prices were very good but a few people had much higher prices than others, with products that were no better than the others. Many of the fruit and vegetable sellers will offer samples of their products -- especially the fruit sellers. If they don't offer a sample, you should ask for one. Goodness, I'm beginning to sound like Rick Steves.

After taking the bus we walked along the port of Nice.	A little observatory sits on the hills surrounding Nice.	Monument aux morts de Rauba-Capeù is built into a cliff face.
War by Alfred Janniot above the names of the citizens of Nice who died in WWI.	Peace by Alfred Janniot.	Monument for the French Resistence.
After visiting the memorial we walked along the shore. This view is facing east.	Facing west towards the Promenade des Angles.	People sized sundial.
Ruth at the center of the sundial	John acting like a tourist.	Kids on floaties at Castel Plage(Beach).
Seagull sitting on top of elevator tower.	View of the Nice shoreline from the top of Colline Chateau (Castle Hill). Beautiful blues!	The old town of Nice.
A nice Italian man took our picture.	A monument for Hervé Gourdel.	The port of Nice seen from Colline Chateau.
Archaeological dig of the 11th Century church.	Stonework recovered from the dig.	Covered walkway for the Park at Colline Chateau.
These mosaics on the walkway reminded me of Gaudi's mosaics we saw in Barcelona.	More mosaics from when the park was built in the 1820's.	On the way home we saw a man selling bubble wands.
Shooting fountains let kids cool off in the summer heat.	Ruth likes her hat that we bought at the open air market.	Sun dappled Tommy asleep on the balcony.

27.07.2016

Discount airlines in Europe. I found a list of many local discount airlines in Europe. Depending on where you want to go the airlines that are based where you want to go are the ones with the most flights and usually the lowest prices. I thought I'd pass along a link to that information for those who are or will be in Europe soon. Link

John's garden
John is growing enough cherry tomatoes now that we don't need to buy any for a awhile. In Eugene we were unsuccessful getting our tomatoes to ripen, but here they ripened within a month of planting. We use more onions than we grow, but our home grown ones are great for potato, tuna and green salads. They are green onions at first and then the greenery shrivels and they grow a little more and then become pearl onions.

Family visit
Next year in May my sis Linda and my bro-in-law Philip are coming to Nice to stay with us a few days on their way to a long train trip on the Orient Express. Philip is a train nut. It will be so good to see them again.

Weather
Do I seem to be a bit preoccupied with the weather in Nice? Most of the time it is wonderful here. Now we have a portable A/C which cools only one room but we can share or get another. At least we have one for the days with high humidity over 65 and temps above 25°C/77°F.

NOTE: °F = °C x 1.8 + 32 or roughly °C x 2 +30

A few weeks in the summer are a concern, but all the rest of the year is very pleasant. Winters are mild. Spring and Autumn are awesome. For me the weather is another plus (of many). John prefers more rain. We are going to Amsterdam in September and that's a relatively rainy city. You can see the average rainfall for some European cities here.

I mentioned in our last blog that we had one day of very low humidity (15%) and very high temp (91F). It reminded me of the Santa Anna winds that blow from the desert in San Diego usually in January and September. There are many different winds in France and in Provence, but few of them effect Nice. However, we do get very short periods of strong winds on occasion and I think we may have experienced the Baby Mistral that day when it was very warm and very dry. Here's a link to some info about winds in France. The article describes the winds and the microclimate that protects Nice, Monaco and Cannes from the fiercest winds of the region.

Movies
Do you like animated movies or live action superheroes-comics movies? John is crazy about them and I've grown to like them quite a lot. John mostly likes the computer animated special effects. Our business together was animation for more than 15 years, so that explains a lot, no?.

We used to go to Comic-Con in San Diego every year the first 5 years after we got together. Each time we would go for 4 days in a row all day long. I usually skipped out a lot, but John didn't. They have sessions in a huge room (which was poorly air conditioned) where they showed trailers from upcoming movies.

This web site has all of them for 2016 but these are the ones I like the best:

Fantastic Beasts (Harry Potter)
Justice League (DC Comics)
Dr Strange (Marvel)
Suicide Squad (DC Comics)

When American shows are released here, they are released in English with French subtitles for a week only and often only after 9 PM. John encourages me to watch the animated, mostly for children movies such as 'Finding Dory' in French during the daytime (we can always watch them again online or on a disk in English another time).

John is a decidedly DAYTIME person. I am a night person. John says he's a morning glory and I'm a nightingale. Sweet, huh? So far John went to only one evening movie with me. To do so he has to adapt his hours with afternoon napping. Of course I adapt by adjusting my sleep/wake hours when we go places together during mornings.

We recently learned that Paris has a Comic-Con. Oct 21, 22, 23 this year. Woo Hoo! John is all happy. He would only be happier if there was a baseball team in Nice, and more rain in the summertime.

Announcement of first Europe Comic-Con in 2015
Video 2015 Comic-con

Produce from our little balcony garden

18.07.2016

We finally got our portable A/C today (now that the weather is perfect again). I feel more secure knowing that we have it in case we need it. According to Nice's weather history it will likely get hot and humid again in August, but for now the weather is lovely. Beach bumming here we come!

Today we got another book from our Eugene French teacher, Orit. It's titled "The Complete French for Cats (French for Cats & Advanced French for Exceptional Cats)". Danny loves to snuggle next to me as I read to him and Tommy climbs on my tummy and enjoys the ride as I giggle a lot while reading to him in mangled French. The book contains the complete conjugation of the word meow (miauler in French) and the kitty version of the French National Anthem, La Miaouseillaise ( the human version is La Marseillaise).

Dear Orit, we love the gifts you've sent us and you are always spot-on with your choices. And the book cover image of a kitty wearing a beret? Magnifique!! Thank you so much!

During the Bastille Day celebrations last Thursday night the Nice symphony started their program with the French National Anthem - "La Marseillaise" - which has some pretty gruesome lyrics (as does the USA National Anthem). There was no singing Thursday night but I was hearing in my head the words to an Allan Sherman 1963 comedy bit about the French Revolution. Try a listen - it's pretty funny (ghoulish, but funny). After we got home I started writing in our blog about the Bastille Day festivities. I was listening to that Allan Sherman comedy routine on YouTube and laughing when John came to tell me what had happened on the Promenade. My emotions did a 180. And then I understood all the sirens, which I had thought were related to the winds that had suddenly grown very strong.

The city’s Promenade des Anglais reopened Monday after a moment of silence. As we walked the Promenade I spoke briefly with a French man who had lost his father and a friend. He was matter of fact about it. My heart ached for him. He seemed to be in shock. 40,000 people showed up today to pay tribute to the victims of the Bastille Day violence. Here is a video (with some French audio) showing part of the crowd and tributes. IMAGES of Tributes: Hope Returns To Nice After Bastille Day Terror Attack

Our new portable air conditioner	Another great book from Orit with our first tomato.	Our sunflower is getting ready to seed.

17.07.2016

Today, after several days of emotions, minds-racing and sorrow John and I visited the official memorial at La Promenade du Paillon and several temporary ones along the Promenade des Anglais. John took photos of the memorials and of people on the beach sunbathing, little kids on bikes and trikes and life carrying on. At La Promenade du Paillon memorial we signed a visitors book and left a card with this message: "We wish peace to Nice, it's people and to all people. We are so very sorry you have had this tragedy. We love you."

Photos of re-opening of the Promenade des Anglais.
Link Link Link Link

Many flowers, cards and baby toys marked the memorials.	Sometimes a single flower.	The memorials were placed where the victims died.
Flags were at half-mast.	Thousands of people stopped and payed their respects.	Loving messages were written on stones from the beach.
Curses, gravel and trash marked the killer's place of death.	Peace flag	Hundreds of notes were left.
Nice and love banner	Hundreds of bouquets were left.	French flag with message of hope.
Parents helping children write messages.	Many toys left for the children who died.	Little doggie in with the bouquets
And life goes on...

16.07.2016

The streets near our home are busy again. All was quiet yesterday as the mayor and police had asked us to stay away from the promenade and nearby streets so as not to interfere with crime scene investigations.

I guess I'm a bit obsessed with the investigation about the massacre on the Promenade des Anglais. It matters whether or not the killer had ties to ISIL. If he did not, and ISIL is given credit for the murders, that strengthens their goal of spreading fear -- and they didn't have to do a thing to accomplish that. Whether or not it was affiliated with ISIL, the massacre increases the likelihood of unwarranted discrimination and violence against innocent people based on their race or religion.

One memorial attendee filmed a man screaming racially disturbing slurs at a group of women on the Promenade. "Go back to where you came from!", a man yelled at a group of women. "Get the hell out!"

"I was born in France!", one of the women responded. Link.

Anti-immigrant politicians and their followers blame refugees for attacks that involved no refugees. Link

Refugees Are Concerned Refugees across Europe are taking to social media to voice deep anxiety over the apparent terrorist attack in France on Thursday. Syrians, some of whom are part of the recent wave of refugees who left their war-torn country to seek safety within the borders of the European Union, are posting prayers on Facebook that say they hope the person behind the attack is not an asylum-seeker, while expressing fear that the incident would only breed more distrust towards people in their community.

Lone Wolf or Terrorist? White people who buy guns to shoot up cinemas and schools are put into one category: “lone wolves”. And inevitably the focus is on psychological and social problems. Individuals from a Muslim background are instantly placed in another category: “terrorists”. But when it comes to attacks such as those in Nice and Orlando, the distinction is increasingly unclear. The killer in Nice was psychotic. That is established by his medical history and his doctor.

The family of the Nice killer says he's not religious. From numerous accounts we know he drinks, uses drugs, eats pork, swears and is bisexual. Not your typical Islamic. He's been a violent alcoholic for a very long time. His wife recently left him and he was very depressed. The French Ambassador to the U.S. said the killer had no known ties to ISIS. Link

According to one report an uncle of the driver was told by "extended family members" that the driver had been approached by an Algerian man 2 weeks ago and became radicalized by him. So far investigators have not verified that information, but they have more than 200 investigators working on identifying recipients of his text messages. Link

With France terrorism alerts at such a high level and with all the talk now about ISIL videos directing fans to mow people down with vehicles I wonder why the truck was allowed to drive on the Promenande during a huge celebration with thousands of people in the street. Hindsight, I know, but still. Just sayin'.

Some reports say the guy acted alone. Others say he had accomplices. He's a Nice resident originally from Tunisia. The first person who died was a muslim woman in a scarf who he shot before he gunned the truck into the crowd. A couple of days later ISIL claimed credit for the attack and then the French Interior Minister Bernard Cazeneuve said the driver was likely radicalized very quickly. Link

We often watch Ric Steves' videocasts about traveling in Europe. This is his thoughtful response to the Nice attack.

The day after the Nice attack, Poland's right wing dick-of-an-Interior-minister blamed the values of multiculturalism and political correctness promoted by European Union leaders like foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini. Mariusz Blaszczak, interior minister in a right-wing government, said: "We must reject political correctness and call things by their true names. Rather than shedding tears like Mogherini and ... organizing marches that solve nothing, authorities should ensure the safety of citizens." In an interview on Polsat News, he said the attack in Nice is the consequence of many years of "multi-culti policies and political correctness. This is how it ends." He added: "We don't have such problems. We don't have districts where law other than Polish law reigns. We don't have no-go zones for police." He also praised his party, Law and Justice, for standing firm against accepting migrants.

This is the kind of thing John and I want to act against: self-serving, hatred inducing, ignorant comments by politicians like Blaszcak, Le Pen, Trump and so many others who foment hate and fear. We want to, at the very least, voice our opposition to that.

The Oregonian interviewed me about the aftermath of the Bastille Day attack. We didn't know much that wasn't already in the news but we expressed out concerns. Over the last 3 days I have posted much of what I have to say about the attack on Facebook if you want to take a look. Link

15.07.2016

I sent emails checking on my new friends and eventually learned they were all OK.

Marion, one of my DA friends emailed me: " We watched the fireworks from our balcony. Then we headed inside and suddenly heard a lot of banging. We ran out to see people running away in panic, bodies lying along the sidewalk in front of our apt., and loads of police. We then heard of the huge truck that mowed these people down. Now there are police, ambulances, fire trucks, helicopters, and many soldiers in front of us. We have all been told that the driver was killed but they think some accomplices got away. They are asking that we all stay inside." Her husband "Doc" was interviewed about the attack.

I wrote to some of my new friends from DA in Nice suggesting that we consider discussing and making recommendations to DA France and International about responses to events like this one and about assumptions of terrorism. Assumptions of terrorism where none exists help the terrorist spread fear among the populace and helps terrorist organizations seem sucessful and enhances their ability to recruit radicals. I think there are several approaches we can take: speak out against racist assumptions (to counter anti-Islamic anti-immigrant or anti-dark skinned people sentiments in the government and among the public), discourage government violence and governments speaking out in favor of violence (bombing other countries), improve social environments like Denmark did. Marion, one of my friends from DA sent me this link about helping young Muslims turn away from ISIS. I tweeted that link to several Ministers in the French Government including the French Interior Minister Bernard Cazeneuve. French Government Cabinet link.

ABC News link "In a late-night address to the nation, French President Francois Hollande linked the deadly"terrorist attack" in Nice to the conflict in Iraq and Syria -- and said France will intensify its military operations there in the aftermath of today's tragedy."

NOTE added 19/07/2016 -- No ties have been found between the killer and ISIL. I wonder if Hollande will go ahead with the war expansion anyway?

14.07.2016

Bastille Day

We had had a wonderful night. The weather has been gorgeous lately with low humidity. This night was cool, clear and happy. A ton of little kids were out. So cute! Ravel's music is lovely. Everyone knows Bolero, of course, but this was the first time I really listened to some of his other work. Parts sounded like Strauss and parts like Aaron Copeland. The little kids everywhere were great. Dancing, being cute, smiling a lot. You should see a couple of dozen little kids all dancing in various fashions to Bolero. I loved it!

Large, beautiful fireworks filled the sky over the Mediterrane? We hadn't been to a fireworks display for about 15 years. Of course the fireworks were loud (did you know that Italy recently banned noisy fireworks?). Pop music was playing as the wind picked up and nearby palm trees shed thin streamers showering us with tan confetti. We watched more cute little kids playing and dancing in a cool gusty breeze. Brillant fireworks lit the sky and water, faintly sparkling as they fell. It was Carnaval all over again. It was magic.

After the fireworks ended shortly before 23:00 John said he was tired. He said we could either go home along the Promenade where there would be more things to see or we could go north to Victor Hugo Boulevard and then straight home which would be quicker. "It's your choice." I told him I wanted to go home via the Promenade. As we were making our way we ran into a very large, very slow moving mass of people. We managed to move less than a block to the west before we decided to turn north. At that point we were two blocks short of where the truck was stopped. We saw no panic or knew that anything tragic had happened.

We weren't even aware of the attack until an hour after I got home. We had been only 2 blocks away. We now know that the last fireworks we had heard was gunfire exchange between the police and the killer. Sirens have been going all night, but I thought it was related to the fierce winds tonight.

Here's a link to a video of the ending of the Nice attack. Listen to the gunfire -- doesn't that sound like fireworks to you? Especially as those sounds commenced just as the fireworks display ended. The restaurant with red trim in the background on the right is Le Canne Sucre (the Sugar Cane). We hold our monthly Democrats Abroad (DA) meetings there. It's only 6 blocks from our home. A couple who are new friends of ours live in an apartment directly above a section of the carnage and they saw the whole thing. I'm so sorry they had that terrible experience and near their home.

These are the Bastille Day Activities enjoyed by 30,000 revelers on Bastille Day:
Fête Nationale 14th July - (the French don't call it Bastille Day)
18.30: air and land parade
20h to midnight: Prom 'Party
22h: fireworks in front of the tourist office

Bastille Day Ceremony and Prom'Party July 14: The commemoration of the Bastille Day on July 14 will begin near the Théâtre de Verdure at 5:30 pm by a military land and air parade.
At 8.00 pm, time for music with a free concert on the Place Massena upon the theme of French music masterpieces by Maurice Ravel, performed by the Philharmonic Orchestra of Nice.
Do not miss then, from 9:30 p.m. the first summer Prom 'Party with a programme offering rich and varied sounds.
The evening will end in in a blaze of glory with a firework display over the Bay of Angels from 10:00 pm!
A festive and completely free event not to be missed :-)
More information about the programme near the Hard Rock Cafe
The appointment of all music on the Promenade des Anglais, issued to pedestrians for one night and fireworks at 22:00.

Program: Pop Rock - Low Budget Men. Pop Rock - Vicious Grace (winner of the Hard Rock Caf?springboard: + Glamory Baleti - Free Ushers Blues / Jazz - Sound of Dixie DJ - Paul Palmera A 22h - Grand fireworks (in front of the.... Tourist Office - 5 Promenade des Anglais - Nice) 10:20 p.m. - Resumption of concerts until midnight.

Headed to the Place Masséna for the Ravel Concert	The pedicabs were everywhere.	Memorial for a slain French Resistance fighter.
The Place Masséna	Waiting in line to get into the outdoor concert.	Shooting fountains for the kids to run through at the Promenade du Paillon
The Philharmonic Orchestra of Nice was using the stage for the Nice Jazz Festival.	Tuning up.	Folks in nearby hotels watched the concert from their balconies.
Watching fireworks on the Promenade des Anglais	Great fireworks show.	And the finale just prior to the attack.
Graphic of the Promenade des Anglais	France weeps again.	In our hearts.

13.07.2016

The day before Bastille Day

I stuck my head out the window and felt as though I lived in a desert. I checked the humidity and temp (15% and 91°F/33°C) and yes, indeed, I WAS living in a desert. What a change from a few days ago. And you know what -- it's NOT the heat -- it IS the humidity. It feels hot today, but not miserable.

We received our forms for our national ID cards. Mine still doesn't have my name on it, but John's is a go so he sent in his form. I wrote a letter to the card people telling them I had already requested that my name be corrected, so would they please send me another card application with my correct name. I decided to wait a week before sending it to see if they managed to coordinate with CPAM regarding my name correction.

Before 2 August (two months before our VISA expires), John and I will need to renew our residency permits and our long stay VISAs. One of our new DA (Democrats Abroad) friends, "Doc", said the agency we should be dealing with is the Prefécture. He gave us the name of a person there (Elisabeth, the receptionist) who can best help us and she speaks English!. So we have a plan for action now.

Another DA friend, Ken, also provided us with info about an infoline. He said, "the best 'help-line' around is ALLO MAIRIE (it's the mayor's office) on phone number 3906. They have English-speakers on staff."

Day to day trivia: I recently learned that freecycle.org is active in Nice, so that adds a bit more familiarity to my new home.

Here are some webcams near where we live:
La Promenade du Paillon, where we plan to see the Ravel concert
Promenade des Anglais
Plages de Nice

08.07.2016

Smart Meters
Every couple of months someone from the local utility companies drops by to read our meters. They put a note on our building's front door a few days ahead of time.

That won't be happening in the future because digital meters are being installed throughout southern France. By 2020 95% of France's 35 million electric customers will have digital meters. Electricité Réseau Distribution France (ERDF) was supposed to put in our new meter today but we got stood up. Near our front door is a closet (which, it seems to me, should be a guest coat closet) that houses our meters and electrical breakers. That is where ERDF will install our brand spaking new Linky smart meter.

In 2009 President Obama ordered nationwide replacement of analog meters with digital meters. Digital meters and digital grid controls are used in planning and implementing energy transfers as needed to balance loads within individual and across multiple electrical grids. Digital meters and a nationwide smart grid were supposed to be operational in the US by 2014, but the reality is far short of that goal. Today only about 60 (out of 150) million American electric customers have digital meters.

It's going to cost France €6.5 billion to install 35 million digital meters and the costs will be recouped by laying off 2,000 workers, which should go over big with all the Nuit Debout worker rights protests ongoing in several major cities in France. (The article I read used American billions. Europe's billion is 3 orders of magnitude more than the US billion so the European billion equals the American trillion).

One of the features of the supply of electricity in France is that households are able to choose the amount of power to the property, from 3KVA to 36KVA, with a progressively higher consumption charge payable. Many households in the country have a power output that is not suited to their actual consumption, being either too high or too low.

NOTE: I don't understand why the owner decides the power level here and in the states that is handled differently. Are US customers paying more for unneeded electricity delivered? OK you EE friends and relatives of mine - tell me what you know about this. I'll post new info in our next blog entry.

A number of consumer organisations in France claim that as the new smart meters are more sensitive to excessive power surges, many households will be required to increase their power supply at a higher rate. This charge is denied by ERDF, who have stated that the new meters are not more sensitive than existing meters. They also claim that with the provision of additional information about consumer usage it will be possible to offer consumers a lower power supply, to within 1KVA of their needs, currently only possible in steps of 3KVA. The electricity regulator, the Commission de régulation de l'énergie (CRE), has requested that if a change of the power supply is necessary as a result of the new meter, there should be no charge.



Some Links about the new French digital meters:
Nice smart grid for solar distribution
France smart meters: ERDF begins Linky smart meter rollout
Smart meters 101: France’s Linky electricity meters

07.07.2016

CPAM (again)
John and I went back to CPAM (Caisse Primaire d'Assurance Maladie) today to correct my name on my insurance records. They took us a little early and everything went smoothly overall. The woman who helped us spoke no English and our French is still poor. John understood some, I understood some and a man who spoke English came by and helped with our final questions.

So -- the social security numbers CPAM gave us a few weeks ago are temporary but we use them now to get reimbursed for medical costs. Our paperwork will be processed in Paris and that will likely take many weeks. My name correction will be processed with my insurance papers in Paris and John and I will receive our insurance cards with our permanent social security numbers after Paris processes our applications.

SOLDES
The semi-annual sales have started again and there are several SOLDES signs hawking huge discounts. I need sandals and more shorts so I'll try to find a good deal for those. I need a few other things for the house too so I'll look into sales at Monoprix and Carrefour. The sales started 22 June and go until 2 August, so there should be many more signs/sales starting next week. There was a slow build of sales last winter too and then, a few weeks into the sales period, there was an explosion of sales adverts.

Teenagers who aren't teenagers
John and I noticed that there are a fair number of people here who seem to be oblivious to the world around them. Grown men will walk briskly out of a store and never look to see if they are about to walk into someone. Young women will cross streets against the light while they talk on a cell phone and never look to see that oncoming traffic is about to hit them. And more. In the states some people behave like that (obliviously blocking a grocery aisle or sidewalk traffic) but that behavior is pretty much limited to teenagers. Also, no one else in Nice seems to be concerned about all these tresspasses. A cultural thing we'll get used to someday, I'm sure.

Soccer
The Euro 2016 soccer tournament is near its end. My neighborhood goes nuts nearly every night whether or not France is playing. They usually go nuts between 11 PM and midnight with yelling, horns honking (at length) and other noise makers. Tonight are the semi-finals in Marseille between France and Germany (Portugal won against Wales yesterday so the winner of tonight's game will play Portugal next Sunday afternoon).

About 20 minutes ago France scored the first point of the game and the noise makers erupted. Soccer game points are usually very low. It was just before half-time when France scored that point. The neighborhood has been quiet since. You can see the game schedule and scores on this web page. The "wins on pen" regards the penalties (not sure if it means they got fewer penalties or if it means the team won because of penalties). And, of course, Euro 2016 also has a Facebook page.

I won't become a spectator sports fan but, for me for now, Euro soccer mania is a curiosity and has engaged my attention.

35 minutes after the first goal France scored a second goal. The neighborhood erupted with more noise. I was watching the play by play on the web but the local noise told me France had scored before the website did.

The game has two 45 minute halves and a 15 minute halftime break along with clock stops for penalties and other things. The game should last about 30 minutes after that second goal by France.

Four additional minutes were just added for something -- I don't know what.

Now, at 11 PM, my neighborhood is going berserk; I GUESS THE GAME HAS ENDED. Yep -- "The referee checks his watch and blows his whistle to signal the end of this match".

So now France and Portugal meet in the final match on 10 July in Paris. Go France!

Travels
I'll be visiting friends of ours in Boston the last week of August. John will stay home in Nice to take care of the kitties. Our friends Ric and Tammy from San Diego moved there about 5 years ago with their son Miles. I haven't seen them since then. Both Tammy and Miles will have their birthdays during my stay. I'll have to bring them something uniquely French. Miles will be 13 - a teenager already! Amazing. Miles and Tammy have been studying Chinese for many years. She said they should be fluent in time to visit China in 2 or 3 years. Very cool. She asked me how my French was going. I confessed I've been lax with my practice.

When I took the recyclables out this morning I encountered Bridget, the woman who manages this building. She lectured me (nicely and with a smile) that I must practice every day - always speak French to people who speak French. John readies a few new phrases each day to say to Bridget and to others. I should do that.

Bonjour. Comment allez-vous ce matin? (Hello. How are you this morning?) But I'll only understand their reply if they say something very simple like fine/good (bien) or so-so (Comme ci comme ça). Someday I'll be able to hold a conversation in French. I can read much more French than I could when I arrived here. At least that's something.

06.07.2016

Today we took a train trip to Antibes. John took some pics of the train station and the port of Antibes.

It's only €4 second class or €8 first class to take the TGV to Antibes and it takes only 18 minutes. We had 2nd class tickets and the car was very nice with pull down tables, lots of leg room, comfortable air conditioning and assigned seats. First class seats had more space between the seats and a bigger table. We were happy with second class. John took a pic of our tickets and we settled in for a nice ride. A couple of announcements were made in French. I didn't understand them. The train was several minutes late in leaving but we thought that was normal. After the third announcement everyone started getting off the train. I asked a British guy what was happening and he said there had been a fire at the Toulon station and this train wasn't going to leave for a few hours. I went to the information area and was told we could take the train to Antibes on track B. We found track B and left in a territorial train for Antibes just a few minutes later. There were no assigned seats so lots of people were standing, including John. The air conditioning was weak the seat spacing was less and the train took more than a half hour to get to Antibes.

We passed several lovely and interesting beaches on the way there and when we arrived we were near the port which is also very attractive.

Because of the cramped space, the high humidity and weak air conditioning we were sweaty and very uncomfortable. When we finally arrived in Antibes we walked to the Port and sat in the shade for a while. That was pleasant but after a while John started telling me he was feeling poorly and the symptoms he described were classic heat exhaustion. We got him some cold water and took a train home. Unfortunately the TGV trains still weren't running so were had to take the territorial train again. Fortunately there were seats near each other on the train so we could both sit down, but the air conditioning was still weak. If you have the choice you should definitely take the TGV whenever you are traveling by train.

John told me that the heat and humidity had made him miserable these last few weeks. With our fans at home we are OK but everytime we go outside after 10 AM we get very sweaty and feel queasy. John suggested we move to the Alps. I suggested we get a portable air conditioner and stay indoors until autumn. This is our first summer here so I don't know how long this misery lasts. It's no help that the people here don't mind the oppressive summer weather so there isn't much A/C around town. Maybe when we buy a place we will rent it out in the summer and get a temporary place in Iceland. It never gets above 50° F in Iceland. John hopes that we will acclimate after awhile. Our bodies are still used to the coolness of the Pacific Northwest.

The graffiti murals
In our last blog entry I mentioned the graffiti mural near our place. Turns out the city commissioned several murals around town to beautify construction areas. Such art can be found throughout Nice. About a block from us our little park has several I hadn't seen until I took a new path home the other day. I took pics of some of them and also of some of the statues and sculptures there. I'll post more pics of our park murals in the next blog entry.

Buildings
We're still taking a few pics at a time of the old buildings around Nice. The dome top is a very common architectural feature here but it's just one of many. The iron and marble scrolls, stained glass, mosaics, balconies, statues, sculptures, murals, carvings, gateways, arches, tunnels ... it is ALL so pleasing.

"Can I stay on the balcony longer, Momma?"	Hand holding a goblet sculpture in our park	Diego Rivera style nude at the park fountain
Mural at our park, oddly in English	Henri Matisse (local hero) mural at our park.	Corner domes are a common part of the architecture here.
Lovey having breakfast through our open kitchen window.	At the train station in Nice for our trip to Antibes.	We bought our tickets through the blue machine.
Waiting for our TGV train.	The Nice train station was built in 1867 and has wonderful scrollwork.	Our first train tickets in France.
Le Fort Carré in Antibes (built in 1565) in the distance.	Small park near the port in Antibes.	Another cool looking dome in downtown Nice