The First Week.

In case you didn't read my previous blog, I arrived in France on Friday, saw our new house for the first time on Saturday and just like God and Craig David we chilled on Sunday.

Monday (25th April)

Today was the last day that Dan was not in work. We had 10 days between being in a functioning house with food and internet and beds in England, to being in a functioning house with food and internet and beds in France, and actually four of those days were days we were doing other things (Eric's fake birthday, Sarah's wedding, Easter day, and the Sunday we chilled.) But for the other 6 days we worked really hard!

Monday was the day we went to the Mairie and all of the shops. 

The Mairie is like the town hall/one stop shop, even though our village is tiny and its walking distance to the town hall of the next village. In England if you want to sort out stuff like council tax or school admission or getting child benefit you have to go to all different places. It would normally involve you being on the phone on hold for ages, or if you did go to a physical place it would be the One Stop Shop. I don't know of you've ever had the misfortune of having to go to a One Stop Shop, but it's basically full of desperate people with no money queuing for ages to talk to someone about Britain's incredibly complicated benefit system. All while being made to feel like the absolute scum of the earth. The Mairie is like that except nice. There's no stigma about going, everyone is polite and helpful. It's for everyone, not just the poor and desperate. So we went to sort out the kids school admission and also asked about French classes for me, bin days and council tax (which luckily, unlike in Britain, our landlord is responsible for paying.) The Mayor of Saint Feliu d'Amont personally welcomed me to the village in English! You wouldn't get that as a new immigrant in the Picton road One Stop Shop.

We had a lot of our stuff shipped. There was a fridge, 3 chest of draws, our mattresses, two desks etc, but we didn't take our table and chairs because it was too big and we didn't take our sofa because it was ugly and we want a sofa bed. We didn't take our washing machine because its rubbish and noisy and we didn't bring the boys beds because Eric was still in his toddler bed and we wanted to get them a bunk bed. So we still had a lot of basic stuff to get. Perpignan has an Ikea, so after going through their website we headed there with a list of what we needed. When we arrived we saw the tiniest Ikea I've ever seen! It turns out it's just a shop you order stuff from, which since the internet exists makes this Ikea pretty pointless. Opposite was a very French sofa shop. I went into for a browse and it was clear straight away we were not the clientele for this kind of shop: 3000 euros for a sofa, no thanks. I walked in and the man asked if he could help me. I didn't know the french for "I'm just browsing" but I had just learnt in my online classes the phase "canape lit" which is a sofa bed. So I said in my best French, "je voudrais une canope lit" and then he showed me some. I had to go and get Dan, who was outside with the boys eating sandwiches on a bench. And then we had to all pretend we were considering buying these totally overpriced sofa beds and then leave, with the kids asking, "why aren't we buying it?"

So we went next door to the tiny Ikea to order some stuff. It was like a game of charades, where me and Dan acted out what furniture items we wanted to this poor guy, who had to translate it into French and then into Ikea language. Dan's french is very good but he's never lived in France and only knows the kind of French that you would chat about with your family. He didn't even know the word for 'that little shelf that sticks in your shower that you put your razor on', because even in English no one has a word for that. I mimed shaving my armpits and then putting my razor on a shelf. I don't know if it helped but I was enjoying myself. We finally came up with a big list of things we wanted. Dan went to pay and they said they only accepted certain kinds of bank cards, and not the kind he had. It was super annoying and even more annoying for the guy, who had played a 30 minute game of charades with us and received no commission.

We went to several other shops that day. Two were a bit like B&Q and then we went to Decathlon to get Percy a new bike. We hadn't brought Eric's bike with us because it was so heavy and rattly. We planned to get Percy a new one and upgrade Eric to Percy's old one. Percy was very chuffed to get a bike in his favourite colour yellow (it's his favourite because its the colour of beaches and giraffes). It's also the first time he's had gears, which he was very happy about. 

We got back to the house exhausted in the evening and made a quick dinner, and then annoyingly went out after tea to two different supermarkets, because this was the last day that Dan was off and we had the hire car. Nobody wanted to go, but it needed doing. Especially because I was planning a secret surprise birthday for Dan this Friday and this was my last proper chance to get food in for that.

Dan's Mum left all her friends and family when she was 18 and came to Britain and since then has become incredibly British, like she doesn't even have a French accent. But all the rest of her family (which is very large) have remained in France (apart from her brother who is in Hong Kong). Many of them are in the north of France, but one of Dan's aunties (who we've stayed with a few times) and Dan's cousin (who is our age and has a family) are in the south. While we were still in England I messaged the cousin and Auntie to see if they would be up for coming over to surprise Dan. It's quite a challenge to organise a surprise party in another language a week after arriving in a new place. But they were very helpful and responded to my english messages, and were willing to travel over 3 hours to make the surprise work. All I really did was cook a meal for everyone, which was still a challenge because for a few days we couldn't work the oven, I can't drive here yet, and we didn't have a table and chairs until the day of the party. And I don't have my own bank card so I couldn't spend money without Dan getting a message saying how much I spent and where I spent it, which does make surprises difficult. So anyway, I went to the supermarket and managed to get enough food to make a big lasagne for eight people. 

Tuesday

Today Dan was back at work and we went to see our local area. 

We'd been so busy trying to make the most of the hire car that we hadn't ever walked round our village, apart from the trip to the Mairie. We headed out in the opposite direction and I was blown away by how close we are to fields and tractors and mountains. Growing up in a village as a teenager I'd perviously been very vocally opposed to fields, calling them "shit parks," because they are really. Imagine going to a park where you're only allowed to walk round the edge and theres no play stuff or toilets or benches, it would hardly score highly on Trip Advisor. But for some reason grown ups were always like, "oh you're so lucky to live in the countryside." It's easy to say that if you're an adult with a car ,who can get to a shop or anywhere you like. It's much harder to appreciate fields if you have to walk 20 mins get the train and then get a bus just to go to a park with your mates.

Anyway, I think at age 36 I've probably reached the age where I can forgive fields for ruining my youth, and appreciate them. Especially if they have mountains behind them.

In the evening Dan went out to give the hire car back. On the way he stopped in to view a second hand mum bus that we have now bought! I'm scared to drive it. We wanted a bigger car so that when people come to visit we can drive them places, but it seems massive. And I've never driven on wrong way round roads before. Also we still don't know what the yellow diamond road sign means.

Wednesday

I was determined to get out and see this city we moved to without ever really seeing. (We came here for a day and a half in 2019 and saw a beach and a castle.) Our little village that has no shops or anything is next to a slightly bigger village with 3 shops and a train station. So I decided we three would cycle to the station (a mile away) and get the train into town and explore. Cycling was a challenge. Percy is very good on a bike but Eric is still learning. In the UK me and Percy would cycle to school and Eric was in a bike trailer. Eric is not a good enough cyclist for me to also cycle, I have to jog behind him to catch him. He's good at going forward, but isn't good at stopping or keeping the right position in the road. Anyway we set off and he was doing really well then I needed a break because I was jogging with a heavy backpack so I asked them to stop. This is where Eric panicked and fell off. He was fine, but he was so close to falling in this sort of concrete stream/ditch running between the field and road. We managed to make our way to the train station and lock up the bikes. There was one other guy waiting for the train with a mask on and I remembered Dan had said "it's very important to wear a mask." Oops. I got on the train anyway and it wasn't an issue. I also didn't have a ticket because theres no ticket office in Saint Feliu d'Avall, so you just buy one on the train if someone asks which, they didn't. 

It's only about 12 minutes and two stops to Perpignan, just like the village I grew up in, a mile from a station and 12 minutes and 2 stops on the train to Coventry. The only difference is that Perpignan is infinitely more beautiful than Coventry. Coventry has a good cathedral and a ring road that everyone hates. Perpignan has mountains, beaches, a river, a canal, a castle, outdoor markets and sunshine. But before exploring all of that, Eric needed a wee. We went to the station toilet which needed a 50 cent piece. I put it in the slot and the door didn't open. So Eric had to wee in a random alley. At least boys can do that kind of thing fairly easily. We continued down a big wide street lined with very tall palm trees, ate our packed lunch and carried on exploring. 

We went inside a really nice bookshop that had loads of beautiful children's books. I considered getting one for Dan to read to them to help them with their French, but then the shop assistant came over and told me this was a specialist Catalan bookshop and none of these books were actually in French. My French is so bad I didn't notice.

There were a signs for tourist information point, but I now know that the sign is about 10 minutes walk from tourist information. After trying to follow the signs I finally gave in and asked a random passerby. She was really lovely and walked us all the way there. On the way we passed loads of interesting looking shops and we crossed over the canal where there was a outdoor market selling old French postcards and Asterix books. At tourist information we picked up some leaflets and, crucially, a map so we could now find all the best places. The lady at tourist information told me about a beautiful park, that was very good for children and was free, so we decided to make our way there. On the way we stopped off at a really cool shop called Flying Tiger. It was like the toy section in Ikea mixed with things like candles, fairy lights, sunglasses, and bags, all good value fun stuff. The boys had a bit of money to spend so Eric bought a wooden jigsaw you colour in yourself and Percy bought some hamma beads, despite the fact I didn't bring an iron here. The also chose Dan a mug with a dinosaur on it. When you put a hot drink in the dinosaur turns into just a dinosaur skeleton.

We then traced our steps back past some of the interesting things we passed while following the woman, bought some post cards and then continued on to find this park. 

When I got to the place circled on the map it turned out not to be the park at all. The lady had circled a few places and this was sort of a library with a little gallery. But we'd walked a long way and I was just glad for a sit down. After a while a member of staff came and told us there were games for children on the top floor, so we headed up to see a big shelving unit of board games you can play in the children's library. After playing for a while it was time to make the long walk back to the station. The trains are only about every two hours, so we didn't want to miss this one. We broke up the long walk with an ice cream stop.

This time I had no excuse not to get a ticket, apart from the fact the ticket machine didn't work and there was no one in the ticket office. (I later learned the ticket machine isn't touch screen, it's got a knob that you have to twist, so it was working fine but twisty knob is nobodies first thought, right?) Anyway, I just got on the train feeling bad that I didn't have a mask or a ticket (in my head I practised the french for "there was no one in the ticket office). In the end four guys who were like the train police got on and asked me for my ticket. In the moment I couldn't get out any of the French apart from "Je suis desole" and just spoke in english. I said can I buy one now and guy was just like ptfff, which I took to mean it's no problem. Then when we were on our way a woman came past quickly and asked everyone to wear a mask. Then the person opposite me asked me where my mask was and said, "I don't care but that woman will be mad at you." She was right, the woman came back and was mad at me. There wasn't much I could do. I wish I'd bought a mask in town, but on the way no one really seemed that bothered. It was much more of an issue than the fact I didn't have a ticket. Luckily it was only a short journey, and then I had a nice relaxing mile jog with a backpack on in 27 degree heat chasing after a kid who can't quite ride a bike: the most relaxing way to travel. But I'm proud that we made it.

Thursday 

We had a chilled out day. We explored more or the local area, going in the opposite direction towards the school. 

That yellow building is where they go for their lunch (unless they come home which they will do at first.)

You might be thinking what a lovely place to bring up kids I bet theres no crime but you'd be wrong...

Some kids have lost their chickens! We actually saw a big group of kids protesting about this at the Mairie on Monday. I hope we find them and we can be the heroes of the village.

We found a big basket ball court too, I think basket ball is a big thing here, more than football, which I'm happy about. I think basketball is much cooler. I've been to see basket ball a few times in Ramallah (when I lived near Bethlehem) and it was a lot of fun. The boys then drew all over our yard, got chalk all over themselves and then all over the house.

Next blog: Dan's surprise party, trying to sledge, and Eric's birthday.