Another Painful Visit to the Préfecture

Today I dropped by the sous-préfecture of Dunkerque.  I didn't wait too long, because it is not Lille.  Just ahead of me was a person who wanted to apply for French citizenship.  He said he couldn't provide any of the document that the préfecture wanted.  The two ladies looked really annoyed by him, because he wouldn't leave and he hired a lawyer for his application.  He was sent off and that was it.

 Then it was my turn.  All I wanted to do is get the list of documents needed to apply to the naturalization.  A lot of the documents were not even listed on the préfecture website.  I thought I have gathered even single stupid document, but now I have to "legalized" the documents (Birth certificate).  What on earth is a legalized document, well having a birth certificate from C.a.m.b.o.d.i.a is suspicious, so I would need a stamp from the C.a.m.b.o.d.i.a.n embassy in Paris to prouve that the document is authentic.  Of course, they will do it, for 35 euros, and I need to "legalized" 3 birth certificates, not only mine but my parents too.  And I have to "legalize" my canadian criminal records too.  

I have searched a bit on document legalization and only European applicants are exempted from this crap. Great, another unexpected spending ahead.  I hope they will not reject my application because the documents will get older by the day by the time I will submit my application.  French Government is so suspicious that they would ask as many documents as possible.  And to top it off, they also want birth certificates from my French In-laws.  I am this close to throw the towel, but I have spent a few bucks already and this is the final step before handing the dossier.  The Préfecture also wants a 55 euros fiscal stamp, which was also not mentioned on the Pref's website.  Seriously, I hate French bureaucracy.

December Update

Time passes too quickly, especially on December.  We had plans to go to Canada, but I decided not to go.  Because my budget went somewhere else (see last post).  In fact, I'm just back from an hour of driving, with an automatic car.  It was heaven.  I just want to kick myself for not starting with this driving school from the beginning.  I have to drive with the instructor for a couple of hours and I will be good to drive with my husband for 3 months.


December is nice here in Lille, with all the Marchés de Noël.  There always the Big Wheel in the Grand' Place.  And lots of chalets.  Alsatian bretzels, hot wines and ciders, it smelled good.

Bonnes fêtes de fin d'année.

Forever pedestrian?

Warning : long post and lots of whinings to follow

The topic speaks for itself, you may have guessed that it is about driving.  This is my most shameful secret ever : I don't have my driver's license.  I must be a rare case.  I tried to get my driver's license in Québec, when I was 18 years old.  Most of you know that in North America we can get a driver's license at 16 yrs old, without spending a fortune on driving courses, since we are allowed to drive with our parents and most cars come with automatic transmissions.  I've learned to drive with my father but gave up quickly.  My "lessons" were mostly yelling and nausea (from my father).  As for my mother, she refused to assist me with my driving.  I failed miserably the driving exam because of the lack of pratice.

 I got by just fine without driving, as the public transportation in Outaouais and Ottawa were efficient and not too expensive.  When I moved to Ottawa, my father urged me to get my driver's license before leaving the country.  Thing that I completly disregarded.  When I left Canada, I thought naively that I can get it in France.  I didn't take the matter seriously and thought that driving with a manual transmission shouldn't be a big deal or that they teach automatic transmission too over there.

Years went by and I was still not interested in having a driver's license.  I thought that I would be returning in Canada and get it there.   2 years, 3 years, I still live in France...and I really feared the manual transmission.

Last year, I finally decided to kick myself in the ass and do something about it before I get really old.  When I finally went in the driving school in my village, I was mad.  Not only it is costly but they only teach with a manual transmission.  I reluctlantly signed the cheque and swallowed my anger.  I opted for the "quickest way", driving courses with the driving school.  The other option was to drive with my husband for a year, but I thought it was too long.

They asked 800 euros for the theoric exam and administration fees, which also included exams fees and 40 euros per hour for a lesson. The Préfecture demands that a candidate must drive at least 20 hours before trying for the pratical driving exam.  But the catch is that nobody is completly ready with so little hours of driving.  The driving school charges 40 euros to evaluate how many hours of driving you must do in order to be really for the exam.  The average is 30 hours, but the guy who evaluated me said that I needed at least 45 hours.  For the theoric test, it took me a few months to get it.  Got it the first time but spent hours studying for it.  The multiple choice exam is not too hard but the ones we do in the driving school are ridiculously hard.  The questions are tricky and twisted.  That was my only preview of what must be the school system in France.  We had to say outloud our marks in front of everybody.

Then I got to drive.  My driving courses were a pain.  My instructor was a 50 something yrs old man.  He was talking 80% of the time (while I was driving) on the "driving school radio" (with his colleagues and boss).  He was doing his schedule the rest of the time.  And when he was done with the radio talking, he would yell at me like I was a kid, while using "vous" and being formal by calling me Mrs. T.  I thought that being treated like crap and being yelled at is a bad moment to endure and that I have to tough it out and wipe my tears.  I thought that maybe this is how they do it in France.  After 30 hours of driving, I haven't made any parking maneuver and started to worry.  I felt like I was ripped off because the old instructor was "old school".  I did a research on the net and learners must run away from barking driving instructors who treat their students like dogs in training.

Luckily, I had a new instructor because the old man had to teach truck driver's students and was overbooked.  I wanted to complaint to the boss about the yelling and the lack of progression after the numerous hours, but I didn't have to.  They hired a young person who was freshly out of driving instructor's school.  She was really helpful and we got along really great but I felt like I had to learn all over again because the old man wasn't at all efficient.

After 55 hours of driving, she had to let me pass the exam.  I can sense that she wasn't really convinced that I could pass the test but gave me a date for the exam.  Yesterday was D-day.  Naively, I thought that I could pass it.  I practiced so much.  Most of every French person I know passed the test 2-3 times.  What  was I thinking, that I could be better than them.  The examiner seemed friendly.  He arrived 30 minutes late, started to "bise" my instructor.  I found that odd since they've never met and thought it was inappropriate. We got in the car, the 3 of us.  He said you may begin.  Then he started to talk to my instructor like he was an old lost friend.  In 30 minutes (the duration of the exam), I got to learn that he used to be an instructor in a driving school for years and passed the "fonctionnaire" exam.  He worked as an examiner 3 years in Paris, got divorced, remarried with a driving school owner and so on.  Then asked about my instructor's life.  With all this nonsense-crazy talking, he managed to yell at me and insulted me and said that I couldn't control the clutch and the gear.  He also braked abruptly while I was already slowing down. My instructor said that when the examiner brakes, you're cooked.  Even if you drive ok the rest of the exam, you're done.  The guy who passed the exam before me, only got to drive 15 minutes.  Even if he did a big fault, he should have had let him drive so he can experience the rest of the test.  I almost cried when I finished.  I knew I failed it.  I admit I didn't do great but his behaviour was innapropriate, talking about his personal life and "examine" my driving skills at the same time.

While I got questionned with a quick question about the rearview mirrors outside of the car, I answered and he totally ignored my answer and continued with his personal discussion with my instructor.  I didn't have a coat on and it was pouring rain.  The yelling, the insults and his constant talking got the best of me.  I got distracted and failed.  I don't understand this kind of behaviour.  How can a public servant can act like terror and get away with it.  The fonctionnaires are on their own and can act like jerks without ever fear to lose their jobs.  What a constrast with the Canadian public servants who are most of the time helpful and polite.  Of course, I had to search on the net again and checked if I was the only one treated like a piece of crap.  Apparently this is common behaviour.  Terrorizing the driving candidates and testing their stress level is part of the game.  They are also protected by their union and the Interior Ministry.

The Interior ministry instructed to the examiners to only give out 57% of the driving lincense to candidates.  1,5 millions candidates try to pass the exam every year in France and only 1 out of 2 gets it.  At the same time, the Interior minister prides himself that a lot of lives are saved because of his politics on tough driving permits.  His theory : less drivers, less potential deaths on the French roads.  Getting the "papier rose", pink paper, (that's how French people like to call their driving license), is a uphill battle.  You gotta sweat it, empty your wallet to have the priviledge to drive.  A lot of middle class or poorer people are unable to drive because of this stupid mentality.  Not being able to drive is another obstacle to get out of poverty.  This is another example of lack of common sense of  this country.

I got my exam's result today by mail.  They have decided not to give the result right away, because some candidates got aggressive on the examiners.  Too bad I didn't get the courage to punch my examiner too.  (will I be deported if I did it? lol).

After speaking with my instructor, she insisted that I continue with "la conduite supervisée", which allows the candidates who failed their exam, to drive with a family member for 3 months and drive 1000 km before passing another time the driving test.  I have made a few calls at the préfecture and another driving school.  My instructor told me that the examiner said that I was made to drive with an automatic transmission and that I should try to pass another exam with this kind of car.  Why fight it, I'm not made for manual transmission.  A very few driving schools offer this service.  My best bet is to try this conduite supervisée with my automatic transmission car and have a few more lessons with a new driving school. It is a shame that I have the coolest car, a toyota hybrid, with automatic transmission and I can't drive it.  I would have to be patient again.  To be continued.

Homemade confiture, another French Tradition

The first couple of years I arrived in France, I "almost" found the country charming.  My mother in law was cooking great meals and I usually visited on August, where it was time for harvesting all the fruits and vegetables in the my in-laws' garden.  As if there are not enough fruits to pick in their garden, we would also go in the woods and gather wild berries, especially blackberries.  I enjoyed it very much, but my husband not so much.  He told me that it could take all afternoon to get buckets of blackberries with  his family when he was a kid.  Something I took for granted, having the pleasure to have organic vegetables and fruits.  Now no one is there to grow vegetables and get those wild berries, except me.

A couple of weeks ago, I went to my neighbour who had an open door event, for his non profitable organization (teach kids and adults to grow organic vegetables).  It was a Jam Trade event.  I was curious but I was thinking, "oh boy, this is so corny and I hope it's not a hippy thing with organic obsessed freaks".  It wasn't, it was interesting.  I learned how to make jams.  Something I wasn't really interested in since I don't usually enjoy sweet breakfast.  And my MIL was making her jams too sweet, ratio 1 kg of sugar for 1 kg of fruit.  I once told her that is was too sweet and she just answered it was the recipe period.  At the neighbour, they said that you can lower the sugar ratio and the jam won't turn, i.e. 2/3 sugar for 1 kg of fruits.  I brought cakes but no jams.  I left empty handed because I had no jam to trade.  But a couple of days after, the neighbour brought be one jar of rhubarb jam and a bunch of rhubarb.  That many rhubarb was overwhelming so I began to make jam too.  By doing a little research I've learned that certain fruits have natural pectine to set the jelly or jam and apple seeds are filled of pectine.  So I put an apple with the rhubarb.  What a great combination.  I thought it tasted great so I got a little carried away with jam making and haven't stopped making jams for the last couple of weeks.

Elderberries from the garden, the tree is considered a nuisance.

Blackberries

 

Blackberries are also considered nuisance since their thorns can grow wildly on fences.

As the elderberries have not enough pectines, I threw in cores and seeds of an apple

 

Dump the sugar and let it rest until the fruits explode and yield their juice

 

Boil the fruits

 

 Messy job when you want to make jelly.

Sterilizing the lids and jars.

 

Elderberry, blackberry and apple jellies.

 

For the wild berries in the wood, I was told to boil them before eating.  Animal germs can be found on them (bacteria).  I usually pick the berries above my waist. 

Making jelly is not really cheap, but you can control the amount of sugar and no chemical is in it. 

If someone in France gives you a homemade jam, consider this as a real gift, because it takes great effort to make one jar.

Élections municipales

A lot of topics are surfacing during municipal elections, even if the elections will only take place next spring. For now, the Socialist Government has decided to stop making any decisions until next year.  Because even municipal elections are governed by Socialists or UMP parties.  For instance, in Lille, the capital of North of France, Martine Aubry is still the mayor, and she is a socialist member.  There's a lot of polemics around the city, such as Roms (gypsies) camping right in the middle of the city.  And Martine Aubry has to relocate them.  French ministers are making harsh comments about this nomadic population.  Even Bruxelles had to stepped in and warned France to apply Europeans rules for this population.   According  to the media, France has only 20,000 Roms, compared to Germany who has 100 000 roms population.  This is a touchy topic because Roms are protected by European laws.  The cities are required to have "camping" sites for them, but some chose not to camp in those areas.  Since violence is one of the concerns for municipalities, Roms are the targets for the politicians.  The Interior Minister made hard comments on the Rom situation and François Hollande, has not yet commented on this touchy topic.  He really wants to win the municipal elections!

Another topic that concerns municipalities, is Sunday shopping.  Last Sunday, 14 hardware stores outside Paris have opened on Sunday, and greeted their clients with croissants and coffees.  The prefecture has forbidden those stores to open on Sunday but they decided to go against it.  The government has no authority.  They were fined 120 000 euros per day.  I've learned that it was the Unions who filed  complaints against those hardware stores and part of the fine money will go directly to the Unions.

Those stores say that Sunday sales represent 20% of their weekly sales.  In Europe, the majority of countries choose to not open businesses on Sundays.  In France, some exceptions are tolerated : food stores open Sunday until 1pm, gardening centres are opened, restaurants, movie theatres, etc.  Politicians try to minimize the fact the already 8 millions French people work during Sunday, by choice or not, policemen, hospital staff, etc.  Wether it is a right or left wing government, Sunday Shopping has always been a touchy subject.  Out of tradition and because the working unions are against it, Sunday should remain a day to rest.  In comparison, in Canada, we are free to shop on Sunday since the late 80's.  It was a drugmart that took the governement to court and won in 1985.  Sunday was the day of rest for Christians, but it can no longer be a tradition in Canada.

In my opinion, I find insulting that the government wants to have Sunday closed and doesn't take any consideration that a lot of people already work that day.  Of course, who really wants to work on Sundays.  But some do, like students for instance.  The government should allow any store to open whenever they want.  There are also a little extra on the paycheck for those who work on Sunday, depending on the work contract.  French people are more concerned about the economic crisis and are mad that the government is not willing to change.

Also, a few stores on the Champs Élysée are opened until 9 pm, and Unions have made complaints and want the stores to close at 8 pm.  Of couse, employees are not happy about this.  It seems that those who represent employees don't have the same interests and goals.

French people have been perceived as "lazy" workers because of the law of 35 hours/week (implemented by Martine Aubry) and their many holidays. The reality is that they want to work just like any other country, but the government and the Unions are not willing to budge and make labour laws more flexible.  France is its own enemy.


http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/e8ea1880-29c6-11e3-bbb8-00144feab7de.html#axzz2gkVEO5Ga

Still Struggling - Losing weight part 2

I can be redundant, I have probably already blogged about this many times, but my weight is my struggle. 

About a couple years ago, we (husband and I) decided to do something about our health.  (We gained a lot of weight after we got married).  We've been hitting the gym 3 times a week for the last two years, almost religiously.  The weight is not coming off quickly, but it doesn't matter.  Working out has become a need, since we lead stressful lives.  Of course, the goal is to lose weight, and exercising is not enough, eating less is the key.  I have not lost a lot of weight since I have started, only 3 kg (6,6 lbs).  I would have to lose 20 lbs to reach my "college weight".   At my University, I had access to free gym and free swimming pool (included in the tuition fees of course), and I just went to the gym without any goals, except that it was free and my friends were going too.  Sometimes, I even jogged along the Rideau Canal in Ottawa, between classes.  I never thought I was athletic back then.  I thought it was just fun. 

The only indicator that I have done something right is that I have lost 3-4 sizes, I got from size 14 to 10 and I no longer have chubby arms. You can call me cheap or weird, but I rarely buy clothes in France, even after 8 years.  I just hate the clothes here.  The sizes are not the same as in Canada.  Size 12 is more like a size 14 here (44).  I always feel fat when I try on clothes.  I think French women like their clothes tight.  Last time I bought clothes was 2 years ago, when I was in Canada.  I didn't get to go last year since I was in South East Asia.  Now I just look ridiculous with those big pants and floating t-shirts.

Eating

We don't diet, but we have changed the way we eat.  As an Asian, I would eat rice at every meal, except for breakfast.  I would probably eat on the weekend a  rice porridge for breakfast if I were at my parents' house.  Now I would have rice less than once a week.  I no longer crave it.  My husband told me that we were eating too much carbs.  I have cut down on carbs, often for suppers.  I have noticed that my mother in law rarely has carbs in the evening.  We have substitued the carbs for beans, potatoes, salads, etc.  

We also try to eat less meat, sometimes 2-3 days a week.  I don't know how vegetarians and vegans do, but it is really hard to come up with balanced meals without meat.  Last week, we didn't have a lot of meat for 2 days, and when I finally eat my pork chop, I was almost shaking (of pleasure). I thought I can do without meat but I'm not vegetarian.  The same day, I saw a truck full of pigs heading for the slaughterhouse.  I felt sad because these pigs have probably never seen the sun, maybe this one time in the truck.  But this is not stopping me from having meat.  Shame shame.

In France, nothing is made to help vegetarians.  You would have to shop at a bioscoop (organic store) to find tofu or at the asian market.  In Canada, vegetarians have more choices.  In Québec, they have a restaurant chain, "le Commensal" that is strictly vegetarian. Some populations do not eat meat at all and they get by just fine.  The least I can do is try to eat less meat. 

Fun facts (wiki)
Vegetarian populations
Estimated 1 millions vegetarian in France 2% of the population
In Europe, vegetarians are found the most in Germany (8M) and Italy (6M)
India is where you find the most vegetarian population, about 40% (500 M)
Canada : 4%

The most sastifying vegetarian meals are asian (for me).  I made a pad thai, with bean sprouts and tofu, rice noodles and it was delicious.  Vegetarian curries are also good and filling.  Now, I just need to find the time to cook.  The meat will be still present in my meals but just a little less.

 Vegetarian Pad Thai

                  French classic, salade de gésiers de canard.  With my mâches from the garden and poached egg.

Some Breakthroughs?

It is still rainy in North of France.  We had rain 2 weeks in a row, luckily météo France predicts more sun for the rest of the week.  Other than that, nothing much around here on the Farm.

On another subject, I just read that the Interior Ministry has facilitated  naturalization process.  As I said on a prior post, I may want to apply for it but there are too many papers to provide:

-criminal record from your home country (not needed if you can proof that you have been living in France for more than 10 years)
- the applicant must understand/speak French and has to take a test, that is around 100 euros!
-Birth certificates for the applicant and his parents (documents must be translated in French by sworn translator, 80 euros a sheet).  Not easy to provide when in Canada, we never had to use it because we were refugees.
-and so on....

I'm still not certain wherther or not I want to be naturalized.  I have a few obstacles.  As of today, I have not yet received my criminal record from Canada.  I have sent it 2-3 months ago.  Of course, the cheque has been cashed in already.

My major concern is that I have some great difficulties to have my father's birth certificate.  I was born during the war in C.a.m.b.o.d.i.a and my father was "naturalized" Cambodian, since he was born in Vietnam and left during childhood.  (A part of Cambodia was annexed to Vietnam, and Cambodians minority are still there). My birth certificate and my mother's were not too hard to obtain, but the Cambodian authorities did not want to issue one for my father.  So, I only have a bad photocopy of an old Birth certificate for my father that was from the '70, when he was studying in France.  Of course, all the civil records have been destroyed during war.

 There are breakthroughs for the naturalization process:
-Foreigners who have studied in French from a francophone country do not have to take the French proficiency test. (still to be verified).
-documents like Birth certificates are not needed to be less than 3 months-old and we can give a photocopy

I'm not in a hurry to be French, but my life can be a little easier when traveling in Europe or for retirement pension, or voting.  I'm still here as an expat, but will I ever do the jump to be French?  I think I will need more than luck to deal with this French bureaucracy.

Why are salaries so low in France

One fellow blogger was wondering why salaries are so low in France.  I had to do some research on that.  I found one article (in French) that explains partly the problem.  An employee only bring home half of what he costs for an employer.  The social charges (costs on salaries) are used to pay retirement pensions, and social security.  The most surprising thing is that only half of the households in France pay income taxes, because of their low salaries, so less revenue for the government.   France comes in second for the highest social charges on salaries within the OECD.  In this article, it says that the Government collect 3 time less Income taxes than Germany.

In Canada, unemployment is stable.  In France, it is high 10,9%, and amongst the young workforce (15-24 years old) is around 24,6%. I suspect the unemployment rate is higher than the government officials want to admit.

Labour : Canada VS France

In Canada, we start working really early.  At 16 years old, teenagers get their first jobs, working at McD...etc.  Maybe because they want to buy a car since they are allowed to drive at 16. In my time, student jobs are partially subsidied by the governement (less taxes on salaries for instance).

When in college, we have to work too, to finance our schooling and appartment.  We can also apply for a student loan from the Province.  After graduation, we just work, in our field of studies or not...There is not a long period of wait after graduation to land a job. We already have some experience in the job market.

In France, teenagers and young adults depend more on their parents for financial aid.  Since their work load in school is greater than in Canada, they can't really have a part-time jobs.  Or shall I say (without ruffling  feathers) that young French people don't want to have a minimum-wage job because it is not related to their fields of studies.  Of course, I may be generalizing...They also have internship where they work for free or less than 300 euros per month.  Talking about cheap labour. Internships don't even count as work experience.

Consumption

In Canada, having a job is important, because we are such a consumer society.  We spend a lot more than in France.  Where here, the majority of businesses are closed on Sundays and clearance sales are regulated by the government.  The wages are so low that people would only spend during those clearance sales, which occur only 2 times a year.  Households spending is a motor for the economy, no consumers no economy.

Hiring

I got to learn a lot on human ressources in France.  A couple of years ago, we had a a peak activity for the business. We had to hire because we had deadlines.  We used subcontractors but thought it was too expensive and they don't really care about quality work.  We hired a few young people, who we thought were willing to work.  Shortly after we gave them their CDI (permanent contract), we started to get various demands and a rise of absenteeism.   

When the French government changed its policy on green energy, we had a dropped on our activity.  So we had to lay off some of the employees.  We did not know that this could turn into hell rapidly.  Not only they have rights, but the process can drag for weeks.  You have to inform the employee that you no longer need him either in person or by a registred letter.  

Then, 10 days later, you will need to have a meeting and explain to him why you have to let him go.  Then, you have to wait 20 days or 30 days (I forgot) to finally see him leave.  Of course, you have to pay a month of salary plus the month that he is not really working (the 20-30 days waiting period) and all the social contributions that you owe to the unemployment agency and other social agencies.  Since we install solar panels, we are under the "construction and public works" regime, one of the highest social contributions on the salaries. It costs an arm and a leg to hire in this field, even at minimum wage. 

Now we are overloaded with work but have to deal with less employees, because employees are difficult to manage and are costly.  Hire and fire employees is difficult, more than in Canada.  In France, they will take their time to hire someone because they know it will be difficult to lay him off.  Here, people hang on to their job and don't expect to leave their position.In Canada, we switch job when we are over it or find another job that is more attractive elsewhere. This usually happens amongst young professionals.  

In France, you will notice that when you want to call a plumber, he will not come immediatly because he doesn't have a bunch of employees available. You will also find closed businesses during July or August, they can close for almost a month.  You would never find that in Canada. 

If only French Government could understand that reducing salary contributions is one of the answer to lower unemployment.  If more households have income, they will pay more taxes.  It's a win-win situation. 

Strange Marketing Strategies

Warning : Rant about French leading phone company that starts with O.

We have 2 phone lines for the Business.  One is for our fax.  We can receive up to 3-4 "unknown calls " a day on the fax line. The caller would then hear the fax ringing, not a sweet sound in his ears.  Sometimes, I purposely disconnect the fax so I can pick up the "masked number".  I yell after the caller or I try not too be too rude to them.  These people are just doing their jobs after all.

But what I find ridiculous is the way this Company is trying to sell some other services to their clients.  Ripping off their current clients is not enough. 

One time they called to renew my subcription by combining the 2 lines in one, so I can pay less.  I did the counting, and there was no rebate of any sort.  Currently our business doesn't have a contract, so if I close down the lines, I can do it after 10 days.  If I accept their "new subscription" I would be tied to them for another 2 years and can't terminate the contract whenever I want.

Now This Company has another offer for their business clients: "we have a partnership with g.o.o.g.l.e. and we can help you with your marketing with a.d.w.o.r.d.s." I found this call so ridiculous that I had to check if this is for real. The phone Company is selling their a.d.w.o.r.d.s service for 100 euros a month.  We've been already using the g.o.o.g.l.e  a.d.w.o.r.d.s for years on our own.

I was so fed up with O...., but since we are moving out next year and it would be a hassle to change our business phone number, so we are not cutting the cord just yet.

I was about to call them to complain or send a registred letter but is would cost me and this is a just a waste of time.

I've checked on the CNIL, a governmental organization that is supposed to protect personnal informations on people. 

Apparently,  O... has the right to make marketing phone calls to their clients.  It doesn't say if other phone companies are allow to do the same.

So for the French leading phone company, they have the right to call their customers even if they don't want to be called.  You can be removed from their prospection list by filling this form.

They claim it is a free service, but it is actually our right for not being disturbed!

I don't know if their highly paid marketing strategists know that this is the most ineffective way to do marketing, harrassing their current clients by phone to sell stupid gimmicks.

Are you a foodie?

We were watching TV and it was about foodies who grow their own vegetables and go out of their way to have the best food on their table.  My husband jokingly asked if I were a foodie.  He already knew the answer.  I have always loved food and cooking.    These last couple of years I pushed my food obsession a little farther.  I'm buying local products, and I have started to grow some vegetables.  Since I'm living in the country, I can buy food directly from farmers.  My neighbour is selling pork, my other neighbour is growing organic veggies.  Also, in our village, there's a farmer who makes great cheese. I no longer have the urge to go to the supermarket. Here's a few products gathered in my village.

Local produce and the vegetables are organic.  

When I first arrived in France, my father in law had a huge garden.  He grew tomatoes, beans, potatoes. etc. He was also foraging blackberries and wild pears in the woods and then made jellies and jams.  I enjoyed it but never thought that it was such hard work and that everything was organic.  Organic food should not be a trend, this guy was doing it for more than 30 years.  It's a good thing my neighbour decided to sell some of his organic veggies, the organic stores are ridiculously overpriced.  I'm not "organic" obsessed, but I like fresh products, and try to buy local food as much as possible.

 

 

Spinaches, so easy to grow.

 

Nappa cabbage, it will never be as big as the ones in the 

supermarkets, but these tender leaves are tempting.

 

Second batch of pak choy of the summer, I planted those last

 month but this time around some bugs are eating my leaves.

 Maches lettuce, I don't know if we can find them in Canada.  

They will get better when the first frosts will hit.

 

 The only surviving pumpkin plant.  Despite these plastic wraps, 

the slugs managed to get inside the pot.

Postponing things

I have been lazy about my blog lately, last time I posted something was more than a month ago.  I admit to be a bit of a slacker, postponing things.  One thing that I didn't do is paying a visit to my grand-mother.  I kept on postponing going to Dijon.  I finally went two weeks ago, but it was for her funeral.  This is pretty much a lesson for being such a slacker.  Sorry if I bummed you.  I was sad but it is part of life.  She had a rich life, and went through wars, moved from many countries.  She was a tough woman, raised 6 kids, travelled everywhere alone.  The sad thing is that some of her children were in Canada and two were in France. We didn't get to say goodbye.

5-minute Frozen Yogurt

It has been extremely warm in the North of France lately.  So I feel the NEED to have cold desserts. I've given up on store bought ice cream. (who likes emulsified soy lecithin fat in their ice cream?).  Here's a nice way to enjoy low-fat-cheapy-easy frozen yogurt without an ice cream maker in 5 minutes.  It requires no cooking. (and my husband did all the work).

When the stawberrries are on sale why not buy some extra and freeze them. You can use any frozen fruits.

Ingredients:

250 g of frozen stawberries (must be frozen)

2 table spoons of condensed milk (optional)

2 table spoons of sugar (more if you like it sweet)

1 cup of low fat yogurt (or your favorite yogurt)

Put your frozen fruits in the food processor and add all the rest of the ingredients.  Blend until it gets homogeneous.  If you want the fro-yo to be more firm, let it rest in the freezer for an hour.

 

Tada! healthy frozen yogurt.

Middelburg and Zeeland, NL

What to do when it's warm and sunny on the weekend?  We get up early and go to Middelburg.  It is only 2h30 drive from the North of France. We have been there so many times that we have developped habits :
-Sipping a cassis cola "en terrasse", in the centre of the city
-going to the garden centre for plants, where you can get orchids for less than 5 euros
-stock up on dutch food
- lazying on the beach
-and sometimes renting bikes and enjoy a nice ride by the sea

The Zeeland province is bordered by the sea and it is a quiet place to rest and get away from a french stressful life.

We rarely travel in France nowadays.  Especially during the holiday periods.  Highways (with expensive tolls) are jamp-packed with French, Dutch and Belgians heading down South of France.  We avoid all of this and enjoy Zeeland.

Veggie Burger from scratch

Yesterday I made bread rolls, nothing fancy, but I have finally reached the desired result after may fails in the past.  I used dry yeast.  I used to mix everything in the food processor but sometimes the bread won't rise, because the yeast didn't "come alive".  The best way to see if the yeast is "alive" is to mix the dry yeast in a glass with warm water with a table spoon of sugar.  Once it will start to thicken, you will know that the yeast is alive and ready to be used.

I won't give the recipe, because I just don't know the exact quantity of ingredients, but I only used 250g of flour, 8g of dry yeast, water (50 ml or less?) and a little bit of oil.

 

Veggie patties: a block of tofu, 1 eggplant, onions, and 1 small can of bean, and 3 table spoons of flour, and 50g of mix nuts. You can use any vegetable you like.  I used what was left in the fridge.

Sauté the vegetables for 5-10 minutes, leave out the tofu.  Mix all the rest the ingredients in a food processor with the flour.  The tricky part is to form patties with the mixture.  Then cook in a pan until brown.

Voilà, guilt-free veggie burger! 

A Meal for One

The weather is finally warming up here in North of France, but only for today.  We had 30°C and expecting thunder storm. I hope my vegetables won't be destroyed.  I don't think I will get a return on investment this year on gardening, with all the spending on the plastic containers, bamboo sticks and spade and so on.  I have spent on courgettes plants, melons and eggplants and they were all eaten up by a mysterious insect (snail?) or animal.  So I have not been successful with the "ground garden".  I have put a net a couple of days ago because all my pumkins plants were eaten except for the big one, that sprouted in my compost.

My garden looks ghetto with the net

However, my vegetables grown in containers did great and no snails can climb in.  I have harvested Roquettes (arugula) twice.  I hope I won't have to buy lettuce and roquettes this summer.

Some of the roquette seeds were given to me a long time ago.  I'm hoping to collect the seeds as well so I don't have to buy any.  This kind is the round-leaf variety.  Not really peppery tasting like the "wild variety", with the serrated leaves.

Yesterday, when using the roquettes in the salad, my husband said : make sure to wash them well.  I replied : There's not even an once of chemical on them! 

He also said that I didn't post any recipe for a while.  But I'm not going to, photos speak for themselves. Since he's away for a training in Paris for one more day, it's going to be a meal for one.

 Sorrel, chives, dills and roquettes

  Pasta, ham and roquettes, and some other herbs from  my "mini-garden".

On a totally different subject, we found a kitten on June 7th in our warehouse, in the afternoon.  A visitor was there to inspect the solar installation on the warehouse, and the kitten won't stop screaming while he was there. It is unlikely that the inspector brought the cat with him.  So we just don't know how she landed in the farm.  She is too small to escape from her home.  The only thing I can think of is that some woman rang at my door during that afternoon, asking if she can buy me some pork (not me, the neighbour!).  Maybe she dropped the cat in the warehouse while we weren't looking.  The kitten is 2 months and a half, and is too friendly to be a farm cat.  It's a shame that people would just throw out animals like that.  Looks like she will stay on the farm with the rest of the cats here.

She enjoys to be on our desks, next to the screen and distracts us.

She wants to blog too.

Watching a tennis match

I was watching the Roland Garros on France 2, and didn't really understand why the match was interrupted.  Guess who disturbed Nadal and Ferer? 2 people who were against gay marriage.  France 2 choose not to film this but other media did.  Take a look:

http://www.huffingtonpost.fr/2013/06/09/mariage-gay-roland-garros-finale-perturbee_n_3411709.html?utm_hp_ref=mostpopular

This is not the place to protest and people would kill to have a ticket, this is showing lack of respect. 

Updates on the garden

I really enjoy gardening but I haven't been successful with courgettes and other vegetables.  The little plants have been eaten by snails so it's back to square one.  I've planted radishes, salad from seeds, in plastic containers.  Can't wait for them to grow, at least the snails can't go in them.  I've given up on gardening a couple years ago because the cats were digging the dirt.  So I've taken extreme mesures, plastic wrap. I realize that trying to grow organic is not easy.  I've put coffee grounds to keep away to snails.  Let's hope it will work.

I made compost with peels and vegetable wastes, and pumpkin seeds sprouted. Today I have transplanted it in the garden. A couple of hours later, the the leaves are wilted.  I'm not sure it will survive.