After moving into my apartment last Saturday I received a message from the lovely Jamie, an American expat living out here with her husband and three adorable boys. She invited me to Sunday lunch at hers and I got the lowdown on life in Vaison over some delicious wine, cheese and homemade brownies.
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| The view from my breakfast table |
I'm going to be working at 3 local primary schools so went to visit the first one, Emile Zola, on Monday. The teachers were very welcoming and the kids seemed so cute and were excited to see the nouvelle assistante de langue anglaise!
Then it was off to the bank to open my very own French bank account, only to find I needed to book an appointment for 2 weeks time...not ideal. It seems getting an appointment at the bank in France is harder than booking to see your GP in the UK.
That evening I met up with a couple I'd originally planned to stay with through Air Bnb - Jeremy and Alexandre. They have been the most welcoming, lovely people and am so lucky to have found them! By a complete stroke of luck, Alexandre had an appointment at the bank the next day he needed to cancel so I was able to have it instead. We went along together the following morning et voila - all booked in for that afternoon!
To open a bank account in France you need to take the following with you:
- Proof of identity - check
- Proof of work - check
- Proof of address - not so good...
In order to get my contract signed I need French insurance. In order to buy French insurance I need a bank account. In order to open a bank account I need a signed contract. Slight problem!
In the end I went along to the Mairie (Town Hall) who are providing my accommodation and got a letter saying where I was living signed by the Mayor of Vaison himself. Taking this with me, along with a lot of begging to the woman at La Poste she finally agreed to open an account for me!
To celebrate Alexandre and I went for drinks at a cute little restaurant and explored Vaison's famous market that takes place every Tuesday morning. We stocked up on local cheese and vegetables that I will definitely be buying more of!
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| Café culture |
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| 10 avocados for 2€ at the market! |
I also went for a trip to the château de Vaison-la-Romaine. It's a little climb to the top and made me nostalgic for Exeter's Forum Hill. The views are absolutely stunning - definitely a place to take visitors on a sunny day.
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| View from the top |
Thursday was the orientation day in Avignon for all assistants from the Vaucluse area. Avignon is only 45 minutes by car but a 2 hour bus journey. Since the public transport links are a little temperamental, BlaBlaCar (car sharing) is huge out here! I had a look online and arranged for a lift with Florian at 7am. He was really chatty and the journey went very quickly so I arrived in Avignon with plenty of time to kill and got to check out the café culture and catch up on the local news in La Provence.
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| Exploring Avignon |
The orientation itself was just an admin (yes, more admin) morning to fill in a couple more confirmation, insurance and bank forms. There I met loads of other assistants from all over - USA, Germany, Austria, Switzerland and the UK! Everyone was so friendly and it turns out there a quite a few of us small-towners living on our own so I'm sure we'll all meet up and go visit each other. Went for obligatory Nutella and banana crêpes in the afternoon before taking the bus back home (fortunately I had Bake Off downloaded to keep me entertained).
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| Crêpes with Annie, Cece and Alex |
Friday was probably my most exciting day yet. I went to visit my second school, Jules Ferry, in the morning. I'm actually living in one of the school buildings here so was just a trip downstairs!
Later, Jeremy and Alexandre invited me to dinner at their friend Hervé's house. That evening they picked me up and we drove to Orange for a French dinner party! We had a great evening - camembert on toast, aioli cuttlefish, fraisier and of course good wine and fresh baguette. It being Friday night, Jeremy and Elodie (his best friend) were up for a night out (everyone else was too tired/work on Saturdays) so they suggested we go along to La Java, Vaison's only night club.
Turns out French nightlife is very different from what I'm used to, little did I know what I was getting in to when I agreed to go along! While in Exeter nights out end at 2am this is the time things start to get going in France. We went back to Jeremy's for a drink before heading à la boite around 1.30am. As it's a small town these two were like local celebrities arriving, introducing me to all their friends including the bouncers, cloakroom attendant and bar staff - I had to 'faire la bise' a LOT.
Drinking culture is very different from back home - people tend to drink less and more slowly. They actually like to enjoy their drinks out here rather than downing them. It's also very common to buy a bottle (100€) for the table otherwise it was 8€ a drink, although they don't really measure here and singles don't exist.
The night was definitely focussed on the dancing and we spend most of the evening on the d-floor or socialising in the smoking area - don't think I've met a French person who doesn't smoke! A Spaniard and I were the only ones out there for the "fresh air" and good conversation. Although it was 'busy' for a Friday night there was still loads of space to move around, nothing quite like Arena on a Tuesday.
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| I've found my French Arena |
Lights came on at 5am and after saying all our goodbyes we had a short drive (yes, drive - the club turned out to be in the middle of nowhere just outside Vaison) home. We've had thunderstorms here all day today so have had the perfect excuse for a duvet day!
A très bientôt
Katie x
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