A Year in Villefranche sur Mer - Moving to France

Day 207 (Sunday) I got a text from Audre last night that I missed saying that she will pick me up around 2.30pm today to have a coffee with her and her sister-in-law Patricia at her place. Huw wasn’t invited to this because Olivier wasn’t home and it was a girls’ coffee afternoon. I walked up to meet her and was standing behind a parked car for a few minutes looking for a good place for her to pull over. I felt really silly when she got out of said car saying ‘I’m here.’ There is no distance between our places but she picked me up to show me where it is. Their apartment is stunning, three bedrooms, a huge living room (containing all of Olivier’s 3,000 vinyls and that’s not including the singles.) She showed me their gorgeous terrace and as the sun was shining we chose to sit outside. And this is their view… We had a coffee and a great chat, mostly about travelling and their lovely family. I met Audre’s two children, Patricia’s two and then a nephew arrived. Audre told me t...

Day 206 (Saturday) Another sunny day and had a text chat with Wendy about doing a linen inventory soon and about handing over the whole studio to me, which will earn me more money – hooray! We walked up to the top road to get some milk and a poulet roti. Huw went into Casino while I waited and I was quite surprised when he returned empty handed; there was no milk in Casino! We were further gobsmacked to see that our poulet roti man wasn’t there either! Because we hadn’t been to Le Phare last night I’d arranged to see Andy in the bar so that he could explain what I need to do about the letters I keep getting. I was really hoping he was going to tell me that I didn’t need to do anything, but that wasn’t the case. Every month even while I’m not earning I have to complete a declaration of earnings and return it saying zero until I get work. I also have to employ an official translator to translate my birth certificate. As you know I love all things French except their red bloody tape....

Day 205 (Friday) I was sitting on the terrace drying my hair in my pyjamas when the doorbell rang. I reluctantly answered it to see Geoff on the doorstep. He had called in to apologise for harassing me by text on Christmas morning, so I forgave him. After drinking a coffee on the terrace he offered us a lift up to Carrefour, which we gratefully accepted. Going to most French supermarkets is always a treat as they display everything so beautifully and during the festive season it’s even better.   How many different kinds of cheeses can there be in this wonderful country? Look at the size of this Brie! I really don’t like the way they leave the head of the chicken on and unplucked Even though I don’t eat fish or seafood I can really see the appeal of this counter. We were shopping for food and household necessities but also for snacks and drinks for our afternoon with Audre and Olivier tomorrow. We were really struggling to think about what to give them. We...