Moving to France

What a great place to move to, seriously, it was wonderful. You know French, so you’re good to go, I understood the French being unimpressed with visitors not showing even the respect to learn polite phrases while visiting them in their country. Making an effort to show respect goes a heck of a long way when traveling I have found.

I have been from Calais to Archachon, through the Pyranees and back across to Nice into Italia. I have stayed with a friend in Le Chesnay Versailles, and we drove all over France.

One of the biggest stand outs for me was Nimes, which was a Roman outpost, and the unlikely location for possibly the Worlds best preserved Roman Coliseum and Aqueduct system. It’s a photo opportunity and of hisorical significance if you’re into that kind of thing?

Not that I would have brought it up, but it has been already, well sort of, it’s not uncommon to find people walking dogs inside shopping centres, your wife will no doubt tell you, when you do see "stuff" you normally wouldn’t see. I was more than a little surprised in Cannes shopping centre with wall to wall marble and a stream of "stuff" just left on the floor.

Oh and the food, it’s simply exquisite! The family I stayed with thought I was such a nice guy to get baguettes in the morning, but I was actually getting myself chausson aux pommes, and demolished them on the way back with the bread.

Electricity is not such a problem as others have said, using a transformer to half the voltage will pretty much double your amperage, so you aught to have pretty decent Wattage using a good transformer like the one suggested.

@tony1954

Truth is France or Seattle, there are toilets everywhere if that is how you travel.

Just be sure to have a couple of Euro coins though when you’re out in Paris. Peeing in a four way cubicle (okay it absolutely wasn’t a cubicle) in the middle of the street took some gumption the first time.. But after the stage fright, it was all down stream from that.

Have fun areed622 Bon Voyage

@terry9 , well, the ad campaigns, camera angles and editing would give that impression. And growing up a native in the ’50’s through and into the ’80’s I regard as being ’more or less right places in the right times’....

And, for awhile, Tony Bennet was Right. Even Randy Neuman ("I Love LA")....We Did. *S*(wistful, tho...)

Then, a bumper sticker became popular:

Welcome to California!
(Now, GO HOME)

No one paid attention.
I started using the term ’combat traffic’
Quoting Churchy the Turtle from Walt Kelley’s ’Pogo’ strip:
"We have met the Enemy...and They is US!"
(The latter is back in vogue, I fear...)

I heard a stat the other night that chilled...

"More people in CA voted in ’16 for The Chump...(my fav description)
...than in all the other states Combined."

Now....I haven’t ’fact-checked’ that for total accuracy.
Bu the mere suggestion of it...
....makes me feel Absolutely In The Right Glide Path to be in NC to help try to paint it Blue.

Yes. I Am A Californicator. Old Skool & Proud.

Delete me if one must...but it changes Nothing.

Cheers, J

@asvjerry 

On reflection, more to it, I think. California is seen as 'The Big Time' for more reasons than Hollywood, aerospace, and what used to be the climate. That is the University of California, probably the best university system ever. Decade in, decade out. Not to mention Stanford. People of culture know these and honour them, even revere them. When they think of their best, California is their aspiration. (UC out-of-state alumnus)

@terry9 ....Agreed on the UC, and even the CSC systems; the education I received (once out of the public schools) was terrific.  Although never degreed, the courses I took allowed me to Really learn to think and not just 'absorb'....and the price required to do so relative to today was a bargain.

I opted for a more 'general education', the turmoil of the CA job market in my 'era', the 'distractions' in the 'kulture', the 'Nam war (fortunately, 4F; more luck than the disability that did exist), and a counselor that opined that  I was inately bright enough to do any damn thing I cared to.

Unfortunately, lugging cases of IBM punch cards which had to be hand prep'd on a keyboard was of no interest; the 'ground floor' of the 'puter revolution got bypassed...*shrug*  Oh, well....I like Win10 Pro better, anyway... ;)  That, and what I can make it do Now.  *G*

Being a generalist has served me well, overall.  Being a 'adaptable' peg that could fit many holes in different roles in a variety of places in many states.....

'Have Skills, Do Travel' *s*

The only thing I miss most of CA?  The beaches, mostly...

Portably Urs, J

Don’t forget to visit Brussels. Lived there a while.  Very generally speaking, the food is even better than in France. I had a voltage switch on my ARC gear at the time.