Visit from Yann

     On Saturday we had a visit from Yann Mathiot and his wife Helen.  Yann was Ford's first grade teacher in Seattle five years ago.  He is from Marseille but has taught at French schools in Seattle, Denver, Mexico, Canada and Ireland.  Helen is also from Marseille.  She is a biochemist.  We showed them around town (although they're from Marseille they had never been to Vaison before):

    

     Yann returned to Marseille two years ago, but he cannot teach right now.  The reason is that he is registered with the French government to teach in the Paris area.  To teach in the Marseille area he had to apply to transfer his registration from Paris to Marseille.  And that is a time consuming process involving all sorts of red tape.  He has been waiting now for two years -- if you can believe that.  We discussed this issue over lunch here at the house (American chili -- not pictured).

     Then we learned about how complicated it is to get fired from a job in France (or to fire someone).  It apparently involves a complex matrix of what the person is accused of having done wrong (there must be a reason), what kind of employer it is, and how long the person has worked there.  This discussion took us through cheese:

      Then we learned about the French system of providing unemployment compensation (it never runs out), medical care (everyone gets it), and how every license plate has a number on it that shows the area of France where your car is from (there is no apparent reason for this information other than possibly for the benefit of discriminating car prowlers who want to spare locals).  Now I know what the "66" on our license plate means.  This took us through salad (not pictured).

     Then we learned about Marseille (we should come visit!) and about the biochemistry of Olestra (avoid it!).  This took us through a variety of desserts brought by Yann and Helen from Marseille:

     After that, we rolled 3 feet over to the living room for coffee and tea (not pictured).  There, we learned about the French obsession over cell phones (Yann and Helen do not have one), about the right amount to donate to the mail carrier when she comes to the door selling calendars (you'd better give something if you enjoy receiving your mail), reasons to avoid the autoroute (freeway), and about who not to vote for for President of France (there are some complexities of the system that are being exploited right now in the lead-up to the two-phased election, and this adds a special dimension to your vote).  They left about 6:00 p.m. for Marseille (it would take them three hours on the back roads).  We enjoyed our afternoon with them.

     In other news:

     Next week is school vacation.  We are going to ski at a place near Gap called Puy St. Vincent, then cross over into Italy and drive in the direction of Venice and see what happens.
    

     Also, we finally found French peanut butter (w/ no hydrogenated oil) at a special store!

     And Ed learned what this sign means after going down a tiny little narrow road ('just to see what's down there') until finally he couldn't turn around -- and practically burned up the clutch backing out:

"Dead End"