It all began when I started taking French classes in 8th grade. I continued them throughout high school, and then went on to major in French in college. The summer after my freshman year in college I spent 2 1/2 months in Marseille with missionary families. I took some classes there in a language school and helped out at summer camp. My sophomore year, one of my professors encouraged me to find a study abroad program in France, and my junior year I ended up in Montpellier, with students from the College of William and Mary. That summer I went to Marseille again to work with the missionaries, before returning to Harding for my senior year. After graduation, I moved back to Marseille (June 1999), where I lived until August 2000, working with the missionaries who had begun their missionary training program, "Chrétiens en Mission".

After a short stay in St. Louis in September 2000, I married Frédéric that October and moved to a northern suburb of Paris called St Denis, where he had grown up. In 2002, we bought an apartment slightly further out of Paris, in Villiers le Bel, and in 2006 we moved out "en province" (the provinces - anywhere that isn't Paris!). We now live in the middle of a beautiful forest, and don't go to Paris if we can help it!

For over a year I fought French red tape tooth and nail in order to get my residency card which would give me the right to work. France is a country full of paradoxes, of which this experience was a prime example. All of my papers were in order and yet they did all the could to prevent me from getting a residency card, or ot at least delay the process as long as possible. But when a boatload of Kurdish refugees who turned out not to be Kurds at all landed in France, the government gave them papers, lodging, etc, when they didn't even want to stay in France; they were trying to get to England! Funnily enough, it was easier for me to get French citizenship than it was for me to get a residency card.

This is the home of the 35-hour work week and five weeks of paid vacation a year. The 35-hour work week means that most people actually work between 36 1/2 - 38 hours a week, but are then entitled to one RTT day off ("réduction du temps de travail") every four weeks. Those 13 days are in addition to the 5 weeks of paid vacation.

Whereas previously people were paid once every calendar month, most companies have now moved to a "13-month" pay schedule. Rather than being paid on a 1-, 2- or 4-week basis, we are still paid by calendar months, and the "13th month" ("treizième mois") arrives as a sort of Christmas bonus.

We also have what is called a "CE" (comitié d'entreprise) which is an organization through work that gets us discounts for vacations and gyms, offers things like photo development, toys for the kids at Christmas, and so on. We did our ski trip in 2004 through Frédéric's CE, but the hotel was freeeeezing and the personnel crabby, so we complained and managed to get part of our money refunded! What a great deal! Okay, I would rather have had a warm room all week, but I'll take what I can get.

And as for the five weeks paid vacation a year (in addition to the 13 RTT days), well, who can complain?

Now tell me, what would you like to know about living in France? Send me your questions here, maybe someday I'll start a FAQ to answer them: Questions? Comments?