lost in translation

here are some pictures of our french family visiting on sunday to see our wedding pictures...and our trip to the beach (only 20 minutes away). we're just getting settled here and realizing the vast differences of living in the south of france and living in manhattan.

we used to send our laundry out to be washed and folded....here we do our own and hang it out to dry b/c they don't have a dryer (very common in this area).

hardly anyone has a credit card here, it's all cash and debit cards. so...when we try to use our american credit cards, a lot of places won't accept them. they have adapted a chip and pin system in europe that makes it very difficult for non-european tourists to pay for gas, transportation, etc!

they eat lunch here around 1pm, then not again until dinner around 8pm. by this time, heath and i are starving...so we eat snacks secretly in our bedroom around 5 or 6 so as not to look like fat americans :)

the snacks are great though...little crackers that look like pizzas (i used to eat them all the time when i was little), cheese cheese and more cheese, little yogurts for kids that i can eat ten at a time (so different from our yogurt - this stuff is addicting), and apple sauce mixed with every kind of fruit and even with chestnuts. and they do love ice cream. they eat ice cream as snacks in the late afternoon, which i love! portion size is very different though.

they drive crazy here, and they all drive stick....so i will have to perfect my skills quickly :)

also, air conditioning is rare here. and it's even hotter than manhattan. they manipulate their windows and shutters based on the sun and it's very effective. however, the ac in their cars is very weak, even in new cars.

in grocery stores, they do not provide plastic or paper bags anymore. you have to bring your own or purchase their reusable ones. i love this!!!!

so anyhow, just some thoughts to let you know what life is like for us here....more to come soon! miss all of you!