Vacances de Toussaint

My first two days teaching were promptly followed by a two week break. . . Vacances de Toussaint. 

Collioure

During this break, I really took advantage of the time to get to know Perpignan and the surrounding area.

Boulangerie

The first week, I was lucky enough to have a friend visit who is doing the same teaching program in Castres (next to Toulouse).  We had a couple great day-excursions to Collioure and Villefranche-de Conflent.  Both of these places are only a 1 euro ride away.  Villefranche is a fortified, stone village resting at the base of Fort Libéria.  This fort was built after the division of Catalogne between France and Spain in the 1600s.  734 underground stairs link the fort and the village -- we hiked up the side of the hill (maybe mountain, but not really) and went down the stairs.  It was really interesting to see the fort and wind our way through the underground passages.  The passages were a bit creepy and cold - maybe I was just thinking too much of Halloween coming up!

Fort Libéria

Fort Libéria

View from Fort Libéria

We also received the opportunity to join another friend in Canet-en-Roussillon for a lovely dîner by the plage (beach).  I had a delicious tajine, which is a traditional Moroccan dish. . . yum yum.  After dinner, we stopped at an English pub quiz for the rest of the night.  It was busy there!

Sunset in Canet

The second week of vacation was full of afternoon café visits, delicious food and wine with friends, and sunny Perpignan.  It was also Halloween . . . I was convinced to watch scary movies (which are not my cup of tea - I may have screamed a couple times) and dressed up as the Spice Girls with some other assistants.  Fun!

Afternoons in cafés

What a life. . .

Visa Complete.

I'm legal! After being in France for over a month now, my visa process is finally complete!

Today, I was in the city of Montpellier for my final visa appointment.  At 8h22, I left Perpignan and took a beautiful train ride to Montpellier, which is where the immigration office is for the Académie de Montpellier.  Since my appointment wasn't until 14h30, a friend and I decided to explore the city a bit and enjoy an outdoor café.  I had a great chocolat chaud... 

Montpellier itself is really cute and French... winding roads, all the buildings in stone, some protest going on, etc.  We also stumbled upon an exposition in the Chamber of Commerce building that featured some random inventions.  After lunch and playing on the roof of a taller building with some great views, we went to our appointments at the Office Français de l'Immigration et de l'Integration.  This rendez-vous was technically a medical visit to make sure we were healthy enough to stay in France, but it was mostly a lot of waiting... check in, wait, get height and weight checked, wait, x-ray, wait, have the doc say everything's good, wait, give papers (proof of residence in France, paper saying I was exempt from the fee - thank goodness!, and a photo), get a sticker in my passport, and voilà I'm legal!!

While the appointment wasn't a big deal and everything went fine, I'm still glad to have it done and out of the way.  It was cool to get to check out another city too! I look forward to going back to Montpellier for a weekend sometime.