Fontcouverte – near Cognac and Bordeaux

Friday 18 September. Day 131.

Farewell the bright lights of Paris – since the 7th of September we have been living in the village (commune) of Fontcouverte in Charente-Maritime, the département which includes Cognac and Bordeaux. We’re about an hours drive from La Rochelle and the Atlantic coast. Since we’ve arrived in Fontcouverte, we’ve experienced … school and kindergarten, La Rochell, the market at the cathedral of Saintes, Paleosite and Pierrette, titres de sèjour, and the arrival of autumn.

Here’s the roundup – oldest news first:

Tue 1 September: The End of Free Parking

In the height of summer, the Parisiens traditionally leave the city for their Marcel Pagnol-like country holidays. Or so I’ve read in books. Another tradition in Paris is for most streetside parking to be free for the month of September. Something we’ve enjoyed so far – with our car right outside the apartment. But that came to an end this morning. Owen and I drove to a public parking station nearby at Sevre Babylon (underneath the snazzy Bon Marche) and lightened our wallets with a “5-jour forfait” – a special deal for five days parking at €80. Cheap. Compared to a parking ticket.

We (I) couldn’t resist doing some quick shopping in the David-ones like shops, then we traipsed off to the American Library – where J & N were doing school with Lisa.

Wed 2 Sept – Zoran

Visited a friend who works out at Malakoff for a chip company – Zoran. I got to see some pretty cool demos of what artefacts you can fix in LCD displays, talk to some interesting engineers, have lunch in the subsidised company cafeteria (super subsidised for me – Mark paid!), and pick up our replacement GPS computer for the car.

Leo Tolstoy’s quote on families could be used on ASIC startups – all good ASIC companies feel good in the same way – the same simultaneous relaxed/flat-out feeling, the same guys who are good fun to talk to (and sadly they do usually seem to be guys), the same flotsam of old linux boxes, superceded prototypes, and lab equipment, and the same chip plots.

While I was at Malakof (conveniently on the metro line that runs past our apartment), Lisa and the kids spent the day in the Rodin Museum, where I met them later.

Thu 3 Sept: Cite de Science

We visited the Cite de Science et Industrie again, with Owen as leader of the day. A return visit to the Cite des enfants too. Saw some movies in 3d – Apollo for P&J, Turtles for N,L,O. Visited Bazar Hotel De Ville on the way home to buy a screwdriver – hardware heaven.

Fri 4 Sept: Musee D’Orsay

The museum was the plan (if the day was raining and wet). And we did get there in the end, but first, a trip on the Seine, via Batobus. After a walk through the Tuilleries from Concorde (and admiring the obelix – must check history, but it is where the big executions of the revolution happened), we detoured from the Musée d’Orsay and instead sat out the waves of rain by staying on the boat, watching the now familiar scenery of inner Paris roll by.



The kids had a bit of a meltdown inside the museum, but after some food to rebalance the blood sugar levels we all settled down and enjoyed looking at the impressionists on the top floor near the cafe where we ate.

Sat 5 Sept

Morning: Phil & O picked up the car from the car park where we’d left it once the free parking in Paris finished, to park it outside the apartment (free parking on w/ends). Installed the new Betty (GPS) -and it all works. This time I’ll leave it speaking in French – I’m not stupid enough to try and fail to change the language three times in a row.

Lisa, J and N went to the American Library and returned all our books, as well as buying a few things from their 2nd hand book sale (nice copy of The Forever War).

Sun 6 Sept: Lisa’s birthday

Lunch at Restaurant Vaubon, on Place Vaubon, outdoors, with the dome of Les Invalides directly opposite us – picture perfect scene (but no photos!). Great lunch (le menu), great wine, and afterwards we all just crashed out.

Mon 7 Sept; On the way to Fontcouverte

Breakfast at the Boulangerie opposite us, then into the car and out of there by 10am! Stopped in Tours for lunch. The GPS worked fine. Reached FC about 4pm, met by Marie and Gilbert (Elizabeth’s parents). And it’s hot here – 29C! Luckily, there’s a pool, so the kids had a swim.

Tue 8 Sept: At Fontcouverte. Housekeeping

Setting up arrangements for our stay. Discovered from Slah & Karina that we have a letter from the Prefecture with a rendezvous for … today at 2:30pm. So rang them and they will send us another invitation to attend to pick up our titres de sejour. Looks like we’re going to be stuck with a quick long trip to Nice one way or the other.

Met with the headmaster of the primary school, M. Contet, and discussed sending the kids to school here. Very charming and enthusiastic – just need to check with the Maire first. Which we’ll do tomorrow.

Wed 9 Sept: Le Maire

Meeting with M. Classique, le maire. Discussed sending the kids to local school, even if it was for just a couple of hours a day for contact with other kids. Said it would all be fine, but that he needed to check with his administration.

Thu 10 Sept: Exactly 4 months and 1 day after setting off on our trip! M.Classique rang to tell us that it was all ok from his end, and that we should now see M.Contet at the school. Also, had arranged a meeting for us this afternoon at the ecole maternelle for Owen – to go to kindergarten! Every week day except Wednesday.

Fri 11 Sept: O’s first day at Kindy

O’s first day at kindergarten – at l’école maternelle de Fontcouverte. Found myself crying after we left him. For his part, O went happily, chatting away and looking at all the kids and toys to play with.

Sat 12 was a day at home.

Sun 13: La Rochell

Today we drove to La Rochelle. Didn’t take any cameras. Some sort of festival was in progress and the roads were blocked off (which confused the GPS). Beautiful summery hot autumn day on the Atlantic coast. We all had icecreams and wandered along the streets looking at the beautiful old buildings. Lisa pointed out that it was the last place to surrender in France during the second world war – and it features in Das Boot as a U-boat base. (We didn’t see any of that stuff – we were too constrained with kids and getting home in time for dinner and preparing for school the next day).

Mon 14: The first day of school

Niamh and James’s first day at school at Fontcouverte Elémentaire! After some worries from J over the weekend, it turned out fine. Each of them had new friends introduced and assigned to look after them, and by lunchtime they seemed to be the talk of the school.

Owen, however, had a cold, and so he didn’t go to kindy today.

Tue 15: Day 2 of School

We woke to the distant clunking of the garbage truck and the faint yellow strobe of its warning lights beating across our bedroom windows. It dawned a cool overcast day, and descended into cool rain. Owen still has a cold (as do Lisa & I) so no kindy today. The kids went to school, and enjoyed it. We went into Saintes to buy some more winter clothes for them, as well as some school equipment. In the end we made two trips, which sort of chewed up a lot of the day. Neither of us got a great nights sleep last night or the night before, so a bit down.

Wed 16th: No School? Ok – let’s see Paleosite and Pierrette

Wed 16: Beat the 7am alarm awake, and we prepared for the day; breakfast and getting the kids ready for school. We arrived at school right on nine, … except it looked very quiet. Maybe they’ve all gone inside because it’s cold and drizzly? Nope. There’s no one here because it’s Wednesday, and Wednesday in France … is not a school day.

So we got a day together! First to the boulangerie in Saintes, then home for Lisa to call her dad, and for the kids to play around. At lunch, Lisa led the kids building clay figurines and pots. In the afternoon we went to “PaleoSite” – the most under hyped fantastic exhibit around here. Four rooms with movies show the history of h.sap – from the big bang to coexistence with neanderthals. And that’s what this site is about, becuase it’s where “Pierrette” was discovered in ~1976 – a young neanderthal woman, living at the same time as h.sap was living in Europe.

Thursday 17th: Titres de séjour

Thanks to Slah and Karina, we’ve now received our letter for an appointment to visit the préfecture de Nice, have a medical examination and chest x-ray (what could possibly go wrong), and pick up our cartes de séjour. The meeting is next Thursday, the 24th, and it’s almost 1000km from here to Nice. So … we’re taking an overnight train trip! Two of them.

The SNCF website is vaguely retarded, but once you adapt yourself to it things go quite smoothly. Only fifteen minutes after starting we had tickets for all five of us, on the overnight sleeper train from Bordeaux to Nice. And back the next night – maybe even in time for the kids to go to school on Friday! We added a frisson of excitement by taking the non refundable non exchangable non transferrable option, and saving about 50%. They’re delivered electronically – and you print them out yourself. I’m hoping that this goes a little more smoothly than the print-it-yourself tickets at Disney.

Friday 17th Sep: Farewell Gilbert and Marie. Bienvenue Aunty K

Elizabeth’s parents Gilbert and Marie have to return to Paris today. Which is a shame for us because they’ve been good company Too late I learned that Gilbert has a large telescope hidden in their house!

But on the positive side, Aunty Karen has arrived to visit us for a few days on her way back from a conference in Vienna. And she’s brought gifts! The kids have been excited for the last few days in expectation, and now that she’s arrived they’ve thrown themselves into the fun of having a visitor.