How the French Stole Christmas

 

 (photo borrowed from the cover of Dr. Seuss' book)

Every Texan in Lyon loved Christmas a lot,
But the team at the OFII Office did NOT... (our version of Dr. Seuss' "How the Grinch Stole Christmas," told in abbreviated segments)

Mark and I recently received our glorious OFII (L'office français de l’immigration et de l’intégration) stamps, which have replaced the famous and lucrative carte de séjour process for residents of France who plan to stay one year or less.  We are grateful for being allowed to skip all the Préfecture lines, and the countless appointments for other appointments, but the residency tax is not so awesome-- especially for me, since I am classified as a "visiteur" rather than an "étudiante" as I was in Nantes.  We arrived for our medical exams on the same day (the university Mark is attending graciously offered to send our paperwork in together so that our appointments could be scheduled as a couple), and after an eye test, a lung x-ray, and a brief physical examination/interview, we received our stamps... well, sort of.  As nothing ever works out for poor Mark, he did not receive his stamp-- they told him that there had been a printing error on his, and the number to his visa did not match.  So he had to wait until they could print him a new one (it is always something with him!).  Fortunately, they called in about a week to say his new stamp was ready and we could go pick it up at our leisure.  So, our Christmas this year are these beautiful OFII stamps, found in our passports, which validate our visas through July of 2013.  At least we are all squared away with the French government now.

While OFII was busy taking our crumbs, 

Mark and I managed to still have some fun,

which includes the celebration of our fifth wedding anniversary, once again in France.  We were here for our first year anniversary, so I made it clear to Mark that spending an anniversary in France would be expected every 5 years or so!  We wanted to do something a little different, so we decided to bravely try one of the few TexMex restaurants here in Lyon-- the food was terrible, but we had a lot of fun:

 Our sign says "Happy 5th Wedding Anniversary in France (again!!) Mark and Julie!!  November 10, 2012 Lyon, France

Mark is holding up our sign, along with our OFII receipts...

 Mark took me to this wonderful bookstore, framed by an arch of books, as a surprise before our dinner!

 El Tex Mex!!  It was not good food, but we had a great time!

 The "queso," if you can call it that-- more like a solid block of some unidentifiable cheese, and no tortilla chips to eat it with, only one small tortilla.

The Texans managed not to be mopey

Even with the très cher taxe d'OFII

For example, we took time to finally explore the Musée des Beaux Arts, and we quickly learned why some refer to it as the "Little Louvre:"

"All the single ladies..."  In the courtyard to the museum

We even liked the art on the walls to the restaurant inside

Beautiful staircase

Perhaps my favorite from the entire collection there...

I preferred to sit on the benches in the rooms, and rotate around to get the full scope of these magnificent creations

One of Mark's favorites

The first room you walk into, adjacent to the museum entrance

One day the Texans heard a sound in the snow

And little by little it started to grow

Rather than Christmas singing, we heard the rumblings of our first French protest.  Oh yes, we must share our first protest experience (Mark story alert!).  So we headed out to Place Bellecour, a popular square in the center of the city, looking for a wine festival event that we thought was taking place on a Saturday.  Instead, we got caught in the middle of a gay marriage protest.  On one side of the square were people carrying signs stating that "1 mother + 1 father = a child," and on the other side were people carrying rainbow flags, etc.  The side "for" gay marriage was much more rambunctious than the other side, and people were being carried off and loaded onto a police bus.  Soon, one of the captured protesters takes over the intercom on the bus and begins a chant that stirs the entire crowd up, and a sea of people surrounds the bus and moves out into the middle of the street, blocking traffic.  At this point, I moved back against a fence, away from the crowd, and Mark goes in the opposite direction, right into the thick of the chaos (of course he does!), in order to get a better view of what is happening.  He is videoing, and soon he disappears from my sight, enveloped in the thick of the crowd.  After about ten minutes or so, the riot police get tired of being nice, and they move in on the crowd, shoving them forcefully back with their shields.  I think to myself, "Oh great, Mark's about to get loaded up into that police bus with all the protesters!!  After the crowd begins to move back, I search among the sea of faces and finally see Mark, looking a little ruffled, but with a big smile on his face, and he says, "I got shoved in the shoulder by a police shield!"  He was quite happy to have been in the middle of the excitement; I was just happy I didn't have to follow that police bus as it departed.  Here is some of what he captured:

We took photos of both sides; Mark wanted to present the scene as it was, regardless of anyone's stance on the topic being protested.  This is the "pro" side.

Another pro-side shot.  We aren't 100% sure, but we think the sign says "As if one could demonstrate against love"

The "against" side.  The sign says "Two fathers, two mothers, child beyond repair" (except it rhymes nicely in the French language, unlike the English)

Another "against" side shot.  This one says "One father, one mother, is complementary."  (again, my translation does not capture the flow and the rhyme).

The "against" crowd.

And finally, this video is the result of Mark's venture into the crowd.  You can see the camera shake crazily in the middle of the video, when he gets hit by the riot police shield.  The bus you see drive off is the police bus mentioned above.  Most protests we have observed here, regardless of the topic at hand, look somewhat similar to this one.  Apparently after I made Mark leave, the crowd swelled to a much larger size and the demonstration got a little more wild.  

The Texans enjoy leaves as they flutter and drift
They smile and take walks-- what a wonderful gift!

Our serene park visits have become even more magical with the change of seasons.  It is definitely fall, and my new favorite pastime is to walk through the park and listen to the satisfying sound of leaves crunching under my feet.  Autumn is a beautiful time in Lyon:

The leaves completely cover the ground in this secluded place!

Mark trying to replicate a similar photo we took in the park in Nantes.  He actually fell over backwards and was sore for several days after this little stunt.  Ah, the joys of getting older...

 Beautiful overhanging foliage

 Mark enjoying the serene lake view

 Mark has really let himself go since we've been in France.  He is taking this whole "no shave November" thing way too seriously...

 We spotted a beautiful couple taking their wedding photos-- what a great time of year for a marriage!

This one is probably my favorite from the fall selection so far.

 

 Mark, petting the ponies in the park.  Children could opt to take a pony ride rather than walk.

 There was a display of art created out of leaves set up called the fête des feuilles, and Mark climbed inside this teepee.  A little girl started shoving him out right before we snapped this photo.

 There was a blow-up pit filled with leaves for kiddos to jump around in and bury each other.  So much fun to watch them play!

 And finally, a short, scenic moment on the city bikes we often rent.  Right before Mark almost crashes and falls off-- he did manage to regain his balance after the video ends.

Mark and I love to spread Christmas cheer

We will do it today, tomorrow and all year

We have been attending the Creation Market here just about every Sunday.  It is a market that sets up on both sides of the Saone River here, with one side reserved for local artists selling their work, and the other side reserved for fresh produce.  Mark surprised me after our visit a few weeks ago by taking me into Lyon to explore the old silk traboules, and to find the famous Lyon murals that we spotted such a long time ago but haven't been able to re-locate since:

Mark is beginning to embrace his inner Frenchman on our weekly market trips

We spotted this lovely mural painted on a wall inside a little shop in Vieux Lyon

The doors are so tiny!!

View inside one of the passageways

Courtyard view from above

A shop, decorated a little early for Christmas

There was a beautiful silk exhibition inside the museum of decorative arts; that is me standing next to the exterior display piece

Courtyard to a local artist/photographer's home/gallery

 Another view of the courtyard, and one of the traboules; there is a staircase going up inside that tower.

 View looking up

 Courtyard, complete with a Lyon lion!  Can you find it in the photo?

 A few of the murals

 They are everywhere; you have to keep an eye out for them

 This wall is the most famous one; with many of the well-known people from Lyon depicted in different scenes.

 Les frères Lumière, par exemple

 et Paul Bocuse, the famous chef

 and of course Le Petit Prince and the pilot St. Exupéry!

We almost missed this one!

Also, I found this little guy, who has been eluding me since our arrival in Lyon:

This is the Little Prince and St. Exup!  I knew this statue existed, but we could never find it at Bellecour-- finally, one day a bus was parked directly in front of the statue, directing my eyes upward, and he appeared out of nowhere, raised up and looking over us the whole time.  I had been searching for him at eye level...

Favorite quote from the book; the one Mark and I chose for our wedding invitations.  It is engraved on the side of the statue.

And so you can see why I missed it!  That bus is the only reason I noticed the two of them, way on top of this column.  That is me, standing next to it.  Reminds me that we need to look up and have new eyes each day, or we might miss something incredible.

And when Thanksgiving came, we had such a feast
We ate pumpkin pie and turkey, instead of roast beef

We did eat turkey on Thanksgiving, but not the same as at home.  Mark was severely upset that he had to attend class on Thanksgiving Day (I told him he could not possibly be complaining; that he should be thankful to have the opportunity to be in France AND in class on Thanksgiving!!), so I did my best to cheer him up with at least a semi-American meal.  We looked into ordering a whole turkey from a butcher, but even a small or average-sized one was going to cost over 100 euros (mon dieu!!).  So, I cooked us a small dinner of bacon sage turkey breasts, and made mashed potatoes, sweet potatoes (even managed to find marshmallows at Little Britain to put on top), a modified version of English stuffing (not good at all), and green beans.  I also baked an apple pie and a pumpkin pie, again with the help of Little Britain!

Then on the Friday after Thanksgiving, we headed out to a party with Mark's classmates to celebrate with others.  Fun times were had by all!  I should say that a few party-goers are dressed up as old people, as the theme of the party was Les Vieux.  And I'm not sure how the mustaches fit in, but the girls had fun with those!!

 All the mustachioed ladies of the night!

 

Soon the 'staches migrated and were transformed into eyebrows...

 

 We shared some of our pumpkin pie with the group!  It was definitely a hit, although the ladies had to be careful not to get in in their newly acquired facial hair...

 As we were leaving, we captured this shot of everyone's shoes-- we kicked them off as we entered the apartment, so we could relax like true vieux gens!

During all our French adventures, we never forget
How fortunate we are, how incredibly in debt
To those who have helped us to be here today
So we try to pay it forward, the Rotary way! 

Saturday after Thanksgiving, we had the pleasure of participating in a banque alimentaire event with Rotary.  We asked people at the entrance of a large supermarket to please consider purchasing items to donate to the food bank.  This experience gave us a look at the other side to an event we participated in during our stay in Nantes.  We volunteered with Rotaract in Nantes to help sort donated items at a huge food bank warehouse, so it was interesting to participate in the collection process this time.  I wish I had a video of Mark during our three hours of service.  He was hilarious!  He did not discriminate at all when it came to asking people for donations, and the teenagers he stopped and spoke to had the most confused looks on their faces.  He even forced several of them to stop in their tracks and remove their headphones to listen to him-- he would step out directly in front of them with a big smile, so they were forced to pay attention.  They were more than likely heading into the shopping center to shop at retail stores rather than at the supermarket, but they at least were made aware of the efforts of Rotary for the food bank!  The vast expansion of Mark's French vocabulary has made him a much more animated person during our ventures this year.

This is our food bank crew, standing with the club President.  Mark is pictured here on one side of the President, and Ikumi is on the other side-- she is the other scholar stationed in Lyon this year.  The two ladies on each end are Rotarians from Ikumi's club.

Mark and Ikumi, hard at work!

 We enjoyed collecting items from people as they exited the supermarket.

 Mark was workin' it!

 Ikumi is all smiles, all the time!

 Service work is FUN!!

Some people at OFII do not smile at the snow

But the Texans know how to make their hearts grow

We remember that Christmas does not come from a store

That Christmas, perhaps, means a bit more!

NOTE:  We actually have incredibly positive experiences with the French, and we love our life here; we simply were looking for a creative outlet to express our frustration with the bureaucracy involved in the OFII process.  We are incredibly appreciative for the opportunity to share in the French culture, along with all the other beautiful cultures we have come in contact with on this journey.

We hope our post is not offensive in any way, 

and that it might have somewhat brightened your day!