Linds Across Europe, Days 12 & 13

After two days at home, doing laundry, unpacking, catching up on details, we headed out Thursday morning southwest of here to Grenoble.  This small French city is the local government seat – France loves it’s governing layers!  An hour away and our appointment was at 9:00am, but we made it with time to spare and the drive was absolutely beautiful.  We wove between the valleys of the Alps in perfect sun and blue skies, with fog over the lowest farmlands.  Seriously, out-of-a-book-beautiful!

We showed up for our very official appointment, having already heard plenty of stories and knowing pretty much exactly what to expect.  You see, to finish our visas for living in France for this year, we had to pass a medical exam and present our receipt for taxes paid (which one can do online – we got a bill about a month ago…awesome).

First we were taken in for our chest x-ray.  Second, we were seen by a nurse to took our weight, height, BP, pulse and did a very brief eye exam (kudos to me for saying all of my letters in French!).  Finally, we saw a doctor, who did a cursory check of our chest, stomach, lungs and heart, asked the normal questions about surgeries and meds, and literally stamped his approval on our paperwork.  (The kids didn’t have to do anything at all, by the way.)

Lastly, we waited briefly and met with someone who approved our visas (now called the carte de sejour) and we are now legal France residents until schooling is complete!

We spent the rest of the morning driving around Grenoble and visiting a fortress way up on a hill.  I really didn’t plan to hike through defensive caves up a steep hill in my heeled boots, but whatever.  It was a lovely view and the kids had fun.  We picnicked on the side of the road on the way home, because parking in Grenoble was a pain.

The rest of the afternoon we ran a few errands and worked around our apartment some more…then, we enjoyed a date night!  Vacationing with your kids usually results in needing a vacation from your kids, so we are thankful for good friends on campus who can hang out with the kiddos while we go out last minute!

This morning we headed out to the nearby city of Annecy.  Annecy is very beautiful, as was the drive through small towns and farmland.  Annecy is built on a lake with several canals that run through it.  It was market day, so we enjoyed strolling through, sampling goodies, trying a new cheese for lunch with a baguette and snacks from home, and enjoying a picnic on a lawn by the lake.  The weather was crisp and fall-like, but sunny.

Tonight we are chilling at home and I’m trying my best to gather the photos from our adventure…we had two cameras, a tablet, a phone and our Dutch friend’s phone…so, it’s a lot to compile.  Hopefully you all still care a little by the time I’m done.  Ha!