Gite near Arras - Pas de Calais

Hotel de Ville

(Lesley) We got our first parking ticket yesterday.  Paid in the building above.  What a rigmarole!  It proved to be good training for some countries we aim to travel in later this year.  We arrived in the Grand Place in Arras (beautiful), having already stopped at the Carrefour grocery store and purchased milk for our cereal.  We easily found a “stationnement” but were so intent on choosing a good spot to eat, that we simply forgot to purchase the parking chit for our car.  While eating breakfast, John looked over as the police lay the “contravention” under our wiper.  Arg! 

The ticket listed l’Hôtel de Ville, in Place des Heros, as the payment site, so after breakfast, and once I was done amusing myself at the bank, we went off to pay.  Of course, to complicate our task further, the police office had moved and we were redirected by a concierge to a room across the hall.  I went in with my 11 Euros and was told that cash was not acceptable.  The kind policeman then directed me to the tabagie across the road to purchase a timbre amende (fine payment stamp), which I then needed to bring back, affixed to my “contravention”.  I did it, and I doubt we will be forgetting to pay for parking again anytime soon.

The bank, well, that was interesting too.   I went into a Credit Agricole du Nord to deposit 330 Euros into the account of a Gite owner we wish to rent from.  He has an account in Credit Agricole du Midi, not the same bank, but a French bank.  I was told they couldn’t do it at all, but I persisted and finally convinced the Madame to seek guidance from one of her superiors, which she did.  They were about to go ahead until they learned I didn’t have the man’s passport number.  His account info apparently wasn’t enough.  This supervisor then went to her supervisor with the problem and decided my passport information should suffice.  Eventually they stuffed my Euros in an envelope and it is to be sent down south, hopefully to the gite man.  Have they never heard of a wire transfer?  In France you physically load cash in a plastic envelope and sent it away.  The benefit of this method however was that it didn’t cost me anything, not even a stamp.

This morning we began Math School.  We have been keeping the kids busy with projects, field trips, etc. but we have been neglecting math.  Our theory was once in a gite for several days alone (just our family) we could pursue the number stuff with more ease and focus.  Mhari and Sam each have math workbooks, which Janet provided.  Sam has a paper copy; Mhari has a CD.  Both have lots of exercises so we figure if we do a unit a week, we can still be done by Christmas.  OK, I realize this is ambitious and unrealistic, but I can afford to live in a fantasy world for a little while.  Heck, I’m in France; I’m not working.  I can sleep in everyday, if I should choose.

0.4 x 0.5 = 0.2 Huh?