The Christmas Market season is upon us and we walked through one of them recently in downtown Angers, complete with a Ferris Wheel, mulled wine and hot cocoa, traditional French foods like tartiflette and crêpes, roasted chestnuts, and a variety of gift items and handmade goods for sale. While not as spectacular as the Christmas Market in Strasbourg, it still evokes lovely feelings of warmth and community. It feels so much more holiday-like to me than a mad 6 a.m. dash on Black Friday at a big box store to score the sales.

We’ve had some important “wins” lately that merit celebration as well:

• We’ve satisfied all the administrative requirements for health care in France and have both received our “Carte Vitale,” (the official French health care card). We also purchased a very reasonably-priced “mutuelle” health insurance policy that covers most of the delta between what the French government pays (~70%) and the full cost. A €30 primary care doctor’s visit paid up front ends up costing as little as €2 once the reimbursements for it are received from the government and the mutuelle. This happens without any action on our part, it just works automatically. Any worries we’ve had of being bankrupted by a catastrophic illness are now assuaged while we are in France.
• We finally surmounted the administrative hurdle of proving our identities and French residency to yet another branch of the government (drivers licensing) and have been approved to actually apply for our licenses. We’ve been studying a lot to try to pass the written test, in French.
• We’ve been doing more exploring of small villages around Angers, testing out their bakeries, and seeing the countryside. It’s amazing to see what exists just a 20 minute drive from the city center that feels a world (and sometimes at least a century) away.
• At our neighborhood bakery yesterday, we bought two baguettes, two sliced loaves of bread, and two pastries for €9.90. As we were leaving, the person who usually waits on us said “A bientôt” to us for the first time as we were leaving, which means “see you soon!” This might be the sign that we have been accepted into the neighborhood!
• We have received an invitation for Christmas Eve with friends and are also excited to have one of our kids able to make the long journey to France to spend the holiday with us. We can’t wait to show her the things we love here!

Sending you our best wishes and big hugs as you spend time this holiday season enjoying the traditions of your families and friends.