Nous sommes dans l'argent//We're in the money

I often wish it wasn't so important for my life. But, alas, it's necessary: money. Cash. Bucks. Loot. Moola. (Did you know the word pelf used to mean money? I like that. "I won the lottery. Now I'm rolling in the pelf!")

L'argent. Depending on your outlook, it makes the world go round or it's a necessary evil. 

And though I use my debit card for almost everything now, cash is still necessary for some occasions (like paying my electricity bill. Really? You don't have to ability to take a card? It's 2011! Hovercraft are supposed to be right around the corner).

I don't know about you, but I'm always interested in cash from around the world. I still have some bills and coins from a trip to the Bahamas when I was four.

France uses euros, like the rest of the European Union. For an American, Euros are colorful and shiny compared to our predominately green currency. (Although we've also been adding colors lately!)

This was a ridiculously difficult picture to take. My money+wind= risky.

Just as a reference, a euro is usually worth a little more than a dollar. Right now, you could get $1.36 for 1€ or .73€ for a dollar.

It's the coins, though, that I find most interesting. In the States, most of our coins are equivalent to less than a dollar. Dollar and two dollar coins exist, but they're rare. The euro system uses more coins: 2€, 1€, .50, .20, .10, .05, .02, and .01. My purse can get really heavy sometimes with all those coins.

That's a lot of coins to figure out. But at least they say how much they are worth in numbers, not just letters. Here's an experiment for those of you in the states: Pull out a nickel right now, pretend you can't read English, and try to determine how much that coin is worth. I didn't realize it until I brought some American coins into class to show my students, but our coins only say “Five cents” or “A quarter.” A little confusing, non?

 My biggest problem is the same problem I always have with money: it disappears too quickly. I'm used to coins being worth less than a dollar, so spending them is not a big deal. They've always felt like extra, inconsequential money. Here, if I spend coins with the same nonchalance, I could quickly spend 10€ with just 5 coins. Just another one of the surprise mental adjustments I've had to make. 


Hope you're having a great Friday!

Fun French Friday: Les Soldes

It's dangerous times in France right now. 

Well, for my bank account at least.

And also for these poor sweaters:

Alas, that's Les Soldes.

France has official, government regulated sales twice a year: in June/July and January/February.

This gives the stores a chance to move out old merchandise and show off the new spring collections currently appearing in stores.

And me? Well, I want lots of pretty things. Unfortunately, most of France's sale prices are still a little too pricey for my budget. I'm waiting until the very end, when things get down to 70% off.  The racks will probably look a little like Charlotte Russe's clearance racks then...cheap, but mostly a little strange.  I'm working on the idea of investing in my closet and buying more expensive, quality pieces that I'll wear again and again, but I still have a relatively cheap price point for most items.

Also, I don't think I'm really a fan of this system of sales. Although French stores can have promotions at other times, the reductions aren't as steep.  I like the freedom of knowing that any time I walk into a Kohl's in the United States, they will have a clearance rack for me to browse through. It's a lot of pressure to know that if I don't buy things on sale right now, I'll have to wait for June to get really good prices again. But it is nice to know there is a lot less "pricing clothes higher, just to put them on sale" like I see so often with certain retailers at home.  I know other countries, like Britain, have a similar sales system.

What do you think? Good idea or no?

It's No Use Crying...

{Someday, I'm going to post one of these on a Friday again...promise. Or eventually, I'll work my way through the week and back to Friday again.}

To continue our tour through Fun French Facts*... If you look to your left, you will see:

The Milk Aisle

You'll notice the lack of refrigeration.

That's right. It's not refrigerated. In France, almost all the milk is UHT (Ultra-High Temperature) Processed. It doesn't need to be refrigerated until it's opened.  It's magic milk, created through science that I don't fully understand, but which involves heating the milk way above boiling for a few seconds.

Then it can live on the shelf for 6 to 9 months. I know what you're thinking because it's the same thing I thought at first: eww. Most people in the United States are used to connecting milk with cold. But with all the microbes killed, it's perfectly safe.

But this processing method hasn't caught on in the States, probably because most people there share this presumption about milk.  Some people in France say it tastes just the same as pasteurized milk, and it is very similar, but I'm ridiculously picky about my milk and how "thick" it tastes.

Things I have used my UHT milk for: tea, cereal, cooking.
Times it made me gag: When I tried to make chocolate milk.
(However, it was also not skim milk, which might have played some part in the gagging.)

So I shop for my milk in the tiny refrigerated milk section:

But this means I miss out on the fun of buying milk in boxes.

Think how much easier this must be to transport. Also, you can buy five or six boxes at once, keep them in the pantry and never worry about running out of milk after the stores close at 7pm.

What do you think? Would you ever drink this milk? Or at least try it?

*Credit goes to my good friend, B, for the non-Friday alliterative title.

Fun French...Saturday?

Just wanted to share this with you. These jeans will make you "booty-licious." Hahaha...ha. 

So awkward.

P.S. Sorry, it isn't Friday. I forgot this week! Love you all.

Edit: This says: "You'll eat better"...It's part of Diesel jeans' "Be Stupid" campaign, which is a lot ridiculous. 

Fun French Fridays

Welcome to my new blog feature: Fun French Fridays.  Every Friday*, I'm going to give you a small (and completely out of context) peek at life in France, by focusing on the minutia of my existence**, the things I'd never think to mention during a phone call.

First, France has fancy toilet paper. Mine is pink.

Also available: scented or heart and flower patterns (or boring white, but who wants that?). And it isn't just the super-expensive, luxe "papier toilette." This pink stuff? The cheapest available in my supermarket.

I just had a great idea: who wants to join me in February for some appropriately-colored Valentine's Day TP-ing? (Although, I'm not sure they TP in France. So far, I've seen egging and some paintball vandalism, but no toilet paper.)




Secondly, France doesn't have window screens***. But France does have shutters.

Almost all the windows I've seen here have "les volets." I like them because they make my ground floor apartment feel very secure, they are good for my heating bill and they keep all the sunlight out, which is great for sleeping in. I don't like them because I have to open my windows twice a day to open and close the shutters and they keep all the sunlight out, which is a problem when I don't have time to sleep in.

*Friday chosen because: My name is Elizabeth, and I'm addicted to alliteration. {All together now: "Hi, Elizabeth."}

**Warning: these are details of my life in France in particular. I'm not saying all these details are true for all of France, all the time.

***See Warning above. For example, some people probably really do have window screens; I have yet to meet these people.