NewsletterJanuary 2005

Bonne Année from sunny but cold Dijon!

What have I learned lately?

• One hundred ninety six million French people attended the movies in 2004. The highest level in twenty years. Record attendance: 1982, with 201.9 million moviegoers.
• Christmas bonuses don't seem to exist in France but Christmas parties do!

Up Coming French Events:

• The winter sales start on January 12th (January 11th in the Côte-d'Or and Saône-et-Loire departments) lasting for four to five weeks depending on the department. For a complete list see - Winter Sales in France 2005.
• The Prix d'Amérique, France's premier horse race is on January 30th, 2005 at the Paris - Vincennes racetrack. The race created in 1920 was named The Prix d'Amérique. This is the way the French thanked the United States for its help during Word War I. The victorious horse is draped in an American flag.
• Paris-Dakar rally runs from January 1st to January 16th with a prolog on December 31st. The race is like the tour de France. Instead of bikes the riders use a range of cars, motorcycles and even trucks. There are 15 stages in the event, with one off day. This year's event goes from Barcelona to Dakar.

Moving

After almost a year and a half in Dijon we are moving in two weeks to Reignier, France near Geneva. My wife's new job is in a lab at the Geneva University Hospital. We're packing and getting ready and doing all the 'little things': finding a school and day care for our son Samuel. We did the big thing, finding an apartment in Reignier. The search took only took one day!

Right now I'm working three days a week in Lyon and plan on keeping the job, while trying to locate work closer to Geneva. A note to anyone thinking of moving to France and needing employment: currently steady work is not easy to come by in France. Even my French wife had difficulties finding work. What she did find wasn't in France. I've only been able to find a job in a city I don't live in!

Reignier is a small town in the French Alps, part of the suburbs of Geneva. There are quite a few French people that work in Geneva but live in France. The reason, Geneva is very expensive, as is most of Switzerland. Most find it cost-effective to live in France and work in Switzerland as the Swiss are well paid relative to the French. By the way our rent is about 50% more than what we pay in Dijon for about the same amount of space. This is due to the fact that Reignier is only a few miles from Switzerland. Hopefully other expenses will not be as high!

See you next month.