Let’s talk about Perpignan and Southern France – with Adam and Brandi

A special guest joins me as we talk about the cultural differences between France and USA.

In this chat, my friend and I open a bottle of wine and get real about life in the South of France. From local discoveries to daily habits, we share our personal insights on what makes the French lifestyle unique.

5:00 Winery
10:30 Catalonia
17:49 Mediterranean Sea (Gulf of Lions)
21:40 Culture & Customs
36:40 Purchasing Property
44:37 Visa Application

Filmmaker: ​⁠​⁠@jim.lefeuvre

​⁠​⁠@Massbeatband
#massbeat
#perpignan
#treloar
#catalonia
#frenchvisa
@Sacred.Spaces
​⁠​⁠@ExpatJeff
#france
#destinflorida
#troyal
#samsonal
#southfrance
#

​⁠​⁠@FrenchConsulateNO
​⁠​⁠@FrenchConsulateLA
​⁠@frenchconsolateATL

https://l.instagram.com/?u=https%3A%2F%2Fyoutu.be%2FiTSZ_sUZM6Y%3Fsi%3DxvetBp_QtfQ7bnbI&e=AT00Gudn7f2oj5qnhayAYI-br9ubBAjMV0Wbpf9xnS9MuX3ZlVpL6DfOQW4zBcJfQh1SZImnwQhot-CAs1Sp0fJ93Dr-gUiJJISFnzy7C8GzikR9QFT78eBCNuOTlvulFQeM9NsZS_cg

Hello, I am Adam. This is my friend Brandy. We are here in Perpon, France. And we are just going to kind of talk about what it’s like being here, how we got here, uh the people, the region, uh the wine makers. Uh so yeah, if you’re interested in Perpon at all, maybe visiting the area, uh hopefully, you know, this discussion, you know, will uh help you out a little bit. Brandy’s been here for almost 20 years now. Yeah. So, you’ve been here for a while. Since 2006. Yeah. It’s been a long time. Yeah. Long time. The uh the uh the area perp Yeah. That 2007. Yeah. Yeah. Because I was working in London uh at my internship and um it was so cold in London. I just got sick of it. And um I was like I just I just want to be warm. So I convinced my university to to let me come to France. Uh and this was the most southeast part of France that I could still be in France that my university would accept. So that’s how I ended up landing here. What brought you to like like Perpon? Oh, Perpon was an accident. Oh yeah. Well, it’s kind of an accident for me too. Well, so the the the entire story is um I asked for ML, which is a city about 2 hours from here on a train. Uh I asked for ML. I had a friend who lived in M at the time who could uh house me. She had an extra bedroom I could stay in the whole nine yards. She sent in a letter saying that she had uh a room for me, that she sent in like proof of her address, Mier, etc., etc. and they said, “Okay, that’s great. She’s going to go live in Perpon.” And I knew it like one month before I took the plane. Okay. Okay. All right. Um, so we all end up in Perpon one way or another by accident. Well, I mean, yeah. I mean, for me, it was the same thing, but it was just like it was a nice warm region. Look for weather. I started in Estéelle. If anyone uh I don’t know if I recommend, I don’t want to say that. Estelle is a small town. Uh about seven miles. I don’t 10 kilometers, but it’s not it’s from a point of view of people living here. It’s like a podunk village. It is. It is. I really like the point of view of folks here. Huh. I really liked Esté Gel. Uh when I was there now, it’s changed a lot in the last 20 years. When I was there in 2007, uh I don’t know if you’ve ever been to Estéel yourself, but 20 years ago, I I thought it was a really nice town and I and I had a really good time there. Now, I went back and visited and and a lot of the stores that used to be open aren’t open anymore. Uh it’s just not the same. No, small village life is getting more and more difficult. Yeah, it’s not the same. It’s not the same as it was. It wasn’t the same. Um but uh Perpin seems to be about the same as it always was. Perpin changes but it’s not going anywhere. So the small villages it any sort of small change in the villages is like devastating. Like the post office closes or whatever that would really be a big deal. Yeah, that’s the end of the village. But in Purpan it things change. The shops change. uh people where they live and who lives there changes, but it’s like sort of permanent change, but the the place is the same. So that’s not perpendic. Yeah. But it’ll it’ll be here because I went back to Estelle and there used to be a bank there. There’s not a bank there anymore. Exactly. That’s what I’m saying. There used to be like a more restaurants and they were open. You used to be able to go give uh five euros and get like a liter like several liters of wine. Like you could get it like I think it was three euros or five. Yeah. Because they have you bring a bucket. That’s what they have. They have the wine by the leader. You you bring your self serve. You give a milk jug and they’ll fill it up for you. And it was good wine too by the way because I it was probably the wine from the up the up the hill. Yeah. Right. Right. Right. Right. They were making it there. They’ve been making it there for how God knows how many years. And it was good stuff for three euros in my bucket. My little milk jug. I would I would bring a milk jug and they would look at me. Fill it right on up. Thank you very much. Because that’s the it’s is that’s considered the not classy wine. You can still buy it that way in certain like I think um there’s an open air market in Casagna. I think they still sell it that way. You can back in the day they did. You could go to the open air market and bring your container and pay like two euros per liter to fill up your container. Well, speaking of classy wine, you know, uh this is a local uh bra, you know a little bit more about this. These are we went here just the other day. Um the Do you want me to pronounce things correctly? So, this is in a little village called Tuas. T R O U I L L A S. and they’re English speakers but they’ve run this domain this vineyard for a while now and they make very good wine and it is kotto durio which is like the wine from here it is the wine that is in this region only because you know how it is here if you’ve got you know champagne is only made in that region and other wines have their appellac for the region so this wine is from here um the domain is called trillor t r E L O A R. Uh they’re are very friendly people and also very good wine makers. Oh, and the stories. Oh, they tell stories the whole time you go to and uh they’ve had a the the weather and the growing seasons have been difficult recently, but that’s sort of for every wine maker, everybody in any kind of farming whatsoever. the the weather. He was trying to tell us that yesterday, but yeah, he he literally that’s exactly said and that’s that’s the news stories that I’ve been seeing, but it’s been more about like I don’t know about like apricot trees and here I didn’t realize that it affected the grapes as much as it has. Remember him telling us he he became a Yes. Yeah. So he So he used to be a bottler. I can see that he used to be a bottler and now he’s had to change because of the the several years of bad weather and then this year the weather was better, not as dry. There’s been severe droughts, but this year it was a mildew problem. Oh yeah, that’s right. So he was glad that he had already gotten rid of his vineyards and so now he’s a [ __ ] He It’s not exactly the same thing. It’s the same thing. He makes the wine, but it’s not his vineyards and it’s not his grapes. It’s not his grapes. So that’s the only difference. So that’s why he’s this. Yes. So this word means it’s your grapes and you make the wine. Oh, okay. Right. So now he makes the wine. Okay. Cuz I know he said he had to them. It’s a couple. Yeah. They had they changed the the name on the top of the bottle to something different. Yes. [ __ ] which is like a negotiator because he buys the grapes. He wants the different varieties. The I can’t even remember. What’s this one? I sir ganache moredra. the he buys the different kinds of grapes to make the wine whereas before he grew the grapes and now he does not anymore. That’s the only difference. And we’re not we’re not like we’re not getting paid from this guy. We’re just enthusiastic. It was a fun experience. It was a very good visit. Yeah, it it was it was good. And he was he was really informative. So if you don’t know anything about uh like wine and you know you’re coming here, I’d say that was a great especially if you don’t speak French because Oh, yeah. uh listening listening to French people try to explain French wine to you if you don’t know anything about anything is very difficult especially when they start talking about the different varieties of grapes or the uh recult all these things like this it’s like these are concepts that don’t exist in an American brain we don’t have it it doesn’t maybe unless you’re from California I don’t know from Napa Valley I don’t know I mean you speak uh French uh fluently it is it even hard for you to understand yes because I don’t know anything about the process of how it works It’s like it’s like the same thing as learning like me learning auto mechanics. I’m not an auto mechanic. Not in English, not in French, not in So when you explain a thing to me that’s technical in French. Like I’m going to get some of the words but not necessarily what it means. He did a good job. He did a really good job. I understood way better. And and he spent like so much time like just really just because all I knew about this stuff, this stuff here, the all I knew about it was that someone some French had told me when you buy a bottle of wine, look for this word on the top. That means it’s better. That’s all I knew. Oh yeah. Yeah. That’s all I knew. That’s But I didn’t know why it was better. Like you know, I didn’t know why it was better because they make the grapes and they grow the grapes. Not necessarily better, is it? I mean, what if someone’s like a really good grape grower and then somebody else is like a really good wine maker? I mean, why do you have to be good at two things? I don’t know. But I guess it meant it was like more local, more in-house, there was less shipping. Maybe it was like a it maybe they wanted to tell me it was better for like ecological reasons. I have no idea. Like I didn’t get much more explanation than look for this word, it’s good. Well, I think our friend here and he explained it would agree like every actor doesn’t have to be a filmmaker. I mean, we can uh we can be good at one thing. True. You don’t have to think. And he’s apparently very good at at least wine making. Oh, man. Oh, yeah. So, this this one here, this this red, it’s got like this this little purplish I don’t know what color you call that, but for me, that’s a really good indicator because like this looks like a normal red, but it’s it’s very light. Like very light. Like summer red. Oh, summer red. That’s what we should name it. We Yeah, it it really it’s really a light. good. But I think that maybe the name it means the escape, the escapee, the the one who escaped and it’s kind of like that cuz it’s like the red wine that’s not like all the others. Well, so maybe that’s why he named it this. I don’t Or he they when he said summer, it’s his summer red. Uh I was like that is 100% the name you should be using. Okay. So um just to a little bit about like I guess the region that this wine we’re in Catalonia. So Catalonia is like this region of um Okay. Wait. Okay. Okay. Yeah. This is why have you here? Okay. Uh because France does not recognize Catalonia as a region. So for France and the French government, this is the region is Oxitani, but Oxitani goes from Tulus all the way over to Mier up to M. Oxitani is enormous. Well, I I tell it like like the Catalonian is is more of a we don’t care true what the Spanish government says. We don’t care what the uh But that’s what I’m saying. Now you’re talking about the historical like how the people here feel because the French government doesn’t recognize Catalan or Catalonia or it doesn’t recognize this region. Uh, and neither really. Well, the Spanish government maybe a little bit more because they do have the one geographical area called Catalonia. Oh, yeah. They do. It’s like one of their regions, I think. Huh. And so, basically, Perpin is considered the capital of North Catalonia. Is it? Yes. I thought that because of that castle in the middle of town. Because it used to be the this the country of Catalonia. It used to be that. And then there was a war about where the limit was between France and Spain. like where does where which is French is which is Frances and which is Spain and the war was s and the the line moved for a while. I knew that because there’s all these forts all over the the Pyrenees and that’s why which is a mountain region that we’re in more or less and so the foothills of it you’ll see you’ll see these these um castles basically like lookout towers big like like well-built things and you’ll see them everywhere. Yeah. Some of them were castles, some of them were just like lookout towers and they would send like smoke signals up the mountain if they saw somebody coming into the sea to attack or whatever. Yeah, the history is kind of insane because it’s like this region was there was a lot of fighting. Don’t ask me about yours. I’m not good at that. But like Oh, they could in the comments. I guess they could. They could in the comments. I mean, we will not be providing answers. Google is your friend. I’m not like that is not Please. All I know is that they fought about it for a minute and people some people are still mad about it. Yeah, some people are still mad about it. Um they vote like every year in Spain uh they vote to become a separate country. I think I heard you saying something or somebody said something. Yeah, they’re hardcore over in Spain. They want Catalonia to become a separate country and I know that they vote on that there’s like some sort of That’s a hard cell. Well, the thing is that the Catalonian region of Spain brings in a lot of money for the Spanish government. Yeah. Well, that that also sounds like a little bit like the south rise again, you know, like you think uh Barcelona is the capital of South Catalonia. So yeah, Barcelona So Barcelona are like twin cities in a way. The na because the national museum is the national museum of Catalonia. Their big their big art gallery up there. Exactly. Like like they are they are they are more Catalon than they are Spanish and they will tell you any day of the week. Yes, they will. They will tell you quick and if you do get a chance uh so the where Perpin is located it’s an hour and 22 minutes by train by train from Barcelona right but like you’re 20 minutes from the Spanish border and the hardcore Catalonians are not in Barcelona they’re in the small villages outside of Barcelona especially in between Barcelona and Purpon any of those little villages especially mountain villages if you go up in there and you start speaking Spanish to people be careful like they’re going to maybe get a little pissy So, so because you speak French so good, I mean what what is the difference in because I know in in Andor, which is a tiny country in between France and Spain, um they they have three languages. They have French, uh Catalonian and and and Spanish. So, what what is Catal? What’s different? What does the language sound like? Is it just a is it just a blending of the two? No, it is not a Creole style blend of two languages. It is really complicated. And it’s speak. I do not. I can recognize words when they’re written sometimes. Like I’ve started to recognize words and like I can maybe greet somebody and say like please and goodbye and hello and but like that’s more for uh for blending in purposes to like show them that I I’m here in peace, you know, like like to to be nice to I don’t know. But like the the I know the language is super weird because it’s like some of it is exactly like French. Some of it is so far from French you cannot invent the way it’s far. And I feel like it’s got not Portuguese, but like I feel like there’s Japanese or something crazy mixed up in there sometimes. Yeah, there’s some weird stuff going on. We’ll find out in the comments. Yeah, I guess so. But like the the Catalon language that is completely wrong. I don’t know, man. But it’s like they use the letter X and it makes the sh sound. That’s all I know. It makes the what? SH the letter X says that’s a sh Yeah. Which is why in this region of France I just want a t-shirt. Shh. But the there’s some villages in this part of France that that you have to pronounce them the Catalon way or else it doesn’t work. Like there’s this there’s a little city a little village called B A I X A S. But you say Bus. You don’t say Beexus or something. I don’t know what else you would say. But like the X goes Yeah. And it’s one of those you’re like what? The X says what? We’re we’re we’re gonna the language lesson will be a different video. Oh my god. It’s very hard. I haven’t mastered anything but then again I haven’t really tried. Yeah. Okay. And then back for the region uh this Catalonian region. Uh it’s on Perpon is on the east coast. I could say that of France. I mean this is where it’s turned. Is it the east right there? I think it is. You we’re more west because east would be like towards China and we’re absolutely on the other side. So what so so when you go to Kore um Yeah, that would be we’re we’re going west. Well, no, I mean, no, that’s more south because it’s like curved like this at the bottom. It is. It’s weird. Yeah, it’s curved like this and so we’re like over here in the curve. Yeah, I I’ve seen that. And then this is like Nice or whatever. I I think I’ve seen like an arrow and I I So I guess so that would be south and but like when you ask people they call Tuloo the southwest. It’s like southeast kind kind of h they call Tulus the southwest. Well, um we’re we’re we’re we’re struggling to tell the people Google maps. Yeah. I I believe it’s a little east of here. Uh it would be the ocean. It’s close though. How far is the No, the ocean is the Atlantic Ocean. Here we go. Yes. No, the ocean is the Atlantic Ocean and you got to go towards um damn what’s that famous city? Uh it starts with a B. I can’t remember. It’s like uh Bordeaux. No, there’s Well, anyway, whatever. But you got to go like We’re on the opposite side uh of Normandy. Normally on the other side of the country. We’re on this side of the country. Yes, Normandy is up very far north. We’re pretty much the most southeast you can go and still be in France, I think. No, you said west. I think it’s just southwest. That’s all. Well, southwest would be the other side near England. We’re going to have to Google this. We’ll Google this later. But it’s not the ocean. It’s the sea. It’s the sea. It’s the Mediterranean Sea. It’s the Gulf of Lion. Gulf of Lion. Yes. And it’s the Mediterranean Sea. Whatever it is, it’s beautiful. Uh and the So, I live in Dest, Florida a lot of times. And you know, you’ll have really white beaches that are made of um uh it escapes me what’s crushed up, but it’s you know, the the sand is this color. But here, it’s like a it’s a rocky it’s a really rocky. We wear some sandals. If you go into the beach, our first depends on the beaches because when you get towards the when you go from here, you go the closest beach is Kon and they’ve got Is that the one I run to? Yeah, that’s the one you run to. So, I usually, you know, I’ve done it a few times. I will run cuz they have a Oh, no, wait. I think it’s St. Mar. But anyway, that’s what it is. That’s what it is. St. Mar, but anyway, it’s the same same kind of beach. It’s sandy with some dunes and stuff. Oh, is it? Do you guys Did you not run by any dunes? I have only been to like not sand dunes but like grassy halfway sand dunes. Not here. No, no, I I have not clocked that yet. Okay. Well, there’s a couple of beaches that are like sand, but like big fat sand, not that fine sand. See, somebody was saying like the beaches change literally exactly from mile to mile. That is true. How is that a thing? Uh the mountains hit the sea and geography. Obviously quartz. Quartz. It’s crushed up quartz Dest Florida. That’s why the sand is white. Quartz. Okay. Quartz. That’s what I’ve heard. Well, here they go from like big fat sand to like rocks. Yeah. And the whole like most of most of the Catalonia part of Spain is like Costa Brava and it’s rocky beaches kind of. It gets deep. At least the beaches I’ve been to. So, you can speak this better. It gets deep really quick. Uh cold. Yeah. And it’s it’s pretty cold. Well, cold if you’re used to Florida water for sure. Right. Right. It’s a lot warmer. Yes, it is a lot war. colder than Florida water. Like it’s significantly colder. If you’re used to swimming in the Atlantic Ocean, this is very warm. Okay. That’s why you’ll see like certain tourists from certain places like Germans and whatnot, they’ll get in the water even when it’s 15°. I’ve been in golf golf my whole life. Okay. Yeah. No, you’re that warm. And then we’re in a sea here. Yes. And it’s a sea. You were telling me earlier why it’s a sea because it doesn’t because it’s mostly closed off at the at the the Gibralar the the stretch of Jialter. Thank you. It kind of closes it off. It’s not completely closed off from the ocean, from the Atlantic Ocean, but almost. And so this is the Mediterranean Sea, and it goes, the Mediterranean Sea is like France, Italy, imagine all the way over to like Turkey, uh what Algeria, Morocco, Tunisia. It’s all Mediterranean. All those northern Yeah. All those northern African countries. Yeah. It’s all that. Um that’s all Mediterranean Sea. And so because it’s not the ocean, there are a few there’s no tides. There’s no hurricanes here. There’s no hurricanes. Thank God for that. No kidding. Although they almost had one really, but like it more it got more of Portugal and some parts of Spain than it can. That’s the other side. But it got it it they like the hurricane can’t come in. It tries to come in and then it landfalls. That is awesome. That’s probably my favorite thing about southern France versus Dest Florida is you can’t get blown away by a hurricane. It’s just the best. No tornadoes, no snakes. Are there snakes? Well, I mean there are snakes, but none of them are really poisonous snakes. There are snakes. There are like they’re called. They’re like garden snakes. There are tons of those, but they absolutely will not hurt you. So, it’s like you could see one and be like, “Oh, you’re a cute snake. Pick it up. Give it a little kiss if you wanted to.” Not immediately. No, I wouldn’t. But I mean like you could and it wouldn’t kill you. It probably still bite you. So many snakes in Florida and Alabama, they are just everywhere. Um so uh I put this on here and you know we’ll just see where this goes. Uh just the people here in the region. So I I’m going to tell you a couple things now. Bry’s been here for a long time. I’ve been coming here for a long time, but I just now uh have been attempting to like, you know, buy this place that we’re in here today. uh get my longstay visa. Uh but the little things that like if you’re just coming uh like so simple if it’s before 5:00 I don’t care if it’s a homeless person on the street asking you for money you say bonjour and then no. Uh I was more respectful. It is absolutely more respectful. I was told by my friend uh that um if they if you do get asked for money uh do not ignore them. just say, you know, bonjour and then no or they’ll follow you. That’s what he told me. I haven’t experienced it, but that’s what Alex said. But no, he’s right though about saying bonjour, especially if you acknowledge them. But it’s it’s easy. You acknowledge a humanite. It’s just polite. It’s you’re acknowledging a human being. The end. But and and that but but that bonjour before 5:00 and bones after 5:00. If you learn no other French, walk into McDonald’s, you know, and say bonjour. Just with the summer hours, it doesn’t get dark till like 10 p.m. So, the bon gets a little weird sometimes. I know. But have you noticed that? I’ve heard it’s 5:00. 5:00 is a good rule, basically. I mean, sure. But sometimes you’ll get a bonjour at like 7:00 p.m. because it’s summer and it’s light out. That’s right. It’s something very different than than at least my region of the United States. It’s like it doesn’t get dark here to 10 o’clock at night. Yeah. In the summer this time of year. It’s just it’s kind of nice. Yeah. That’s why there’s so many festivals and whatnot going on right now. Oh, there’s one in Arilus tonight. Your friends playing. Oh, is is Alex playing? Yep. Uh we have a friend, Alex. He has a band. Uh Mass Beat. Mass beat. I think it’s a a joke. Uh he has told me there some joke in there that I don’t think I want to go too deep. Do you want me to explain it? Sure. Yeah, let’s go for it. Because the word beat in French means dick. Yeah. Okay. So, like I don’t know if I can say that on the YouTube. Oh, I think you can. Okay. Well, they’re going to So, it’s like there. See? Of course, Alex. Of course. Right. Like I don’t know. Ma Alex is a little famous here in France. He He’s a He’s an artist. His band, they play all over Purpon. Last week he was in Paris. Uh Oh, is that where he was? Oh, yeah. Okay. because I was looking to see if he had a concert in the in the area this time of year. He says uh he does in 60 days he does 50 shows. That makes perfect sense because this is when everything happens. It’s every single night market, festival, fireworks, whatever, whatnot. They got it all going on. He is busy every his band is busy uh every single day uh right now. I I bar I Tonight they’re in Arles. Is that where he’s at? That’s where he’s at. How far is that? Uh like about a 30 minute drive. Nope. I’m not leaving the house. Okay. Yeah, Barcelona sometimes can be a bit of a bear. Uh yeah, you just came back today. Oh my gosh. My phone refused to turn on and so I couldn’t I couldn’t get my train ticket. I I couldn’t You didn’t have a train ticket yet? You knew you were coming back. You didn’t have a train ticket. I had a train ticket that was on the phone. Oh. And so I just gave up at life and it’s about a $250 Uber ride and it’s about a $350 cab ride. just if you ever get caught in that horrible situation. And by the way, it’s going to take you 3 hours to get to Purpon because traffic Yeah. Yeah. They have a they have a border check or something and it backs traffic up if it’s in the middle of it depends. Well, all I know is you have you you all have to slow down and you have to go through like some sort of like structure. Structure and state. Yes. Okay. Interesting. Have you not driven it recently? No, but but it depends. I think it maybe it depends on the time and the situation because right now is all of the um le it’s like all the big summer departures for all of France. Everybody’s like yoohoo is vacation month cuz August is notoriously vacation month. And so anytime around a weekend in August, stay off the roads. Period. The end. There we go. And also uh we will say uh cuz we’re about to transition into talking about this house and my visa is that the notary’s office and I think probably a lot of other offices like from August 1st to the 17th and then also there was another time that was earlier June or July that they just No, there was some basically don’t work. No, it’s the month of May. The month of May has a lot of like weird random holidays on a Thursday or whatever. And the the bank holiday is on a Thursday. So, a lot of places will also close on the Friday depending on the situation. Oh, okay. Um, they do they they they have a lot of days off this time of year. Like a lot of days off. August is the official holiday month. If you’re trying to get anything done in France in the month of August, you just wait. They just basically told me, “We won’t be doing anything to help you buy this house.” No. Till August 18th. That does not surprise me at all. I’m I’m actually surprised they’re only gone for 2 weeks. Well, the notary was really nice. Um they Hugo he got this pl I asked him for the documents for the French consulate. He got them done in one day. Yeah because he was like I better do this before I go on vacation. That’s right. His motivation was I don’t want to be bothered with this guy. He’s going to call me. Oh I would be so annoying too. Yeah. Yeah. Uh if another thing I can tell you we have a little funny rule. Uh you can’t get more than three. Shout out to Sally. Sally S is an Australian friend who came up with this rule. You can’t get more than three things done in France in any given day. And if you do, you better watch yourself because because the next day is [ __ ] Yeah. The next day nothing is happening. I will say as an outsider looking in Thursday for whatever reason, if you ever had a shot at getting more than three things done, it’s on a Thursday. I don’t know why. It’s the day they go, you know what? We’re going to get something done today. I I think I got four things done. Well, because they don’t want their weekend. They can’t be bothered on they’re not working Friday. Well, they haven’t come in all week. A lot of a lot of them will work from from like just Friday morning. A lot of a lot of French people will work only on Friday. Depending on the job, obviously, like restaurants, that’s not possible. But like if you work an office job in France, sometimes yours also the French work week is 35 hours, not 40, not 39. It’s 35 hours is a full-time job. So imagine if you if you’re working from 8 to 5 every day. That’s more than 35 hours. Oh. So you have to take a half a day off sometime. That’s great. No [ __ ] is great. 35 hours a week. A lot of times people will choose an entire half day and be like, I’m not working this half day. And that’s why sometimes on Wednesday afternoons nothing happens and sometimes on Friday afternoons nothing happens cuz whatever person takes care of whatever thing is not there. Yeah. And then uh just just that’s why Thursday is the day on the little cultural thing. Uh they have uh so it’s it’s very specific the times you can eat to like I’m not playing like if you go to a the right cafe like at 11:59 and ask them for lunch they will be like no you come back in 1 minute and they will give you a a menu. They’re a little nicer on the being there early than the being there. The being there late they will definitely send you. So it’s 12 to 2. It’s like the official time for lunch and then it’s 7 to 9. do not show up at 1:45 p.m. Right. Now, the only place I’ve done that is here, and that is because uh the restaurant right downstairs of my house, uh you don’t really tip in France. So, I do. So, when I come at 1:45, they’ll kind of Also, I think she knows you’re not going to be the guy that’s going to sit around and take up the table for two solid hours. You’re going to eat your meal and get out. Go. Yeah. Yeah, I do that. She knows that because culturally like sometimes French people will sit at the table for two or three solid hours. So she knows that you’re not that guy. So she’s like, “Okay, I can make this one extra sale. I’ve got some dishes, so I can quit tipping her.” Well, no, you can still tip her. I’m sure she’s fine with that part. But they don’t they don’t that’s not expected at all. No, it’s really not. It’s honestly as an American, it’s a real relief to that they just pay them a normal salary and and you know I as the customer is not expected to compensate for the owner not paying his employee. Also, another thing I thought about you know the thing we do in the US that’s super weird for everybody else everything. Yes. Because like for example you see a thing in a store and it says it’s 15 or it’s $14.99 in the store. In America you have to add whatever sales tax is there by state by region. Yeah. Everything. So, you never know how much the thing is going to be when you get to the cash register. Here, if the thing says $14.99, you give them €15, they give you a penny back. Oh, it’s great. It’s great. You don’t get the price. You don’t get the tax. You don’t have to tip it. It’s just that is that’s what it cost. You know why? 20% value added tax on everything. Well, sometimes it’s only 10%, but I don’t know why. Sometimes it’s only five. Like there’s some different levels, but basically whatever tax is on the thing, the store or the shop or whatever the restaurant has added it already. I prefer it. I mean, at least you know what you’re going to pay before the cash register. And I really like the I don’t have the tip if I don’t want to. Like the tip is truly if you have done a good nodact, not like like compulsory. Exactly. Which is just kind of become Yeah. My mom came here and she got like a manicure or something and she gave the lady a€5 tip which is and she was like out of her mind thankful and it’s like five bucks. They are so appreciative of anything. Yeah. Because like she never gets a bill. She gets a coin sometimes maybe but never a bill. And my mom was like I only had€5. I’m like trust me it’s fine. And uh the but it was really weird to me that because I had forgotten about that rule about I go back to the US and then tipping is that much more annoying to me. I I can only imagine. Oh, no. The I went back last summer and it was the the they bring you out the like iPad and you click if you want to put 10% 15 20 25 or whatever 50%. And and the the first time it happened to me, I was like I was like I looked at the guy and I thought he was kidding because he he was one of those guys when he talked, you know, you weren’t sure if he was being serious or not. And I was in some like, you know, I was in like little be back soon enough. you were that has only happened like the last five years where it’s become I was in little five points in Atlanta so you know the it’s like the vibe could be kind of weird there you know five points yeah so I was like no little five points little five points oh that’s a whole another episode that’s a whole thing well basically the vibe can be a little strange and so you don’t know if people are being serious with you or not and when the guy came out he showed me his like iPad thing where I had to click stuff and I I was just like what I was I was going to the I was going I was on my way to the register to pay and I had my card and he like intercepted me with his iPad. Mhm. And I was like, “What are we doing here?” Yeah. Oh, yeah. Yeah. If you’re not used to like uh you you you’ll be standing at like a gas station and you’re checking out selfservice with a can of Coke and it’ll be like 15% tip and it’s like to the machine. Yeah. What are we talking about? Tip for who is it going? And you know, I I read a few things and uh you know, and I know a few people that work at like certain restaurants and they say, “Oh, we never see that.” Like we we never get that in the US. Yeah. Oh, right. So, like you you think you’re paying them, you’re not even giving them anything. So, it’s just insane. It’s going to the it’s going to the corporate funding, whatever. But it’s just for all their golden parachutes. We’ll just say we’ll get off the tip thing, but it it is a relief uh to just have people paid a regular salary and and you don’t have to feel financially burdened to like sustain these people’s life. I mean, honestly, it’s one of the best things. Uh let’s let’s let’s wrap up by talking about this place. Okay, that’s that’s your domain kind of kind of how this happened. So, um I decided I you know, I came here in 2007. Brandy had just got here at that point. Yeah, I was only here a year at that point. I was living downtown Perpan, like dead city center. Yeah, she she she heard me speaking English. She’s like, “Oh, look at that idiot. I probably need some help.” And she has like a tremendous amount over the years. But I just came back. Uh I had visited Poland. I I wanted to show, you know, support for our our NATO allies and and I was, you know, basically just going to Poland to just be a big loud American there. And I was like, “Ah, I’m going to come back to Purpleon.” And I was I was ridiculous. A big loud American. Awful. I I didn’t understand that in in Warsaw that they Did you wear socks and sandals? I wore a tuxedo for for for New Year’s. What I didn’t understand is that you were supposed to eat the meal that they brought out over the course of like 5 hours. They didn’t book the hotel for I mean they didn’t book the restaurant for like multiple people to come in and out. So in America like they’re churning people in and out like especially at New Year’s. But there it was like, “No, these are the only tables. You’re the only guests.” So me and my date are just pounding five hours worth of food and I’m just hurting. I’m like, “How’s everybody so skinny? I don’t understand.” And I’m And then then finally guy comes out and he says, “Well, do you want your champagne?” I was like, he said, “Do you want it at midnight?” I was like, “At midnight?” I couldn’t possibly stay to midnight. He goes, “Why not? That’s the whole point of this.” And I was like, “Oh, that was the point of all this. It’s like a seven course dinner that you ate in one hour.” Pounded it in an hour. Yeah. Got a question for you. Did they have like a little weird like cold tiny thing of like ice cream style stuff? Pounded it all. Yeah. Just Okay. Okay. No. The whole point of those Oh, yeah. Okay. This is hilarious. Feeling it. The whole point of it is to take your time and appreciate and you’re just pounding the food like just American it up. I didn’t know. Did you ask for ketchup with anything? Oh, I put on everything. I’m kidding. I’m kidding. So anyway, I came No, I was in Poland and I thought I haven’t seen Perpon in a while. I want to go see Perpin again. So I came back down here and I was just like, you know what? I’m going to buy a house. And we are sitting in the house. So nice. We are sitting We are sitting in the house. We’ll buy a house. Well, okay. So, that’s a really uh a good point. A lot of the places you get here are apartments, not houses. That’s true. So, this was hard to find. is a building where on the ground and for me I I wanted something to on the ground. Um it has a tunnel that goes underneath one side of it and unlike the United What are you about to say? I’m saying that the French people take offense at you calling that a tunnel. Oh, that is not a tunnel. What is that? Uh especi. Yes. But I agree with you. It is. And I told somebody you were calling it the murder tunnel. Yeah. And they were like they were shocked by this. Looks a little murdery. I mean it look that’s why I’m getting it remodeled. But I mean like but to them this is not a tunnel. This is like a normal like shared and that’s what I was getting access in the United States. We have uh and uh I could own a piece of property but then there would be an easement if someone has to get to their house. So I would own it but they would have the right to pass through. That is exactly what’s happening. It’s not like that. Everyone shares ownership of uh if you have to go through something that’s owned by the man that has to is it not all the time? Not all the time because you’ve got the pri it’s like co-ownership. It’s like your place and the other three places or whatever that are attached by the land here. That’s um co-ownership situation. Yeah. Which is why you needed their vote to repaint or whatever down there. Right. Right. Okay. So, we co-own this space, the tunnel, space, this tunnel. We we co every And I really like it. It’s it’s it’s different from a HOA, a homeowners association for this reason. Um, they make decisions, but they’re not binding and everyone has to agree and uh participation is voluntary. So, I kind of like that and it’s been easy. That is true. It’s been easy so far. Here you’ve only got the four of you. For example, I would have done it with any more. my apartment. I didn’t choose it based on those rules. I didn’t really quite understand them when I bought my apartment. I will admit now that if I had to buy a new place, I would avoid that at all costs because we have several different buildings with a common courtyard and everybody in all of those buildings votes on everything that happens. And it is kind of a pain in the ass because we had a like a pine tree or something. the roots were like messing up the garage and everybody had to vote to cut down that pine tree. And of course there were people that were like, “I just don’t want to pay.” And they were like, “But you’re going to pay more later because it’s messing up the garage.” And so every like it’s one of those where you’re like, “Are you stupid?” It’s an HOA. I get it. I mean, that’s what it sounds like. And that’s what I have. And it is not ideal. This one is small. This is just the the tunnel section of this and then that’s it. And then they were pretty easy to deal with. Honestly, I was like, “Hey, I was only four of y’all. I would like to redo this whole thing cuz it looks murdery.” And they were like, “Okay.” Um, and also like they they didn’t have to pay very much out of pocket each of them or whatever. So, that’s why they agreed to it. If they had had to pay all of a sudden 2,000 extra euros out of pocket each of them, they would have been like, “No.” Well, they suggested the the the place and the cost like and the person, everybody. Oh, the the work. They presented me with it and I was like, “I want to fix this.” And they presented me with a worker, okay, and and the cost and everything and said, “What do you want to pay?” And I I wanted to move it along. I was like, “I’ll pay any portion you want or all of it. I just want to get it done.” And then they Yeah, they agreed to that pretty quick. Of course they agreed to that because they’re not out because it is murdery and everyone knows it’s a little murderery. True. But I mean like they were like, “I only have to deal with the murderery for.3 seconds when I pass through.” Yeah. So, well, it’s lovely that that back courtyard back courtyard is lovely, but I mean they were like seeing the co like the cost benefit. Yeah, they were doing the cost benefit analysis like how often do I have to deal with this not worth more than I don’t know €500 to me. How much you going to ask me for? If you had asked them to pay a lot of money, they would have said no. And because there are three of them versus you, that would have been like denied. Yeah. Yeah. So, they they’ve made it pretty easy for me, but you know, but I I you know, you’re making it easy on them. Yeah. I I would really say, you know, try to own a whole building if you can because there’s a lot building or some land or some land, but you know, if you do land as a property tariff myself and, you know, you you’re going to have you don’t have a team to cut your grass. So, I’ I’d say try to stay away from that, especially if you’re just getting here. You don’t have a team yet. You got to get a team. Um, but so I have been working on getting this place for five months now. This is not normal. It shouldn’t take more than two months really. But it is kind of normal because mine I told you that there was like I I think I signed I found the place in April and I think I signed something in the summer and it wasn’t officially in my name until the end of October of the same year. So it’s like it’s notoriously long in France to buy a property because they don’t care how much money you have. They don’t care how much credit at the bank or what. They don’t care about any of that. They want that they have to do their paperwork in the legal right way. It’s all about the chain of paperwork and it’s like a cascading chain of paperwork and if one thing there blocks it all the rest of the [ __ ] waits. Mhm. Like and that’s all there is. You can’t like you can’t make it go faster. You just can’t. You have to wait. So they’ve they’ve worked with us pretty nicely. So uh what happened was is someone’s wife died passed away and um because of that uh the secession law. Yeah. It has to go to make sure the heirs and then after the heirs then it has to be in his name. Yep. And because it’s taken so long, uh the nice gentleman has given me a lease that I don’t have to pay anything for. It’s just a lease until the uh until the paperwork does get done. And yeah, that was really cool. And the way we were able to do that is Brandy says the French care about something called the misery. That’s not exactly what the right words are, but it’s like uh it’s more of a telling your like heartstring pulling story. Like in America, you would avoid telling they would give two forks. Not at all. Like you would avoid this at all costs. You would not tell them your personal story. You would not go into into any detail about how you’re like your struggle. Like nobody cares. And over here it’s like just telling them that like you you keep coming back and forth and you keep having to rent Airbnbs and like I was like this is a pain for him. Uh, it’s very I was like, and then then the one night there was no Airbnbs and he had to sleep at the train station. She said sleep at the train station, but she didn’t tell him I stayed in the hotel. Yeah, she just said sleep at the train station. No, 90% true. It totally worked cuz they they have given they’ve given this and this is the man’s like uh he was renting it out on Airbnb anyway, so it’s not like he lived here. Yeah. So, for him, he was like, “Oh, yeah.” And then it probably um reassures him to have one single person in here because then the squatters don’t take over. Oh god. Notori rights are super weird. Oh my god. If they’re anything like the US it’s worse. It’s wild in the US too. Well here I feel like if they get in and they live here for long enough to to claim anything then you are out. Uh so um he went ahead and uh gave me a lease till uh I till till I till the paperwork gets signed. He does two minutes at a time. I’m sure that’s a reason for that. Probably because like you can’t make uh he’s done a lease that’s like um free like you no cost lease. I was like free like can’t remember the word. So it’s a no cost lease and I think that there might be a maximum time period. I think that’s why we we resigned it. Um, and then of course it’s August uh 4th now and they won’t be doing anything at the notary’s office. They specifically told the 17th to the 17th. No, excuse me. Probably till the 18th. The 17th is their last day of They told me they would get around to it at the end of August. I was like, “Sure you will.” But I’m telling you, at the end of August, the last week of August, things are just going to start exploding everywhere. It just blows up. Like everybody starts calling and emailing you like, “We need this, we need this, we need that.” Like it’ll just explode. We’ve done our due diligence. We’ve gotten the water in my name, the power in my name, the gas in my name. It’s And then, you know, you know, they want you to have uh I have $100,000 of insurance on this place, which they wanted to have. That makes sense. Uh yeah, little things like that. So, you know, just to recap on houses like maybe try to get one that’s not in any sort of joint ownership cuz that seems like kind of be a nightmare. So, try to get a whole Well, depending on how many joint owners, I think you’ve got the best of the of that world. You’ve got the best of the joint ownership world with only four total owners. And let me just finish this off by like talking about the most current visa process if you want to come here. So u you know if you want to come to the France and you want to stay for like more than 6 months. Uh I think it’s like every year and a half you can only stay 6 months. Could be every year but I think it’s a year and a half you can stay 6 months. If you want to extend that you go to your local French consulate in the United States or whatever wherever you’re from. You cannot do it here. you must you must do it in your country and then they’re going to want medical insurance that’s that specifically states that you you can be that you’re covered in that country. Oh, but you’re not going to use the French medical system. You have to have medical insurance. They require medical insurance. They require about $1,200 for a year. So each month you should be able to show bank account $1,200 times 12. Wait, per month or 12? They want to show the whole amount at once. Okay. Oh, okay. Okay. Okay. But 1,200 per month for an entire year. Yeah. So, like 13,000 $14,000 they want that you need to have like Okay. 134,000. I mean, nothing’s set in stone, but this is what you know, I’ve been told through at the consulate’s office like here’s how you get these things approved. So, you’re going to have to have your medical insurance. It specifically says that you are covered in France. uh you need to have about 13 or 14,000 or you need to show where money is c well they said both they want to see money coming into your account without you working off of the French economy they want to see evidence of that because you’re on a longstate tourist visa work visa yeah they’re going to want to see three months and that’s a good distinction they’re going to want to see three months of statements and in your bank account and then one statement that shows that they see they have the medical. Oh, and then you’re going to have to show where you have a place to stay for a year. So, like a year lease. So, that’s where I had to go back to the notary’s office and like I need you to write me a letter to explain, well, I only have a two-month lease and that we are in the process of buying this house because you can either have the deed to a house or you can have a year lease, but you must have like a year that you can stay at a place. Man, the times have changed is all I got to say. Oh, yeah. Why is that? Because I swear I showed up at the train station. I had my two big suitcases. I had no idea where I was sleeping. But then again, I had a temporary work visa that had gotten approved in the in the United States because I had a work contract. I was coming for a temporary work contract. But after my work contract was over, I just renewed it here. I stayed here or maybe I went back and visited the US and then I came back here because I knew that I was getting my second year uh because it was only like a seven or eight month contract. So that’s not 12 months and the other months I was just here and well nobody really bothered me and nobody required any kind of bank account statements or proof of anything or how are you going to eat or like oh they didn’t give a oh they didn’t give they didn’t give a they didn’t give a hoot and then the fact that they’re this is for the longstay visa you yeah that’s what I was going to say it’s a longstay tourist visa so that’s totally different and plus I think I showed up right before they changed a bunch of rules like literally I think that right after I moved here, they like tightened up because I remember trying to get a bank account and the only obstacle to me getting a bank account was the the like uh the lady at the like front desk was a little bit pissy. Well, I did I was able to get a bank account, but after being told no, a bunch of times and then and I’ve heard other friends just told you can’t get a savings account, you can’t get to that. And I was able to get everything. So really, this is another thing about the French people. One person might give you an answer and then you go back and a different person gives you a completely different answer. That is true. Well, I I think we I think we covered a lot about Purpon today. Uh, you know, I’ve been here for a while. I like Purpon. Bry’s been here for longer. I’ve been here Well, I’ve not lived in Perpon the whole time. I’ve moved around to some of the villages around in the region. The region is fascinating. Like really, I think it’s the best place in the world. But, and I say that because like where I live in Dest, Florida, um, yeah, the beaches are beautiful, but as soon as you get off the beach, it’s a Taco Bell. And here, when you get off the beach, this might be a thousand-y old building or, you know, and it’s just got history that I really like. And and for me, that that’s probably why I like this place. I mean, it’s the truth. It’s 100%. I know. I’m just thinking of Panama City Beach the whole time you’re talking. I’m just let you What’s that e What’s that X letter? Yeah. Well, anyway, uh the last thing I’ll leave you with is uh when you cheer someone, you must look them dead in the eye. And cheers. Okay. Well, we should have done this at the beginning, I guess. Cheers. Don’t look all crazy like Kevin be looking, though. Okay. All right. Thanks for watching, everybody.