Aix URLs

Historical weather data
http://www.myforecast.com/bin/climate.m?city=62177&metric=true

Local newspaper
www.laprovence.com

Local schedules

Trash pickup in Aix: 7 days/week
Mail delivery in Aix: 6 days/ week, not Sunday
Typical lunchtime closing hours, small shop: 1:00 - 3:00
Shops typically closed: Sunday, Monday
Hosing-down of small street in center Aix in summer: 7 days/week
Recycling pickup in center Aix: 0 days per week
I step in dog crotte: once a month
Claire steps in dog crotte: never

How much does stuff cost in Aix?

ALL PRICES in EUROS (say, $1.50 per euro)
A kilogram is 2.2 pounds.
Prices of course vary according to the usual dimensions, but this is what we pay generally.

Baguette 0.75 euros
Restaurant (larger bread) 0.90
Croissant 0.75
Pain-au-chocolat 0.80
Cheap 6-pack beer local corner store 3.50
La Provence, local newspaper 0.90
Le Monde 1.10
Cooked roasted chicken 7.60/kg (more expensive than in Paris, where we regularly got whole roasted chickens for 5 euros)
Inexpensive but drinkable bottle wine 4.00
Hotel room in Aix, 2 star 80.00 euros/night/room
Pint of draft guinness at local pub with British flavor 8.00 (probably high)
Stand-up cup of espresso at the bar 1.25 - 1.50
TGV to Paris, 2nd class (round trip) [varies: range to be supplied ]
TGV to Paris, 1st class (round trip) [varies: range to be supplied ]
Bus ride to Marseille (25 min, one way) 3.80
Used paperback book of classic French literature 3.50
New bilingual paperback Alice's Adventure's in Wonderland 6.70
Michelin topographic map for bicycling 9.90
Pizza take out cheese 6.80
Pizza take out with toppings 8.00
Prepared lunch sandwich small shop 3.50
Pint of Ben and Jerry's ice cream 6.00
Small cup of gelato 4.00
Men's inexpensive shampoo, haircut 18.00 plus tip
Taxi 15 min to Aix TGV station 30.00 plus tip
Inexpensive 3-course café lunch 11.00 plus drinks
Small bottle Coke at café 3.00
Small plastic electric fan 30.00
Ticket Renoir movie theater, Cours Mirabeau 8.10
Postage to US, letter 0.85
Tiny bottle of nail polish 4.00 - 8.00
Deoderant 4.50

Shutting up the noisy neighbors Priceless

[more prices coming]

Snow!

The front-page news in the local paper is that we had snow flurries here in Aix. This is a once every five-to-ten year event, we're told. No accumulation on the streets, but some dusting on the tile roofs. But there were genuine, and for several minutes large-flake, flurries for almost an hour. The pre-teen girl across the street and her friend stepped out to take photos. Letters to the editor the following day: "What? Has the weather gone completely crazy?". Historical records bear this view out somewhat. See http://www.myforecast.com/bin/climate.m?city=62177&metric=true for historical weather data for Aix.

The mistral has been blowing for several weeks now it seems. But the main path of this classic wind is west of us, in the Rhone Valley particularly, I understand, closer to say, Avignon. Wind speed is frequently in the 60-70 kph range there. The mistral and some cold air from the northeast were apparently responsible for the dusting.

It has also been surprisingly cold, around 32 degrees F. This is about as cold as it gets during the entire winter, historically, and here it's only mid-November. I hope this is not a harbinger of a cold winter. It was actually colder here than in Ithaca one day this week.

Recycling

We do not have recycling pickup here in the center of Aix. Our gardien, kind of like the super, tells me that it's due to a "technical problem" in Aix. I can only imagine what that means in the French manner of expression.

What we do --- and it's optional for residents of center-city --- is to take a 5-10 minute walk with our recyclables to three large plastic bins out on the street. Glass in one bin. Cans, plastic bottles, and cardboard-like food containers in another. Very limited paper types in a third. Very limited recycling of plastics. The wine bottles make a pleasing crash when you slip them into the bin port-hole. But the bins are frequently full and then you have to try to cram your stuff in, like others have already done. I would have expected a little better here in Europe all around, where environmental concerns are more top of mind for the average citizen. Or at least it seems that way.