My Trip to But

Bezier, France

January 31, 2024

Dear Family and Friends,

I’ve been in Beziers, France since January 10, 2024.  The month has flown by in some ways and crawled past by other standards. I am finally in a place to take a few moments to write a little bit about the journey I am beginning. I have decided that I will attempt to share the journey in brief stories that highlight the joys and challenges of what it’s like to be me in a foreign country, learning a new language and generally trying to figure out this new chapter in my life.

Note: I am my own proofreader and I am sure there are typos. I am also aware I could use a good editor, please excuse me and enjoy it if you can.

Before I begin with the story I’ve chosen to share today, I’ll give you a brief synopsis of getting here.  It has been a whirlwind since my friends proposed that I come live in Beziers to help them settle into a new home and take the opportunity to experience living in Europe. The original idea was a place in Ireland. For several reasons that did not pan out and we found ourselves focused on the South of France.

When it was clear that we were doing this and it wasn’t just talking about doing this anymore, my first concerns were figuring out how to bring my two cats, Manny and Mo, along for the journey and of course making decisions about what to do with my stuff. I’ve collected a lot of stuff over the years, and I quickly realized I did not want to pay for storing it nor did I want to pay to move it overseas. Both seemed like a waste of money and I’m doing this on a limited budget.

It’s stuff, very little of it has any value and very little of it truly brings me joy. Eventually, after doing some research and getting some quotes from shippers, I decided that I would bring one hundred cubic feet of my belongings and find a home or several homes for everything else. I then quickly ruled out bringing any furniture and eventually decided that what I get the most joy out of is my kitchen stuff.  I’m kind of a foodie and I enjoy baking and cooking, and I’ll be honest I’ve always had a fondness for Julia Childs, so it felt right to lean into my joy of cooking while being in a place where she was inspired. In the end, I shipped my one hundred cubic feet of mostly kitchen stuff. I it is still somewhere in a port in New York, and we will figure that all out and discuss on another day I’m quite certain.

Thanks to my sister Patti who helped carry a cat on the plane, I am happy to report that Manny, Mo and I made it to the airport in Montpellier, France. There we were scooped up by my friends Jan and Lisa and spent the next week doing a lot of exploring my new home of Bezier and the surrounding area. One fabulous day trip that included a visit to the beach, a visit to the ruins of a temple to Venus, and visits to several wineries was definitely a highlight of first my week in France.

Jan left us to return to Germany for a new job and Patti left us a few days later to return to the United States. Lisa and I were then free to dive into the exciting task of renovating the apartment that Jan and Lisa had purchased.  But wait, we don’t speak French, the apartment has no heat or hot water, no kitchen, we do not have a mailbox, we need local phones so the contractors will return calls, and we are now living in what feels like a very small town. Fortunately, we’re staying in a temporary rental apartment until late February, so we do have heat, and beds, and hot water and a small kitchen with a few pots, pans and kitchenware. It’s been a refuge and welcome place to rest and relax after long days of figuring shit out.

Mostly by choice, we do not have a car. That will play into today’s story, but first, as a testament to the smallness of Bezier please allow a short diversion. We decided that for some of our appointments and appointed rounds we needed to use a ride sharing app.  You know, Uber, that app that so many of us know and love. In one week, we took four rides. All four rides were on different days, at different times, and in different parts of town. We had the same driver for all four rides. We know him by name, he knows us by name. We have seen him a few times since. I don’t think in all my years in Chicago, and the many ride shares that I used, I am not sure that I EVER had a driver for more than one ride.

Having quickly figured out that I much prefer spending my limited resources on good, cheap wine and as I mentioned, I’m doing this on a budget, I cut back on using Uber. I decided it was time to figure out the bus system.

Seeing as I have lived in a major city and having used buses and trains for commuting to work for decades it wasn’t too difficult to figure out. There is an app that is handy for purchasing reasonably priced tickets on the go. If you know where you want to go, the app also suggests routes. Our apartment is in the center of the city and located at the central hub of the bus routes. Like the other cities in which I have lived and worked, the bus is labeled by the route and ultimate destination, so that you know which direction the bus is headed.

The first hurdle was – of course the app is in French. I needed to set up an account and link a payment method and it didn’t really like my American phone number. It was time to get a French phone.  Lisa and I decided to do that together. The phones were important for setting up a lot of things including home internet service, tv service and a French bank account. So, we spent about 2 and a half hours using translation apps and our limited French, and a whole lot of gesturing to establish our French phones.

With my French phone in hand and my American phone in the other hand, I was able to download the app for the bus system and connect a payment option. I was ready to try my first bus trip. 

On one of our ride share trips, Lisa and I visited a store where we ordered our beds. While we were shopping, we happened upon a salesperson who spoke English fairly well, certainly better than either of us currently speaks French. He was a huge help and he graciously made sure that we knew his schedule in case we needed help again. And yes, I’m sure he works on a commission, and he knows he’s found a couple of loyal customers. He’s a good salesperson.

The store is called But. It is pronounced “boot,” however being rather childish myself I enjoy pronouncing it “butt.” Choose your own pronunciation henceforth. I won’t judge you.

On a cloudy and cool Sunday afternoon we decided that we would do some online shopping for some furniture items that we needed from But.  Nothing is open on Sunday. Well hardly anything is open on Sunday. It was a productive way to spend the afternoon and I would go by bus to the store to make the purchases on a day when we knew our newfound English-speaking salesperson was working. I know some of you are probably wondering, was he cute? Yes, but honestly, it’s about the English-speaking part. Voila, I had a mission.

The day comes. I have my shopping list on my phone. I have the route on my phone. I have purchased tickets on my phone. I know where the bus terminal is. I’m ready to do this and I’m relatively certain I can do it without making a foul of myself. Lisa has appointments at the apartment and I’m striking out on my own. Now the next hurdle is finding the right stop in the bus terminal which is basically in front of the building in which we are about to live. It took me a several minutes, but I figured out which stop I needed to be at. Of course, I figured that out as I was across the street and to far away to catch the bus that I needed as it left the terminal.  No problem I checked the app and another bus is due in 15 minutes. So I made my way across the street and found a place to stand that made it easy for me to watch as people got on the bus. I wanted to see how these tickets worked. I knew that there was something to do with scanning a QR code to validate the ticket but I wasn’t sure how all that worked out and I hate being that person that doesn’t speak the language and slows everything down and holds up the line while fumbling about and getting it all wrong.

I opened the app and I clicked on validate my ticket. The app accesses my camera and tells me to scan the QR coded on the bus or at the bus stop. No QR code anywhere near me at the bus stop and I don’t see anyone scanning anything, so I wait and I watch. A bus for another line comes. I’m watching people get on. Most of the people have some sort of bus pass that they scan as they enter the bus. I see someone use their phone to scan the QR code near the bus door and suddenly I feel my phone vibrate. While I was standing there with my phone in my hand intently watching what people were doing as they got on the bus, I still had the app open and on validate my ticket. Unintentionally I scanned the QR code. Now I see that the tickets is good for the next hour and a little clock ticking down. A brief moment of panic followed, but then I thought “no big deal, the bus is coming in less than 15 minutes.

I missed what happened next with the person who had scanned the QR code and gotten on the bus but I figured I couldn’t be too far from having this figured out. I waited another 10 minutes and the app said the bus was 2 minutes away.

I felt my phone vibrate again.  It’s a text from Lisa and she needs me to bring her cash for one of her appointments. I quickly text, “Can you come down and get it. My bus is 2 minutes away and I’m across the street from you.” Crickets.

The ticket tells me I have 45 minutes to use it. I can see the bus I’ve been trying to catch for the past half hour coming. Lisa needs cash. Oh well, I guess I’ll just have to hope that the bus comes every fifteen minutes. So, I give up on my bus, bring cash to Lisa and check the app. The next bus is in 20 minutes. I’m still within my one-hour validation period. I go back to the stop and watch some more. I still don’t see anyone using their phones so I’m not exactly sure how it’s going to work but I’m thinking it is probably that thing that other people are using to scan their passes.

After about 15 minutes a teacher and about 25 students from the local grade school show up at the stop. Now I’m fairly certain that the Universe is playing with me. When the bus shows up, I quickly get in line and get on the bus. I say “bonjour” to the bus driver and put my phone near the scanning device that other passengers have been scanning their passes with. The driver smiles and says something that was incomprehensible to me, but I could tell from his gesture that he needed me to show him the image on my screen. (Ah! So that’s why I had to take a selfie and upload it to the app. My picture and the ticket that’s good for another 25 minutes were on the screen.) Okay, I didn’t get it right the first time, but it wasn’t too bad and I hadn’t held up the line so no one got hurt and no one got testy. I proceeded to the back of the bus and took a seat and watched as 20 some school children proceeded to get on the bus.

This was then that my luck turned. I watched as the children seemed to scurry into every open space on the bus and then the schoolteacher had a brief conversation with the driver before she turned called out to the children and they all got off the bus. Don’t judge me, I wasn’t the only one with a look of relief on my face.

Th bus proceeded and I watched and learned as people did the thing that they do on buses around the world, when their stop is approaching they hit the button or pull the cord that alerts the driver that the next stop is requested. The French, unlike Americans, all proceed to the rear exit to get off the bus.  Americans, or at least in the cities where I’ve taken the bus, ignore the signs that say exit in the rear and get off the bus at whichever door they find more convenient. This of course causes the people getting on the bus to have to wait as people exit. The French way is more efficient for sure.

I saw my stop and pushed the button, I exited the bus and in front of me was But.

The shopping went well, I found my friendly English-speaking guy, he helps me find everything I need. I fumble through the payment process without too much embarrassment at my horrible French and I exit the store and there is only one last challenge. Getting home.

So this part wasn’t too difficult but I did need to find the stop and it wasn’t clear from the app which direction the stop would be. I knew it would be on the opposite side of the street and there was a 50/50 chance I would walk in the right direction.

I didn’t. I walked about 100 yards and my bus went whizzing by me. I stopped and watched to see where the bus stop might be, but it went around a bend and I couldn’t see it stop. I turned around and went in the other direction. No harm, no foul, I found the stop not far from where I had started off in the wrong direction. It was probably a 10 minute wait and I was back on the bus, headed in the right direction, and I felt an enormous sense of satisfaction. Probably an inordinate amount of satisfaction consider that all I had done was take a bus to the store to purchase a few things that we needed, but I was pleased that I hadn’t made too big of a fool of myself.

Success! I took the bus to But.