If you're ever in Hendaye, a pleasant ocean side town if there ever
was one, just across from Hondariba, here are two good addresses to
visit.

Good things to eat abound at the Charcuterie Perrin, 10  rue des Pins
(about three blocks from the beach). Plenty of local products, like
sausages and pâtés, but also cooked dishes like stuffed fish filets,
delicious meat balls in an original sauce, curried or roast chicken,
and most important smiles from the nice folks that run it.

Now to the serious quest for local wines. Le Caviste du Marché, 20 bis
Avenue des Mimosas, has just opened his doors. Stop by and talk to
this fellow, he knows the local producers, many of whose wines you
can't find outside the area. This summer, a regional chocolate
specialty house will be opening right next door. Something for
everyone.

Hendaye has another unique quality: without exception, the taxi
drivers are true ambassadors of the region. The first one took out his
iPhone and proudly showed off beautiful sunset photos on the beach and
shots around town. Each time we got in a taxi, the driver was helpful
and pleasant, offering up any information you'd need in a way a friend
of a friend might do.

As much as I'm anxious to get home, I will always retain this feeling
of welcome from the various folks at Hendaye.

:r

(download)

Click here to download:

Meet_the_Locals_Hendaye_Pays_B.zip (121 KB)

In the early 1980's, I applied for a "permanent" residence visa in France. I recall the visit to the police station, the cop asking me questions and hammering away with two fingers on a typewriter. Up until that time I had never voted in any election, so I wasn't exactly a "political activist".

I remember the periodic visits to renew my work permit in various locations and what the crowded halls of those places were like. The quiet desperation (of which I was fortunately not saddled with). The faces, the accents, and the civil servants doing what must be a horrible job, eventually giving in to their own frustration. I also recall radical changes to immigration law that would definitely affect me.

At one time, I wrote tot he US embassy to find out about dual nationality. I recevied back a letter - this was pre-Internet. That letter had a lot of admonishing statements in it, the main thrust being "While it may seem convenient when living permanently outside the United States to do so, you may lose your American citizenship for several reasons if you ask for citizenship in a foreign country". There was no definitive answer, just several cases, many of which seemed to be innocent people who suddenly were told they were no longer citizens of the US. This letter gave me pause for several years. I don't but what we were told as kids, "greatest GD country in the world!" because there is no greatest country. There may be a mightiest country, but it was brought to its knees more than once, and unless you see Viet Nam as a victory, its might wasn't enough to vanquish. SOmetimes, often in fact, we go kill tons of people for the wrong reasons.

I finally asked for, and one year later was given French citizenship after residing here for a couple of decades. It is a matter of convenience, of not having to renew documents or deal with changes to immigration laws.

My (then) girlfriend's girlfriends. One was responsible for us breaking up and the other was a tall, blonde test of my fidelity, but the amusing anecdote I'm about to recall happend with the second one, not the first. She was in Paris, studying French at the Alliance Francaise. I'd never met her, didn't know what she looked like (other than tall, blonde) so when she called me I asked her where she was to go meet up, as planned by my GF. She said, "I am at a café in the Place deTrocadéro".

As you can see, there are something like 7 cafés on the Place de Trocadéro. So I asked her, "What is the name of the café?"

Her answer, "It's the Repas à toute heure."

Which means, "Food served at all hours".

D'oh