We arrived, after a wonderfully early start we arrived in Paris about 11 on the dot. Parking was a different matter, but I jumped out to go and meet the landlord (le propriétaire) and finally got the see the studio in real life!
The poor guys, they had to carry all the bags up the stairs to the first floor (thanks!) whilst I went through the inventory (l’inventaire). Afterwards, me, Steve and Nick went on a mission to try to get a French bank account. What a mission! Crédit Agricole didn’t want me because I had no French bills in my name – but I am paying the electricity at the end of the 6 months and it’s not in my name... hmmm. So the guy directed me to the post office, which is notoriously bad but will accept just about anyone, but there was a wait and we were all hungry so I decided I’d do it later.
Meanwhile mum had been left at the studio to clean and put stuff away, kept her nice and happy ;-) and she wasn’t very impressed with the state of the apartment so after lunch at Charlie Birdy’s she went to complain and the landlord sent two girls round to do some cleaning.
Later we met Souhila (cousin) and got some icecream and tried to sort a phone, but she recommended that I got one with SFR for the signal and she has a friend who works in one, so we left that till later on in the week.
Once mum and Steve had left everything felt a bit more real, but they’ll be back in a month or so when I’m settled and I’ve got lots to keep me busy! And thankfully, mum packed 800g of Cathedral City, Weetabix, tea and other necessities to make everything a bit easier for the first week or so. Still, with my bedding it looks like home near enough.
Saturday 2nd July– Phones, train passes and food shops
Souhila helped me get my phone from SFR and also helped with the Navigo – which is the pass you can get to get around Paris (I’ll do an entry on how you get both later). Saturday began as a tourist day with the Centre Pompidou (best part is the building in my opinion).
Then after that we went phone and Navigo shopping, a did a food shop including Carambar, Petit Ecoliers, Boursin and Perle du lait – noms!
Then after that we went phone and Navigo shopping, a did a food shop including Carambar, Petit Ecoliers, Boursin and Perle du lait – noms!
Sunday 3rd July– Paris is closed
Like England, France shuts down quite a bit on a Sunday. We thought we’d go to the Eiffel Tower nice and early but SOMEONE couldn’t get out of bed! So we ended up wandering over to Hotel des Invalides
and wandering into some Charles de Gaulle exhibition (how geeky), where they had this awesome CSI like screen that you control by pointing at it! Hehe!
and wandering into some Charles de Gaulle exhibition (how geeky), where they had this awesome CSI like screen that you control by pointing at it! Hehe!
Later on we met Bex for some dinner, in a restaurant near hers as her parents had left in the afternoon. There were quite a few Americans who by the sounds of it thought that American was the main language in France... Guess I’ll have to get used to that, if they every ask me for directions I’ll reply in French! Mwahaha!
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