Today has been one big scavenger hunt. The big hunt of the day: finding wi-fi. I had about 20 minutes of free wi-fi where I wrote this really long, detailed blog post about my flight and adventures in, and due to the pathetic internet, it completely deleted.
So, I'll sum things up, make it short and sweet, and add on a little more to what I said originally.
I left Philadelphia at around 6:30pm Sunday evening. After a 7 hour flight, where I attempted to sleep (didn't work) and sat next to a smelly but polite Rastafarian man, I arrived in Paris at around 8am (time here). After making my way out of the airport, I looked for the RER lines (Paris’s version of the regional rail). Upon finding them, I discovered that you had to pay either credit or coins. Well, my debit cards weren’t reading, and I only had euro bills, so after a few jumps between some food places, about 45 minutes later I finally had my train ticket. (First food purchase: a croissant ofc!)
On the train and on my way, it was a pretty painless ride other than the fact I looked like an American with my northface backpack, Gap shorts, and two huge suitcases. But whatever I wasn’t mugged and after almost getting caught in the metro ticket door opener in the next station, I pretty much switched trains smoothly.
Then the fiasco began: I got to my train station in the business district and had no idea where to go from there. None. I definitely did not realize it was a HUGE station with about three adjoining malls. After the information desk led me basically to one of the shadiest parts ofcthe station, I managed to find some taxi drivers who actually knew what they were talking about, and I was on my way.
And boy, it is gorgeous here. I was a little apprehensive about living in the business district. But these buildings are tall, sleek, clean, and they all look so great together. There are outdoor escalators to get people around (I don’t know how the French stay thin), and my campus is smack in the middle of all of it. Behind the buildings, are student apartments that all have a classic Parisian apartment look to them. Pictures below!
After settling into my apartment, it became time for a nice nap, and then it was off to get things done. I discovered an AWESOME convenience store called Monoprix: think H&M meets Target meets a grocery store. This place has everything so I got all my apartment stuff there, and have been there already 3 times today.
In the mall, I discovered a wifi hotspot for the first time (finally!) after having no connection to the outside world for about 14 hours. After wandering around a bit more, and going wi-fi hotspot hopping (including a Starbucks), I had a nice glass of white wine at a little bistro nearby and then walked around the apartment area a bit, which has lots of little parks for Parisian children (it’s the cutest thing, French speaking children) and then back to the apartment for the night, where I FINALLY got my internet to work, but partially involves holding my Ethernet cable in the wall.
Now its time to settle into my room and maybe attempt to unpack, and then passing out for another busy day tomorrow. Whew that was a long post! I promise, they won’t all be this long (this is probably my last long one).
Bon Soir!
Feldy
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