My first two weeks in France

Day 1: Monday, September 26, 2011

Third time’s a charm! After trying three different days I finally made it to Paris! I have so much luggage. At the airport in Pittsburgh I met a nice older couple that was going to visit friends in France. It turns out that they are actually just north of La Rochelle where I will be living.
On the plane I watched Bridesmaids and had dinner. I tried to sleep some but coach is miserable on international flights. I maybe got two or three hours’ sleep. We had breakfast before landing but it wasn’t excellent.
When we finally landed in Paris there wasn’t a gate for us to park at so we parked someplace way out of the way. We were met with buses to take us to the terminal but there were only two because the bus drivers were on strike! Ca c’est la France! It was a good thing that we got to customs when we did because after us the line was out the door.
I remembered customs being a more difficult the last time I was here but it was very simple. I chatted with my friends from Pittsburgh as we waited in the customs line. Then we all went to get our bags. They had a train to catch that took them directly to La Rochelle. We walked to the train station together then said goodbye. I wish I remembered their names now.
I took the RER B train from the airport to central Paris. It is the simplest and most direct route but it’s challenging with 100+ pounds of luggage. But once I was on the train I didn’t have to worry about switching. I got off at St. Michel-Notre Dame but came out of the train station on the wrong side of the street and right in front of Notre Dame. I dragged my bags across the street and got a cab to take me to my hotel. I was convinced that I could walk there with all my bags but I was so exhausted that I gave in. Once I told the cab driver where I was going he seemed hesitant to take me because I was so close. It turns out that I could have walked two blocks and I would have been there. Oh well! The cab ride was worth it.
I finally got to the hotel where Melissa, Meghan and Kristina had been waiting for me since last Saturday. I had to make three trips from the lobby to get all my bags up the old and winding staircase. Thankfully, our room was on the first floor. When I got there they were still in bed!
After they all got ready we decided that today would be our day to run errands. First, we went to the Gare Montparnasse to buy our train tickets and carte 12-25 (this is a discount card for people ages 12-25. It allows you 50% off the regular train fare for a one-time fee of 49E.) On our way to the train station we walked through Les Jardins du Luxembourg. They were really nice and this was something that none of us had ever done before in Paris. Then we all went to buy cell phones. We decided to get prepaid ones because that’s what we had last time we were in France. We each got a different phone at Phone House.
We are all English teaching assistants but we are all placed in different parts of France. I’m in La Rochelle, three hours southwest of Paris on the Atlantic Coast. Melissa is in Istres, about 45 minutes west of Marseille in the south of France on the Mediterranean. Meghan is in a small town outside of Dijon east of Paris. Kristina is also in a small town outside of Strasbourg also east of Paris and close to the German border.
Once we had our train tickets, carte 12-25 and new cell phones we decided to head back to the hotel to drop everything off. On our walk back we came across St. Sulpice. It has one of the largest organs in Europe.
Finally back at the hotel, it turned out that this would be when I crashed. I had been doing so well all day but once we were back in our room, I gave in and took a power nap. I have been awake for almost 36 hours besides the little sleep I had on the plane.
After my nap we went to dinner. On the way back we stopped at a student bar for a drink but I was so tired at this point that I just wanted to go back to the hotel and sleep for what would be 12 hours.


Day 2: Tuesday, September 27, 2011

Today we decided that we were going to do some touristy stuff in Paris. After showering and having breakfast at the hotel (coffee and bread) we walked to the Catacombs. When we got there the line was around the block! It turned out that we would wait an hour and a half. But once inside it was well worth it. The Catacombs are an underground burial ground in Paris. At the beginning of the 1800s Paris cemeteries were at capacity and there was more demand for burial space after a widespread flu killed more people. So the mayor of Paris decided to empty Paris’s cemeteries and move the remains to an old quarry in the south part of the city. They would be nearly organized and arranged and new markers would be installed to tell visitors which cemeteries the remains had come from. Then the entire place was covered over and now has an eerie cave-like feel. There are so many remains down there it is incredible.
After the Catacombs we were going to go to the Montparnasse Cemetery but we forgot because we were hungry. We decided to take the train to the Eiffel Tower and get lunch somewhere around there. But once we got off the train Meghan was so starving that she headed straight for the Eiffel Tower and got lunch at one of the touristiest places. There are good deals to be found if you can hold off hunger just a little bit longer.
We all got lunch and ate on the Champs de Mars, the huge park in the Eiffel Tower’s shadow. We sat in the grass and relaxed for about an hour before heading to Place de Torcadaro across the Seine from the Eiffel Tower. We took pictures and then walked to the Arc de Triomphe. We sat for a while and just watched the cars entering and exiting the roundabout. It is Paris’s busiest with eight streets converging at one point.
Then we got on the train and headed back in the direction of the hotel. We went back and showered and changed then went to dinner. Tuesdays are student nights at bars in Paris and we decided to try a few suggested in my guidebook. When we went to the first one we were the only ones there! We decided to stay for one drink then try another place. Apparently either the book was wrong about the bars or we were too early in the night.


Day 3: Wednesday, September 28, 2011

Today we headed out to walk around in the Marais district. We took the metro to Place de la Bastille where Parisians stormed the prison at the start of the French Revolution. Melissa found a vintage store in one of my guidebooks so we decided to check it out. It was cool but everything there was so expensive. They had a ton of Burberry trench coats but as I brought my Christian Dior one I didn’t think I needed to splurge on another. After looking around the store for a while, no one bought anything and we headed for Place des Voges. I always love going to Place des Voges. It’s a square and all the buildings are exactly alike and everything is symmetrical right down to the size of the windows and the pitch of the roofs. We sat in the grass and watched all the little French kids play in the park.
We decided that we wanted to take a boat tour of Paris at night so we went back to the Eiffel Tower where most of the boats leave from. We ate dinner at a nice café on Rue Cler then headed back to the Champs de Mars to sit in the grass under the Eiffel Tower at sunset and wait for our boat. People sell all kinds of things to tourists under the Eiffel Tower and we decided to buy a bottle of Champagne. A guy approached us and asked if we wanted to buy it. We asked how much and he said 20E! We told him he was crazy and to forget it. But he was persistent and so was I. we finally got the bottle for 5E!
And so we drank our Champagne under the Eiffel Tower and waited for our boat. It was at 9pm so we had about an hour to kill. We were the first people in line to board the boat because we wanted seats in the front where it was open.
The boat tour was excellent! I would definitely recommend this to anyone visiting Paris but be sure to go at night when all the buildings are illuminated.


Day 4: Thursday, September 29, 2011

Today everyone is leaving Paris to go to their new towns. I’m staying until Saturday. We got up and had breakfast at the hotel and paid our bills. It turned out to be cheaper than we had originally expected because I let them know that I would not be there for two nights and despite the fact that we still had a room for four people they only charged us for two the first night and three the second.
We all packed and Kristina was the first to leave. She took a cab to Gare de l’Est. Meghan and Melissa helped me take my bags to my new hotel just down the street. It is very simple but I will only be here two nights so it is fine. It is the Hotel Stella and Ernest Hemingway once stayed here. But there is no wifi or breakfast nor are there bath towels.
After I dropped all my stuff in my room the three of us went to lunch nearby at Place St. Michel. Then we walked back to the hotel and they got a cab for Gare de Lyon. I was finally on my own in Paris.
I decided to go to St. Chapelle church where they claim to have some remains of Christ. But the line was way too long. I almost went to the nearby Conciergerie – where famous people like Marie Antoinette stayed until being executed – but it didn’t interest me presently.
Finally I decided to go to the Musée Carnavalet, the Paris history museum. I had wanted to go the last time I was in Paris but it was closed. It turned out to be free and I wandered through time and its excellent collection.
Tyler Walton, a guy who is also teaching English in La Rochelle, texted me to meet up for dinner. I was to meet up with his friend who would then bring me to him – very strange way of doing introductions. And so I met his friend Aaron, who had also been an assistant and is now living in Paris, and we walked to meet Tyler at the Eiffel Tower where he was also meeting another friend. The three of them went to Baylor University in Waco, Texas. We decided to get gyros from the Latin Quarter and eat at Notre Dame.
After we ate I went back to my hotel and read more of my book. It is a women’s diary and explains her involvement in the French Resistance during World War II. It turns out that others in her group lived on the same street where I was now staying. When I asked the owner of the hotel if she knew this woman’s story she said no but that her parents had hidden Jewish children in the basement of the hotel during the war.


Day 5: Friday, September 30, 2011

Today I started by going to the Musée d’Orsay. It’s another art museum in Paris but is often overlooked for the much busier Louvre. The building used to be a train station but now houses some excellent pieces of art. It was massive; I did my best to see almost everything in the time that I had allotted myself.
After the museum I had lunch in the Tuileries gardens across the Seine. I had a sandwich and relaxed in the sun. The weather this week has been excellent! Although it has been hot some days – 85 at the end of September in Paris – it could have been much worse.
At the Musée d’Orsay I decided to buy two museum tickets for the price of one. It was 13E to visit the Musée d’Orsay and the Orangerie where Monet’s paintings are exhibited. The Orangerie was excellent was well! The colors in Monet’s paintings are awesome.
After going to two art museums I decided that that was enough for me for one day. I like art but museums can be tiring. I walked back to my hotel to grab my book and then went to the Jardins du Luxembourg to read more.
For dinner, I met Tyler and Aaron again and we bought food at a grocery store and ate on the Pont des Arts. I walked back to my hotel and read more before going to bed.


Day 6: Saturday, October 1, 2011

Today I’m going to La Rochelle! I checked out of my hotel and left my bags in the lobby. I have about two hours of so before I need to be at the train station. I had breakfast at a café just opposite the Jardins du Luxembourg. There wasn’t much I could do in that time before leaving so after I ate I went to the park to read some more.
When it was time for me to head back to the hotel, I first stopped at the hotel where my parents and brother and I will be staying for Christmas. It seems very nice and well kept up.
Back at the Hotel Stella I got my bags and asked them to call a taxi for me. It came and took me to Gare Montparnasse for my train to La Rochelle. I was pretty early so I sat on my bags and finished my book.
Once I was finally on the train with all my bags I was able to relax. I got out my Kindle and started reading another book – Nellie Bly’s Ten Days in a Mad House. The train takes three hours to reach La Rochelle and passes through the Loire Valley on the way. There were four stops on the route.
Tyler and I arrived at the train station in La Rochelle and waited for my contact person to pick us up. He had asked that I let him know what time our train would be arriving and he would take us to the hostel. He had booked the hostel for all of us until we found housing so we could decide ourselves how long we wanted to stay. I decided on three nights.
After getting our bags to the room Tyler and I decided to walk into town for dinner. We ate at a good restaurant in the Vieux Port – three courses for 13E. It’s also nice to be at the hostel now because they have internet! After a few days of being disconnected I finally called my parents.
Day 7: Sunday, October 2, 2011

Today was a very relaxing day at the beach! I got up and had breakfast at the hostel. I had to be out of the room so that they could clean it so I figured I would go to the beach that is about a ten minute walk away.
I heard that everyone was getting together at a bar at 3pm so I went to the beach until then. It was excellent! I read for a while then took a nap. At 3pm I headed into town to go to the bar but when I got there no one was there. I waited for a while then ran into Justine and Shannon, two other American assistants. Justine is from South Carolina and just graduated from the College of Charleston. Shannon is from New Jersey and graduated from Clemson.
They said they were headed to the other beach that is closer to downtown so I decided to go hang out with them. Justine is living with Jo – another assistant from Syracuse. At the beach we met Catherine who is from New Zealand.
Tyler met up with us at the beach and around 6pm we walked back to the hostel. I wanted to shower then we ate there. We had duck confit for 6E. We used the internet then got ready for bed and our first day of work tomorrow. Tyler has to go to Poitiers for his orientation but mine is here in La Rochelle with all the rest of the primary assistants.


Day 8: Monday, October 3, 2011

Today we had our first orientation to the program and an even deeper look into the French system of bureaucracy. We first had to fill out our forms for social security. Since we are now government employees we must pay taxes and are entitled to French health care. Their coverage is nice – 70% of all doctors’ visits and prescriptions are paid for by the government. If we wanted we could enroll in supplemental coverage that would pay the other 30%. I decided I didn’t need that.
Then we had to enroll is life, liability and renter’s coverage which is mandatory. We then got our school schedule for the year. We get almost eight weeks of vacation! In the month of October we work for three weeks then get two weeks off. We get off on my birthday (Veterans’ Day)! Then we work three weeks in November and two weeks in December before getting two more weeks off for Christmas.
We broke for lunch and Shannon and I decided to try to find an apartment together. I had originally planned to live with Tyler and Garrett but they have already found places for themselves. Garrett is from Oregon and graduated from the University of Arizona. He is living with French roommates. Tyler is a secondary assistant and has been offered accommodations at his school for 200E a month. Everyone else now has their own place except for Shannon and me. Tonight is my last night at the hostel then Thiery, our program coordinator, is taking me to the school where Tyler is living. They have offered me a studio while I continue looking. Shannon is staying with Justin and Jo.
After our day of orientation Shannon and I went back to the hostel to get online and look for an apartment. It turns out that renting here is a lot harder than we had anticipated. Because we came so late in the year most all the apartments are already rented to university students. We are also limited in our options because we need something furnished.
A bit of good news – today we found out that we will actually be making more money than we had originally anticipated. They are taking less in taxes than we had been told.
After making a few calls for apartments we gave up the hunt for the day. We will do more later this week. Shannon left the hostel and I had dinner there again. There is a French guy who is staying in my room that is also looking for an apartment in La Rochelle. We thought about maybe trying all get a place together but finding three furnished rooms is harder than finding two. I watched a movie at the hostel then went to bed.


Day 9: Tuesday, October 4, 2011

I woke up, had breakfast and checked out of the hostel. Thiery said he would pick me up to take me to my new studio. When he got there he told me that he could take me to his office and let me use his computer to try to find an apartment with Shannon. She would meet us there. We tried for a long time. We made calls and left messages but lots of places are either already rented or not furnished.
Shannon and I went to lunch then everyone had to be back in the afternoon to schedule their school observation visits for Thursday and next Monday. On Thursday I will be going to my first school. I got lucky and all my schools are in La Rochelle. I’m in three schools total teaching three classes in each.
After scheduling our visits Thiery took me to the studio. I had to sign some forms to get the keys. I will also be paying 200E per month but I can only stay for two months. I hope I can find something this week! The studio is nice but very simple. There is a full bathroom, a bed, a desk and a type of closet/dresser to store my cloths. I have gradually unpacked but I don’t want to settle in too much then have to pack up again when I find my own place. There is also a shared kitchen space with a fridge, toaster oven and two hot plates.
One nice thing about the studio is that there is a supermarket right down the street. I went in and bought a ton of food for only 22E! I got five apples, five pears, five kiwis, green beans, granola bars, 16 yogurts, orange juice, pasta, sauce, toilet paper and soap. I went home and made pasta with meat sauce. I also finished reading Nellie Bly’s book. I’ve now read two books in a week! I’m going to start another tomorrow.


Day 10: Wednesday, October 5, 2011

Today I had a meeting at the bank to open my account with Sandrine; she is one of Thiery’s assistants. I was the last person to open an account. Everyone will be banking with CIC. It was really simple but for the fact that after September 23, 2011, no bank in France will accept traveler’s checks. I brought $1,000 in traveler’s checks to make my initial deposit so that I could have access to a security deposit and rent for my apartment. There was nothing they could do for me at the bank. I decided to keep the checks until my parents come in December and they can take them back to the States and cash them in there.
French banks also offer cell phone plans. I decided that even though I already had a phone I would sign up for the bank’s phone because it has unlimited text and web and one hour of calling a month for 28E. The phone itself is only 1E and it’s a smartphone. I decided to get the Samsung Wave which looks like the iPhone. The woman at the bank told me that they would text me when my new phone was able to be picked up this Friday.
After going to the bank I went back to the office with Sandrine and Shannon met me to look for apartments again. Still no luck. We had to leave at noon because everyone only works a half-day on Wednesday s. We went to the market and had lunch then met up with everyone else at Vieux Port for Sammy’s 21st birthday. She is from the Isle of Man. We had Champagne for her birthday and waited for everyone else. We walked to the park to sit outside until dinner. At about 6pm about six of us went to Fitzpatrick’s Pub for a beer before dinner.
For dinner we went to a great little restaurant inside the old part of the city. I had stake haché with frites. It was excellent and only about 8E! I walked Catherine home because my house is further than hers and it’s on my way. We all decided not to stay out because we have our first day in the classroom tomorrow. I’m observing classes with Elly; she’s from Suffolk in the U.K. I started a book by Wendy Kopp on my Kindle; it’s entitled One Day, All Children… and it’s about Teach For America.


Day 11: Thursday, October 6, 2011

Thiery picked me up first today to take us to our schools. He also picked up Garrett and Elly. Elly and I are teaching at Descartes. We met the teachers and observed about four classes. One teacher let us teach a little right away. We played Simon Says in English. They were also able to ask us questions about where we lived and if we flew to France or took a boat!
French primary classes are strange. Each class is either at two or three different levels and ages. So they could have six and seven year olds in a class with eight and nine year olds. It would be like having first and third graders in the same class in the States.
All the teachers seem really nice and we talked about our schedules. They would like us there on Thursdays and Friday s but we may try to move the Thursday classes to Friday because we still don’t have our schedules from the other schools. We are observing at the other schools on Monday then have one more orientation scheduled for next Thursday. Then we will have one week of teaching before having two weeks of vacation.
After our observations Elly and I walked downtown to get on the internet and meet up with her roommate Amy who is from Ireland. We thought we had found an internet café but it was closed. As we were window shopping I used my iPhone4 to get online at one of the hotels. I found an apartment that was perfect for us. It’s in Aytré, south of La Rochelle but at least three other assistants live there. I called the number and the woman that answered told me to call another number that was listed online. I also called Thiery and told him what I had found and asked him to call for me. He did and left a message. He told me to come to his office tomorrow at 9:30am and we could call again and keep looking if it didn’t work out.
I went home and ate dinner and Tyler cooked for some secondary assistants. They invited me to eat with them but I had already eaten when they asked. I had planned on going out for Sammy’s birthday but no one called me and I don’t have that many phone numbers so I just stayed home and read.


Day 12: Friday, October 7, 2011

Today I went to Thiery’s office to meet Shannon and continue our apartment hunt. You can’t say we’re not trying. We thought we found a few but it is difficult to understand everything on the phone when we call. We thought Thiery or Sandrine would call for us but they didn’t. Finally, we found an apartment in La Rochelle and set up a viewing for tomorrow at 11am. It is through an agency so if we sign for it we will have to pay their agency fees.
We decided to go the agency office and clarify our phone conversation and see what their fees would be. Once we got there we were told that the apartment was already in the process of being rented and it would not be available for us. This entire process is so frustrating! There is an excellent rental market here in La Rochelle and if anyone wanted to make some money here would be the place to invest. I can’t imagine Athens even being this difficult.
While we were apartment hunting I got online and read that Steve Jobs died. I felt so out of the loop! I can’t believe I wasn’t watching TV or online when I heard the news. This whole not having the internet thing is really starting to put a damper on my ability to keep up with current events.
Shannon and I stopped at a café and were going to go to the bank but it was closed for lunch. In France, almost every business closes for between an hour and two hours for lunch. I went with Shannon to Justine and Jo’s house and used the internet. Their house is really nice but it is kind of far from downtown. They both bought bikes and you can take the bus but it stops running really early at night and not at all on Sundays.
I went back to my studio to get ready for Garrett’s dinner party. Tyler and I took the bus to Place de Verdun then transferred to go to Aytré. All the primary assistants were there along with Garrett’s roommates, Elly and Amy’s French roommate and two girls that are couchsurfing at Garrett’s. One is from Canada and the other is from Belgium.


Day 13: Saturday, October 8, 2011

Today I didn’t do much. It was nice to relax and not stress about finding an apartment. Although maybe someone posted the one we are looking for. Shannon and I are hoping to wait until the new comprehensive list of available apartments comes out on Monday.
I ate dinner at my studio and met Tyler and another secondary assistant, Manuel. He is a Spanish assistant from Honduras. The Jazz Festival started today and we figured we could walk downtown and hang out but once we got down there we couldn’t find anyone. We knew it was going on earlier but maybe just not at night.
Once downtown I stopped to look in the windows of every real estate agency for something for Shannon and me. I didn’t have much luck.
Tyler and I walked home and I watched Saturday Night Live Best of ‘09/’10 Season that I brought before going to bed.


Day 14: Sunday, October 9, 2011

Today I didn’t do anything. I finished Wendy Kopp’s book on Kindle and went to Justine and Jo’s for dinner with them and Shannon. Maybe tomorrow we will get lucky and find an apartment! I’ve now read three books in two weeks! I don’t think I’ve ever read so much so fast before.