Beware of the gypsie kids

This weekend two of my girlfriends came over from London for girls weekend en Paris. It was a great weekend but our cultural experience was not one we anticipated. On Friday night we had a leisurely French dinner at Chez Jean (which was oddly empty for the night...) with lots of good food and wine. Dinner was obviously followed by us devouring some girl scout cookies at home as you just can't take the American out of us! I mention the wine because we certainly were not moving incredibly fast Saturday morning when we departed for the Pompidou.

Before we hopped on the metro we decided to take cash out of the ATM. I was waiting for my two friends to get their money first then I would go next. Then things got weird. Four to five kids (literally under 10 years old) came up showing flyers to us, and then started to swarm our one friend. They were banging their head on her machine and just causing chaos. And the little sh*ts plan worked. She grabbed her card (luckily!) and took a step back from the machine - what they do in the meantime is push the buttons to get the most cash they could and skedaddle. Some other people started seeing what was going on and came over to us and tried grabbing the kids but they got away. They got 160 Euros, which she will get back but it makes you so angry.

The silver lining was how lovely some bystanders were, so helpful and took the time to stop and explain the situation to us, point us to a police station, etc. Made me love my little community - minus the thieves.

The crime scene, friendly Parisian man helping us:

So instead of a museum we experienced REAL culture! We went to the local police station to fill out a report and at least our officer was quite cute and extremely nice. After trying to describe the punky kids, filling out a 5 page form - we were on our way...hours later, to begin our day.

Moral of the story - be careful, watch out for these kids and the gypsies in general. Don't be too trusting as they have many scams. Here is an article from the Daily Mail UK from a few years back talking two men who were arrested and explained the trafficking of kids throughout European countries and sending them out to steal.

These kids are under 10 on purpose as no one can prosecute them and it is a problem. But I would sure hope the politicians who run our countries could come up with a good solution. Sad for these kids but if nothing is done the cycle will only continue.

Keep your eyes peeled people!

Guys have that one go to date spot...in any city

I had such high expectations of doing such a great job tracking my life in Paris and somehow, without knowing many people, life has become busy! My over an hour commute to work certainly does not help but still, I need to be better. I wanted to go back and recount all my days but now my experiences might come at random. That's okay - I just want to look back later in life and remember the experiences I had.

When I lived in Boston there seemed that the guys had a set (small!) group of bars that were their go to date spots. Boston is a smaller city, so not surprising. When I was younger it was Silvertone, which I liked. But I always found it amusing. Now wouldn't you know I move to Paris and out of five dates so far...FOUR have taken me to the same bar! In all fairness, one was because we were walking by.

Let me introduce you to - La Fourmi:

It is actually a very fun, laid back bar. Not at all fancy and actually really fun on a Sunday evening when no one wants the weekend to end and it is packed. This is where the True Parisians apparently hang. And according to Time Out it was one of the top 100 bars in Paris.

One thing I love about Paris and would like to see American restaurants & bars adopt - you can sit at a table even if you are just having drinks. And you can stay as long as you like - no one will rudely stare you down while doing so.

It is right next to La Cigalle which is a concert venue which I am interested in checking out as well, need to dig to see who performs there.

Address: 74 rue des Martyrs
Closest Metro = Pigalle

A California Inspired Restaurant in Pigalle

I love all of the bistros in Paris but sometimes you need a break and need a little something from home. I had read about this place on Ten Days which is a great offbeat guide to Paris covering the more up and coming areas of the city. And one day I realized it was very close to where I lived so I took a walk over for a late lunch/early dinner at the bar. You read that right - AT THE BAR! In Paris, sitting at a bar is not common let along eating at one. It is something I miss from the States, especially since I moved here solo.

So if you are craving a draft Brooklyn lager, a good burger or tacos - definitely give Le Depanneur in Pigalle a try. I recently took a friend from London there and if she was digging it wishing she had one in London.

Signing the Lease

This will be a quick one but I thought the rental process in Paris is quite interesting, I felt like I was actually purchasing a home. I showed up one evening to sign the lease, do an inspection and collect the keys. What I did not realize is that the owners would be there and six of us would sit around a table signing away our lives. Once that was done we did the inspection and it was not just me saying everything's fine, an inspector came and probably spent an hour going through the home (we then split the cost of this) and then go room by room and review a complete inventory of the apartment - and their kitchen is stocked. All in all it was a two or so hour process.

I will say the couple that owns my apartment are really wonderful, a great French couple in their 60's I would say. Lucky for me, I believe I am the first to rent their home. The furniture is beautiful and they left the place with plenty in it so I have everything I could really need.

Now to figure out the French washer/dryer combo.

A "Permanent" Home

If you move abroad and are assigned agencies to "look after you" and "help make the move seamless" - I will give you this advice, always remember they are there to check off a task as complete so you ALWAYS have to be your own advocate, even if you have to push a little.

I looked at a lot of apartments in Paris and the woman who brought be around was good. But quality and quantity are two different things - I obviously was not moving into the one apartment that had construction outside so the shutters were forced shut. Nope, dungeon living is not for me, sorry! I found a wonderful apartment near St Michel metro and was truly crushed when I did not get it, someone else had put in their application first. So I kept searching which was tough as I am trying to also get settled in my job.

The quest continued until the agency said I MUST select one of the apartments today. Mind you - in my contract I had up to 60 days of temporary housing so truly there was no reason I had to choose then and there while I was already asking them about moving out in a few months because I knew in my heart it was not right. That question did not phase them, they just wanted to be done with me.

I had lunch over the weekend with a friend of a friend, a true Parisian, who lives in the 9th and we strolled along Rue Des Martyrs, it was a great neighborhood with a market along the road (food & antiques) on Sundays. This lunch motivated me to go home, hope on the computer and keep looking. I expanded my search and found a place online that honestly seemed too good to be true. A tad over my budget (you only live in Paris once, right?) but it looked really nice and like a home, or at least something that I could call my home for two years. I sent out an email but as it was Sunday I knew I would have to await a response on Monday.

Long story short, the agent was great and I ran off in the afternoon to meet him at the apartment and as soon as I walked in I new it was the one. Two bedrooms plus an office with a futon, a great entryway, actual dining room table - it was perfect!

After a lot of paperwork - I am happy to say that this is my Parisian home and oh how I loooooove it!

Temp Lodging #3

During my first day in the office I kept my fingers crossed that I would find a place to move into that night for the next three weeks. I had to start having the attitude of "no worries, everything will work out." What I have learned - it helps! I had to have a lot of faith in everyone and thing. And let's face it, life could be much worse as I was now living in Paris. Lucky gal, I know so I had to keep it all in perspective.

Jules and I could not get on the phone until 4pm my time since he was in Cali. But he did indeed have good news for me and I was to meet a real estate agent at 8:30pm that night in front of the apartment building. So after work I rushed home, took a conference call in my hotel room and quickly packed up my stuff. I was about to make another cab driver's night - they get so excited when they see all of my luggage. And this one was an old school grumpy Frenchman. Pretty sure the kind that do not like Americans.

Fast forward and there I am standing outside with all my luggage, in the rain. Does this real estate agent really exist? Will he stand me up? Although late, he arrived and I knew it was a good sign as he walked up in Bose headphones! To my surprise there was even an elevator inside so getting my stuff upstairs was no big deal between the two of us. He was a lovely young man, gave me a quick tour of how everything worked in the apartment and then he was off. It was almost 9:30pm and I was in my new home for the next two to three weeks. Sigh.

Day 1 in the Office

Monday morning came around and my body, on EST, did not want to get out of bed. I think one of the only things that gives me anxiety in life is being late, I hate it. So I was giving myself ample time to find my way out to Saint-Germain-en-Laye. That meant a 6am wake up call. The weekend had been a whirlwind and not exactly how I envisioned my first few days in Paris but I was really excited to start my new assignment and get settled in my professional life.

I was staying near the Luxembourg Gardens so I hopped on the RER and switched at Chatelet to the RERA taking me out to SGL. I had been warned about commuting in Paris - apparently it can be aggressive and one will take a seat from anyone (child, grandparent, etc). But day 1 was not so bad...to start.

I work outside of Paris in a town that really surprised me as I thought it would be a tiny little village with one main street with the local butcher and boulangerie. But I was wrong. It is bigger than I had expected and it is stunning. Complete with a castle! If I had a family, living there would definitely be an option. And if you are coming to Paris - I highly recommend a visit as a day trip.

The chateau:

Back to my commute. I needed to find the bus next and after going to two different bus stops I could not find the right one and given the language barrier, I could not fully explain to the bus drivers what I needed. Note to self: work on my French! I kept seeing the bus I needed go by but had no idea where it stopped. I started following a street around tracking it and with that, an old French man on a bicyclette ran into me. SERIOUSLY? Could this morning go downhill any faster and now I was more closely approaching the time I should have been in the office. After that shin bruising moment, I finally found the darn bus. I hopped on with the heards, and no one seemed to pay so it must be free...how nice!

Finally....I was at the office. A few minutes late.

I walk out of the station to this each morning, makes the long commute a little better:

I walk by this adorable Creperie everyday and one evening I am stopping to have a Crepes dinner. All of these cute crepes places always makes me think of my mom as she is a fan, can't wait for my fam to visit!