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.
Saturday, November 23, 2013
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!
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!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)