My wife’s flight is ontime for arrival in London, according to the online flight information available from British Airways. That’s great because I see that it was delayed by an hour and a half departing from Narita (Tokyo).
http://www.britishairways.com/travel/arrdep?source=LFN_home
Excellent!
My wife arrives this evening. Tokyo-London-Paris on a British Airways flight. Right now she must be somewhere over Eastern Europe. Of course, after 5 years of global Japan-U.S. long-distance, the short few weeks we spent apart is nothing. But still I feel excited, just like a little kid. I had even just found a nice apartment that will be ready in time for her arrival. What great timing, no?
It actually works (after the overnight wait)! I can now enter the building afterhours and work, even on the weekend! Excellent.
I changed some money today, dollars to euros. I was running a bit low on cash and the troubles with the bank and getting a proper French “carte bleue” weren’t helping. I did the exchange at La Poste, the French postal system, changes money and even functions as a regular bank.
I had exchanged travellers checkes (“cheques de voyage”: I love that!) before at a sizeable La Poste office and I had received a decent rate, without commission. This time I went to a smaller office and I was charged a 5 euro commission (ouch!) at a slightly worse rate. Of course, dollars usually have a slightly worse rate than travellers checks but I wonder if the commission was charged because I was exchanging dollars or just because I went to a different, and smaller, branch (agence).
Anyways, I actually did the exchange in French, but the teller had to correct my pronounciation at least once (haha), but in a friendly way. It surpised me a bit because it was probably one of my first times to encounter a teller who didn’t have a “what do you want / don’t make me argue with you / now get out of here / next / I hate my job” apathy.
Well, I finally got my “multifunction” card for ENS. … only it doesn’t quite work yet…
The multifunction card acts as an ID, allows me to purchase tickets for the cafeteria, and also allows after-hours access to the various card-entry areas in ENS. The most important feature for me is the after-hours access.
I had turned in all the papers necessary for it the first week that I arrived. Then I was informed that the person who can issue a card to me would not be in until last Friday. So I went and had my picture taken last Friday and was ready to get my card. I was excited that I could finally use the card to get in over the weekend. But sadly, no. It turned out that yet another person was the one who could actually give me my card, and, of course, that person was not in. Instead they tell me to wait and that they will send the card when all is done. So I wait until this week. Today (Tuesday), our secretary comes to me and says that the card people had lost the picture but that if we go now (and this means we *really* have to go at that moment while the card person is still there; if we wait too long then lunch time comes and we won’t be seeing the card person for another week) and have my picture retaken then they will give me the card right away. I will have to wait overnight before the access function of the card kicks in (for some reason they say “the system has to run overnight”) but apart from that everything will be a-OK.
So we go I get a new picture taken (really bad picture, by the way, I think I had some static-electricity issues) and get my card right away, just like magic. Only it turns out that I hadn’t yet been granted the all important after-hours access. It turns out that to get that we have to take some papers to some other person in charge of that. So we go there and, of course, that person is not around. Later we find out that they were in some meeting all day.
Tomorrow, hopefully, they will be available and I can gain after-hours access to the building. Fortunately our secretary is very nice and helpful. She will get things sorted out.
…From the stories I hear, it didn’t take so long. There have been a few visitors who have come for a month, straight away apply to get the card and yet only receive it in the last week of their stay.
I should really start logging when exactly I submit paperwork, make an application, etc and record just how long it takes to achieve results.
パリには着物を着付ける人がいるよ。この間発見したの。寒かったのに。顔を見ると日本人かどうかちょっと分かりづらいが確かに着物だったよ、パリで。
The “carte bleu” seems to be like a credit/debit/check card that can esentially function as an electronic wallet (saving you some cash in the event of a pickpocket attack, but still leaving you with the hassle of getting new ID cards, etc.). It is in any case essential for signing up for services in France, such as phone, as it is issued from a French bank.
Well, I opened a bank account last week on the 11th, the day after I arrived here in Paris. It was then suppose to take a week for me to get my “carte bleu”. After one week, I received a notice in the mail that my card was ready and that I should pick it up from my “agence” (the branch of the bank where I opened the account). … or so I thought. Although the bank teller found my card, it turns out that I can’t actually receive it for another week. Apparently I have to now wait the additional week for my account information to be “registered”. It is a bit strange as I had deposited money into the account earlier that week. They are willing to take my money but not to let me use it. I thought maybe that was usual, since it could be more like a credit card, so it may be on some different system than the account where I deposit money.
*sigh* what this means is that I have to wait yet another week until I can get a phone… until then I must use the phone at the lab and payphones (I have a card), and that I don’t have a reliable return phone where I can receive messages.
Incidentally, I told a French colleague here about what happened. He asked if I yelled at the bank clerk (!!). He said that sometimes helps (i.e. they sometimes bend the rules if you are extremely persistent). Of course, I did not yell. Maybe that’s why I couldn’t get my card…
I’m still looking for an apartment. The area where I am temporarilystaying, in the 4th arrondissement, is quite nice and it is a little over a 20 minutewalk to work. I get to walk by cathédrale Notre Dame on theway. That is quite an impressive piece of architecture.
I’ve been looking in the 2nd, 3rd, 4th, 5th, and 6th for apartments, with a bit of 13th and 14th. I had the hope of finding one within walking distance to work (even 30 minutes by foot would still be alright). However, I am quickly finding that this limits my choices to only small and expensive places. Instead, it may be more economical to look for places a bit farther but on a convenient metro line…
voila! Yes, they do have peanut butter in France! I found some at a nearby “supermarket”, Franprix. I was a bit worried as I was beginning to think that it was only an American thing. The only non-import “peanut butter” in Japan was actually some kind of whipped spread that was quite sugary and not at all to my taste. However here in France I was able to find some “pate d’arachide”. Unfortunately it is sweetened, however it is still better than the import “Skippy” that I mostly relied on in Japan.
By the way, as I read pate d’arachide, I think pate d’arachnid. Mmmm, spider pate!
I took an Air France bus to the center of Paris after arriving at Charles de Gaulle airport just outside of Paris.
The bus let me off at the Arc de Triomphe. Wow! It stands out and appears as a colossal structure because there are no buildings nearby to it, as it is in the middle of a large traffic circle. As it was late evening, the Arc was lit up with flood lights added a bit to the surreal atmosphere.
I then took a taxi to my temporary residence. On the way we drove by the Seine and I could see the tour Eiffel. That was another surreal sight. It also stands alone on the horizon and has a spotlight projecting from its pinnacle, sweeping out 360 degrees like a huge lighthouse. The light scattering off the haze made for a somewhat cinematic effect.
“Welcome to Paris”, I thought…
(incidentally I had my first experience with the French pasttime of striking: the bus route that I had planned to take to reach my destination was suspended due to striking workers. Had it not been for the strike, I would not have taken that route and I would not have gotten off at this point.)
