4 Octobre 2008
This morning Matthew and I decided to walk to Chamalieres, the town where the apartment we liked is. We are leaning towards getting that apartment (unless we see something better on Tuesday). But, we wanted to make sure we liked the neighborhood. It was a very quick walk from our current apartment. Even though it is Saturday and there are people walking everywhere, Chamalieres is a very quiet town. We easily found the apartment and took some pictures from the outside. The name of the street is “Place de Beaulieu” (literally translated: The Plaza of the Beautiful Place, how great does that sound?!? J). Then we decided to explore to see what kind of shops were close by. We found one little street that had every little shop you can think of. There was a poissonnière (they only sell fish), a boulangerie (they sell all different kinds of breads), a boucherie (a butcher), a shop that has only legumes et fruits (vegetables and fruits), a patisserie (a pastry shop), fromagerie (a cheese shop), a wine shop, and there was even a “maison de pommes” (all they sold were apples!). We kept walking and found the farmers’ market that we had seen on Thursday, apparently the vendors are in Chamalieres every Saturday as well.
This afternoon Matthew’s boss’ wife and a friend (who is from Canada and speaks English!) came to the apartment to help answer any questions we had. They tried to show me how to use the washing machine/dryer. After they left, Matthew and I headed to Place de Jaude to attempt to buy cell phones and possibly internet service. Matthew was communicating very well with the guy, and as usual I just nodded my head. Every once in a while I would ask Matthew a question and the guy would answer me in perfect English, but then go right back to speaking French! After figuring everything out, picking out phones, deciding on a plan for Matthew and plan for me, we go to pay. Even though we were armed with all of the paperwork we had been told by others to bring, we were missing one document that kept us from getting our phones. We came back to the apartment to search for the document. Matthew went back to the store with the proper document and returned…with his phone, but not mine. Apparently, the phone I picked out was out of stock! So, we will have to go back on Tuesday to pick it up. Matthew now is able to get internet on his phone, which helps a little when we are trying to check email and don’t feel like sitting in McDonalds!
Tonight we took the car out for the first time since we arrived Wednesday afternoon. Armed with a map of the area we set out to find Auchan, which is kind of like a Wal-Mart. There are a lot of one way streets here, so even though we didn’t get there the way I had mapped out, we were able to follow enough signs for “Auchan” and arrived in one piece. As we pull into the multi-level parking lot, I start thinking that maybe this store even puts Wal-Mart to shame. They even have these smooth escalators (like the moving sidewalks at airports, but on an incline) so that you can go between the different levels with the shopping carts. We walk in the door and realize we are in the middle of a mall, with Auchan at the back (picture the front wall taken off Wal-mart so that all of the registers are exposed, and connect that to the inside of a mall- sorry, that is the best way I can think to describe it). There are people everywhere! They have everything from appliances to TVs to clothes to shoes, etc, etc. They were closing in 30 minutes, so we just grabbed a few things and headed back to the apartment. It was a long, but very fun day in France!
This afternoon Matthew’s boss’ wife and a friend (who is from Canada and speaks English!) came to the apartment to help answer any questions we had. They tried to show me how to use the washing machine/dryer. After they left, Matthew and I headed to Place de Jaude to attempt to buy cell phones and possibly internet service. Matthew was communicating very well with the guy, and as usual I just nodded my head. Every once in a while I would ask Matthew a question and the guy would answer me in perfect English, but then go right back to speaking French! After figuring everything out, picking out phones, deciding on a plan for Matthew and plan for me, we go to pay. Even though we were armed with all of the paperwork we had been told by others to bring, we were missing one document that kept us from getting our phones. We came back to the apartment to search for the document. Matthew went back to the store with the proper document and returned…with his phone, but not mine. Apparently, the phone I picked out was out of stock! So, we will have to go back on Tuesday to pick it up. Matthew now is able to get internet on his phone, which helps a little when we are trying to check email and don’t feel like sitting in McDonalds!
Tonight we took the car out for the first time since we arrived Wednesday afternoon. Armed with a map of the area we set out to find Auchan, which is kind of like a Wal-Mart. There are a lot of one way streets here, so even though we didn’t get there the way I had mapped out, we were able to follow enough signs for “Auchan” and arrived in one piece. As we pull into the multi-level parking lot, I start thinking that maybe this store even puts Wal-Mart to shame. They even have these smooth escalators (like the moving sidewalks at airports, but on an incline) so that you can go between the different levels with the shopping carts. We walk in the door and realize we are in the middle of a mall, with Auchan at the back (picture the front wall taken off Wal-mart so that all of the registers are exposed, and connect that to the inside of a mall- sorry, that is the best way I can think to describe it). There are people everywhere! They have everything from appliances to TVs to clothes to shoes, etc, etc. They were closing in 30 minutes, so we just grabbed a few things and headed back to the apartment. It was a long, but very fun day in France!
No comments:
Post a Comment