sacs de merde

11 April 2016

Day 2 in Paris. We woke up this AM to our shower still not working. Happy Tuesday!

I woke up at my normal US time, by 7:15 and was out the door by 8:05. This was not without it challenges. We had to figure out how to use the apartment phone since I was headed out and Jer was staying behind and still didn’t have a way to communicate. We had a hard time differentiating from the hand writing on the phone between the 1, 4 and 7. Lady luck was on our side and we were able to finally get the number.

I then set off the the RER-C stop at Pereire – Levallois which was very convenient. But first, I did not take a selfie, I got my first croissant and coffee at a corner cafe, Linas. It was the perfect start to my first French work day. Then with the help of my colleague, I was able to buy daily tickets at the Metro to and from Crown. I guess I could have done it on my own but the ticket counter guy (who spoke English) scared me off from a weekly pass because you needed a passport photo, which I did not have with me. Note to those who may read this in the future, come to Paris with a stack of passport photos (French Size, not American Size). Work was odd. I am still work computer-less but I met all the client contacts and was able to brush up on the year end procedures. Overall, a productive day.

On top of it being my first impromptu day at work, today was a crazy day of trying to fix yesterdays problems. We were waiting for a plumber and waiting for Jer’s bag.

The plumber. There were 6 different plumbers (that we saw) either in our apartment or in our building today. It was insane. The picture below does not do the level of nastiness justice. However, aflatinparis.com was helpful in this process, including bringing in their own plumbers. As the problem was not fixed before the end of business, they dropped off a key to another flat in walking distance where we were able to shower and, well, poop.  I will say, that even though it was almost an all day process, we finally have a shower that drains and a toilet that flushes. I can not wait to take a hot shower. FYI – the problem was due to the main water pipe being drained, where Jer and I believe, they had to cut out the clogged part of the drain, and soder in a new pipe. Total shit show.

On top of this, we were waiting for Jer’s luggage to show up. Jer had made it crystal clear at the American counter that I had an American phone number (mine) because Jer is still phone-number-less until we open a bank account. I was called by American Airlines Baggage group, on my US phone number, at 8:30 am. They noted our bag should be delivered between 10:00 and 14:00. And you guessed it, the bag did not show up by 14:00. So after many phone calls, we got a truly helpful British lady (who’s name is escaping me) on the phone who informed us that the third party service came to the apartment, dialed my phone number thinking it was french (which obviously did not work) and since I did not pick up, they left. Needless to say, we were not happy campers. We informed AA that we were not home tomorrow as we were house hunting all day and could not sit at home waiting for our bag. And in all honestity, Jer needed the clothing that was packed to be dressed to go out in public. The AA consultant informed us that due to the extenuation circumstances, AA would cover the ‘reasonable’ costs to have clothing until Jer’s bag came. Therefore, Jer and I were able to perk up our rather shitty day (pun 100% intended) by shopping on the Champs-Élysées, on AA’s dime. We were able to find a Banana Republic, Nike and Monoprix. (Side note Monoprix is a combination of Target and Wegmans on steroids, but poorly organized. I guarantee I will get lost for hours in there at some point). Jer got the clothing he needed for the next few days and then we were off to dinner.

On our way home we found a delightful restaurant, L’oree des Champs, where we had 50cl draft beers, followed by pasta carbonara for me and raw beef for Jer. We followed that with homemade ice cream which was the best I have ever had. No lie. The wait staff was friendly and they had the menu in English. Don’t get me wrong, this wasn’t a 5 star restaurant, but the food was great and totally hit the spot.

Now we are getting ready to call it a night over a bottle of 5 euro Bourdeax, and of course 1664 for Jer.

Hopefully, house hunting tomorrow will lead to better outcomes than our day full for merde.

-Kasey
Step Count: 22,083, 10.72 miles