What a day! I'm pooped.
After eating my breakfast this morning, I headed out to Monoprix to get light bulbs, hangers, and an allen wrench. Well, I left with lots of hangers, a striped pillow, five notebooks, a turquoise table runner, light bulbs, and batteries. No allen wrench at Monoprix. ZUT! On the way home, I passed through a farmer's market of sorts with the most beautiful flowers. I really wanted to get some, but alas, I had no vase. And so, mission number two began.
--> Side note - Four things that I absolutely love that are soooo cheap here: 1) Bread, 2) Cheese, 3) Wine, and 4) Flowers.
Once I had scaled the six flights to chez moi, I got online to find a hardware store and a laundromat, because my clothes are d-i-r-t-y. The only hardware store I could find in Neuilly-sur-Seine was on the complete other side of town, about 1 mile away. Being the Anal Annie that I am, I marched right over. Surprise, it was closed. Nothing is open on sunday except Monoprix from 8:30 to 12:00.
I turned around, and as if a beacon had been calling me forward, I crossed the street to a floral shop by the name of "Happy." If I needed anymore convincing that this place was the commercial incarnation of myself, my doubts were put to rest when I entered and heard Mika playing on the sound system. Not sure who is and who isn't familiar with Mika, but essentially he writes the happiest music ever. The merchant helped me find pots and vases, the whole time speaking to me in English while I responded in French. I ended up buying a beautiful white ceramic pot and a little yellow baby roses bush. The whole deal was only 10€. In New York, the plant alone would have cost me $15+.
With this turn of fate, I realized that all hope was not lost. So, I couldn't get my allen wrench; I'm flexible. Isn't that the point of studying abroad? I put mission #2 on the back burner, and pulled up missions #3: become better acquainted with my new home. Thus, I wandered home, finding adorable locales on my way, which I photographed and uploaded here. I stopped and got a cheese and ham baguette for lunch, which was absolutely delicious. On my way home, I passed by the laundromat, which is litterally right around the corner. Super! One win for me!
After finishing lunch, I decided I should probably contact Taylor to get my phone charger from him. I trekked across town to the 12th picked up my charger and then trekked home. I was so excited to get my phone charged and working again. But surprise, life doesn't work like that. It seems that the screen on my 5 day old phone is busted: the phone turns on and makes noises and responds to key strokes, but the screen remains black. Of course, the phone stopped working on Saturday night after all the phone stores had closed, and it knew full well that they would not be open on Sunday! I called the service provider to find out if there was anything I could do.
--> Another side note: If you think you have trouble talking to customer service in English, try doing it in a different language!
The woman was really nice, and tried to help me; but we decided that I would just need to go into a store on monday. Oh well! Again, I reminded myself to keep an open mind and be flexible. So, I moved on to another task: laundry. I walked on down to the Monoprix to get some detergent. Closed. I scoured the neighborhood looking for any markets or convenience stores that might have detergent. At 1 o'clock PM on Sunday, the neighborhood was completely shut down, well, except for the laundromat, which, of course, does not sell detergent. That was strike number three, so I gave up on the day and just retired to my sunny chambre.
I hadn't done what I had wanted to, but it's important to look for the silver lining: I have a beautiful yellow rose bush! Just looking at it sitting on my café table in front of my large French windows which frame the Eiffel Tower just makes me so happy! I've calmed down about the whole phone sitch. I just have to keep reminding myself that these things will get done eventually.
Well, I'm going to fool around on the computer for a bit longer then off to bed. After dinner, I fell asleep watching a Charlie Brown special called "Charlie Brown's Allstars." Let's hope for no run-in's with birds tomorrow morning...
À demain,
Dave
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