Sunshine and roses

OK, so all is not perfect - we are so close to having internet at home, but not yet there (and I can already see how this may yet turn into a massive saga) - but the sun is shining, flowers everywhere are out and smelling beautiful, and Paris is an altogether nice place to spend spring. Having just spent an hour lying in the sun in a park eating brie sandwiches, I approve.

When we get internet, I will tell you all about the event I went to this week for the launch of a new Haunted House type museum in the 10th arrondissement - I'd tell you now, but this keyboard is crap. So, another time... (I know you're all dying of anticipation. I can just tell.)

First day of work

First day was blissfully short, and I'm utterly overwhelmed by the amount of people I met. I'm hoping they will all remember who I am and introduce themselves again, because I'll never remember them otherwise...

Job itself will be interesting - busy, lots of good, interesting stuff, but it sounds like there might be lots of work, and I'm not at all sure I can do it. We'll see - I'm a fast learner, right?

Now have a Carte Orange, so am clearly a proper Parisian. (OK, so it's not called a Carte Orange anymore, it's a Passe Navigo Decouverte, or some such nonsense. Does the same thing as a Carte Orange.) Also will soon have (I'm promised!) a phone line and internet. I miss you, Internet, even if no one actually reads anything I say. (This is no different to real life, where no one listens to me. But it's more satisfying to whinge about it here.)

It's actually sunny again today - maybe summer really is on its way...

Flat hunt - update

Success! We have a flat, and it has electricity and (hot) running water and locks on the doors and everything! Turns out the answer to the question "how do you get a flat in Paris when you don't have the paperwork most landlords seem to desperately need, because you're a foreigner" is "find a sane landlord who has two braincells to rub together who can see that you're not trying to trick them into letting you give them large amounts of money in exchange for a shoebox, you really are going to pay the ludicrous sums of money they're asking for".

It's actually a beautiful little flat on a courtyard about half an hour from my new job, with skylights and big windows and a lovely open-plan kitchen living room, and a big bedroom. And I love it, til something goes horribly wrong, of course ;-)

We've gone and bought a whole load of food, and TATI has provided pillows, a duvet, cups, a chopping board, knives, pans, everything one could ask for in a new flat. And the rest of our stuff is coming at the end of this week, so soon we'll have a flat full of things again, and it will be glorious.

Our next major task is to find internet. At the moment, aside from very brief trips to internet cafes, I have no way of finding out what is happening in the world. No telly, no internet, no phone. It's quite liberating, in a way. But I do feel rather cut off from the Real World - I should now go and look at the news in case anything exciting is happening...

ETA: See, I go offline for one weekend, just one, and in it I miss a Royal Wedding and Osama bin Laden being killed. What else could happen while I'm lacking in news and internet? (Readers of the latter part of my last expat blog will remember how many long, long months it took for me to get internet in London. The whole world could be different when I come back online properly!)