Thanks to jet lag I woke up yesterday morning at 4:50am. I was so hungry that I got up at 5:30am and ate some cereal before putting myself back to bed at 6. I caught some sleep between 8 and 9 and then forced myself to get up. My plan was to find a cell phone - I knew that I could find a prepaid version in either a grocery store, a FNAC (which is like a barnes and noble) or a cell phone provider store. The problem being, of course, that I had no idea where this flat was located in the greater Orléans area. Based on where Alain had driven when coming back from the train station, I guessed that I was south of the Loire and west of the city center -- how far, I had no idea. As I was putting on my shoes I had a genius idea -- phone books usually list what town you’re in and have a map! So I rummaged around and finally found two different phone books - neither of which listed the suburb I’m in. One of them had a map that listed all the streets in each suburb - when I went to the grocery store the day before I had written down a few of the street names that I saw - so I started looking them up. And found none of them to be listed. Getting really discouraged, I figured I’d never find my way. And then I had another brilliant idea - I found my receipt from the grocery store - which, lo and behold, listed the city! Turns out I was north of the Loire and just west of the city center. And by just west, I mean about 6 kilometers. So I started walking. I noticed several bus stops along the way that were going to the central train station - but taking one seemed really risky since I didn’t know the route. So, an hour and a half later I finally found myself in the city center (with no map). I was really hungry, but I needed to find a cell phone. Along the way I had stopped in 3 grocery stores - all of which sold the top up cards, but not the phones. I followed the flow of people, until I stumbled upon the Place Jeanne d’Arc - which is the main square. And then! I saw a FNAC - in I went and found the cell phone section ... only to realize that they only seemed to sell phones that were on a 2 year plan (which you need an address to sign up for). I bought a large french to english dictionary and went back out. And then! I saw an Orange store (which sells phones!) - I went in and bumbled my way through the transaction and then, presto! for 29 euro I had a phone!
After this success - which almost made me cry I was so happy - I had lunch. I really wanted to call my parents, but it was 3 in the morning, so I decided to wait until after lunch. I stopped at a restaurant filled with locals and lots of outside seating. I ordered a prix fixe menu which included a main course of either the plat du jour or steak hache, a dessert and a coffee. The plat du jour was some kind of fish, so I ordered the steak hache - which it turns out is a hamburger patty. It did come with a small salad, french fries and an amazing dipping sauce though! For dessert I got a strawberry tarte.
After lunch I went to the tourist information office to get a map of the city and suburbs and a transportation map. I had decided to take a bus home - so I started walking back the way I’d came. I realized that I wasn’t sure if I needed to buy a ticket ahead of time, or if I could pay on board. So I asked some local kids - who literally had no idea what the hell I was saying. I’d been having pretty good luck with my crappy French for most of the day (and by pretty good, I mean that with a combination of my words and hand gestures I had managed to get what I needed) - so they weren’t any help. I called Alain to see if he could answer my question, but his phone was off. So then I called home.
As it turns out - you can either buy a ticket ahead of time, or pay on the bus. Last night Alain took me to his house so that I could use the internet and I learned that the school housing which was offered to Danielle has 3 bedrooms, a kitchen, a living room and a bathroom, that her people are loaning us as much furniture as they can and that they’ll take the cat! I have a place to live!
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