Getting Settled

Today was a short day, as I slept in quite a bit, having spent 28 hours awake beforehand.  However, I managed to make some progress in getting settled in Paris.

The street my hotel is located on

The first thing I needed to do was get some toothpaste.  Fortunately (and I had never really paid any attention to this before), the packaging is most of the time very illuminating.  Pictures of teeth on long carboard boxes let me know that I was grabbing the right item.  And now I know the French word for toothpaste: "dentrifice".  The first pharmacie I went to didn't take cards (at least not for an amount that low) and so I had to find a different one.

After finishing that errand, I moved along to find myself a cell phone.  Following the advice I found in a column online, I purchased an inexpensive pay-as-you-go phone that should serve me well for my time in Paris.  My phone number is +33 (the country code for France) 07 85 88 06 19.  A cookie to the first person who can tell me a cool realationship between these numbers (I haven't found one yet).

After obtaining my phone, I went in search of dinner.  I spotted a diner on my street back home and walked in to sit down.  I encountered my first somewhat standoffish waiter, and made a faux pas when I accidentally told him there were going to be two people there (deux) when I meant to say I wasnted water (d'eaux).  Oops.  I managed to get that cleared up and ordered a cafe.  Fortunately I had already known what that meant and so was not surprised when he returned with a tiny cup of very strong espresso.  I also ordered some steak-frites (steak with french fries).

Steak-frites and cafe

All in all, it was good, though not something particularly new.  I'm hopingthat my meals in the upcoming days will be somewhat more interesting.

I passed two movie theaters in the short distance I walked to the phone store, so I think I may go and see Le Hobbit tomorrow or the next day.

In my last thought for today, I found an ATM on the street and thought I'd try it to see how much it would charge me to get money out of my bank in Arkansas.  Not only did the ATM automatically detect that my card was from the United States and change the language to English, but it mentioned no fee, either on the screen or on my receipt.  Skeptical, I checked my bank account online once I got back to my hotel and sure enough, I hadn't been charged any fees.  In fact, I got more money than the currency exchange calculator on Google suggested!  I guess getting cash is going to be even easier than I thought.  It turns out that different denominations of Euro are distinguished not only by color, but by size.  I can't help but think that that is a very logical thing to do, and I'm sure it helps keep money straight for visually impaired people or in low-light situations.  I feel more secure now that I have cash in my pocket which is not going to be refused.

Euros are so pretty!

I'm making tonight an early night so that I can get more done tomorrow.  I think I'm mostly adjusted to the new time already, which is a major blessing.  The hotel serves a breakfast at 7, let's see if I can make that.

A bientot!