stylishbeing: Paris Day 1

Oui, Je suis a Paris, finalement!!!!

I didn’t fly for a couple of years already and given the fact that my fiancé is terrified of airplanes, I was a little worried taking off at YYZ. But after a movie, Sex and the City 2 en francais, a glass of red wine later, I felt like I was ready to sleep. And so I though, once I closed my eyes my brain started working… remembering French!!! After the movie and knowing that I was going to Paris, and had to remember at least a few words, my brain could not fall asleep… this continued for 7 hours. Poor me got no sleep and arrived to France at 9 am.

Now, at the airport a driver was supposed to meet me and bring me to my new home for the next 4 weeks. I knew two things, that his name is Jean Michel and his phone number. After 10 minutes of looking at people and trying to see which one of them looked like Jean Michel, I was about to take my phone and call him. But here he was, young, tall, and super stylish Jean Michel came up to me saying in cute French: “I am so sorry that I am late, Ksenia”, of coarse I am not mad.

On the way to the city form the airport I saw a huge line up from the highway to the gas station. I asked Jean Michel what happened. He said that last week there was a strike because of the changes in the pension, and everyone was on strike. I thought that it was weird that even gas stations were on strike! Today they are working, and everyone is trying to get gas… But all the other stores and cafes are closed in the city (except touristic places), because it is Sunday. Aren’t French weird? :)

He dropped me off at a very beautiful building where I was supposed to live for the next little while. I came in, went through one door, then a little nice courtyard, then another door, and there I saw these long, high…stairs!!! And I had to get to the last floor… But thank God, then I saw an elevator… like those old ones, where you have to open a door yourself. I open this elevator, and try to get inside of it, and realize that I have to stand really, like really close to the wall in order to get inside with my bag. This was the smallest elevator I have ever seen in my life! Ever!

The apartment is really cute and big! To my surprise each girl has its own room! That’s a big deal, especially for Europe! Wow! Full kitchen with dishwasher and all appliances. Nice bathroom, TV in the room, big living room. Very impressive. Except, the Internet here is really bad! And it is very cold in the apartment…

But there is also something else that is awesome, we have a cat in our apartment! Her name is City, lol, just like the name of the agency J They found her and brought her to live here, it is adorable. She has an attitude but was kind enough to come and lie down next to me today, and let me pet her.

Once I got in it started raining, so me and another Russian model started waiting for the rain to stop and once it did, we went for a walk. We decided to go to the district 5, St Germain and walk around. We went to see Patheon, Bastille square, Latin district and just went through a bunch of beautiful little streets. When it got darker we also saw Eiffel Tower from the far and on the way back we came out towards Notre Dame which was a nice surprise.

Things that surprised me today and I still can’t get over it were the following: to go to the bathroom in McDonalds, you had to pay 1euro. And to go to the bathroom in Starbucks, you have to take your receipt, punch in a special key code, and only then, you can open the door. And to get out of the bathroom, you have to find a special button, otherwise the door won’t open….Amusing, eh?

Also, you know how Paris is famous for all those cafes having tables outside on the walkway? Well, those tables and chairs are still out, full of people chilling there in +5-+10 C! You know why? Because they have special heating lamps form the top, to keep the customers warm! Love it!

Oh, and the last thing that ‘killed’ me was that the Luxembourg Gardens, wehere we wanted to go to for a walk closes at 6pm. Is it normal? Come on, it’s a park! Why would you close it? Especially on a Sunday evening.

C’est ca for today!

Another new girl just arrived, she is from Norway and her name is Martha.

Tomorrow I am going to meet the agency and see what is happening for me J

A tout alors!