Every move has its moments where you just want to go home, slam the door and forget that a move was ever proposed. This week has had plenty of those moments.
I'm posting from my Bberry as France telecom haved @#*! up our phone line, so no phone, internet or TV service until either Saturday or Monday at the earliest. It takes FOREVER to get help in this country. First they refuse to admit there's an error; then they say they are fixing it; but only when a technician comes to see the problem does he agree there is a problem... And then we have to have another technician come and fix it (not before Saturday... Even though all this started Monday), and then yet anothjer technician come and install the TV / internet / etc sometime next week...
AAAAAAARGH
France Telecom. HATE.
And then there are all the other issues... Useless Darty (electronics store) salesman who screwed up our order, so we had to have items replaced, delivered late (or not at all), who didn't arrange to get the fridge fixed into the cabinet, etc... I'm actually quite proud of the fact that I won my first big French customer service face-off - he emphatically (and loudly) told me he was right; I responded in kind (ok, let's just call it yelling) and told him to fix it; he is now fixing it and we get the fridge installed for free. Still never any admission of error... But this is France. That would be expecting too much.
The apartment still has some cracked window panes, loose electrical sockets, doors that won't close (new paint), broken blinds, holes between floorboards, a crooked and wobbly kitchen faucet, and single-glazed (not double, as we were led to expect) windows in the living & dining rooms. We are trying not to let this depress us - when fixed, it will be a great place. But getting anything done here seems to take forever. At worst, we are thinking of trying to get all these repairs done ourselves instead of w-ting for the management company to come through, and then deducting the cost from our rent. We shall see.
The highlight of the week... Drumroll please... Samuel rolled over for the first time from his back to his front! Unfortunately Dave wasn't home to see it as he was in French lessons, but I consider myself very fortunate that at least I got to see this milestone as I will miss so many once our roles are reversed and I go back to work. Samuel has also taken to scooting quite far (several feet) across the floor on his back, so he is getting increasingly mobile.
We'll post again once we get back into the 21st century. In the meantime, just have a drink for us.
Thursday, August 21, 2008
Sunday, August 17, 2008
Yet another move...
The cats are now installed in our new apartment. We hope they will both still be there tomorrow, when we move in. We drove them over this evening as tomorrow the movers come at 8am to pack up our stuff in the temporary apartment - so as of tomorrow evening we will finally be installed in our new home! (Albeit with rental furniture and a lot of empty space... but our sea shipment should arrive soon. The boat is due to dock in Le Havre tomorrow, so we're hoping to get the shipment delivered at the end of the first week of September).
It's been another busy couple of days. We hope that in a few days time things may calm down a bit as we are really all getting quite exhausted. I consider it a minor miracle that Dave and I are still talking to and being supportive of each other given all the stressful situations we have been through - but that just goes to show what an amazing man I married, and what a wonderful son we have, as he helps to remind us what is truly important.
We've spent the last few days checking out options for curtains, lighting, furniture, etc. Suffice to say that I would rather rip out my fingernails than ever go back to IKEA (quality slipped dramatically vs. my memories of 8 years ago, far too many people, miles to walk, hours to wait... generally a pretty close approximation of hell on earth), and we are now the proud owners of a GPS system and a mapbook. Yes, we took many not-so-scenic routes around Paris this weekend as we tried to find various places. We did manage - unintentionally - to find what appears to be one of the (or even the) largest mall in France at La Defense. We didn't have the time or patience to explore much, so we'll go back during the week by public transport (2 metro stops) during the work day when hopefully there will be far fewer people. In the meantime, after the last few days of dealing with all the problems in the flat, deliveries, bureaucracy & paperwork, etc., my feet hurt, my legs are tired, I've had a splitting headache all day... and I know Dave is also exhausted. It is an understatement to say that moving is hard work.
The great news though was that we had our first visitors this weekend! Our friends Lucy and Julian and their 3 children stopped off on their way back to England from Italy. A real treat as they live in Johannesburg, so we hadn't seen them in a couple of years. It really struck me how much I miss seeing our friends more often, and how nice it would be if we could live close to them all... but then I also realize that they wouldn't be the people we love if we all statically lived in the same place and only lived the same experiences. So I content myself with the knowledge that we will hopefully see a lot more of our European friends and family over the next few years, while still seeing our American friends and family with some frequency. (Reminder to all - great guest room!! Hotel Charter is now taking bookings!!). I have to put in a quick plug for anyone reading to take a look at Lucy's book, as she is now a published author and has some fascinating stories/experiences to share - http://www.amazon.co.uk/Welcome-Islam-Converts-Lucy-Bushill-Matthews/dp/1847062164/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1219009734&sr=8-1
Anyway... we'll post again in a few days once we have internet access again (10am Tuesday). The next few days will be a marathon of events - moving, dealing with workers to repair, deliver, install, etc. a whole series of things, and getting the family settled in the new location.
In the meantime, please start thinking of when you might want to visit us!
- Julia
It's been another busy couple of days. We hope that in a few days time things may calm down a bit as we are really all getting quite exhausted. I consider it a minor miracle that Dave and I are still talking to and being supportive of each other given all the stressful situations we have been through - but that just goes to show what an amazing man I married, and what a wonderful son we have, as he helps to remind us what is truly important.
We've spent the last few days checking out options for curtains, lighting, furniture, etc. Suffice to say that I would rather rip out my fingernails than ever go back to IKEA (quality slipped dramatically vs. my memories of 8 years ago, far too many people, miles to walk, hours to wait... generally a pretty close approximation of hell on earth), and we are now the proud owners of a GPS system and a mapbook. Yes, we took many not-so-scenic routes around Paris this weekend as we tried to find various places. We did manage - unintentionally - to find what appears to be one of the (or even the) largest mall in France at La Defense. We didn't have the time or patience to explore much, so we'll go back during the week by public transport (2 metro stops) during the work day when hopefully there will be far fewer people. In the meantime, after the last few days of dealing with all the problems in the flat, deliveries, bureaucracy & paperwork, etc., my feet hurt, my legs are tired, I've had a splitting headache all day... and I know Dave is also exhausted. It is an understatement to say that moving is hard work.
The great news though was that we had our first visitors this weekend! Our friends Lucy and Julian and their 3 children stopped off on their way back to England from Italy. A real treat as they live in Johannesburg, so we hadn't seen them in a couple of years. It really struck me how much I miss seeing our friends more often, and how nice it would be if we could live close to them all... but then I also realize that they wouldn't be the people we love if we all statically lived in the same place and only lived the same experiences. So I content myself with the knowledge that we will hopefully see a lot more of our European friends and family over the next few years, while still seeing our American friends and family with some frequency. (Reminder to all - great guest room!! Hotel Charter is now taking bookings!!). I have to put in a quick plug for anyone reading to take a look at Lucy's book, as she is now a published author and has some fascinating stories/experiences to share - http://www.amazon.co.uk/Welcome-Islam-Converts-Lucy-Bushill-Matthews/dp/1847062164/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1219009734&sr=8-1
Anyway... we'll post again in a few days once we have internet access again (10am Tuesday). The next few days will be a marathon of events - moving, dealing with workers to repair, deliver, install, etc. a whole series of things, and getting the family settled in the new location.
In the meantime, please start thinking of when you might want to visit us!
- Julia
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