Wow I am getting good at posting!
Just thought I'd put a post up to say I've updated the travel info section for coming to Guadeloupe - there are some deals on at the moment with Corse Air and Air Caraibes - both have a deal that means if you fly out to Guadeloupe on or before the 13th December and return on or before the 16th December it can cost from 419 euros.
Corse Air also has one for 10th Jan to 18th March (latest return 25th March) for 529 euros return. All this is from Paris.
Regarding my news, I woke up feeling loads better today and set out to get my money off my boss. He gave me 100 euros which I was pleased with. I was contracted to get 150 euros per month but I couldn't be bothered to argue with him. Especially considering out of the 24 working days in the month I worked 13 of them!
Then I set off on a mission to stock up on my favourite hair product before Guadeloupe and got a free ring because I bought so many of them.
This evening Georgia, Sarah and myself went to Chartier for a meal. It was a pretty cool restaurant; it was a massive airy room, very busy (people were queueing to get in) and pretty cool decor. The food was standard french (meat and potato) but very good non the less! Our waiters were very friendly and the service was extremely quick, our starters arrived moments after we ordered! Apparently it used to be a soup kitchen style thing but has since become a cheap but good quality restaurant. 3 courses and a bottle of wine between the 3 of us came to just under 60 euros, so at less than 20 euros a head I think it was a right bargain! Then we went dancing at Cafe Oz nearby. Georgia got hit on by a particularly smooth guy whose chat up lines included gems such as "I think you are a thai masseuse named Jessica", "What do you think I am, an artist, a philosopher or a sex God?....I am all three but I am a professor of love" and finally, upon hearing the DJ start to play a salsa song "Do you like salsa? I can feel the salsa dancer in you just waiting to come out"... and he proceeded to try and drag Georgia to the dance floor!
But it was a great night, apart from the dodgy men who seemed to appear all to frequently!
jeudi 26 novembre 2009
mardi 24 novembre 2009
A meeting with the boss
So I thought I'd break my usual habit of posting once in a while and actually post something more frequently!
Today was mainly written off due to this virus which leaves me wanting to sneeze the whole time and a perpetual runny nose, but I eventually left the house and walked to my bank. Unfortunately my bank is a good 20 minute walk away, which was made worse by the fact that I am ill and therefore constantly tired. I walked through park Buttes Chaument, which was really peaceful compared to normal Paris and was a breath of fresh air. I continued to my bank and things went surprisingly smoothly - I wanted to deposit cash (a complicated yet non the less accomplishable task), claim back the 25€ insurance fee that I shouldn't have to pay because I'm young and change my postal address to my new Guadeloupe one. All tasks were completed within 20 minutes and I was very pleased with myself!
Then I caught the metro to my old work to confront my boss and demand that he pay me. I was pretty nervous I have to admit but Lucie opened the door for me (Lucie works there and is absolutely lovely) and after waiting for about 5 minutes my boss decided he was going to see me. He knew exactly why I was there. He took me into his office and proceeded to light up a cigarette. I was so annoyed, I wanted to ask him to stop smoking but figured that probably wouldn't be the best way to go about getting my money. I just resolved to silently chuckling to myself when he dropped the match that he lit it with in a full can of coke! He then proceeded to tell me that, seeing as I had only worked there for two weeks, he was not going to pay me. I was appalled. I tried to tell him that I had in fact worked for 3 weeks non stop before he sent me home and told me to wait for his call, when I would have to come in no matter what. This effectively tied me down and meant I was still obliged to show up when he wanted. I started working there on the 29th September. I would have started on the 28th but the office was shut and he failed to tell me and I waited outside for 4 hours before giving up and going home. I worked my last day there on the 29th October. Anyone with half a brain cell can tell that that equals one month. He cut our meeting short and ran away home (apparently one of his children had been hospitalised) but I am going to go back there tomorrow morning and pin him down!
Then I went and met up with Sarah and Tristan (Sarah's boyfriend), Georgia and some of Sarah's other friends. We had lovely drinks and chats and then Sarah, Tristan Georgia and I went for a lovely meal at the Pot de Terre. Sarah also gave me a lovely going away present; a little charm - a map of Guadeloupe! I was really pleased and surprised, I was not expecting it at all! I need to get myself a charm bracelet now!
Anyway bed time, I need to be on top form to confront the boss tomorrow!
Today was mainly written off due to this virus which leaves me wanting to sneeze the whole time and a perpetual runny nose, but I eventually left the house and walked to my bank. Unfortunately my bank is a good 20 minute walk away, which was made worse by the fact that I am ill and therefore constantly tired. I walked through park Buttes Chaument, which was really peaceful compared to normal Paris and was a breath of fresh air. I continued to my bank and things went surprisingly smoothly - I wanted to deposit cash (a complicated yet non the less accomplishable task), claim back the 25€ insurance fee that I shouldn't have to pay because I'm young and change my postal address to my new Guadeloupe one. All tasks were completed within 20 minutes and I was very pleased with myself!
Then I caught the metro to my old work to confront my boss and demand that he pay me. I was pretty nervous I have to admit but Lucie opened the door for me (Lucie works there and is absolutely lovely) and after waiting for about 5 minutes my boss decided he was going to see me. He knew exactly why I was there. He took me into his office and proceeded to light up a cigarette. I was so annoyed, I wanted to ask him to stop smoking but figured that probably wouldn't be the best way to go about getting my money. I just resolved to silently chuckling to myself when he dropped the match that he lit it with in a full can of coke! He then proceeded to tell me that, seeing as I had only worked there for two weeks, he was not going to pay me. I was appalled. I tried to tell him that I had in fact worked for 3 weeks non stop before he sent me home and told me to wait for his call, when I would have to come in no matter what. This effectively tied me down and meant I was still obliged to show up when he wanted. I started working there on the 29th September. I would have started on the 28th but the office was shut and he failed to tell me and I waited outside for 4 hours before giving up and going home. I worked my last day there on the 29th October. Anyone with half a brain cell can tell that that equals one month. He cut our meeting short and ran away home (apparently one of his children had been hospitalised) but I am going to go back there tomorrow morning and pin him down!
Then I went and met up with Sarah and Tristan (Sarah's boyfriend), Georgia and some of Sarah's other friends. We had lovely drinks and chats and then Sarah, Tristan Georgia and I went for a lovely meal at the Pot de Terre. Sarah also gave me a lovely going away present; a little charm - a map of Guadeloupe! I was really pleased and surprised, I was not expecting it at all! I need to get myself a charm bracelet now!
Anyway bed time, I need to be on top form to confront the boss tomorrow!
5 days till Guadeloupe and ill again!
So I appear to be ill again, which is rubbish because I haven't shown my face in La Chorba since the entry in my last blog update! Quite a bit of time has passed since then, I went to England that Friday, altho I didn't actually arrive until a very unsociable hour on Saturday morning due to a 7 and a half hour delay from EasyJet. Not amused! But I had at least changed my flights to Stay in Newcastle until the following Sunday.
Newcastle was great, saw people, socialised, got bank stuff sorted and dressed up as a cripple for Steph's 21st - she recently ruptured her achilles tendon so to make her feel less left out we all pranced around with bandages, crutches and various injuries all night long.
Richard came back to Paris with me and we spent Monday biking around, we went to the Sacré Coeur, the Arc de Triomphe and then decided to bike all the way to La Grande Arc de la Defense (or something like that) which is actually a lot further away than it looks when you're stood on top of the Arc de Triomphe! We met with Georgia at Chez Gladines for some plate fulls of meat and potato, the French way!
Tuesday was a doss day and then me and Richard went to see Muse in concert who were awesome!! Altho the French organisation was interesting. We had seats, but they weren't allocated, so when we got there (a little late due to taking longer than expected on the velibs) there were no seats left apart from those behind the stage. And so every one was standing in the aisles. It was no bother because I was planning on standing anyway, I just wonder where they were planning on putting all these people?! In England we would have definitely been a fire hazard!
After Muse we went to Rue Mouffetard for some sophisticated drinks and some late night grub. The next day Richard woke up with food poisoning. We're not sure whether to blame his ham baguette or the late night grub but in any case Wednesday was written off, as was most of Thursday, altho we did make it out for evening drinks and free food at Spaghetti Bar followed by Twilight 2 (which Richard loved of course!).
Friday we hit Disney, which was so cool! It's not just a theme park, it's a whole experience, you are literally transported to another world. Thanks to Lisa we had tickets to both parks and because it was a week day there were little or no queues, most were 5 - 10 mins waiting time, altho we did have to wait about half an hour for a couple of rides. My favourite was the finding nemo ride, and I just loved the Alice in Wonderland maze. We watched the Parade at the end and then headed back to Paris for a meal (Pot de Terre on Rue Pot de Fer - €10.60 for a 3 course menu) and then went to meet my parents for drinks.
Saturday morning we went for breakfast and sent Richard off to Newcastle and then hit Cité de science et de l'industrie because it was having a free weekend, and it was fantastic. We spent most of the day there trying out all the hands on experiments to do with science and industry. A really great experience and definitely worth a visit if you get the chance. Then we headed across to the Opera to try and get some last minute tickets for a dance show that night. It turns out we had to wait until 45 mins before the show to get the last minute tickets. We got 3 cheap ones and one fairly expensive one. Dad and Stef had to stand the whole way thru because their tickets were so appalling. Mum had a great view and my seat was not bad at all. The dancing was absolutely fantastic. The way the dancers moved their bodies was mesmerising. The had such control and made it all look so easy!
Sunday we went for brunch and then to the Orangerie museum which was great, stunning paintings. Then we had the best hot chocolate in Paris (and I would go as far as to say it was the best hot chocolate I've ever had) at Angelina's (226 Rue de Rivoli). Then I took them to the book shops at St Michel and then we headed for a meal with a very heavy bag full of second hand books and cheap BDs.
After a meal I sent them on their way to the airport and headed off to meet Luke (a fellow French student in Newcastle in Pau for the year who had a few hours in Paris between flights/trains). We went up the Montparnasse tower for a view of the whole city and a drink. It was a pretty good view, the Eiffel tower did it's sparkly thing, but it was sooo cold and windy outside!
And then yesterday and today I have been ill again :-( so I haven't really achieved much, altho I intend to go to the bank today to sort out my address change and I may go to Point Par Point to demand my pay!
I imagine the next time I post will be from Guadeloupe unless I manage to get my act together and post before then!
Oh and I changed the blog address so that it doesn't include my name!
Newcastle was great, saw people, socialised, got bank stuff sorted and dressed up as a cripple for Steph's 21st - she recently ruptured her achilles tendon so to make her feel less left out we all pranced around with bandages, crutches and various injuries all night long.
Richard came back to Paris with me and we spent Monday biking around, we went to the Sacré Coeur, the Arc de Triomphe and then decided to bike all the way to La Grande Arc de la Defense (or something like that) which is actually a lot further away than it looks when you're stood on top of the Arc de Triomphe! We met with Georgia at Chez Gladines for some plate fulls of meat and potato, the French way!
Tuesday was a doss day and then me and Richard went to see Muse in concert who were awesome!! Altho the French organisation was interesting. We had seats, but they weren't allocated, so when we got there (a little late due to taking longer than expected on the velibs) there were no seats left apart from those behind the stage. And so every one was standing in the aisles. It was no bother because I was planning on standing anyway, I just wonder where they were planning on putting all these people?! In England we would have definitely been a fire hazard!
After Muse we went to Rue Mouffetard for some sophisticated drinks and some late night grub. The next day Richard woke up with food poisoning. We're not sure whether to blame his ham baguette or the late night grub but in any case Wednesday was written off, as was most of Thursday, altho we did make it out for evening drinks and free food at Spaghetti Bar followed by Twilight 2 (which Richard loved of course!).
Friday we hit Disney, which was so cool! It's not just a theme park, it's a whole experience, you are literally transported to another world. Thanks to Lisa we had tickets to both parks and because it was a week day there were little or no queues, most were 5 - 10 mins waiting time, altho we did have to wait about half an hour for a couple of rides. My favourite was the finding nemo ride, and I just loved the Alice in Wonderland maze. We watched the Parade at the end and then headed back to Paris for a meal (Pot de Terre on Rue Pot de Fer - €10.60 for a 3 course menu) and then went to meet my parents for drinks.
Saturday morning we went for breakfast and sent Richard off to Newcastle and then hit Cité de science et de l'industrie because it was having a free weekend, and it was fantastic. We spent most of the day there trying out all the hands on experiments to do with science and industry. A really great experience and definitely worth a visit if you get the chance. Then we headed across to the Opera to try and get some last minute tickets for a dance show that night. It turns out we had to wait until 45 mins before the show to get the last minute tickets. We got 3 cheap ones and one fairly expensive one. Dad and Stef had to stand the whole way thru because their tickets were so appalling. Mum had a great view and my seat was not bad at all. The dancing was absolutely fantastic. The way the dancers moved their bodies was mesmerising. The had such control and made it all look so easy!
Sunday we went for brunch and then to the Orangerie museum which was great, stunning paintings. Then we had the best hot chocolate in Paris (and I would go as far as to say it was the best hot chocolate I've ever had) at Angelina's (226 Rue de Rivoli). Then I took them to the book shops at St Michel and then we headed for a meal with a very heavy bag full of second hand books and cheap BDs.
After a meal I sent them on their way to the airport and headed off to meet Luke (a fellow French student in Newcastle in Pau for the year who had a few hours in Paris between flights/trains). We went up the Montparnasse tower for a view of the whole city and a drink. It was a pretty good view, the Eiffel tower did it's sparkly thing, but it was sooo cold and windy outside!
And then yesterday and today I have been ill again :-( so I haven't really achieved much, altho I intend to go to the bank today to sort out my address change and I may go to Point Par Point to demand my pay!
I imagine the next time I post will be from Guadeloupe unless I manage to get my act together and post before then!
Oh and I changed the blog address so that it doesn't include my name!
mercredi 4 novembre 2009
Another Week gone by!
So another week has gone by without a blog update!
Thursday I went into work for about 10am having been asked to get there for 9.30. It became apparent that there wasn't a lot for me to do. I spent about an hour sorting cards into piles of 50 so they could be sorted into piles of 50, 100, 150, 200, 400. There were 3400 of them. Then I read for 2 hours before lunch. The afternoon passed in much the same way except I had new exciting things to sort into piles and then work out which piles went with which piles. I again spent 2 hours reading. As 5pm neared I tried to talk to the boss to tell him that I wouldn't be coming back, but he was just impossible to talk to. I overheard him saying that he wanted me in the next day but he didn't actually say that to me. Then he left in such a way that just made it impossible to talk to him. So I sent him an email when I got back telling him I was leaving and asking him to pay me!
The next day volunteering was cool, I got chatting with a really nice girl called Sarah and her friend who was visiting for the weekend, Aude. Sarah is part of a society that is spending 9 months volunteering; they spent 3 weeks at La Chorba and then now they have moved onto 7 months with an association for old people. A lot of the others in the society seemed very immature and loud. Sarah, Aude and myself biked to the 19th on velibs, Sarah is a true Parisienne on the bike, no regard for red lights or other traffic!! The distribution went well. It was different to the other place; less school like. The food was all obviously home made too (by me and other volunteers!).
Saturday I met up with Emily, my cousin from Mauritius, who was in Paris with her school. It was lovely to see her. We went to a Starbucks and Emily was delighted because they don't have them in Mauritius. My Aunt and Uncle were there too and we just generally wandered around Paris. It was horrendously busy seeing as it was a Saturday and my uncle favoured using his car to get from A to B rather than the metro which was actually a lot of hassle! Then that evening I went back to Châlons-en-Champagne with my aunt and uncle and stayed the night there. My cousins were there who I haven't seed for a couple of years now and I met their girlfriends too. The next day we were heading to St Dizier for my other cousins birthday meal celebration. We were supposed to be leaving at 11 and I was ready to leave at 10.45 (surely not?! I hear you cry!!) but yes, I was actually ready to leave at that time! We didn't actually leave until 12.30... Clearly the late gene is something I can do nothing about! It is in my blood!
We arrived and had champagne and nibbles and a spectacular meal; starter was a salad of some sort with some kind of saint Jacques fish, I'm not sure what the english is, then turkey AND duck with cooked pineapple, potatoes and sauce, and 3 desserts; chocolate cake, raspberry mousse and swiss roll with home made custard and fruit coulis. It was soooo good, but I ate enough to feed me for the week! It was all home made and delicious. It was lovely to see everyone too. Then Carole and I got the train back.
Monday I was back in the soup kitchen and again it was great. I didn't go to the distribution in the evening and instead met Georgia at 6pm at La Comédie Française to queue for our free "jeune" tickets to the evening's performance of Figaro Divorce. We queued for an hour and a half before the guichet opened, by which time Sarah from La chorba had joined us, and we didn't even get seats together!! To be honest it wasn't worth the wait. The seats we had meant it was very hard for us to see the stage without leaning right forward and the play was a lot of dialogue that was hard to follow. Even Sarah who is French found it boring! I dozed through the second half and then we headed home. I was starting to get ill :-(
I took all of Tuesday and Wednesday off because I was ill and I did not want to pass it on to all the homeless people of Paris. Tuesday evening I did meet with Sarah Leahy (from the uni) and Georgia for a hot chocolate. Sarah was finding out all about how we are getting on and letting us know that the uni still loves us!
Anyway that's all from me before I bore you to death! Tomorrow is my day off anyway so I shall try and do something exciting and Parisian if I'm feeling up to it; I'm feeling a lot better now after 2 days of bed rest.
Thursday I went into work for about 10am having been asked to get there for 9.30. It became apparent that there wasn't a lot for me to do. I spent about an hour sorting cards into piles of 50 so they could be sorted into piles of 50, 100, 150, 200, 400. There were 3400 of them. Then I read for 2 hours before lunch. The afternoon passed in much the same way except I had new exciting things to sort into piles and then work out which piles went with which piles. I again spent 2 hours reading. As 5pm neared I tried to talk to the boss to tell him that I wouldn't be coming back, but he was just impossible to talk to. I overheard him saying that he wanted me in the next day but he didn't actually say that to me. Then he left in such a way that just made it impossible to talk to him. So I sent him an email when I got back telling him I was leaving and asking him to pay me!
The next day volunteering was cool, I got chatting with a really nice girl called Sarah and her friend who was visiting for the weekend, Aude. Sarah is part of a society that is spending 9 months volunteering; they spent 3 weeks at La Chorba and then now they have moved onto 7 months with an association for old people. A lot of the others in the society seemed very immature and loud. Sarah, Aude and myself biked to the 19th on velibs, Sarah is a true Parisienne on the bike, no regard for red lights or other traffic!! The distribution went well. It was different to the other place; less school like. The food was all obviously home made too (by me and other volunteers!).
Saturday I met up with Emily, my cousin from Mauritius, who was in Paris with her school. It was lovely to see her. We went to a Starbucks and Emily was delighted because they don't have them in Mauritius. My Aunt and Uncle were there too and we just generally wandered around Paris. It was horrendously busy seeing as it was a Saturday and my uncle favoured using his car to get from A to B rather than the metro which was actually a lot of hassle! Then that evening I went back to Châlons-en-Champagne with my aunt and uncle and stayed the night there. My cousins were there who I haven't seed for a couple of years now and I met their girlfriends too. The next day we were heading to St Dizier for my other cousins birthday meal celebration. We were supposed to be leaving at 11 and I was ready to leave at 10.45 (surely not?! I hear you cry!!) but yes, I was actually ready to leave at that time! We didn't actually leave until 12.30... Clearly the late gene is something I can do nothing about! It is in my blood!
We arrived and had champagne and nibbles and a spectacular meal; starter was a salad of some sort with some kind of saint Jacques fish, I'm not sure what the english is, then turkey AND duck with cooked pineapple, potatoes and sauce, and 3 desserts; chocolate cake, raspberry mousse and swiss roll with home made custard and fruit coulis. It was soooo good, but I ate enough to feed me for the week! It was all home made and delicious. It was lovely to see everyone too. Then Carole and I got the train back.
Monday I was back in the soup kitchen and again it was great. I didn't go to the distribution in the evening and instead met Georgia at 6pm at La Comédie Française to queue for our free "jeune" tickets to the evening's performance of Figaro Divorce. We queued for an hour and a half before the guichet opened, by which time Sarah from La chorba had joined us, and we didn't even get seats together!! To be honest it wasn't worth the wait. The seats we had meant it was very hard for us to see the stage without leaning right forward and the play was a lot of dialogue that was hard to follow. Even Sarah who is French found it boring! I dozed through the second half and then we headed home. I was starting to get ill :-(
I took all of Tuesday and Wednesday off because I was ill and I did not want to pass it on to all the homeless people of Paris. Tuesday evening I did meet with Sarah Leahy (from the uni) and Georgia for a hot chocolate. Sarah was finding out all about how we are getting on and letting us know that the uni still loves us!
Anyway that's all from me before I bore you to death! Tomorrow is my day off anyway so I shall try and do something exciting and Parisian if I'm feeling up to it; I'm feeling a lot better now after 2 days of bed rest.
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