Today marks the 7 year anniversary of my arrival in France! It was the beginning of a new life in France when on June 20, 2000 I stepped off the plane and took a taxi to a friend’s apartment in the 14e.
The taxi fare was quite expensive, around $60 if I remember correctly, and I thought we were supposed to tip the taxi drivers 15%! (The standard is either no tip, since taxi drivers own their own businesses in France and many people pay by carte bleue (credit card), or if you’re feeling nice a bit of change when paying cash). Even worse, I forgot to ask for a receipt to get reimbursed by the company that hired me.
It gets better, because my plane was very late, my friend was not home! There was a note on the door saying she went to dinner with some friends at the restaurant down the street. That posed a big problem because I had tons of baggage. I sat on the sidewalk with my baggage while I waited for her to come back. After that things continued to be stressful as I was looking for an apartment, sightseeing and starting a new job.
A week later I was kicked out wore out my welcome at my friend’s and had to find another apartment (she already had another friend staying with her and 3 was a crowd in a 1 bedroom apartment, think “Three’s Company”?). So I got a hotel room. A really nice one. I also met the woman who would later become my wife, and I found the apartment of my dreams on my favorite street in Paris.
I guess you could say it was a tough first two weeks but things definitely picked up and kept picking up for the next several years…
Congratulations,
a new life in 2 weeks: you can say that is was a good choice to come here in France.
See you for the 14 th aniversary