Mommy and Me take on Paris/eat a lot Part Un

I honestly have no idea whether I can sum up this last week. It was a crazy whirlwind of lovely and terribly confusing and impatient moments with my mommy. In order to even attempt to document this week (without internet! AH!) I took lots of photos. So... naturally... the journey begins with food and... likely... ends with food. 

Before my trek to pick up mommy at the airport, I picked up a mystery pastry at the boulanger across the street. I anticipated a chocolate coated kind of cream puff when I saw this but it ended up being an icing and sprinkle coated chunk of sponge toffy-ish stuff. SO sugary. But, of course, I found it necessary to devour the whole thing (it was so hot out the icing was melting!!!) despite it being the size of my heart.

Then... the airport. OH GOD. So I made it my goal to show up at arrivals joyful and with food for our train ride back into the city. Unfortunately, over 10 euro later, I arrived at Orly to receive a text that my mom's Air Canada flight in to London had been late so she missed her connection to Paris and would actually be arriving at the CDG airport instead. In a couple hours. So I go to Information and ask what I should do and the very helpful man and the desk just says, "If I were you, I would cry right now." To which I responded, "Oh, it's not that bad! It's kind of funny, actually!" and then cried for 20 minutes. He did also tell me I had to go 'downstairs' to catch a shuttle to CDG that would cost me *shudder* 22 euros. So I went 'downstairs' and found myself in a parking garage. Went to another part of 'downstairs' and found a sign pointing into a wall for the shuttle. So I said, "SCREW THIS AAAH" and paid for the RER train ticket back into Paris. So, two hours of travel and I spent 20 euro of RER train tickets to end up exactly where I started. I also ate all the food I brought. I then bought the RER ticket to CDG (just over 9 Euro) and took that train trip and arrived just in time to wait an hour without internet and no where to sit besides a 'cafe' where the barrister was trying to help this old French man figure out his new cell phone. The coffee was awful. No 'free' WiFi.

The screen at arrivals finally announced my mom's flight had landed (half an hour later than anticipated) and then it seemed liked everyone but my mommy had come through the door. Finally, I get a text from my mom that they had lost her luggage somewhere along the way -- despite the fact she had asked if they could guarantee it was on her flight and they said YES! BAH!

After pacing around for about another half hour my mom burst through the door sans luggage! Joyful huggy reunion with both of us a little delirious from our travels. The rest of the evening was a bit of a blur, we did nothing but find her hotel for the night and get details on her lost luggage because this debacle had taken the entire day!

The next day we got lunch by Trocadero and I showed off my neighborhood to my mommy. This is my duck confit lunch. Below is my mommy's niscoise salade.  

Cafe gourmand lalala! Underneath that dollop of whipped cream is the most lovely chocolate mousse ever!  

This is my house. All of it. That's my 'cat suit'! I'm trying to figure out where the hotel we'll be staying is.

We eventually track down the new hotel, and mom's luggage is there (thank god) and the hotel is very nice! My mom ended up bringing a bunch of 'necessities' for me, including contact solution, peanut butter, mini eggs, microwave popcorn and my books! WAHOO! I was very excited for all of this (and some of my Calgary clothes she also brought), and very glad it didn't get lost in transit forever. We then went for a walk to Concorde and down the Champs Elysees to Arc de Triomphe. 

You can see Defense from the Arc, which is super cool. 

Then, oh man oh man, we discovered Chez Papa. The most beautiful place on earth. Cheap sud-ouest french food, and lots of it. AND the waiters are adorable, friendly, and give you extra stuff! I don't remember what my thing was called (the darker dish) but my mom got Casoulet which was enough for two people easily and amazing. 

We also got a little apple tart (I can NOT seem to manage to photograph anything before I eat some of it...) for free! The waiter left it off the bill, we told him and then he said not to worry about it! This was after we butchered his language, he taught me how to say spoon in french (kwee-ehr!) and he entertained our girlish giggling. How lovely. This is my new fave place to eat in the world.  

Next morning we went to a chain restaurant for lunch called Bistrot Romaine. It was good enough we didn't realize it was a chain, and again the waiter was super nice and accommodating. 

These little breads were very stuff-in-your-purse-for-later friendly. And, bread is so magnificent to me, so I loved them. 

Mom's salad and my risotto below. 

Tiramisu! I told my mom, "Don't breathe in the cocoa and choke on it", and then I did just that. To which my mother laughed.

EXCITING STUMBLE! The macarons of Paris, we got one big one to share (since they were so pricey). Ours was gilded.

From our hotel window! The one building had blue glowing windows... hmm...

Our room! So good. So nice. Guess what else it had? A PRIVATE BATHROOM!!! That someone else cleaned every single day! Luxury. 

We saved the macaron till after our Monoprix dinner. Om nom nom! 

The first time we got up early enough to indulge in a continental-style breakfast at our local Brasserie. The guy actually ran out to the local boulangerie and bought the croissants and bread for us right after we ordered. So cute! I got a 'chocolat chaud' that was most definitely powder based. I would have cared if he hadn't just ran down the street to feed me. The croissant's were oozing buttery goodness. Also, this orange juice was delicious! And I usually hate juice of all kinds!

 

Apres la petit dejeuner we went to the catacombs. We got there early on and still waited about an hour to get in. Oh well! Pretty dang cool. 

I'm pretty sure it was in here sometime that we went to the Orsay museum for the Degas Nude exhibition which was AMAZING! It was absurdly amazing. I really can't express how perfect it was. Google it.

Later on that day we ended up by the tower for our boat tour we agreed we needed to do. We went to a cafe which we were sure would be crazy expensive, but we wanted dessert before the tour, and my mom wanted coffee. The waiter was a meany and condescending and I even practised my french before ordering! We did not like him. Plus, the dessert was sub-par and both tasted like they'd sat around all day. AND I felt sick later on. But, chocolate is chocolate sometimes, and I love chocolate. 

This is the water my sunglasses fell into right after I almost dropped my camera. Lot's of sad faces after this moment. I still haven't bought new ones. My eyes! I also couldn't figure out why my left eye was having such a hard time focusing until I took out my contact that night and it had a slice down the middle. It was new too! Poor manufacturing! I then had to wear glasses until we could make it to my apartment again, so I guess sunglasses wouldn't have been very helpful anyways!

Here are some pretty photos from the cruise...

KITTY!

After the boat we wandered around for a really long time trying to get home (I got us REALLY lost) and we didn't get to dinner until about 10:30 pm. Luckily, our favorite place on earth, Chez Papa, is open till 2 am. LALALA! I got a veal thing, and my mom got some salad with a lot of different organs in it. It was delicious, but I felt so nauseous by now (dessert plus boat cruise? Maybe the thought of eating innards?) That we basically ran home after dinner. Which was such a shame, because this waiter was so cute and gave us free apertifs and also helped me with my french. I love this place. 

Free drinkys! Passionfruit something.

Mommy's salad and the half-way-through progress where I started trying to help her eat it. We didn't finish it. I felt really bad.

OK! That's about half-way through our adventure, and I need to go eat something besides mini eggs. A bientot! 

4 Days

BLAAAH! So soon! OK. So what else have I done in prep. It really is absurd how prepared I am considering I have no idea what I'm getting myself into. Every time I complete a task, I somehow end up finding an additional one to replace it so I never really end up making my list shorter! My motivation for chore-like activities is pretty much non-existent. Unless it involves packing, I'm pretty sure I've packed my bags about 20 times. Once I'm there I can't go back and change my mind, so I have to do all the mind-changing now... yes? In the last week and a bit I've been spending as much time as possible with people I like.

I went to a bunch of local theatre shows. A musical by Forte theatre, Jeremy De Bergerac, which one of my old classmates starred in. Super 8, put on by Lunchbox, that two very dear friends wrote together. And Trojan Women at the U of C, directed and acted in by a mass of talented friends. All of them were so good! I've been missing out by working full-time, I wish I'd seen more theatre. Well, guess I know what I'll be doing in Paris!

My to-do list that I've (mostly) completed is as follows (everyone likes lists, right?)
1. Bank stuff (i.e International transfers, making sure all my pins are 4 digits, and not 5 [disaster averted!], making sure my debit account was chequing, not savings, lowering my limit of the credit card I'm leaving at home, let everyone bank-related know that I'm leaving for 6 months, get some cash money.)
2. Secure place to stay (Huzzah!)
3. Get International Youth Travel Card, HI Hostel Membership, French Medic Alert.
4. Purchase Eurail Passes -> 8-trips-in-2-months Benelux/France Pass, Global Unlimited Pass for 3 months (Ow, my bank account hurts.)
5. Pack at least 50 times
6. Break in Doc Martens (Ow, my whole being hurts.)
7. Make 1000 copies of all my might-be-important documents and hide in all sort of fun places in my luggage.
8. Make digital copies of said documents and email to self, store on portable hard-drive (leaving at home), store in flash drive (taking with) and store in encrypted computer file! (I feel like a spy!)
9. Figure out what to do about my phone plan...

OK... This one was just tackled and I need like... a bubble bath now. I cried on the phone to Rogers.  No no. I sobbed on the phone. Positive: I might have gotten a good deal out of it (I don't even know anymore). Negative: I probably now have "Crazy Chick" written on my file, and a recording of my hiccoughing and word-vomiting (To which she gave me the reference number should I want to revisit that experience), eternally stored in their records. Just wait, I'm gonna become some famous actress and then this will come back to haunt me.
I basically talked to the two nicest people first so I was in this lovely mood just chattin' it up. Then I got transferred someone who was probably an OK person, but did not sugar-coat. Management. So I was like, "But but but I'm so NICE!?" and she was like, "NO". Eventually 'negotiated' (i.e. She offered options, I cried back until there was something I liked ... O God, I'm an infant!) the plan down to something less awful, but still not my ideal situation! I'm still spending money on something I'm not using. Which makes me angry. That's like... 15 macaroons a month I could be eating... BUT NO! Rogers chick had other plans. It's personal.
So after we figured it all out, and it really wasn't as much of a disaster as I anticipated. I'm paying something like $22.50 a month so that I don't have to cancel my contract. WHICH IS DUMB, but less than $60.00, so it's an improvement from the disaster that was my previous plan.
The funniest thing about all this, is I had a serious game plan. Like I had all these documents from their website pulled up to quote and be like, "Hey hey, in this clause blah blah blah", but I couldn't stop CRYING long enough to use them! So... good thing my career choice involves tapping into emotions and not negotiating documents.

What's left to do? Well... pack again. At least 3 more times, just for shits and giggles. Figure out Power of Attorney stuff, bank and otherwise. Figure out personal liability insurance. Figure out the process of getting an Orange Card (monthly metro pass). Figure out how to get from the airport to where I'm staying the first night. Actually, figure out the address of where I am staying the first night. Pack again. Cry some more -- In my defence, I am emotionally vulnerable right now! I'm afraid! Ehem. Also, go for drinks, dinners, etc. Watch Midnight in Paris and the Sex and the City series finale episodes. Boom.

12 Days

Holy Crap! Less than two weeks until I go!


I now officially have an apartment in Paris. I sent my deposit and agency fees today through cyberspace. I sincerely hope this agency is legit and I didn't just throw away a wad of cash. I have a good feeling though, it just seems right. After all the struggle to find a place, and useless anxiety this place just kind of happened. So what's it like? Well, from the brief description and three photos I was sent it looks pretty basic. It's 9m2, the "ceiling' is really just one wall slanted to meet the other a la attic/window alcove. It's contents are as follows: Bed (single), mini fridge, microwave, toaster oven, hot plate, shower, and fancy parquet wood floor. See anything missing? Yea. A toilet. But have no fear! It's just down the hall shared by the rest of the floor! It's like a ... bed and breakfast, yea? Whatever, I am so stoked I don't even care. Plus, a friend pointed out, in an emergency I could always just go in the shower. Paris is going to be SO glamorous!


I've officially chosen my wardrobe for Paris -- BIG decision! -- and it's all packed so that when I start wearing the same clothes for six months they seem exciting and new for at least the first bit. It's evolved a little bit, I did some shopping. Here goes:

What I Think I'm Probably Bringing:

• 3 Racerbacks
• 3 T-Shirts
• 3 Long Sleeve Shirts
• Black Jersey Dress
• Black Cardigan
• Huge Circle Scarf
• Full Length Denim Wunder Unders
• Denim 'Boyfriend' Capris
• Navy Cotton Chino-esque Dress Pants
• Grey Linen High-waisted Harem-y Capris (SO. RAD.)
• Skirt
• Black Opaque Tights
• Black Cable Knit Thigh High Socks
• Plaid Blouse
• 'Cashmere' Crew Neck Pullover
• 'Leather' Bomber Jacket

I'm pretty sure that's it... There might be more. I kept adding and subtracting and re-adding items over the last couple weeks and since I refuse to unpack it I am not 100% sure what all is in there... SURPRISE! I know I have enough though. I have a good 10 or 12 pairs of socks and a handful or two of underwear thrown into this little compression sac my mom got me. Fun fact: Socks compress a surprising amount once you take them out of the nice organised rolls. 

I also bought a selection of Eurail passes. I was very unsure about Eurail stuff cause everyone was telling me the cheap tickets I could get last minute as a youth and stuff for planes and trains. But considering how much I already am leaving up to chance for this trip, I figured I'd secure that, no matter what, I can always hop on a train and be warm. So for the first bit I got a 8-trips-in-2-months kind of pass for Benelux (Belgium, Netherlands, Luxembourg) and France. Fingers crossed I don't accidentally use all that at once cause I don't understand the system. The other Eurail pass I got is pretty straight forward -- 3 months unlimited anywhere in the Schengen zone. SO STOKED. It's so freakin' expensive though, it took a lot of persuasion to actually spend such a huge chunk of my savings. Together they were just over 1800, which is just bonkers to me. To be fair, the cheapest train tickets I could guarantee via online investigation were around 100 bucks, so if I take 18 trains I'll have done pretty well for myself. ... I'm there for 6 months... I'm pretty sure I'll take at LEAST 18 trains. This week I'm having a little bit of separation anxiety from my hard-earned cash. So much is gone all at once! I have to keep reminding myself that I saved it up for this very purpose. Now the numbers of my account balance are going down instead of up and it's depressing! 

I also ended up deciding on a backpack and a laptop bag as my luggage. Both I can take on board as carry on. The backpack is something like 32 L and the laptop bag is pretty standard. Fun side note, the laptop bag is this HIDEOUS reptilian embossed pleather, and I'm starting to really dig it. 

I still have some consolidation of knickknacks and unnecessaries to do, but I'm feeling pretty good about all this! Besides being in complete denial that I'm leaving soon. Saying goodbye to everyone is not even starting to sink in, either. Bah. Oh look! Panic setting in!

45 Days

Yesterday something beautiful came in the mail. This 'something beautiful' was my Working Holiday Visa for France. It may have only taken a week to process the application, but that application was in the works for a good six months! So here is an extremely abridged explanation of that process:

First I realized that for any stay over 90 days in any Schengen state, you need something special on your passport. So I got researching. 

We don't have a French Consulate in Calgary, and typically visa applications need to be done in person. I got around handing in the application in person at the Vancouver location because I'm under 28! WIN! The Canada Youth Exchange Agreement allowed me to mail the application in. So, the Agreement has a couple visas; the one I went for is the 2E Working Holiday -- basically I won’t be there for school or work, just to chill. If I wanted to work I could get a couple more documents together while in France.  

OK, application time. So I'm checking out the form and I see it asks what my address will be in France. Immediately I go into apartment hunting mode. For three months I search. I finally find what I think to be a decently priced (in Paris standards) apartment in an OK location and within my budget (when including agency fees, deposits, insurance, etc.), then I email my interest to the agent. They ask for all sorts of info including a copy of my tax return and my passport -- immediately I am terrified this person is trying to steal my identity. I eventually am convinced this is a regular practice and send my documents with my SIN blacked out. I get an email back essentially saying, "Woops! I meant to send that email to someone else. Don't worry, your documents weren't readable anyway!". I still don't know what happened there, hopefully there isn't another Mikaela Cochrane prancing around France now.

Take two! I am in correspondence with this lady (and her colleague) for two months. Why? Because after they confirm my reservation, and before they can take my money, they have to confirm it is available. YES! AFTER! Apparently, they aren't clear whether the current tenant wants to renew. So I'm waiting and waiting, sending, "Have you heard anything, yet?" emails every week. Now I have spent half my time left to prepare my application just looking for potential housing. So I scramble to search out someone in Paris to let me put their address down on the form. Luckily my Dad's girlfriend has a lovely, supportive family willing to help me out. Side note: Last week I email the agent again out of curiosity (she had promised to contact me once she had ANY news), and she tells me that the apartment was never available (even though the website still declared it so) and could she help me find another one? Pah!

When I have an 'address' I'm thinking I just need to fill out the rest of the forms and send them off! ... Right? NO! Before I had gotten obsessed with finding a place I had skimmed the 'Required Documents' page but figured it couldn't be very hard. I finish the written form and go into an absolute panic when I see the checklist form. Insurance, health care, proof of this, proof of that — all these things I've never heard of or had to deal with. My Mom doesn't even know what some of it is. Bad omen!  

I spend a good two days calling around to every healthcare provider, bank, government agency I think might be related to what I’m looking for. I discover that there IS in fact a version of the French Consulate in Calgary, and in my excitement I call them thinking, "Why WOULDN'T someone want to help me?". A very sweet lady with a very clean French accent answers the phone. I start to ask a question and she starts "mmmm"ing in a I-need-to-stop-you-from-talking kind of way. I finish my question and she replies with, "Yes, we do not do the (giggle) administrative work," disdainfully, and HANGS UP ON ME! I am shocked, and immediately compelled to update my Facebook status (hah). Suffice it to say these two days bring me to many automated menus and no answers.

Lucky for me I’m in a dance show at the University of Calgary. One day after practice I’m waiting for my boyfriend to pick me up and wandering the basement of Mac Hall when -- (insert angel chorus here) -- I discover TravelCuts. I chat with a lady for maybe ten minutes about travel insurance and other stressful things and feel a lot more confident. Within the next week I have called and bought the insurance I needed for my paperwork (and my travels) from David-from-TravelCuts, and he has assured me it is exactly what I need for this application because HE'S DONE IT BEFORE! Can't be more confident than that! He sends me an email with all the info I need to copy and send to the visa people (They need a full policy brochure X2; one with highlighted sections to prove I’m covered in all the areas they request and that I can read and operate a marker) plus he gives me his personal line (giggity) for if I have any questions about the visa application. Swoon.

That same day I make one last attempt to navigate the many automated menus of Alberta Health Care. I end up chatting with another lovely gentlemen with personal experience in French visas. I am seriously blessed this day. He tells me I have to get the name on my health card changed to the one on my passport because FOR SOME REASON back when I got that passport I thought it would be more 'official' if all four of my names were on my passport. No matchy, no takey with visa applications. Not a hard process, but annoying. I walk on down to AMA (irony) and stand in line for a good hour so that they can type a couple more letters into the system. They say that in a week my new card will arrive, and then I can call the lovely man again and then he will send me a letter addressed to Mikaela Rae Welsh Cochrane (Not M R Cochrane) saying "Yes! You do live in Alberta and have coverage!". So that is taken care of too!  

So far so good, but it’s three months till Paris time by now, and I have heard you should allow four months for visa processing. However, in another place I read not to send before three months because it annoys them ... hard to know who to trust! I need to provide proof I have money to live there. They want a letter signed and stamped. I go to the bank, sit down and explained the letter I needed for my visa application. She didn't understand why I needed a letter to get a credit card. Not a good start. Half an hour of explaining and finally she says, "Oh, we can't do that." I ask what she could do, and she says she can print off my latest bank statement on official looking paper, stamp it and initial it. So I achieve that my first attempt. My Mom goes another time and gets someone to sign an affidavit saying my Mom has money in case I run out, and the person signs on the date line and stamps over where the signature goes. I call another day and pay a fee for them to send me an official statement in the mail which is neither signed nor stamped, but has my address on it so that is a start.

Last but not least I need a round trip plan ticket. I’m out looking at cameras downtown one day and there’s another TravelCuts smiling at me from around the corner. I walked in, sit down, tell Kayla my life story and she says she'll email me in an hour with some good news. I pick out a camera, go home, wait at my computer constantly refreshing Mail and finally get an email with so much info I just about cry with joy. Good-news-Kayla tells me all about typical prices, good ones, alternative routes, possible alterations I could make to plans, prices for flying through the states, prices for flying to London and taking a train to Paris -- beautiful words. I’m all ready to commit to that last one when I realized -- I do not yet have a travel points credit card, and that is a totally necessary thing! I have this plan that if I put all my expenses on a travel rewards card it'll pay for my domestic flights during my trip. It could work! I talked for a good hour with an RBC person about this! So I let Good-news-Kayla down and tell her I have to wait until my credit card comes in the mail  

Then Christmas Happens.

...

So I apply for the card, I'm waiting and waiting and I can't get ahold of Good-news-Kayla cause she is on vacation like everyone else who doesn't work in retail. I find a really great price for a round trip ticket, exactly what I need, and I NEED to buy it now! My credit card won’t arrive for a while, so I borrow my Mom's credit card. Very grown up. Very Independent. That night I stay up way too late assembling all my pieces because I am going to send it off the next day because the year is ending soon and MAYBE if it's there before 2012 it won't take as long to process!!! (Good-news-Kayla forgives me btw)

I label everything and its copy. There are a bajillion pieces of paper and a bajillion yellow tabs with "Proof of $" and "COPY" and "Insurance!" written on them sticking everywhere. In certain documents there’s only one important line in it: On the original I tab it with yellow, draw an arrow pointing at the precise words on the tabs and write a description on another tab. In the copy I do the exact same thing but also highlight it in case it isn’t clear enough. Also to show off my very precise highlighting skills. I attach my hideous passport photos (2) which were taken during my AMA trip, check the documents over 20 or 30 times, staple copies and paper-clip originals, made triple copies 'for my own records' and everything is ready to go! 

Here is what’s in the application package:

Application form with photos (one glued, one paper-clipped)

Checklist form 

Cover Letter (Who I am, why they should take me)

Copy of Passport and actual Passport (So they can stick the Visa sticker on it) <-- That made me nervous, mailing that

Round Trip Ticket and Copy

"Proof of Sufficient Financial Means": ALL of the not-quite-documents I had acquired and their copies

Letter from Health Care and Copy

Travel Insurance Proof (receipt, policy brochure X2 with highlights and tabs)

Affidavit saying I'll get 'Personal Liability Insurance' once I'm in Paris, because it doesn't exist here

Next morning I check everything again a thousand times and panic to my Mom about how I'm going to be late for work because life is SO STRESSFUL! She drives me to the post office where I pay every fee for rush shipping, signing upon delivery, prepaid postage and extra packaging because maybe that will make them approve me faster. My Mom and I bicker in front of this post office boy who doesn't even look amused at my frantic nature or our adorable argument: "Yes I'll pay for rush shipping" "But is it really worth it?" "Yes" "Are you sure, I think maybe --" "YES I WILL PAY THE RUSH CHARGE BAAAAAAH!". My Mom can be very patient. 

I go catch a bus and for the 40 minute ride I Google other peoples' accounts of the application process. This person needed electronic fingerprints. This person needed to send credit card info. Oh dear god, THREE passport photos? Anxiety all day, I couldn't even appreciate that I'd sent this behemoth away FINALLY! My Mom calls me to notify me that my credit card has arrived in the mail 2 weeks earlier than the guy at RBC said it would. 

...

Yesterday it comes in the mail, and a mysterious French receipt is tucked into my Passport (complete with visa + Schengen transport permit) stating something like "Fee: 99 Euro, You owe: 0, You paid: 0" which I have yet to figure out. I tried calling the French Consulate in Vancouver but they don't talk about visa's on the phone so ... another day!