What a palaver!

I'm home...eventually!

As always, I...well, lets just say I wasn't as far in advance with my packing as I should have been on Friday. I ended up packing and cleaning until about 5:45 am - yes, am. I wasn't sure if it was worth going to bed but decided to get a couple of hours sleep. I woke up again at 8:30 am on Saturday to finish things off, attempt to pay in some money, and have my Etats des Lieux.
Unfortunately, as it was the Saturday after Bastille day the banks had decided to take an extra day off so I didn't manage to sort that out. I'll now need to write a letter etc to send back my card and cancel a couple of things.
Dad arrived about 45 minutes before the Etats des Lieux was scheduled and so we managed to get everything into the car and hang the net curtain back up etc. The inspection went fine. The lady didn't notice where I'd scraped the blu-tack marks off the wall (they actually tell you to scrape them off with a blade - the walls aren't painted and are pretty crumbly, but also they aren't flat and have this stupid grooved texture, a bit like an artexed ceiling). She told me that I'd have to pay for someone to come and do a bit of cleaning. I asked why and she said there were some marks. So I asked where these seeminly invisible marks were. "On the microwave and fridge", she said. "Erm, where exactly? I don't see them", I replied. She pointed out a couple of small marks in the corners (honestly it was nothing that wasn't there when I moved in) so I asked if I could just clean it there and then. She said that would be ok so the only thing I ended up paying for was to have my carpet cleaned. They give you the option of getting it done and providing the receipt or letting them do it....but if you get it done yourself and they aren't happy then they'll charge you anyway. I figured it would be easier just to let them do it so, together with the €43 I'd had to spend on dry-cleaning blankets, pillows, etc (another thing they require everyone to do), a new bog brush for 1€ (which I paid for with 2c and 5c pieces) and a new saucepan for about €6 (mine was scratched) I ended up paying about €90 JUST TO LEAVE! Plus, I was told I will get my deposit back within 2 months.
Despite how it may seem, it did go quite smoothly, and so did the journey.
Well, almost.....

We had left earlier than planned and were on track to arrive at Calais in time to catch a much earlier ferry. This would have been great as it is another 2+ hour drive from Dover to home. However, 20km from Calais we broke down. We stopped by an emergency autoroute phone and, after consulting with the RAC, attempted to contact the autoroute recovery people. Unfortunately that phone didn't work so we had to limp to the next phone. We explained what had happened and, after 30-40 minutes, a (slightly grumpy - in a french way) man turned up with a tow truck. He took us to the ferry port and we waited for the next ferry (still earlier than the one we were booked on) before we were towed onto it. All this time, Dad had been in contact with the RAC to find out what would happen once we got to Dover. They told us that there would be a tow truck waiting there when we arrived to take us back home. We confirmed what time we'd get there and all seemed to be going fine.
Once on the ferry, Dad contacted the RAC again to let confirm that we would be arriving soon and that all was going to plan. It turned out the plans had changed and we were to be towed to a compound from where we would pick up a loan car before driving ourselves home as they didn't have someone who could tow us all the way. Right, ok, that's not so bad. Unfortunately, when we arrived the lorry wasn't waiting for us and arrived over an hour later. We then had a 15 minute drive to the compound where we picked up the loan car....which had no fuel in it. We had to spend a further 20 minutes looking for a petrol station. It was about 11:30 pm (UK time) before we actually started the journey home. Remember of course that my Dad had got up at about 2 am to drive to Paris that morning and I'd only had about 2.5 hours sleep. To add insult to injury, we had to leave all my stuff in the car (except valuables) and the car didn't get delivered until Wednesday so I still haven't finished unpacking.

Anyhow, enough ranting about that. My car, the beetle, arrived back from the garage on Wednesday morning so I've been happy driving about a bit. I'm trying to get in contact with local friends but I've still not had responses from everyone. Most of them have finished uni now so I'm not sure if they're staying up there or coming back.
This weekend I'm going to LUGRadio Live 2006. Woo! Yeah!......and none of you know what that is. Well, I'll enjoy it. It's a computer-y, geek-y event with lots of speakers coming and supposedly a party in the evening but I've no idea what that will be like.

I think that's long enough for now. I'll update again soon. Hopefully I'll have a job (or at least have found some adverts for jobs) by then.

The End

It's 12:44 am on Saturday 15th July. In less than 11 hours I have my Etat des Lieux (room inspection) to leave my apartment. I probably ought to finish cleaning/packing but I thought I'd write one final entry from Paris.

This week I have been trying to work my way through my list of things to see. I've not completed it but I'm happy that I've seen most of the important bits. I went home last weekend so lost 4 days of sight-seeing there but this week I have got in:
Tuesday: Lunch with friends from work and Arc de Triomphe
Wednesday: Chateau de Versailles
Thursday: Opéra, Saint-Chapelle and the Musée Rodin

Today is Bastille day. Unfortunately I wasn't awake in time to get down to the Champs Elysées or Place de la Concorde to see the military parade but I did see and hear lots of helicopters flying over. I spent most of the day attempting to pack and clean and offloading 1€ worth of 1c and 2c pieces at Monoprix to buy a toilet brush. The cashier wasn't impressed.
This evening I went to Trocadero. There was a fireworks display on the Champ de Mars, next to the Eiffel Tower and Trocadero would have been the best place to watch it. I say "would have" because I got there a little late and it was absolutely packed. It was litteraly a crush as people pushed forward to try and get a glimpse. The police had put a barrier up to stop people going too far forward but I don't really understand why the barrier was positioned where it was. I managed to get a few glimpses and caught other bits by watching the screens of digital cameras in front of me. After the official display, the area became a bit of a battle ground, a bit like on New Year's Eve. People started launching their own fireworks and bangers. At least I didn't see any fall back into the crowd this time.

I didn't bother trying to catch the metro at Trocadero to get back as there were too many people. Instead, I walked to the Arc de Triomphe to see the Champs Elysée one last time. I realised while walking that my opinion of Paris has changed. A while ago I couldn't imagine myself living here. I saw myself staying for short periods with work but couldn't imagine staying for a long period. Tonight I realised how much I'm going to miss the place; the architecture, the metro (despite the people on it and the fact that it smells), the ease with which I can just nip into the centre for a drink with friends. I would live here again, although next time I'd be more central and I'd try and do more (see more shows, visit more temporary exhibitions, etc).

People often mistake the French for being rude however I've come to learn that this is wrong. (What I'm about to say applies to the general public and is not based on individuals - the french are very friendly when you get to know them.)
They are not deliberately rude, and they do not, not care about you - You just don't matter to them. I think the French are seen as having a more relaxed lifestyle but I think it's because they just don't think about other people or things. They worry about themselves (and those close to them) but things like a job and people in the street seem to be just annoyances which get in the way of them enjoying themselves. I could be wrong, but that's how things come across to me.

So, as there's not much time left I'd better stop this and finish packing.

Au revoir Paris - I'll be back!