Jesus my legs hurt

This morning I got up and decided to go for a bit of a rollerblade but I didn't realise how much my legs were going to hurt until I started it. The problem is that when you rollerblade in boots that do not quite fit you, your muscles tense up in the front of your legs to compensate for the lack of support that the boots give. As a result these muscles in the front of my legs that I pretty much never use have been given a tremendous workout, the likes of which they haven't seen in months or possibly years. Here is a photo of my rollerblades and my legs in grammar footy socks.


My photos and my posts have been a bit quiet as of late as I am desperately poor and cannot do anything fun because I can't afford it. Instead I spend my time trying not to spend money and to look for work. I am also looking for a fridge and I think I have found one not too far away for 60 euros. Which is too much for someone who is poor like me, but I have to find the money somewhere because it will pay for itself with the saving I will make by using it. The other difficulty is that I have no idea how I am going to get it to my apartment nor up for the four levels. But I will let you know and try as hard as I can to get some photos. Even though the Metro would be funny, I think the smartest option is to splurge for a taxi. Its going to be interesting.

Looking for a fridge

The view through my door.

I am still looking for a job but I have not been looking as hard as I perhaps could due to my concentration being moved to my new apartment and furnishing it to a level which is livable. Now that it is coming together and the month of August is almost at an end I am renewed in my search and from tomorrow will pursue it with vigour until I am successful. In the mean time I am also looking for a fridge. I went all the way to the south of Paris near the Banlieu where the Cite Universite is located to check the noticeboards for any ads for fridges being sold cheap. The problem I face is that the majority of students are moving in not out of the university at the moment which will make my job very difficult. Too many buyers not enough sellers. I fear that unless I am lucky I will need to buy a fridge which is a great expense and a real pain in the arse. However, if I buy one there is a good chance that they will deliver for me which would be a tremendous help. Here is a photo of the Cite University.

And a picture of my kitchen and my newly decked out apartment. Wow!

Le Baiser Sale

Check out this video of a jazz club I went to last night called Le Baiser Sale ( The Salty Kiss) in Chatelet. The place ripped us off for entry but it was good music.

An Unfurnished Apartment

I moved into my new apartment yesterday (Aug 17) and I couldn't be happier. It is a little rundown but exactly what I need. Not too small and in a great location with an excellent view. It is between the 6e and 7e arrondisements and is walking distance to almost everything I go to in Paris. The only slight problem is that the apartment is unfurnished and as a result I need to buy or find almost everything. So I went out with my friend Rachid and we bought a couple of thin matresses that I can use as a bed. Of course they don't deliver in Paris so we had to carry them home on the metro.


To have a closer look at the photos please quickly join up with Flickr and add me as a contact: avecmatilda. You will get access to heaps of better photos of me and my adventures. It is of course free so get off your lazy arse for 2 minutes and do it.

6e

Rich Homeless

Today has been a bit average because I called a heap of hostels and almost none of them are looking for anyone at the moment and the ones that are dont have the manager there until the end of august so in effect they arent looking either. it is a bit of pain because i am desperate to work and i know that i would do a great job. so it means that i have to start looking at hospitality and working in a bar or restaurant. i gotta do what i gotta do to survive.

yesterday oskar and i ate a baguette with brie and ham for dinner in the jardin de luxembourg and as we were eating it the rain started. i got out my unbrella and put it up. i then realised how stupid i must have looked so i had oskar take a picture.

At 9pm the park closes and all the flics de les jardins start blowing their whistles all over the park to let everyone know that they have to get the f out of there. It is amazing to hear them all around you. As we walked out I turned and saw a magnificent sunset which i had to take a picture of.

We couldn't go to the Hostel until 10pm and it was raining to we went to a quick, like Maccas, and watched the last 2 episodes of Prison Break on Oskars computer in the upstairs section. They ripped us off for two mediums cokes for 2 euros. Again I realised it was a sad image of a couple of homeless anglos with a laptop in a fast food joint watching american tv shows. So took a photo.

Please keep commenting. it is cool and makes me happy. make me happy.

Maccas

I'm sitting in McDonalds in St Michel because the internet is free here on Oskar's laptop. The day started nicely but it has suddenly turned bad with rain and clouds. I visited four hostels this morning and three yesterday but because today is a public holiday most of the managers are away, so I have to go back tomorrow. I find out about the possible apartment tomorrow as well, so it will be a busy day. I am happy but I need a job. I have to be doing something because not working is getting boring. Do you visit my blog?

Summer in Paris

It has been pissing down for the last 4 hours here in paris, and on and off for the last few days. I am looking forward to seeing the sun again.

Bitchgoddess

Although I am still at the beginning of my job searching it is proving a little more difficult than expected. I am very far from giving up but I am on the internet so I thought I should give a bit of an update. I went to a few places today and received some replies from emails and it appears to be the quiet time of year when no-one is hiring. I haven't really tried that many places yet so I am not getting disheartened. I have to wait until Monday to apply at other hostels because the managers are never in on the weekends. So tomorrow I prepare for applying to some bars and pubs. I am going to do some bar study in order to be totally prepared for an interview or trial, should I receive one.

Last night I went to a late night poker session at the Moose that started at 2am. It was a great game with a 10 euro buy-in and eight players. I played pretty well and was ahead at different times during the game, however early in the morning I took a big risk and was the 5th player to go out. The game ended at about 7:30am and I got home at about 8am. Here is a photo.
Today I went to the Seine with a friend and we sat on the fake beach that they set up each year during summer. It is really cool with deck chairs and sand and play area for kids. There is also beach volleyball courts in front of the Hotel de Ville. Here is a photo or 2.

Paris Paris the city of lights

I am so happy to be back in Paris. It was a great trip around Europe and I enjoyed it a great deal but I am happy to be heading towards some stability and anxious to improve my french. I didn't expect my little trip to have that great an effect on me, but it has increased my love and appreciation of Paris, awoken me to the fact that Paris is really really expensive, and reinvigorated my wish to improve my french to some sort of acceptable level.

The difficulty with improving my french, and this has always been the problem, is that I don't like to look stupid or to not know what I am doing. I hate feeling stupid. But it is impossible to avoid this when learning a language because the best way by far is to look stupid. You learn quicker because the words are said and attached to a tangible thing and experience, and because it is embarrassing, your brain tries harder to not go through it again.

At the moment I am yet to find an appartment or a job. I am currently staying with a friend, in an appartment which is too small for one person, let alone two. Today I edited my CV and wrote a generic cover letter, in addition to this I also researched some places to apply to, such as hostels and bars in the city. I also made an application to a tour group. Tomorrow I will go to some of these places, hand in my resume and hopefully get some kind of interview in the near future. In the mean time I am collating my Eastern Europe journal, trying to study some french, and putting together some plans for some kind of Paris information site or something.

Keep checking out my pictures because there is tonnes there. New ones are going up often and hopefully in the next few days I can better comment on them so you know whats going on. A bientot.

Warsaw is War sore

It has been ages since my last real post so I feel like I dont know where to begin. I will start by explaining my absence and see where I go from there. The city of Krakow in Poland was very impressive, I enjoyed it so much that I felt I could stay there for some time. I relaxed and did not rush around seeing the sights. i would just walk around the park, which surrounds the city centre, or sit in a cafe and watch the world. However, on the third day I ate one roll with melted cheese and mushrooms, and one ham, cheese pizza. From the late afternoon my stomach began to feel a little funny, and my whole body felt a little strange. I didn't drink any alcohol because I had planned to have an early night and a productive sight seeing day the following day. Then at about 11pm I was lying in bed trying to sleep and I felt a bit sick. I didn't think I was going to vomit but I thought i'd get up just in case. And it began. I spent the next 14 hours, roughly every hour for that time, going back and forth from my bed to the bathroom. My internals were completely empty by halfway through the night and all i could drink, although it didn't stay, was water. It was incredibly painful and as the night went on my body became so dehydrated that my muscles began to cramp and I had trouble walking. By the morning when it hadn't stopped, I asked at reception if they could call a doctor, which they did, and a little while later he saw me. He told me it was most probably Salmonella poisoning and gave me an armoury of medecines that I needed to take. Over the following few hours I took the medication and I started to feel better, but it is only today, about 4 days after, that I am really starting to feel back to normal. My body continued to be dehydrated, although less and less, and very tired. But I am now feeling good and making efforts to eat healthily and drink plenty of water.

On to Warsaw. This city is surprisingly nice. I can't put my finger on it, but similarly to Krakow, the people seem friendly and it seems to have a relaxed atmosphere about it. Also, the hostel I am staying at is really nice with many cool and interesting people. At the end of my sickness I was starting to get very sick of the hostel scene, but this new hostel and the people has reinvigorated my interest in hostel and meeting new people and learning new things. Yesterday when I arrived it was pissing down rain and I got soaked. It took me about an hour walking with my pack to find the hostel because I had trouble ready my dodgy map in the severe downpour. I then went out during the day and visited the sites in the rain and got a general feel for the city. In the evening, because a number of people in our room of 12 were tired from a big saturday night, we decided to have a quiet one and stay in. We played a very enjoyable game of risk, which I was cheated out of winning.

Today it wasnt raining, thank god, so I had a real look around the old town and a good walk through some of the parks. I leave tomorrow to fly back to Paris and I can't wait. I'm not looking forward to the expense of Paris but I am well and truly ready to find a job and settle a little bit again.

Yay!

Yay! Lucky me.

I think I'm addicted to Krakow.

I just typed a long post then the damn computer restarted. damn it. as a result my spelling will not be corrected and i am not going to capitalise. i hate to punish you but i am too frustrated. it is pissing down here in krakow, a perfect change to the sublime weather up until now. i saw perfect without a hint of sarcasm because it is a welcome change and clears out the air a bit. however i know i will not think it perfect in the near future when i realise that the sun we've been having could be the last great whether now that europe heads into winter. but either way there isnt really much i can do about the weather.

This city is wonderful however and it isnt just the monuments or something, it is the whole city. it just has a nice vibe about it, not too big or small, and an excellent layout which is condusive to a nice city. the old town used to be surrounded by heavy fortifications including a moat, but as these became obsolete the area was turned into a great garden and park which surrounds the city. So no matter which way you walk, if you walk for 10 minutes you will hit this park. In addition to this, the old city was relatively unscathed by the secnd world war, so the buildings and the main town square (one of the biggest in Europe) are all