What a day... We had a hard time sleeping in Montpellier our first night. The hotel is a tiny place maybe 8'x16' with our bathroom out in the hall. There's not any AC (common in Europe) so the window is open, but this is a young town which is up late. So lots of noises and even the trains coming by, kept us awake for a while.
This morning we went to the Prefecture to begin registering for our residency cards, but it's closed on wednesdays. We got an email from my new boss saying she won't be here this week. Also we got an email from the office of incoming researchers who said, "Go see your boss before you see us."
We got a second scam offer, same basic premise only this time England not Texas. We found only one place online with a working number that wasn't taken. So we called the girl and struggled through a french conversation trying to make an appointment to see the place. To get to the place we would need to catch a slow bus, or the fast tram to a nearby stop then another bus for only two stops by 2:00.
To get a bus ticket we went to a machine, which told us that a monthly tram pass should be bought at the Transportation Office. We went there and it was packed with a line out the door. So we decided tomorrow at 7:00am when they open we'll get the passes and settle for a 1 day pass today. However, back at the machine we discovered that it only accepted coins and we didn't have 7 euros worth of coins.
So we had to go get change. Thus, we had a delicious lunch at a Creperie (Mine was ham, egg, cheese, and Sausage) and got out of there at 1:15.
We caught the tram, took it to the stop which is actually right next to my new job, and jumped off looking for the next connecting bus. We just missed it and the next one would be 20 minutes, but it was now 1:44.
So we decided we could walk the two bus stops and still beat the next bus. We were making good time, but our map was only of main roads (this far from town center) and at a roundabout we took the wrong path. By the time we knew this we were very far from our appointment.
Next followed a gruelling and sweaty trek through back paths and parking lots trying to get back in time. After getting dirty and gross we finally found our back out unto... the same road we were on when we realized we were lost. So we began walking the long route to our destination... A coffee shop near the bus stop in front of the apartment. We were both super tired, gross, thirsty and about an hour late when we discovered that the Coffee shop was actually a COPY shop (with no beverages) which would not let us use their phone! Broken spirited at losing our best lead at an apartment (all of the other ones required agencies to help which costs about 400 euros on top of two months rent and deposit) we decided to head to my new job to meet the secretary and maybe find something to drink.
She was awesome! Helped get us lots to drink, set us up with an email, called banks for us to get an account in the works (which we need before we can get our residency card or to work with an agency finding an apartment (which we were ready to do)), and called different agencies on our behalf. We called the girl from earlier but she didn't answer.
After a little less than 3 hours of working (and staying an hour past 5) we had made an appointment to see a place tomorrow (through an agency). When Sara suggested having the secretary call our appointment from earlier. She did, and the girl said, "you can only see it right now." The secretary drove us there in ten minutes, apologized for us, and translated the entire transaction convincing them that we wouldn't bolt after only a few months.
So we found a place, no agency fees, good sized, office, kitchen, two patios, and furnished for 590 euros/month! The couple is leaving tonight, and gave us the keys already, and will come by our hotel tonight with the lease and to take our money.
Our new address is partially: 1275 Rue d'Alco (Apartment 12, we think?) Montpellier, France (don't know the Zipcode either).
It is a short walk from my office (in theory) and a bus ride from city center! So all in all, a potentially awful day turned quickly into a great day. Hooray!
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